#the last art that I posted that people got very respectful about? I finished it two weeks ago and wasn’t originally planning

[yuurionviktor]

I hope people follow me not for the art I post but for the anecdotes I put in the tags

[ninjago-oc-appreciation]

Ninjago Oc Secret Santa 2024

What is a Secret Santa? - A Secret Santa is a gift giving event; you’ll be assigned someone to secretly make a gift for, and someone will make a gift for you. - It’s very important that no one knows that you are making them a gift and vice versa, that you don’t know who is making you a gift! Are there any rules? - Absolutely no N/S/F/W or Suggestive content is permitted for prompts, gifts, or references. This is /not/ an 18+ event. - No direct contact with the person you’re making a gift for; you can communicate through me or ask through anon on tumblr if you can. - No AI art/writing, Gacha edits, face claims, picrews, or bases will be permitted for oc reference submissions or gifts. - Oc x Canon and Oc x Oc ships are 100% allowed. - Fankids, sonas, and self inserts are also allowed; my only rule is that fankids of Lloyd x Canon ships are not permitted. - Please respect requests regarding holiday or seasonal preferences when making a gift. Don’t depict an oc participating in a holiday or seasonal activity that the creator asked not be depicted.

- For the art portion, you must draw the character(s) you were assigned and they must be visible (feel free to ask for clarification) How many ocs can be submitted total? - At least one oc is required, but up to three can be submitted ^^ What will I need for sign ups? - Refs or art that show a clear, colored depiction of your oc. - OR at least two pieces of writing for said oc (does not need to be a whole fic. Could easily just be a quick blurb showing how they’re written as a character) - Basic Information/Fun Facts about your character. This can be background information, relationships, likes/dislikes, age and height, personality, etc. - Suggestions or prompts for your gift giver. Stuff to help get their brain going. - Your blog name (not the name you go by online but the url name. Like @/Ninjago-Oc-Appreciation. Make sure it’s a tumblr url, and not from any other social media) What’s the general timeline for this event? - Sign ups will officially begin near the end of October, around the week of Halloween. - Assignments will be within the first couple of weeks of November. - You will have until December 23rd to January 7th to finish your piece. These will be the designated posting days. - January 8th to 14th will be the designated late week. How do I sign up? - In Late October, I’ll post a google form where you can submit your oc(s)! There will be one for writing and one for art! - Please reach out to me in someway after signing up. This can be through messages, asks, comments, etc. In the past we’ve had issues with the forms, where they’d “eat’ a submission, and I’d like to know when to check to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Additional Notes: - This will likely be the last year I host the writing portion of the event, unless a significant amount of people show interest. Last event we only had one person sign up, and the one before that we just barely got two. - Google forms does require an email in order to make submissions with images and documents, a necessary part of the sign up process. The process is entirely private on your end, so I will not be seeing the emails used. - We’ll be using #NOSS2024 and #SecretNinja2024 as tags for this event! That’s all! If you have any questions feel free to let me know, I tried to cover everything but I may have missed something!

[bao3bei4]

why zines? how zines?

i was on a panel at fanworks con 2023 about zines today. it was a lot of fun! i decided to turn my portion of the talk into a post for my friends who couldn’t make it to the panel. 

this post includes my thoughts on: 

why make a zine

how to generate ideas for zines

how to finish your zines

how to build an audience for your zines

so why zines? what are they? [ZEENS, rhymes with beans], pronounced that way because it’s a shortened form of the word magazine, are basically just that: self published magazines. but why make a zine over, say, a blog post? or any other piece of art. 

i have basically three reasons. the first is that making little books is cool. it’s genuinely awesome to make physical zines and have the product of your labor in your hand. it’s a great feeling to finish a project and feel a concrete reward, and a lot of times we don’t get that in our lives.

the second reason is that zines give you absolute editorial control. you can put anything you want on a page. whatever layout, whatever order, whatever fold, whatever content. you name it, you can do it. this is something other venues rarely give you. for artists, it’s phenomenal. and for the rest of us, it gives us the ability to become artists for a little bit, as we lay things out.

the third reason is that zines can be absolute shit. in fact, the more shit they are, the more diy and punk they are. they have an incredible lineage of stolen copy paper and anarchist politics. all that to say, is that there are no standards. the zine ethos is say what you wanna say. it’s tremendously freeing to go fuck polish and respectability, i’m making my project.

because of these three reasons, i want to encourage you to get started making zines by describing common challenges and worries and giving you several practical tips for each on working past them. so, in order, they’re “i don’t know what to make a zine about,” “i struggle to finish projects,” and “no one will read my zines.” let’s get into it.

first up, “i don’t know what to make a zine about.” i think this one is pretty common, even for experienced zine creators. sometimes you’re in the mood to make things but you have no clue what. a lot of people suggest to just go with random words or whatever pops into your head, but i’m picky! i find that unsatisfying! so here are some tips for people in the same boat. 

ONE: what’s distracting you? work with it. because anything can be a zine, let the things you’ve already done serve as inspiration. photos you’ve taken can be formatted into a zine. is there a game sucking up your attention? make a zine about it. the song stuck in your head can turn into a lyricbook, forgotten works in progress or sketches can be resurrected, cannibalized, or even published as incomplete zines. if you’ve been busy with real life, maybe the recipes you’ve been making—even if, especially if, they’re struggle meals, can turn into zines. interview your most interesting friend. summarize a book you read recently. even if you’ve just been doomscrolling, that’s a zine too! i got a zine last weekend called bay area newsreel which was collecting recent articles about local news from leftist perspectives gathered up into a handy volume. your attention is a gift, so look at what zine fodder it’s accumulated for you naturally. 

