#sometimes it’s silly but sometimes it’s fun

[andhumanslovedstories]

I am not closely following the election results tonight, but I am occasionally seeing flashes of them out of the corner of my eye. The most obvious sign that things aren’t going well right now is the complete lack of celebrating on my dash. I know what tumblr looks like when it’s happy. Maybe I’ll go to bed tonight and see something different in the morning. I hope to god that is the case. But I’m thinking about the way I’m thinking right now, and I want to get some stuff down before the future kicks in.

In 2016 I was in a period of my life I affectionately refer to as as my fuckup era. I wasn’t even fucking up really. More just chilling out and falling short of the vague expectations I’d had about what I was supposed to be doing after I graduated college. While my friends from college rented apartments in the city and got jobs that didn’t supply you with a uniform shirt, I lived at home and worked as a barista at a fancy movie theater. That’s a real job you can do for almost five years. I didn’t have a clue what the back half of my twenties should look like. The only long term plan I had in my life was moving out west with my best friend, and my plan for finding a job once I was out there was basically to cross my fingers and hope.

Those days weren’t bad on the whole, but it felt like I was not actually living a life so much as I was goofing off in the waiting room. Sometimes that felt embarrassing, sometimes it felt fun, and sometimes it felt like I was completely pointless to the world.

On 2016’s Election Day, I went to bed early. After watching the votes come in, I needed the night to be over. I woke in a world that felt different than it had been the night before—not just in the actuality of who would be president but down to its foundations. I realized for the first time how much hope I’d had in human nature because now I didn’t feel it anymore. It’s almost silly when I think about it—so many horrible things had already happened that year, people had done horrible things as long as there have been people, and I didn’t think I was naive to that—but something clicked into place that morning.

It felt the same way my world had changed a year earlier, in 2015 during my last semester of college. My college victory lap felt like a prolonged downward spiral. Very early in the morning on a Monday, after pulling an all-nighter and overwhelmed by self-loathing that I could not just motivate myself to work on a paper that had been my only thought all weekend, I self-harmed for the first time in a way that was impossible to pretend it was anything else. Earlier that weekend, I’d tried staving off the urges drawing or writing on my arm, something that did (and does) usually work. I’d written this quote in silver sharpie on my forearm: “Good is not a thing you are. It's a thing you do.”

I picked that quote from the Ms. Marvel comics and liked the words so much, I thought that I wouldn’t be willing to purposefully mess it up by hurting myself there. Didn’t work. They just made me feel more ashamed of myself as I did it.

That was the worst I had ever felt. Then, on the Friday of that week, a friend of mine was senselessly, brutally murdered.

It doesn’t feel now like there was ever a time before her death. My memoir class is now where I wrote about her. My favorite professor is now the one who held me as I cried. My final thesis, the culmination of my history degree, never got finished and certainly never got polished. I turned it what I had and got an A minus. Sometimes I think of rereading that paper to see if that’s the grade it actually deserved. We hadn’t been the closest friends, but my name was still on the email admin sent to professors, listing students who might be emotionally affected by this tragic event. Grace’s murder hangs over every memory I have with her and everything she ever touched. It feels like its own type of obliteration to leave her reduced to her death.

Grace wanted to be a lawyer because she believed in justice and also liked arguing. She could be rude when she wasn’t interested in what you were saying. When you caught her attention, you felt like the most fascinating person in the room. She was so proud of being Jewish. I watched her become proud of being gay. She was so universally friendly that it took me a year to realize that she actually liked specifically me. She had a somewhat silly laugh and an astonishingly luminous smile.

I thought less of the world and the people in it because of how she died. Trump’s election in 2016 felt like that.

After he won, I left stasis. From November through December, I thought harder about my future than I ever had before. Who did I want to be? What did I most value? What did I think was worth protecting? What work wouldn’t kill me to do? At one point, in presumably a fit of madness, I thought, “what if I got into politics.” Epiphany eventually hit me. By the time of Trump’s inauguration, I was already enrolled at community college, getting my pre-reqs for nursing school.

Now it’s election night again, eight years later. I live on the west coast with my best friend, in a house that we bought together. I work as a nurse in a hospital in a city where there are homeless encampments off every highway and someone begging for change on every corner. Meanwhile, there’s Palestine. Meanwhile there’s Sudan. Meanwhile refugees drown in the sea and border patrol shoots jugs of water. Even hurricanes have human cruelty now.

I don’t think people are inherently good or the universe inherently kind. But I am very good at tricking myself into thinking it for a little while, and when I do, I can remember the a specific feeling from Friday of my senior year, from that morning in November— how fucking hard the disappointment hit me because I had expected people to be better than this. It makes me want to be better than that.

