#the first one got deep

[softsnzstuff]

I come with questions 🍊

Favorite quote and why?

Favorite elemental power?

Favorite celebrity chef?

Do you mind digital copies or do you prefer physical copies of games?

Best invention of all time?

Favorite item you’ve bought for apartment?

Favorite type of bread?

Do you like rollercoasters?

What percent is your phone at right now?

Last song you listened to?

Favorite brand of chapstick?

Bro these are SUCH GOOD QUESTIONS!!!

•Favorite Quote and Why?

“Stay Weird. Stay Different.” - Graham Moore, The Oscars (2015)

This quote is so special to me. I’ve always been an oddball growing up. But I felt consistently like I didn’t belong and that I was less than because I was different.

When the Oscars aired in 2015, I had four people call me, urgently asking me to turn on the tv and watch this speech. Graham Moore had just won for the Imitation Game (so well deserved btw). I was 16. He gave a speech about how when HE was 16, he tried to k*ll himself because he was weird and different.

He then goes on to say “to that GIRL out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or that she doesn’t belong - yes you do. You do, I promise you do. Stay weird, stay different and when it’s your turn and you’re up on this stage, pass the message along.”

I remember crying because it just so deeply struck a cord with everything I was going through at the time.

Graham, it’s been 8 years and I’ve found my happy. Thank you for saving my life.

•Favorite Elemental Power?

Water manipulation or water magic

•Favorite Celebrity Chef?

Gordon Ramsay. Not only does he know his stuff in the kitchen, but I love that he teaches his kids, I love how he treats the children on Master Chef Jr. I love his zero bullshit policy. He’s a runner like me. He’s not a hypocrite. And he’s funny.

•Do you prefer digital or physical copies of games?

Idk if this meant like board games or video games but I like both!! I love a good board game night with family and friends, but equally so, I can get behind some video games.

•Best invention of all time?

oh shit no pressure. Ummm as someone who has little time and doesn’t like raw meat, I’m going to say a crock pot/slow cooker because it does most of the work for me AND I still get healthy and delicious meals.

•Favorite thing you’ve bought for your apartment?

Ooooh phrasing of the question excludes stuff I already had SO I guess that would have to be the neon “ON AIR” sign I bought for my at-home podcast studio 😁

•Favorite type of bread?

This is so specific but the fucking brown bread from Cheesecake Factory!??? What is it? Like Rye or something?? Whatever it is, 100% THAT BREAD

•Do you like rollercoasters?

Sometimes! I used to love them bc of the thrill but now they make me nauseous? I’m the kind of person that will protest going on a new scary one but once I do, I love it.

•What percent is your phone at rn?

60%

•Last song you listened to?

LMAO it was “Edamame” by bbno$ Ft Rich Brian 🤣

•Favorite brand of chapstick?

I use aquaphor!!

[rhinocio]

no touchie

bonus: they have a system now

[avalencias]

I don’t know what to do—I have to trust someone—I don’t know who to trust

massive, massive props to aabria for this episode (here at this point and after!!)…to all of them really, but it was about here that I was driving yesterday morning and had to frantically try to hold the image in my head for the rest of my commute. I only kind of succeeded but it is what is. wow. what an episode

[umblrspectrum]

do you ever like wanna make something cool but you dont know how so you just sit around like a moron for 5 hours straight pretending you know how

me neither

on a more serious note i know ad astra as a whole isnt over but i still want to thank daybreaker for their fics. what friends are for was the very first md fic i ever stumbled upon when trying out ao3 for the first time, and prior to joining the server i was checking it near daily for uploads. god knows if i'd be as deep in ao3 as i am now if it werent for this story and convenient timing. Thanks for the story.