SECOND: add a twist. sometimes i have an idea but it isn’t quite right. it just seems too straightforward. so i try to develop along a single axis of content or form. what this means is basically go against your instincts, or rather, your first impulse. that first idea is very hard to walk away from, but doing so often gives you an idea that gets you unstuck. so for content, add a different perspective. for me this is often a theoretical approach. when i was stuck on my scum villain zine, turning it into freud zine let the words start flowing. next, on form: present it differently than your first instinct is to. if my first thought is “essay,” i try to figure out how to chunk out the information into modules or how to add interactivity or what kind of illustrations to add. if my first thought is “this could be a fic or comic,” i try turning it into an essay. saying things a different way often gives you a new perspective on the content as well. 

THIRD: copy! make your take on the same thing as someone else. it’s not stealing—well, ideally it isn’t. make your original take and give credit where credit is due and ask permission if necessary. but engage with the medium!!! making zines without reading zines is the same thing as trying to write a paper without citing sources, or a novel without reading your contemporaries. that is, you can do it, but it’s hard. zines are a genre into themselves so figure out how to situate yourself in their ongoing dialogue. an example of this from my own practice is that i own a zine about queer gods and mythological creatures from chinese history. reading it i was like. why don’t they talk about this. why don’t they talk about that. and that became the basis for my own zine, guaitai the strange and the queer which focused on queer chinese history and literature instead. different zine, same inspiration. 

all of my ideas suppose you have SOMETHING going on. what if you truly have nothing. my advice? adapted from my “how to write an essay” blog post, is to read a book. read an article. read something. and then post about it. and then turn your posts into a zine. don’t start entirely from scratch — give yourself a scaffolding. so first. read something and tell someone about it. i wasn’t lying about calling myself a consummate poster. it’s a big part of my thought process. 

second up, what if “i struggle to finish projects.” i’m no stranger to having a bunch of half finished half started projects lying around. but here are some zine-specific tips i have for addressing that.

FIRST! go smaller; go shittier. reduce the scope of your projects. make one pagers, lists. once when i was feeling stymied, i made a physical zine about movies i’d watched that month, just listing them with a couple bullet points on each film. i eventually turned it into a bigger digital zine where i listed movies i’d watched over the past several months with more thoughts on them, and nicely formatted. but that was something that came out of reducing my scope from “i need to write a manifesto on a movie i’ve watched recently” to “well i can just tell people about it” to “i can say two things about it.” and something actually got finished.

SECOND. your friends are a great tool for accountability. something i like to do is zine jams with my friends. nothing fancy, it’s just we’ll sit down for an hour and go we’re going to make something in this hour. or, for a bigger scope, we might work separately but commit to making a zine that weekend. it’s nice to have community and it’s nice to feel a little bit of a friendly deadline. i recommend this even if you DON’T have problems finishing zines. it’s a good time. 

THIRD. a lot of times if the words aren’t coming easily, it’s because i’m not trying to say the right thing. keep in mind that your zines don’t have to be “content.” this little paper zine i made about movies wasn’t made to share online; in fact, it’s not available online. i didn’t make it according to what other people would see or be interested in. you can and will burn out on making “marketable” content. corollary to this: sometimes what i have to say is something i DON’T want to share online. it might not be that it’s boring, it might be that it’s too personal. and i share a lot online, i write personal essays after all. but some projects i stall on because they’re really just for me, and i’m again, focused on making content. so this piece of advice is about rejecting the tyranny of the imaginary audience. 

and the next challenge is about embracing that audience! what if no one reads your zines, something that’s entirely possible. well there’s plenty you can do about that.

FIRST. cultivate zine community. read other people’s zines! talk to them about their zines! this greatly increases the chance that they will do the same for you. don’t go in expecting reciprocity; do it for its own sake, but it’s a great place to start. try asking people at zine fests if they’d be willing to trade with you, for instance. 

SECOND. write for yourself. it’s cheesy but it’s true. you really have to. if you’re not proud and happy with what you’re making on its own merits, what’s the point. now because this is a cop out tip, i’m not counting it as a tip on its own. 

so SECOND PART TWO. make your zines more accessible. if they’re not free, make them free—yes, you deserve to be compensated for your work, but it’s up to you to decide if you want a bigger audience first. if your zines aren’t short, make them shorter. make them short enough that you can post their entirety on social media or something else easy for your audience to consume. it’s a big ask sometimes to get someone to download your pdf! if they’re physical, hand them out to people you meet. remove all the barriers to entry.

THIRD. related to this, change medium. if you’re not making physical zines, try printing them out. if you’re not making digital zines, try digitizing them. both of these offer access to new audiences and new people who might be more interested in one form than another. 

i hope these thoughts encourage you to make a zine! if you do, please let me see it. i love reading zines. 

[pixelatedraindrops]

Happy 1st Anniversary RainCode!

☔️6🔎30👻

Thank you for bringing me so much joy 💜💕

(and thank you for giving me the gift that is yuma kokohead)

I didn’t think I’d make art for it at first, but I figured this game has done so much for me, so I’ll give back by drawing the duo that started it all 💜🩷 These two are such an iconic pair and I will draw them together as much as possible c: (tho Shinigami will be mostly in her ghost form if I do)

First time drawing human form Shinigami non-chibi, and I admit she was a little tricky with that outfit. But I think I did it decently enough… xD

little bonus for the kokogami enjoyers 💕

miss death god is too much woman for this little boy to handle~ 🤭

i know he's an adult but can you honestly look at him without context and say this is a man??? he's just an eemey meemey little guy.