I believe, and hope that I always will, that we can make a better world. I don’t know what it looks like, but I think I will see it in my lifetime. Those of us who can believe such things owe a bit of that naïveté to the world—not to excuse atrocities or think them impossible but to believe that we can stop them at all. You have to have a couple people sprinkled around who are genuinely shocked when people do bad things. It’s not that the pessimists are wrong, but you need the occasional counterbalance. I want to be a reasonable cynic’s pleasant surprise.

Every shift, I interact with people at their lowest and worst. I see the direct pipeline from pain to anger to violence, and how fragile that pipeline can be. So many situations can be changed by things as small as a warm blanket or a kind word. Violence can be quite easy to avert. Crises can be quite simply to resolve. Even when I know that whatever I do that shift will not change the circumstances of a person’s life, I think that what I do that shift still matters.

I’m lying in bed, writing this post instead of looking at the news. I wonder how tonight will change me. Been thinking about what I’ll do if Trump wins. Been thinking about how whatever I think I need to do under Trump will still need to be done if Harris clutches out a victory. I guess this is a pessimist’s optimism: to a degree the election doesn’t matter. Good is not a thing you are. It is a thing you do. Our better world will always take a lot of work.

But please god please, why can’t it be just a little easier to do it?

[snzunii]

you and satoru are probably the most unusual two people to be ever seen together in your friend group. why even is that? for one, you hate his guts—not hate, per se. you just can't fathom how he’s always bragging about the new “girl” of the week.

it’s like being a playboy is something that he should be proud of. and it ticks you off, it just irks you how he’s got that million dollar grin on his face every fucking time. and certainly, satoru doesn't miss the way you roll your eyes, that's why he’s annoyed too.

yeah, he doesn't want commitments. he doesn't like being tied to just one girl and it’s none of your fucking business. so why do you make snarky comments at him every now and then? he fucking hates it.

why can't you just shut up and be all “lovey dovey” with your asshole boyfriend, who’s clearly cheating on you? but no, he doesn't make any comments about that, not when you told him that he doesn't get a say, because what did you say? ah, he’s just an asshole who doesn’t know about relationships because he’s never been in a real one.

yeah, but all is good. you don't hate each other. you two just like to “poke fun” with each other, no offense, right?

he doesn't hate you, he just doesn't like hanging alone with you.

but why did he offer his company when you sent a text on the group chat and no one was available? this was unusual.

he guess, he just sensed that you really needed someone that night and no one was available. shoko and utahime were supposed to be on your doorstep, because they were your best friends, not him.

“what are you doing here?” he doesn't miss the way you emphasized the word ‘you’ to him. he was tempted to leave because he just couldn't take how you look at him with that frown. was his company that bad?

do you not like him that much?

“shut up,” he replies, and lifts the plastic bag full of all kinds of liquor that he was holding “i know you need someone. spill.”

but then again, you're in the same circle. he’s still your friend. maybe you can overlook the things that you hate about him for now. so, you’re both sitting on your living room floor, having a one-on-one drinking session with him.

“ryomen’s cheating on me.”

he wanted to say, i told you so but he never did, instead, he handed you the liquor and just listened to you cry. sometimes, you forget that he’s a decent friend. that he could be that person, if he wanted to.

but then he says something silly—and maybe, you both were drunk enough not to deem it as silly. maybe it was a good idea, not.

“get back at him.”

you giggled, your cheeks probably flushed, “how?”

you don't know how you get back at your cheater ex-boyfriend by straddling satoru, pushing your tongue inside his mouth and grinding on his lap.

but, damn, this is really a good way to get back at your ex.

buuuut! would you still think it’s a good idea when you wake up in the morning with satoru's arm draped over your waist with nothing but this thin blanket covering your bodies?

well? that’s a question you don't know the answer to.

[mblue-art]

out w these tall clowns 🌲🌸

[thydungeongal]

any advice for playing a character very different than you IRL? i know it sounds silly, but i play a warlock who would reasonably have good knowledge of magic that i don’t have as a newer player and would be far more eloquent/persuasive than i am on the spot. my dm asks that we speak in character before resorting to rolls which is great but i feel like i get nerfed for not memorizing books of lore/not being a theatre kid with great improv skills.

I think you should talk to your GM about the need to speak in-character because for some people it can actually be an obstacle. Now, I'm very much an advocate for players describing their characters' actions before they roll, like shit like "Can I roll to persuade this guy" is nothing. But there should not be an insistence on a strict need to speak in-character.