[starry-bi-sky]

more clone^2 memes because i think they're funny

[rassicas]

I'm not counting a player character that you made and never thought about further. i mean like. It can be your player character but at least one that has a name (or you intend to name) and some semblance of a story that you've thought about. bonus points if you've been continuously using this character for several years

[stagefoureddiediaz]

I know we’ve all been calling Eddie‘s moustache, his gay moustache and I’m as guilty of it as the next person, but the reality is moustache he’s gave far more symbolism than being gay - in fact the gay moustache is actually a very recent thing (the 1970’s!) and an intentional movement by the gay community to subvert cultural stereotypes.

You see the moustache has been symbolic throughout history. They have been symbols of wisdom (think long Chinese moustaches), status (in parts of rajput India, historically only those of an upper caste could wear a moustache so it was associated with being ‘higher born’) and in Europe and America it was a symbol of masculinity and male virility. Indeed many European armies required officers and often enlisted men to wear moustaches. So its association with the military is long founded (apart from the equipment only allowing moustaches, it’s also a part of the reason firefighter swear them - because it is a male dominated career and therefore the moustache is a symbol of masculinity) and predates the moustache as a symbol of queerness.

All of this combined with Eddie diaz having one at this point in time is so interesting, especially because we now know that he’s going to symbolically shave it off on screen as a part of his emotional arc.

Eddie growing a moustache in the aftermath of the Shannon/Kim of it all - the fact Eddie has clearly not dealt with loosing Shannon or his grief, and there is a lot of other emotions and things tied up in dealing with that grief is super important. Eddie growing a moustache is him expressing his masculinity - tying himself to his heteronormative relationship and his military past.

To Eddie right now - his military past is when he had Shannon - it’s when he had a ‘complete family’. He isn’t seeing the cracks in the walls or the fact the foundation is made of quicksand. He isn’t able to see that his In his mind that is when he was happy and that is why he can’t grieve. Which is why he’s grown a moustache - because he’s clinging to his masculinity and the time when he felt he had control over his life.

It is essentially Eddie breakdown 2.0 and in the same way breakdown 1.0 came with a new haircut, but ultimately allowed him to process and deal with part of his trauma, breakdown 2.0 is likely to be the same thing. This time, likely dealing with Shannon and very likely the fact that she was essentially a ‘beard’ for him (even if he wasn’t fully cognisant of it at the time - I genuinely believe he loves(d) Shannon - but I also believe she enabled him to not have to look at himself too closely and keep himself in the closet) so shaving off that moustache is symbolic of shedding his beard (because he’s a firefighter and cannot have a full beard) and embracing his true authentic self.

So Eddie’s moustache is a symbol of his queerness - but only when he shaves it off.

[athina-blaine]

for my money, labru is head and shoulders above other ships involving them simply due to the unmatched yap potential, i imagine them feeding off each other's energy like they're slipstreaming in mario kart until they start going fast enough to break the sound barrier

[chelshiart]

In 2011 I drastically reduced my DWJ book intake to dripfeed levels, so it was only in the 2024 new year that I finally decided to read Deep Secret. My god - out of all her books this seems targeted at me personally? Stressed late-20-somethings, making fools of oneself in vicinity of fav authors, artist alleys?? Also, blatant unmistakable LGBT-rep??? I can't believe I slept on this one for so long!!! Definitely putting it on the upper tiers of my DWJ bookshelf.

Anyway, here's some designs I've whipped up for the characters! As always, might tweak 'em if ever I draw more in the future, but that's what's fun about figuring out character designs. Rob in particular is a joy to me.

btw Zinka plsplspls let me table with you

[lazylittledragon]

added some neck deeps to the collection

[popponn]

a cushion, two continents away. [isagi yoichi x reader]

note: i wrote this in one sitting out of need. a loving yoichi is a warm thought and while this isn't how i imagined the 'first fit of madness in a while' would go, please do know it is one. yoichi is considerate, but yoichi likes affection. that's the thought. warning: none, isagi is full of love and wants to be clingy, post canon pro player au, reader's gender unspecified.