Personal Rambling below (because I love this game so much)

WARNING MINI ESSAY INCOMING (lmao)

Oh RainCode... Where do I even begin...

RainCode is a game that has changed my life along with likely many other people’s lives. Although the premise of it is fairly straightforward, the characters and atmosphere make this game so much more. The successor to Danganropa is honestly its own unique story and structure, and tbh I think I love and enjoy it far more than Danganronpa. But this game…is just so much more for me.

I truly never expected this game to be such an impact on my life, let alone become my next fixation.

So, for history, I was honestly in no real hurry to get the game on its release date last year, so I got it a day later. On July 1st, I played the game for the first time. And I didn’t think much of it at first. The only thing that was on my mind when I started this game, was that I was positive I was going to be treating the protagonist like Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirigiri’s son the whole time.

This was the first post I made about RainCode back on twitter in 2023.

Yeah... Kinda silly when I look at it now... XD But I do still beleive this headcanon.

When I started the game my 2016 fixation of Danganronpa came back a bit. As a previous DR lover, I did make comparisons here and there to all of the characters. Yuma was very much like Naegi with his shy and timid demeanor at first due to having amnesia, and it felt like déjà vu when playing through the start of the game. But then it happened. The moment that solidified Yuma as my next and now permanent target. When he got sick/dizzy on the train... God that moment still lives rent free in my head. (I know the cause of it was different/related to the first mystery/case, but as someone who enjoys any sort of sick whump moment, regardless of if its little crumbs or a whole-ass meal it still counted for me) I was still shy and hid in the shadows with my silly little niche back then, but I told myself. Yep, once I finish this game, I’m writing a sickfic for this game and he’s the victim. (though what surprised me was that I wasn’t alone on that, 3 other people made sickfics with yuma before I did so that was a pleasant surprise xD)

As the game went on it shocked and impressed me in many different forms. I realized that this game isn’t the Danganronpa clone I thought it would be. Sure, it had a lot of similar elements and mirrored mini games like Hangman’s Gambit, Spot Selection, and of course the Conclusion Comic of the whole case, but the story the world and the mysteries were honestly different from the way DR structured them. And it pleased me when not many people from the main team had died. Most of the deaths were of side characters that had appeared in their respective chapters. Which honestly was a breath of fresh air for me, and I think that’s the real reason it’s separate from DR. It’s not as cruel and not as stressful. It’s a lot more chill, but the mysteries were still enough to get me excited and look forward to the next maze I would enter. The mystery labyrinths were probably my favorites elements of the game. They were just so much fun. And every single character was so likeable, (yes even some of the peacekeepers were fun aside of one or two that I absolutely despise. mostly yomi and guillame lol but I guess I kinda like yomi a bit more bc of the fandom)

And I grew to love Yuma EVEN more. He is honestly one of the best written protagonists I’ve seen in a long time. It’s hard to do timid protagonists right, but RainCode definitely nailed it with Yuma. He had his moments, but it wasn’t enough to be obnoxious. He also shined in more ways than one. And my god, so many relatable moments… (I have anxiety too xD) He was so charming and cute the whole time and even had his badass moments. This little guy is the whole package and I LOVE him for that. Truly a unique and fun main character that blows every DR protagonist out of the water.

(Yes, I said what I said.)

And the ending, GOOD LORD THE ENDING?? It was so well executed, and the ending twist villain was immediately my second favorite character after the protagonist. I could go on about how much I loved the ending but if I did, we’d be here all day and I don’t want to spoil the entire game…so… I’ll leave it at that.

When I finished the game, I was so satisfied. (Yes I love it more than DR, what are you gonna do about it?) It left me super happy and made me want to make some fan content for it. Though I was still very quiet on twitter and had a feeling since twitter is a more complicated platform, I couldn’t gush about the game too much due to fear of spoiling other people…and when one of your favorite characters is just the whole secret of the game’s core mystery, I couldn’t talk about it too much… >.>

So, then I did the unthinkable. I went back to tumblr… It’s a little embarrassing but this account is actually my old one I had from years ago. I was on tumblr more 2013 to 2017 before I abandoned the site when it no longer seemed fun and there were times that I’d rather forget... (let’s just say that I used to RP with my OCs and…one of my RP ex friends catfished me and it made me feel VERY uncomfortable. I wanted to forget it, so I ran away and never returned.) I was super nervous to come back and try to post again, so my first RC related post was about him being a naegiri child.

After that I began making more edits once I gained access to the sprites and full body arts. I made some Pokémon AU edits because those were always fun, and then I started making feverish edits of Yuma’s sprites. My first post ended up becoming a hit and I caught the attention of some people. They liked what I was doing so it gave me a bit of confidence to continue. I got even more attention, and it made my confidence go up even more.