So like, as long as everyone else, more or less, knows what your character is doing and saying, I don't see there being anything wrong with your narration being more detached. It's also okay to switch between these two, describing character actions more abstractly one moment and then speaking lines as your character might speak them the other. A strict insistence on having to speak lines in-character all the time seems unfair, provided you describe what your character is doing in terms of actions and intent.

So anyway, assuming Gonad the Barbarian, you could like do something like "Gonad steps towards the guard and says 'What ho, good guardsman, wouldst thou allow me to go and see yon magistrate?'" or you could just say "Gonad steps towards the guard and asks the guard if he may see the magistrate." And then when asked to present an argument you could just say "Gonad says that it's of utmost importance and waves the letter with the viscount's seal in front of the guard." Like, as much as I like putting on a goblin voice and playing out my character's lines, that shit isn't necessary and this more detached form of narration is just as fine.

And finally, it's literally just okay to ask. I sometimes do this still: sometimes I'm stumped for what a cool line would be for someone to say, and this happens to me on both sides of the GM screen, and sometimes it's fun to just defer to the rest of the table like "Hey I know this would be a perfect moment for Morningwood the Elf to say something epic, but I can't figure it out, does anyone else have an idea?" Like, Morningwood the Elf may be my character but he's part of a narrative that everyone is partaking in creating, so like it's always okay to step back and ask everyone for what would be a good and cool thing for your character to say. Especially as a newer player the rest of the group should be okay with letting you ask them for advice on stuff like this without being weird about it.

Also, the folks at @anim-ttrpgs are very passionate about this sort of thing and especially third person narration, and their game Eureka encourages it very heavily. They have a few interesting posts about it on their page which I hope to dig out once I'm no longer tired, but I apparently slept pretty badly last night and am already nodding off when it is barely past nine here

[more-hysteria-things]

BEGGING FOR SOME LIKE JACK FLUFF FROM LIKE A ROUGH DAY ON SET AND HIM JUST BEING SWEET TO US!! (my first scenario🥳)

ROUGH DAY

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: jack champion x fem!reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: it’s one of those days on set, and jack is not having it. even worse that it’s his birthday, the day when it’s supposed to be fun and carefree. then, you come along to truly show how much he means to you.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: none! just tooth rotting fluff :)

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 1,224

𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: FIRST JACK FIC LFG.

also, since this is my other account for non-sturniolo fics i’m still putting the same tag list. if you would like to not get tagged for this blog, just let me know!

shoutout to bbg @venusbabysblog for helping me get started🥹

𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 blessing. it’s a job where you have great opportunities to meet amazing people and be in hit films, but sometimes it’s a struggle. jack opens the door to his trailer with a clenched jaw, shutting the door as he looks around. his eyebrows twitch in confusion, noticing how you’re not in sight.

your boyfriend loves to bring you along to wherever he goes for filming. one reason being that he honestly can’t live without you, but also because you’re his biggest fan and will support him through anything. usually, you’d be watching him act from afar or you’d be waiting in his trailer by watching TV or keeping yourself occupied in general. however, you’re nowhere to be seen.

he’s on a long break until later tonight, which annoys him. he just wants this day to be over. “y/n?” he calls out, peeking his head into the small bedroom. alas, you’re not there.

alarms start to go off in his head, although it’s silly. you can’t really go anywhere, but since you’re not in your usual spot, the caring boyfriend in him makes him worry that something bad has happened. especially since you didn’t text him that you were going somewhere or anything.

then, a giggle is heard along with the opening of his trailer door, and he turns around to face the noise. he takes a small sigh of relief when he sees you beaming from ear to ear holding a present bag.

while in the middle of a scene, jack texted you about the day he’s having—lines he couldn’t nail, and a director who seemed impossible to please. you frown slightly when you see his semi-disgruntled face, shuffling over to him excitedly to wrap your arms around his body in an embrace he desperately needs. he exhales deeply, bends down to nuzzle his face into your neck, and kisses it softly.