“Please motivate me,” you say to the screen. Isagi tries his best not to ask why you are burying your face in your hands instead of greeting him with a smile. His hunch tells him you might cry if he does that. “Please motivate me, or I might cry.”

Isagi really tries his best not to follow his instinct to ask are you okay there and then. With a smile he hopes doesn’t come out as an exact grimace, he laughs and makes a silent note to order you your favorite drink online later. Paying mind to his sleeping teammates, he whispers, “I don’t know what’s happening here, but hang in there, okay?”

As if being cued by his voice, you finally peek at his face. Even with only part of your face unhidden by your palms, Isagi notices that you are making a face at something—which is probably whatever your workload is now and the fact that he is two continents away from you.

“Why are you away?” you ask, a mix of pout and annoyance haunting your voice, “I want to work while sitting in your lap. I want a back hug. I want a hug. I want you here.”

“Please don’t turn me into a cushion,” Isagi says, even though the two of you know that he will do it happily and readily. Complete with his head on your shoulder, peering at your laptop. Probably, also while sharing warm drinks with you.

Good—Isagi holds back a groan. Now he wants to go home too.

Which shouldn’t be impossible. The match is done, Bachira and Rin are asleep so they can’t snitch, maybe if he runs to the airport now—

“I’m going to sound like a hypocrite. And also this is painful for me to say,” you interrupt his train of thought with a mock of a strict expression, “but please don’t.”

Isagi chews the inside of his cheek, “…but. It’s—”

“I’m not listening to you,” you cut off, despite obviously trying to hold back a smile. But, as quick as that pretty expression of yours comes, Isagi doesn’t get much time to admire it. You soon turn away to somewhere off-screen, facing what seems to be your work with a sigh. “…now, I think I have to go.”

Looking at you and hearing the imminent farewell, Isagi wants to make you stay more than anything. Having a simple celebration between you and him, even through a video call, after a win sounds like heaven. But of course, unfortunately, he is mature enough to know asking that from you is impossible for now.

But, Isagi is self-aware. He is egoistic and stubborn when he wants something. So, he asks, “Can we stay on call? I will be good.”

“…be good, huh?” you parrot his wording. A light chuckle comes out just barely from you.

“You know what I mean,” Isagi shifts on his bed. Lying on his side while hugging his pillow to his body, pretending it’s you. He buries his face into the plush cotton. God—he really wishes this pillow was you now.

Never once did his eyes leave you. He watches as you stay silent, considering for a moment. Then, finally, after a few wordless moments, you finally glance back to him, “…you know I can’t deny that puppy look, right?”

“Stop calling it puppy look,” Isagi denies. He knows he is wearing the expression you often call ‘pouting’.

To that, you finally laugh out loud. For a moment you truly look like there is no burden on you and Isagi considers going on with the pointless debate if he could keep that good look on you forever. Sadly, he knows you should work the moment you fully turn your face to the side. The clicking sounds of keyboards and mouse clicks replace your voice.

“Sure, sure, I will,” you say. Isagi merely hums as he looks at you.

He really should be a good boyfriend and pretend he is your sitting cushion right now.

[sgiansporran]

I would like to make it known that muir in Scottish Gaelic means sea and that the name Innes comes from the word innis meaning island.

[hazyla]

Whaaa I made an mcd aph design against my better judgement

[qkmlh]

Still ducking hilarious to me that Zoro & Sanji began their beef because they thought the other was misogynistic and it came to a head of no return when Zoro felt his title of ‘Luffy’s specialest boi’ threatened by Sanji’s comment

[ollierachnid]

Man who stands dead still when you hug him in hopes of you losing sight of him and leaving him alone

[luck-of-the-drawings]

OH ARTHUR BENNETT.. such a gorgeous and intriguing character. terribly burdened by a GRUESOME set of crimes, his light suffocated by a HEAVY century of GUILT. so tragic, so dark and broody, and yet PAINFULLY awkward in any social setting ever