And then I started trying to draw art again, something I gave up long ago. My first few arts were a little rocky at best, but so many people enjoyed it! One of my older arts ended up becoming pretty popular. Through this my few pieces of art, my many sprite edits, and my first fan fiction (Home Is Where The Heart Is) got me pretty well recognized in the Rain code community on here. So much so that I felt confident enough to give myself a title. The CEO of RainCode Whump or “Whumpcode” and all of this confidence made me decide to turn my blog into a fandom and sick whump blog. It became a full blown obsession that possessed my mind that I've become TOO passionate about. Never thought making these little guys suffer would bring me this much joy... XD

Over time, I’ve drawn more art and written more fics than I ever had for a fandom. Before I never ever made fandom art, and I would usually only write one sickfic per fixation. (my last ones being demon slayer and spy x family) But here I am, making more art pieces than I ever have before (hell even doing a MONTH ART CHALLENGE) and improving even! And having 7 fanfictions of RainCode, 6 with Yuma and one with Makoto. And those two became my prime targets and muses for my art. Drawing them is easier for me and they’re my favorites so it brings me such joy to draw them. I love MakoYuma so much. Maybe not so much romantically, but friendship and familial. They have such potential to be so much, and I adore them. Plus putting them in sicknarios and situations is fun (I think we can all agree on that haha)

I think I’m talking too much, so I will say one more thing. I never thought my fixation on this game would last this long. I was positive it would go away after just a few months at best. The game is great but nothing amazing to keep thinking about for too long for me. But I think the main reason I was able to keep my fixation on this game for almost a year (and ongoing) is because of the fandom. (specifically, the Tumblr fandom, but some people on twitter are cool too) I’m honestly so happy I returned to tumblr and was able to make a name for myself in this community. I have met so many talented artists and creators and even made some new friends (and even got a few apprentices to take under my wing) If it weren’t for everyone’s support, I don’t think I would have ever done this much and made it this far.

I’ve essentially made a platform for myself, and I didn’t think tumblr would be a place I’d check daily ever again. To think this silly little game…would change my life so much and make me happier than I’ve ever been in such a long time. I feel recognized and like I belong, I’m finally able to be loud and proud about my passions for sick whump and not worry too much about it, I’ve finally found my prime target and I have fun with him every time, I’ve gotten back into the arts of drawing and writing again and I think I’ve made some of my best work yet, and I’ve met so many wonderful people and even collaborated with them on some fun projects too! (Here's the most popular one and also the first one I did!)  It’s just been…so wonderful… I am so happy to be part of such a chill talented and fantastic community TwT So thank you everyone… this is all thanks to your support… <3

Sorry I’m getting a little mushy here aren’t I… x’D I just couldn’t be more grateful for this game if I tried… So, thank you so much Rain Code, for existing and doing so much for me and making me so happy… I have never had this much fun in a fixation before, and I never felt like I was ever truly part of any fandom and was always just a lurker. It feels so good to finally feel like part of a fandom you love, and also be well liked, admired and accepted by others despite your niche being a little on the odd side… XD

I really hope there will be a sequel for this game, and we’ll see all these wonderful characters again. After all I’ve been through with this title and how much joy and purpose it brought me, consider me a fan for life. I will be dedicated to every future title in this series and play the hell out of it. And I hope it gains a wider audience come October when it is released for more consoles. (Just hoping no weirdos take over and ruin it with stupid drama and horrible things like the DR fandom…)

Though once new fans come in and are also tumblr users…I wonder what they’d even think of me and my place and takes when it comes to this series… XD (hopefully they’ll be nice to me… XD)

Anyway, I’ve said enough.

Happy Anniversary RainCode!!

☔💜👻🔍

[merp-blerp]

So Claudia Cacace recently posted her last Be More Chill animatic and said in the pinned comment that she had wanted to stop a long time ago when people gave her bad attention; it made me think about how animatic creators at the height of the musical theater fandom were treated horribly, despite being the backbone of that fandom for the longest time. For example, I remember people used to give Mushroomie/Mushie r crap about how they were “copying” Szin’s art style, which is literally impossible. A lot of people in the fandom were clearly inspired my Szin’s artwork because she was one of the most popular artists in the fandom at the time and her art was indeed really good. You can’t “copy” an art style. And when Szin announced that she wasn’t going to make Hamilton animatics anymore “fans” were calling her a liar among other awful things because she had said in a now private (or maybe deleted) Q&A video that she had wanted to do all the songs, despite that fact that she also said in that same video that she was going to keep making Hamilton animatics as long as they were fun for her, which they has ceased to be by the time she had finished Act 1 and a bit of Act 2. It had been years, disinterest naturally happens and that’s okay. There were a lot of animatic creators who stopped for the same reason; animatic creating had stopped being fun for these artist and began to be more like a job rather than the hobby it started out as. Remember most of these creators were making these animatics alone and possibly without much if any pay from YouTube. And on top of that a lot of these creators were minors at the time! They likely had other obligations in life like school and family, not able to have time for a job, let alone a very time consuming, demanding, solo job. Not to mention all the other things these creators had to deal with, like making content in a timely manner so the algorithm didn’t abandon them, or YouTube’s shitty fair use system constantly threatening to copyright claim or strike videos and even entire channels in some cases like Mushroomie. If you were in the musical theater fandom around 2016-2019 you know how important animatics were. Pro-shots were even more rarely made than they are now (like pretty much never), and bootlegs of then-currently running shows stayed up online for only a few days or weeks if you were lucky, so a lot of fans had no way of legally seeing the show(s), and sometimes not even illegally. A lot of people who loved these musicals would love a show for it’s music, but had no clue what the full plot was out of a lack of being able to access the show in an affordable way, affordability still being an issue with Broadway today. So animatics were very vital to people getting at least an idea of how these shows visually looked and an opportunity for artist to do something they loved. This was how people got to see their favorite show in away that YouTube couldn’t (fairly) take down. Quite noticeably, when these animatic creators almost collectively stopped making animatics for these musicals or slowed down around 2019, the fandom fizzled out as well, or at least changed. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t dead like some believe in my opinion, but it’s definitely different. In one way, now that a lot of the most popular shows from this time and others have some kind of pro-shot or shitty movie adaptation, and YouTube being a lot more lose with bootlegs then they used to be, animatics aren’t as vital, but their importance shouldn’t be something to sneeze at and it blows that these animatic creators weren’t treated with the utmost respect they deserved at the height of their popularity. I know I’m pulling an old issue out of the grave and this issue is essential gone, with animatics being made at a less frequent rate than they were at the time, but I’ve never seen this talked about in length. If any animatic creators, currently active or not, are reading this, I hope you continue to enjoy you creations and that people respect you as they should.