“sorry, i was hoping i’d be back before you were, but your mom and i got stuck in traffic,” you say in his chest before pulling away after long seconds. trying to make the atmosphere more positive, you smile and extend your arm with the bag in hand. “happy birthday!”

the smallest smile appears on his face, grabbing your hand to head over to the leather couch to sit down. he places the bag onto the floor, removing the tissue inside of it to reveal his presents. his eyes widen in surprise, seeing more than he thought you’d get him. “you didn’t have to do all of this...” he says, a small blush forming on his cheeks.

he pulls out the first thing that sits on top of the rest, which is a homemade birthday card out of construction paper in his favorite color. he lets out a chuckle as he looks at the front of it, seeing two drawn stick figures that are supposed to be you and him holding hands with the title in big writing: HAPPY BIRTHDAY •ᴗ•

opening the card, there’s a bunch of words scribbled on the right side.

jack,

*queue song* happy birthday to you!

i am so incredibly proud of you watching the way you chase your dreams. here’s to many more birthdays, memories, and quiet moments in between the chaos. no matter how many lights and cameras around, you’ll always just be jack to me. the one who laughs too loud, holds me close, and somehow manages to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.

i’m so grateful to be apart of your story.

always, y/n ❤︎

p.s. like what your name implies, you are indeed a champion.

his heart jumps with joy, closing the note and leaning in to peck you on the nose. your face turns red as you try not to beam with happiness, tilting your head to the bag. “there’s still a lot more.”

he nods, placing the card aside as he grabs a leather journal, specifically personalized for him. the border of it is embroidered with eye-catching detail, his initials JC in big cursive letters in the middle. you know jack sometimes likes to scribble lines down in between takes in a way to remember, or something to put his ideas in for fun. he flips through the pages rapidly, the gust of air flowing on his face as he smells the paper and leather mixed.

you watch his every move, nibbling on your bottom lip excitedly when he pulls out a small, navy blue box. inside of it is a chained necklace with a small pendant of a waxing crescent. the moon phase the day he was born.

scratching the back of your neck nervously, you speak. “this one’s a little girly…” you trail off. “you don’t have to wear it, you can hang it up or something for decoration. i just thought it was pretty.”

he nudges your arm with his elbow. “stop that. it’s beautiful; i love it.”

jack carefully takes it out of the box, undoing the chain and reaching behind his neck to clip it. the length is perfect, and the accessory oddly suits him. “thank you.” he says softly, running his hand over the moon and reaching into the bag once more.

this time, he pulls out two things. another book along with a film camera on top of it tied in ribbon so both items can stick together. while untying it, he notices the scrapbook underneath.

THE STORY OF US…

he glances at you as he starts to look into it. the pages are filled with film photos, ticket stubs, and little mementos from your favorite times together. you’d written little captions under each, capturing inside jokes and sweet moments. it was something he could flip through on hard days.

however, each left page is blank. “you can add to it whenever you have the time. it takes two people to make a love story, you know.” you explain, feeling somewhat cheesy and cringy at the saying, but you mean it.

last but not least, the last few items are snacks. homemade cookies, energy bars, and even a small container of his favorite food.

he feels overwhelmed by all of the gifts but in a good way. nobody has ever shown him this much adoration before, and it’s obvious how much he means to you. “y/n.” your name rolls perfectly off of his tongue, his eyes not leaving the presents now scattered on the couch cushion. “i love it all so much. genuinely, thank you.”

you place your hands on the sides of his neck so he can look at you, kissing him full of love. he cherishes you, and he couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend. he’s always so grateful that he met you that time in his hometown. you made his 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐃𝐀𝐘 turn around completely.

“how’d you even do all of this?” he adds, starting to feel dumbfounded about how you did all of this under his nose without him knowing.

“i don’t kiss and tell.” you say with a smirk. “but also with the help of your mom.”

laughing, he grunts as he lays to rest his head on your stomach, your hands finding way into his wavy hair. “i’m so in love with you.��� he mumbles, grabbing your hand and kissing the back of it.

best. birthday. ever.

𝐭𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭!

@bunbunbl0gs @lexisecretaccx @thy-mission @angelic-sturniolos111 @sophssturn @moncherriis @janiellasblog @blahbel668 @meg-sturniolo @mattslolita @sturnbaby @imwetforyourmom @tillies33ssss @sturnifyed @raysmayhem-72 @ripmattitude @p1xieswrld @alorsxsturn @multiluvr @delilahprentiss @tworosesblackthorn @gnxosblog @junnniiieee07 @flowerxbunnie @imaslut4kehlani @sturniolosandmoree @hearrtsturns @freshsturns @etershine @sukiipjs @h3arts4harry @sturnioloblogs @creamoncreamoncream2 @ivyyyyyysposts @iluvm4ttsturni0l0 @mbsbaby @mattsdollie @thesturniolos @nononopenono1 @bitchydragonparadise @hrt-attack @dwntwn-strnlo @venusbabysblog @meerkatzthings @bernardsbendystraws @hoes4matthew @deareststurns @starz4star

[justin-chapmanswers]

I sometimes stim by imitating Paper you just gave him a very imitateable and stimmy voice

...once my voice got stuck as Paper for like over 10 minutes

Wowwwwww that's so fun. And I'm glad ya think so! I, myself, go back and forth between feeling like the voice is cute or grating. But, sure, the truth lies somewhere in the middle haha. Silly little Paper dude. I think he's neat.

[marmota-b]

A different strand of content (?), but I offer Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing for your viewing pleasure, if you can find it somewhere. My absolute top shelf comfort watching in recent years. One that doesn't avoid harder topics but doesn't dwell. Sometimes the best thing I can do for my mental health and general feeling about life is watch a duo of old friends fishing, eating sometimes strange foods, talking about heart disease and death, and the occasional conservation effort, and making fun of each other and being unapologetically silly; all on the backdrop of nature. I think that captures most of it, though it doesn't quite capture just why it's such a balm on the soul.

May I offer you Humankind by Rutger Bregman, Hope in the Darkness by Rebecca Solnit, Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie, Factfullness by Hans Rosling, or Braiding Sweet Grass by Robin Wall Kimmerer in these trying times? Or the backlog of Yes! magazine? Or Fix the News? Especially today, your newsfeed is going to be tilted towards anti-humanist despair. Balance it out intentionally.

[biowho]

Idk maybe it sounds weird but I wanted to say thank you for openly saying you didn't like some parts of the game. I've seen so many comments like "oh just admit that you actually hate dragon age" when someone is trying to question certain decisions the devs made. I love dragon age, i love each of the 3 games and I love how complex, nuanced and colorful this story has been. I don't hate the new game, I actually love some parts of it - it's just different. It feels different, the writing is different and sometimes questionable, a lot of the things I expected to see were not there, the lore feels a bit altered. It's good that we can all discuss these things I guess

I think most of the people saying those things have me blocked because I haven’t seen any of that (which you know is fair you should curate your own space and all that)

There isn’t a series that means more to me the Dragon Age, it has had a very special place in my heart for 15 years, which is why I held Veilguard in such a high regard before release. It sounds silly to say but these games have gotten me through quite a few hard things in my life and Veilguard is going to get me through another

Veilguard is a fine game for what it is. I love the companions and the combat is fun and it’s beautiful. I yelled in excitement and I cried with grief and sadness several times… but it could’ve been so much more. There were so many things tossed to the side that could’ve been made into something wonderful. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging that

It’s not healthy to place something on so high of a pedestal you cannot see its flaws anymore, regardless of how important it is to you

I know I have a few devs following me and it’s not my intention to insult or belittle anyone’s work. You did a great job with what you were given and I’m grateful for that. Veilguard is a different game with a different kind of heart to it, but that isn’t entirely a bad thing. Regardless, we can still be sad about what it could’ve been and what it isn’t

[absandbloats]

Part of me feels bad for being here, engaging like it's business as usual, when I feel bad about the world (more than usual) and know a lot of people are in a bad way. But I also know that life must go on. I almost skipped choir last night because I was just not feeling up to it but I ended up going because I knew that being in community would help. Making music would help.

And this is a different kind of community for me. I'm newer here and mostly this is just a place to be horny and have fun. But that's important, too, and still a valuable kind of community even if I feel a little silly thinking of it in terms of political solidarity, or even compared with making music with a big group of people. But you're valuable and this is valuable and so here I am. Silly, horny, fun communities matter; it's all part of being alive. Sometimes, I'm horny, sometimes I'm silly, sometimes I'm serious, sometimes I'm artistic...

A little word soup but I think we can have a little grace for each other not expressing ourselves perfectly, now at the very least if not always.

Anyway, if jerking off to my pics or conversation can help you get through, happy to help. Take care of yourself because you're worth it and then you can take care of others, too.

[love-and-deepspace-polycule]

These are random poly relationship headcannons. I include MC, but I don't give many (if any) headcannons for MC due to the nature of the game being MC=you. These are just silly HCs I thought of randomly. Hopefully you enjoy. I do occasionally swear in my Headcannons or make minor pop culture references. I also don't consider gender when using a gendered descriptor to get a silly point across (for example, Sylus is a wine Aunt. Aunt refers to a female individual, but used to portray a stereotype even though referring to a man). I think that really covers my headcannon style.

The bed sleeping order from left to right if sharing a bed together + sleep HC:

(yes I know this would be an unrealistically large bed. I don't care, I think it's fun.)

- Sylus. He gets the least amount of sleep so he gets an end cap, goes to bed late and gets up early. Has insomnia. Sleeps on his back. Snore king. Like full logs, deforestation, attack of the ents.