[web-novel-polls]

Trans WN Character Tournament

Last Checked: October 30th, 2024 - Please check the original post for updates

Submissions End: TBD

Rules: 

The character must be from a web novel or an adaptation of a WN (common adaptations like manhwa/manhua may be accepted, just within reason)

They don't have to be canonically transgender. The reasoning can be anything from them explicitly wanting to be a different gender/sex or just vibes 

Just stay away from offensive gender stereotypes in propaganda, especially Western gender stereotypes on Asian characters (Ex: Nie Huaisang being more interested in art and fans than fighting might be a more "feminine trait" to Western readers, but Chinese fans have explained that it actually fits with the male scholars of the time period). 

You can still submit any character, but remember to be respectful & conscientious

Tournament Tag: #trans wn character tournament

Jang Hayoung / Jang Hayeong from Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

Gender Identity: Transfem / MTF

Canon Pronouns: she/her (she gets misgendered for a big part of the novel in the unofficial english translation, but when we're in her pov it's she/her)

Submission 2: a woman that got isekai'd into a boy body. learns female swordsmanship, is always correcting people about her gender

Submission 3: She's so fun and silly, unfortunately doesnt get as much time in novel as the main cast, but shes genuinely so funny

Wiki Link

Ling Fengxiao from The #1 Pretty Boy of the Immortal Path

Gender Identity: transfem & nonbinary

Submission:

(tw: transphobia)  i am not claiming that this a good novel by any means & this is kind of nonsense but hear me out: main romance lead of this novel spends like 90% of the time happily presenting as a woman, and this is a vague spoiler but at one point mc and his wife are both "pretending" to be women (ngl i could also submit mc here. much gender to be had but it really has to be unintentional bc of later transphobic plot points) and come across a plant that only blooms valuable flowers when attended to by two beautiful women (ok. whatever) and they're both like "well IM pretending to be a woman but lin shu/ling fengxiao ISNT so she'll carry me across this finish line" and it does bloom! like, it does! the author is like "ohhhh its sickly and this is forcedddd" <- but it does bloom. and the flower spirit that comes of it is fairly explicitly a trans woman, even if she's an object of ridicule. my grasping at scraps theory here is that all of the "you're actually a boy. accept it" said to the spirit is a projection of internalized transphobia. there are three women here but only one of them is willing to say so. if the author was willing to write where the previous characterization led we would have a different story. 

Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Gender Identity: Transfem / MTF

Canon Pronouns/Gender: He/Him, Male

Submission: Scum Villain is a satirical transmigration novel where the protagonist transmigrates into the in-universe novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, which is a male-fantasy novel. Some themes/topics include toxic masculinity, not putting people in boxes and the harm thereof, abandonment, motherhood, identity, and there are several instamces of body snatching/changing. During the plot, due to both the toxic masculinity themes and the author poking at gendering in danmei novels, both the protagonist and binghe are described very femininely. Instead of a usually anti-toxic masculinity plotline where instead it talks about healthy masculinity, scum villain basically just says that the mc and ml should instead stop repressing their natural feminity so they can be happy. Also the novel has transphobic parts but somehow they even wrap around to implying that these two are trans women. Binghe is indirectly described as a trans woman (in a transphobic way) dont get me wrong the transphobic parts are transphobic and shouldnt be in there but its still pertinent. After a certain point, binghe is constantly called maiden-hearted, described as a younger sister reaching out to her elder sister pleading for help (the elder sister here is the protagonist) and is described as being very much like his biological mother in appearance and personality, and as a pretty boy. (His mother su xiyan is described as having the aura of a tyrant, cold and ruthless, as well as masculine, especially in comparison to his biological father, who is described as the runaway young miss in comprison to su xiyans wealthy young master. Also binghe is described as physically similar to her, including her tall height, except for his fathers eyes which makes him not too feminine.) Binghes bio father is described as maidenhearted like binghe. Uses his special blood, which is compared to menstration, in text, for many purposes. When asked his gender he refuses to answer (intext the unreliable narrator says that its due to it being a simple and obvious question but unreliable narrator so who knows for sure) and he is also called bingmei, or younger sister binghe to distingiush him from the original timelines toxically masculine, unhappy bingge, or elder brother binghe.

Wiki Link

Mui Lysander from Unlucky Clover

Canon Pronouns: they/them

Submission: Mui is a canonically nonbinary character in Unlucky Clover. Their existence as a nonbinary person is never a focus of the narrative, but rather just an accepted fact about them. They have a complicated relationship with their family but it doesn't have anything to do with being trans but rather to do with their family having unreasonable expectations of them. Mui lives their life happily as a librarian and lends their strength either in defense of books or for their friends. They appear to be feminine presenting but it is never established what their assigned gender at birth was. It is also unclear whether they always present in a feminine way as there is limited art of their character and limited descriptions of their clothes. 

Image Link

Nirvana Moebius from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint / ORV

Gender Identity: Nonbinary, agender

Canon: pronouns indifferent in canon, agender

Submission Propaganda: a reincarnator that had incarnations of so many genders and entities that identity isn't real to them anymore. 