- Xavier. Sleeps next to Sylus because he sleeps like a rock, nothing can wake him up so Sylus moving in and out of bed will not disturb him, but his job does have him wake up fairly early so he gets second in. Stomach sleeper. Will drool. Has one leg out of the blanket at all times. Will always have the weirdest looking sleeping position. Can sometimes lightly snore.

- Rafayel. In the middle. He sleeps in the most due to having an independent work schedule (although he really doesn't sleep in late). He is also a fairly light sleeper so he has to be in the middle away from Sylus and Zayne who will get in and out of bed frequently and early. Has an eye mask and ear plugs. Our light sleeper king with his sensory deprivation measures. Side or back sleeper. Will roll around a while until REM sleep hits. Will drool if getting that GOOD deep sleep.

- MC. Has to get up at a decent hour like Xavier due to also being a hunter. Which makes you next!

- Zayne. Similar to Sylus he goes to bed late and gets up early. Not an insomniac like Sylus, but he just has a job that keeps him busy. He will be a little more gental getting in and out of bed as to not disturb MC. Side sleeper (faces away from the others). Sometimes back sleeper. Heavy breather, but not quite a snore.

[the-universal-sun]

this is one of my favorite blogs 🥹

during the summer, i think dipper plays dd&md with ford when he is little. Little Ford's characters get super silly but dipper always takes it seriously and works it into the story. Mabel and ford make friendship bracelets and i think she would really help him with opening up and being vulnerable when regressed. Little ford always goes to mabel when he needs time in sweater town...

regressed stan and dipper do a lot of parallel play (for example, Lee watches TV while dipper writes in his journal) but they both like to hang out with each other regardless. Lee and mabel are always getting each other into trouble and making a mess whether it's cooking, glitterbombs, or pranking dipper and ford.

Thank you so much! I try to make the content I want to consume, but don’t have much of! Sorry this is so late, my anxiety and mental health has been really bad lately, and it’s been inexplicably worse these last couple of days haha. So hopefully writing this will make me and others feel a little bit better!

Little Ford does still loved Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons! He can’t do too complicated math, he’s still capable of it when little but he prefers simple math so that he doesn’t have to think so much. Sometimes Dipper will do the more complicated math for his just so Ford isn’t taken out of his headspace. But his characters are always a riot with Dipper, and Mabel and Stan when they can get those two to play, the backstories he comes up with and voices he does always has Dipper riveted, even if Ford’s characters aren’t as complicated and intense as they usually are. He obviously models them after his family members, Stanthar the rogue thief, who swindles travelers of their money and charms the pants off their foes. Diptantic, the elf sorcerer who’s voracious reading lends him knowledge of ancient magic. And Maybelle, the Bars who uplifts her companions and foes in song and dance, also charming the characters they come across with her cuteness. And of course, Ford’s research partner, Dr. Mittens, has his own place next to him, and Ford gives him his own character sheets, too! Dipper sometimes finds it awkward talking to a stuffed cat, but his Grunkle Ford is having fun, and his characters are pretty funny, plus it just makes Mabel and Stan more open to playing, and DDMD is better with more players.

Both Ford and Mabel are pretty creative, and Ford’s more inclined to her type of creativity when he’s little, and she loves making necklaces and bracelets with her little Grunkle! He’s not allowed to knit or crochet when he’s little, but he can still have some input on her designs and colors, he even helped her make their family sweaters! When they presented the sweaters to Stan and Dipper, Stan smiled so brightly, hugging Ford to his chest. Admittedly, Stan’s actions were more due to the happiness and exuberance on Ford’s face as he held up two orange sweaters with boats on them, one for each of them. Mabel’s really helped Ford become more confident in himself when Little. Little Ford does take a lead out of Mabel’s notebook when it comes to sweater town. Sometimes, when he gets bad thoughts about Bill, dimension hopping, or about missing Stan for 40 years, he’ll go find Stan, curl up in the biggest and baggiest sweater he has, plop down in his lap and just stay silent. When this happens, Stan knows that his Poindexter needs some quiet time, and he’ll let Mabel and Dipper know if they’re around, just so they know they’re not being ignored, but just that it’s sweater town time.

Lee’s younger than Ford when regressed, so he can’t play complicated games with Dipper, not that he would when big let’s be real, but that does make it harder for Dipper to find things to do with his Littlest Grunkle. Dipper very quickly finds out that as long as he’s near you, Lee is fine doing literally anything. Coloring, playing with blocks, watching TV, doesn’t matter, just so he’s not alone. Dipper does like doing legos with Lee, though maybe not much how easy and childish they are, but both him and Lee like creating things other than the set out of the Lego bricks. Lee’ll draw pictures of Dipper, of him and Dipper, and give them to him to express his happiness at hanging out with him. Dipper tries to stutter and act aloof, but he’s fooling no one with that blush, try to hide it as he may. Hanging out with Lee is honestly a much needed break for Dipper, too. He has time to just write down in his journal or read a book with minimal distractions, so if he needs some quiet time when his Grunkle is little, he knows he can find it with Lee.

As mentioned before, Mabel and Lee have tea parties with Ford and Lee’s stuffies, spreading the hot gossip going around town. Ford wishes everytime Lee and Mabel hung out could be that cute and quiet. Alas, they are both too mischevious for their own good. He can’t tell who rope who into planting glitter attacks around corners, or why Lee would drink Mabel juice, knowing what he knows about it. He’s just thankful that they both follow the rules of “No Cooking/Oven use without an adult” (and “No Stan doesn’t count as an adult when he’s little, Mabel, that’s not how this works.”). Lee is usually really good about following rules. Too good, Ford doesn’t like it when Lee is too scared to break the rules because he fears getting punished or abandoned, curse their father (and curse myself too!), which is why he’s grateful Mabel gets him to break some rules. The ones that won’t hurt anybody, well nobody important or too badly in any case, are fine, maybe getting a stern warning on not letting the surprise hurt people is the worst of it. Besides, more often than not, when found out, Ford joins Lee and Mabel in crafting a hiding away confetti pouches and sprinkle pits.

Mabel and Dipper just love their Grunkles, whether they’re stern Great Uncle Ford and Conman Grunkle Stan, or excitable Ford/Sixer and sweet Little Lee

:,^,,,,,)

[cranberrymoons]

actually do you know what. i actively dislike “good” representation and by that i mean representation that is unrealistically puritanical and sets standards that real people will never live up to and maybe most importantly always feels corporate and disneyfied. for representation to matter to me in any meaningful way the characters need to have flaws and be assholes sometimes and make mistakes. and even when they are not doing that they should be fun and cool and not lame and they should also fuck and be silly and make jokes because ultimately they are there to entertain me. this is why i generally avoid things like heartstopper, because i think it's boring and i don’t relate to those characters on basically any level. and i do not have any interest in forcing other characters into those molds.

[leoruby-draws]

Next up is Owen Mercer aka Boomerang Jr, son of Captain Boomerang and the speedster of the TrWh Outlaw team! Get ready for another long post you guys, god my hands are hurting this week arrughhh.

Owen's a fun character to draw and has a fun personality in general. He's more angsty and dark in the comics but since Digger finds out about him early on, Owen's much more happy in this au. Digger and Owen have a fantastic father-son relationship and Owen really looks up to him. Digger is so happy he found Owen but is kinda frantic on how to raise him, being a villain isn't the best job for a dad. Not sure what age Digger discovers him, maybe 10 or so?

That mini version of Digger's outfit is what Owen would've worn if he was discovered even younger (he's 4-6 in that doodle), preteen Owen would've found that outfit a bit too silly for his tastes tho.

Honestly I'm not sure if Owen even lives with him, since Digger is a rogue and probably in jail more often than not, Owen might still be in foster care. I don't remember if Owen was shown to be adopted in the comics, he was already shown to be an adult. Btw, concerning Owen's age*, I'm slightly lowering his age to better fit with Jason's age group (he's 12 to Jason's 10). He, along with Jack Moore, are the oldest of the team, too bad Owen doesn't care about acting his age!

While Owen loves hanging out with his father, he also likes to hang out with the Flash aka Barry Allen. Barry has been mentoring Owen on and off (much to Wally's dismay) and has been slowly pushing him towards heroism. He's knows Owen's got a good heart and see's that he has the potential to access the speedforce. Owen's a character that's caught between two worlds, rogue and hero. Does he want to follow in his father's footsteps or go follow Barry?

What a conundrum, but this is a problem he had in the comics. His struggle to figure what to do with his life. Actually, I think I heard somewhere he was actually created with the intent to replace Wally as the Flash but they dropped that plot point, leaving him adrift in the comics. Let me know if that's wrong tho!

Captain Cold aka Leonard Snart isn't helping matters as you can see in that vague threat up there, I'd like to better define that relationship between those two but I'd need to read more comics with Leonard to do that.

Here I have Owen with some of his friends and his dad. I said in my last post with Rankorr, that he and Owen's friendship is a nod towards the famous Green Lantern/Flash partnership. Owen's always trying to get Jack to loosen up and have fun, Jack sometimes finds this annoying but is slowly letting Owen in his life. You can see up there Owen giving Jason a ride someplace, bet Jason wishes he took the bus lol.