Ruan Nanzhu (阮南烛) from Kaleidoscope of Death

Gender Identity: transfem & nonbinary

Canon Pronouns: he/him outside of the doors, she/her in drag

Submission: 

This might be considered spoiler-y, but I can't think of another way to bring up important details here. It's part of the premise of the novel if that helps: there are other worlds that the protagonists have to survive for [REDACTED] reasons, and in these worlds there's a certain amount of identity obfuscation—basically, you'll look a little different from your real appearance no matter what you do, but the way that you dress will also affect the appearance that you end up with. Ruan Nanzhu takes every opportunity to dress in feminine ways when they go to these worlds. Yes, there is a secret identity reason behind it, but there's also this clear difference in how Ruan Nanzhu acts as a "man" and a "woman" that it just reads like a form of gender euphoria to me. The novel itself isn't always kind about it (could be that it just depends on the translation you're reading! I couldn't tell you what connotations the original Chinese wording has) but I think it's fairly undeniable that it's a freeing experience for her. So it's not exaaactly canon, but Lin Qiushi (林秋石) uses the right pronouns out loud and in his thoughts as it is signalled to him at the time, so that's nice.

Carrd Link

Shen Qingqiu from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

Gender Identity: transmasc / FTM

Canon Pronouns: he/him

Submission:

he invented xianxia panty liners also he was literally obsessed with a stallion novel that was supposed to be like. be a power fantasy about a cool strong man. I'm not saying he liked pidw I'm just saying he did make the choice to read a stallion novel and was obsessed with Luo Binghe. Sometimes gay thoughts can also be gender envy. SVSSS also looks a lot at like. masculinity and its performance and perception in a way that really slaps if you, like me, think Shen Qingqiu is the Worstest trans guy ever of all time. I'd like to be clear that he is not good representation. He is literally the most dogshit rep. He's homophobic and gay hes transphobic and trans hes the most insufferable trans person youve ever met. He's probably definitely a transmed. Instead of medical transition, sqq got that transmigration transition, and he is absolutely has a weird ass superiority complex about it. also he's a TRANSmigrator its literally right there in the name. Do u see my vision.

Shi Qingxuan from Heaven Official’s Blessing / TGCF

Gender Identity: Transfem / MTF, Nonbinary, Genderfluid

Canon Pronouns: She/Her and He/Him

Submission 1: Canonically switches between female and male forms due to personal preference. Also theres alot of gothic doubling on her plotline as well. 

Submission 2: 

Genderfluid rep Goes by any pronouns depending on form

Trissy from Lord of the Mysteries

Gender Identity: Transfem / MTF

Submission: #1 canon trans character (her class of powers forcefems the user) and war criminal she’s my beautiful blorbo and can do no wrong she should be allowed to kill anyone she wants

Wiki Link

Wu Xie from Lord Seventh (Qi Ye)

Canon Pronouns: he/him

Gender Identity: Transmasc / FTM

Submission: I just think he's neat

Xie Lian from Heaven Official’s Blessing / TGCF

Canon Pronouns: he/him

Gender Identity: Transmasc / FTM 

Submission: He's been trans in my head for so long that it's just kind of part of his character now. 

Yoo Joonghyuk (The Punisher) from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

Canon Pronouns: he/him

Gender Identity: Transfem / MTF

Submission 1: 

1. inexplicably fights with the strictly girl-only sword fighting technique. is the only 'guy' to ever learn it and the only other person who is a discipline is a canon trans girl so 2. has an ability where he can become a woman and when he uses it it's said 'it was still Yoo Joonghyuk. No, it was even more than before' ??? there's no cis explanation for that. also he's canonically the hottest person in the entire universe as a woman based on MC's attractiveness rating 2.5 described as feeling 'conflicted' over the gender changing thing when thinking back on it. I THINK he's conflicted bc he likeeeeed ittt 3. whole arc is about breaking free from her chains and gaining autonomy over her own life and story despite what other people think she should be (trans narrative) 4. there's a binary in the universe (incarnation/constellation) to which everyone is forced to confirm to, but there's a special category of people who refuse to be a part of this and carve their own path in life (transcenders). guess what Yoo Joonghyuk is. thats all i remember shjfjsk she's just in general VERY transfem coded story wise 

Submission 2: his girlification canonically allows him to access a level of power he can't as a man (this form is called The Punisher). brokers a deal at one point where he must undergo transformation into a girl for a certain amount of time every day for a week. goes out of this way to hide said girlification from the main character (Kim Dokja)

Wiki Link

Rejected

Nimona from Nimona

Reason: Not from a web novel

Honeypaw from The Exiled

Reason: Not from a web novel (fancomic)

[thanatoast250]

Every piece of Bloomacncheez has slowly disappeared off the internet. YouTube, Wikia, etc. They’re entitled to their privacy but I’m just curious if they’re okay. Did they finish college? Did they reach their dreams of working in animation? Things I think about some time.

Hey there, Anon

Bloo's DeviantArt is still up along with her Tumblr pages (main and art here) and Twitter, but if she has started using social media again, it isn't under her BMNC moniker.

Her main YouTube page has been down for quite a long time due to some old Copyright issues. This was way back in the old day when Viacom and Universal were hellbent on striking anything and everything that had semblance of their properties, and her page got hit with a bunch of issues from her old parodies. She and I tried to fix it a long time ago but once College time got around, we were both just so busy that we didn't end up getting around to it.

Her Wikia page was deleted because I didn't feel comfortable with how it had been used in the past. When I found out that it existed, I was super excited because it was something I could have worked on and just been a nice thing for her. But I also found out that people were using it to allegedly stalk her; since Wikia/Fandom pages can be edited by anyone, there were anonymous users using it to talk about how she disappeared and how they "found her" and were "watching from the shadows". It was super creepy and I started to clean it up, making the whole wiki nice and pretty and cleaning out as much as I could that would lead people to trying to stalk her or The Classy Peanuts. I became the Content Administrator, so I had full rule over what would and would not be posted, and I made several pages about her, her parodies, characters, and the many people that were either working on or going to work on the stuff (including one for myself that I was going to finish up last).

But the longer I worked on it the more I felt like something was off, and considering Wikia/Fandom doesn't like it when Wikias/Fandom pages are made about IRL people, I reached out and asked a moderator/developer about whether the work I was doing was safe or not, since I didn't want to put either her or any of the other Classy Peanuts (or really anyone) in danger of stalkers and the like. He told me that if that Wikia/Fandom were made today, it would likely be shut down for precisely the reasons/concerns that I had, even though Bloo didn't ever post anything about her IRL life outside of her birthday (I knew about a little bit more about her life, but I never shared any of it, obviously) and there wasn't going to be anything about her or the Peanuts' IRL lives on there. So that being said, I figured that the safest course of action would be to delete the Wikia/Fandom. I have all of the pages downloaded/archived on my computers in the chance that I ever get back in contact with Bloo or one of the Peanuts reaches out to me and says it's okay, but as it stands, the Fandom is down and will not be returning for their safety and respect. So I personally apologize for that.

However, I was informed that I could probably make a page for her on Wikitubia (I think that's what it was called?) because her page has over 10k subscribers, which is the minimum requirement for having a page. I was told that Fandom has more moderation that would help with keeping people from stalking her or posting irrelevant or personal information. It's currently in my ever-growing list of projects, but it'll be up eventually. Probably.

As for the rest of your questions, I can't say. The last time I talked with Bloo was when she was still in college, but she was trying very hard to stay focused and buckle down for everything. There were parts of our interactions and conversations that gave me concerns for her. She was under a lot of stress, and her taking a break from Tumblr (and online in general) was a good thing for her. She was in her final year of college the last time I spoke to her, so I imagine that she did graduate. A lot of her courses and focuses were in Illustration, and she was phenomenal at it, so I like to think that she ended up working what she wanted to. She's a strong person, so I like to believe that she overcame the stresses she was under and did achieve her dreams. At the end of the day, though, I can't give you any direct confirmations though; the last time we talked was back in 2015 or 2016, and her email closed due to inactivity a couple years ago.

The only other people that I can think of that would be able to help you or anyone else more than that are the other Classy Peanuts who knew her IRL because they lived near her and hung out all the time. But the last time I talked to one of the Peanuts they just told me, quote, "if we don't share details about our lives with the public/internet, it means we don't want anyone knowing". Granted, I wasn't exactly level-headed when I asked about it; the last couple conversations I had with Bloo had me concerned for her safety and health, so I was kind of a wreck and very pushy with this person. It's definitely a conversation I could have handled better, though I suppose there's not much I can do about it now.

I think about BMNC a lot, too. I think about all conversations we had, all the times before then where we helped each other get through hardship, all the silly back-and-forths in the early hours on weekdays despite us having classes in the morning, all those fun times. They're good memories and help me keep going when I'm feeling crummy. I still send her Happy Birthday messages on her DA and Tumblr in the off chance she sees them.

I'm sorry I can't be of more help, though. I wish I had more answers for you and all of the people that come to me about it. I don't mind answering questions, I just feel bad that I can't give good and satisfying answers to them.

[korgbelmont]

Choices Insiders August 2024

Here we are once more with this months Insiders

Having seen some of the backgrounds, they've done well to translate these into the book

I'm guessing that this is how the MC will meet their respective Love Interests. I think this is the second time they've used the Speed Dating thing with the other being in Getaway Girls.

The only way I can think of why the MC would go is because maybe the breakup was on mutual terms. But given the recent stories Choices have had about affairs, I have a feeling that it may have resulted from that.

I've seen the cover. It is very clearly AI generated and this is come form of attempt to make it look like they created it by hand. Either way, I haven't got much to say on this one.

To be honest, I'm not overly fussed about this one, I'll have a look at it once it begins it's Wide Release as I'm always willing to give a book a chance before writing it off.

Working with a company that is all about AI is not okay. AI art is not art, AI stories are not stories.

The fact that they have gone in this direction is absolutely disgusting, and people who do art and stories for these things as their careers are now losing out on opportunities.

I'll be interested to see what possible additions get made, and whether it will be like what they did with the Royal Romance or if it will be what I think in film they call legacy sequels.

I'm guessing that this will be about September/October time as it's usually about two-ish months between VIP release and Wide Release.

I'm surprised to see that Plus One is a gender of Choice, I was completely sure it would be a genderlocked book, so this is a nice surprise. We also know now that Bitten is genderlocked.

I must admit, I can't fully remember the last Insiders so I am surprised to see that it is two books releasing this month.

I did see a screenshot posted by @the-unconquered-queen showing that both All Of Us stories begin their release on Wednesday. I think Plus One will begin it's release once Filthy Rich has finished.

It is a shame to see Blades and Crimes 3 being VIP. I am looking forward to these along with Bitten as it sounds like it's a Supernatural book. It's safe to say that Blades 3 is going to be September, then Bitten in October, and Blades in November. Although it could be a case of two in one month, just have to wait and see.