You can see Owen gushing over Para Dice, his canonical girlfriend from Rebirth. Owen at some point meets her in Australia and has an instant crush on her. Para is a rather mysterious girl, but has taken a liken to Owen as well. Still too young for a proper romance tho, plus Owen would need to sharpen up his speed skills if he wants to make this LDR work.

There's Digger training Owen in the art of the boomerang, rogue or hero, any son of Cap. Boomerang will be a learn to toss a good boomerang!

Another drawing of these two, aren't they adorable?

Here's Owen bother poor Lisa Snart aka Golden Glider. Owen can be a little insensitive, tho he's never actually malicious in intent (usually). Always thought it was weird that Lisa was considered a candidate for Owen's mother, she didn't seem old enough for that (Owen was like early twenties). Anyways Lisa thinks he's an annoying little twerp...

...and not the only one. Here's Owen bothering poor Jesse. Also you can see I messed up on her shirt design, wasn't really thinking about what I was drawing I guess. I do that sometimes lol.

On the nature of Owen's and Jason's relationship, they seem to quite like each other. Neither of them had many friends before the team, and find easy camaraderie in having simple boyish fun together, which is something they kinda needed in life. You'll sometimes see them making complex plans for the next prank (Lori is invited as well).

In team dynamics, Jason can find Owen tendency to not take fights seriously kinda annoying. While Owen can sometimes disregard Jason's leadership (should Jason be leader that day I mean) due to him being younger. Friction isn't common between them though, perhaps because they got a lot in common.

From being caught between opposing morality, difficulty in finding a niche in the DC comics, even in trying to discover who their mothers are. Its can be validating to know people who understand what your going through.

Little more focus on Owen's relations, I said that Barry has been trying to steer Owen towards good but I also think that Barry just thinks that Owen is just a fun little guy in general. I'd think they get along pretty well, Wally looks so pissed tho. There was this one comic where Hal had Wally as a sidekick for a day and Barry was pretty jealous. Guess the reverse is happening here. Wally's a favored target for Owen's pranks, so this whole situation is just very annoying to him.

Here's Digger introducing Owen to the rogues, Leonard looks befuddled at all this (Digger got a girl preggo? crazy).

Wanted to have Digger and Owen watch cartoons together, so I looked up Australian cartoons, found something called Bluey. Apparently it's super popular, even adults like it. So I found some free cartoons on youtube and yeah. It really is that good. Look it up if you want to see some fun, relaxing cartoons with smart writing!

To finish off this mass of words, here's Owen being a goofball with Eddie and Jason. I'm slowly finding that Owen's got a pretty fun dynamic with most anyone I draw him with. So that's been fun.

All this and I still haven't gone into Meloni and Bart, but it's best if I leave that for later. Anyways, hoped you like all that!

*About Owen's age, the comics never specified what his age actually was. All I know he's in his twenties but still younger than Dick's age group. Young enough to be unsure of his place in the world, but old enough that his 'relationship' with Kara to be weird. I guess it'd be less weird in my au with a smaller age gap, but that's still not happening.

[cyrusbug]

I have a screenshot of him in s3 that I just. have on my reference tab while I'm drawing sometimes. Staring at me encouragingly

I don't know if he helps the drawing or not but he looks silly fun. Use him in ur reference tab for three seconds of good luck or whatever

[microsuedemouse]

(partially-solved?) mystery of the night:

in late 2020 I tweeted something about Summer Girl, a summer hit from a Canadian band called Stereos, that came out all the way back in… 2009 (oh my god).

I have no idea if this track got much international airtime, but I’m betting fellow Canadians remember it, because it was eeeeeverywhere for a while. I vaguely remember the band coming out with another song that did relatively well on pop radio not long after, but I don’t think I ever heard much about them after that. I certainly didn’t know they were still around.

…Until tonight, when at 1am, they suddenly liked that tweet and also followed me.

Hi??

This led me to their page, where I discovered that they’re putting out a new version of Summer Girl this week. (At least this explains why they were probably searching for mentions of their band + that particular song, bc I don’t see how else they found my nearly-four-year-old tweet.)

I… have to admit I’m kinda curious? The song was a bop, in the way that formulaic pop hits so often are, but it’s also pretty damn dated. It SOUNDS extremely 2009. (Still reeling from the discovery that fifteen years have passed, though.) I’m interested to see how they might have updated the sound to be more contemporary and (hopefully) more unique to the band.

[verflares]

i thought i felt your shape, but i was wrong. really all i felt was falsely strong, i held on tight and closed my eyes. it was dumb, i had no sense of your size. it was dumb to hold so tight.

also on inprnt :]