I must admit, I gave up with Filthy Rich about part way through the first Chapter, it wasn't enjoyable and felt like a bit of a drag.

I have fallen behind on Along Came Treble, and it'll probably be a case of catching up once it has finished so I can do so in my own time and not rush to get to chapter x.

Hearts on Fire I thought weren't too bad, curious to see how it will play out.

The Deadliest Game I have also fallen a couple of chapters behind on, but I am enjoying it, absolutely LOVE Farah, she is such a cool Love Interest.

The Ghost of Us is an interesting mystery (even if I already know who the killer is), Grey in part does remind me of Trystan.

I must admit, I never finished Roommates with Benefits, think I got about halfway through and then just kind of forgot about it. I'm not overly fussed about this one either, but I'll have a look at it when it starts.

Nothing on Wide Release for this month, so we'll be going down to four books for a bit.

Given that there are three possible world changing options for Blades, I imagine BK3 is going to be taking the party somewhere else away from Morella.

That's it on this one, keep safe everyone!

P.S. There is an announcement coming soon regarding the future of the transparents

[charmspoint]

Full Foreword

(Context: I wrote a long foreword for dance with the devil but AO3 nerfed me so I'm posting it here :3)

On 30th of June 2021 I published Rabid Dreams, Neon Lights and Your Teeth on My Tongue. It was supposed to be a one shot for an exchange, one that I at first struggled to write, before suddenly managing to find my stride. And what I wrote ended up capturing my imagination so intensely and viciously that on the night I posted it, I started planning the first prequel.

It’s now 14th of June 2024.

Three years later and we are finally here.

In many ways, this fic is my child. I truly think it’s some of the best writing I’ve ever done and certainly the best, most in depth character study I’ve ever done. This fic technically has two iterations, because when I first started writing it, it was supposed to be a 10k oneshot...then a 20k oneshot...then a 70k oneshot. Faced with such a big number, I couldn’t in my right mind post it all together and expect people to read 70k incessant words of a deep au (without a ship dynamic!) so I set to separating it into chapters. To separate it into chapters each previous section of the oneshot had to be rounded into a story that could stand as a chapter, and then of course there were some things I ended up not liking about certain arcs so I changed them, expanded them, shifted the character roles around, gave certain characters more screen time and more impact and well...you can expect to read about 101k words once this fic is fully finished. Just of this. Just of the prequel from Satoru’s POV. It’s hands down the biggest thing I’ve ever written and the big word count is one of the reasons this took so long. The other reason is that I wanted to have a weekly posting schedule. Currently, all chapters save from last two have been fully written, beta read and edited. I’m confident I can give you a regular posting schedule every Friday around this time.

Now for some dedications.

Firstly, this fic is dedicated to Sesshom0ru, who originated the initial prompt that fired off the oneshot and then this fic right after it. Thank you for patiently waiting for the prequel that was promised to you three years ago lmao!

Secondly, this fic is dedicated to Frappe. I met Frappe when she did art for CotA and we became very good friends, so much so that she was quickly wrapped up into the production of this fic. Frappe was going to draw the cover for this fic as well as spot art for each chapter. We were both very excited about it and talked about it constantly and some of that art, especially the cover which is completely stunning, does exist. But unfortunately, Frappe fell out of contact almost two years ago. I don’t know what happened to her but I hope it’s nothing bad. I hope life was just life and she got carried away with it, I still hope I see her discord avatar pop up in my dms again. Out of respect for Frappe I won’t be posting any of the art she had made for the fic, but this fic is still dedicated to her and I hope that one day she still gets to read it. This is for you Frappe, thank you for loving my boys as much as I did <3.

Thirdly, and most importantly, this fic is dedicated to Ker, my beta reader. If there are readers here who had read multiple of my fics, they are probably familiar with Ker’s name. Ker beta reads most of my big projects and most of the little ones that I think are really good. The reason you might have been seeing less of their name pop up in current projects is because I had them sat and beta reading 18 chapters for this crazy fic. And they did such a wonderful job with it too. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better beta reader if I tried, couldn’t find one if I searched the whole internet for them. Ker brings such incredible love and attention to detail to beta reading and editing my fics. I’ve had a fair number of people edit my fics, but only Ker does it with such care and attentiveness. I often say, me and Ker, we are coparents of this fic. It’s theirs as much as it’s mine. They not only beta read it, but also listened to my endless rants about it, encouraged me when I had doubts and cheered me on when I did something well. They don’t just point out grammar mistakes, they carefully go through the chapter and point out where things don’t flow well, when scenes should be expanded, when things should be better explained. They also react with a lot of baby emojis to Satoru’s antics. I have taken to referring to Satoru as Ker’s son whenever he’s doing something stupid. I cannot overstate how much Ker does and has done for this fic. They truly, honestly make me a better writer, not content with just correcting my grammar and then patting my back, but constantly challenging me to do better, to develop more, to surprise them again. I cannot overstate how important Ker is to my writing process and to me personally. This is why this might sound like someone endlessly gushing about their spouse, lmao. But they do deserve it. They stuck with my crazy, violent little story from beginning to the end and are already at the next starting line, eager for more. Ker is the best beta reader I could ask for, my loudest cheerleader and my most beloved. Thank you darling, for being you, you’re irreplaceable to me <3

It might seem silly to have such a long starting note on a silly little gang au fic of a manga that has almost run its course. But this fic took three years to make. A lot of love was put into it, a lot of energy and effort. I hope you all enjoy it and love it as much I do.

[violsva]

February Reading

I liked doing the reading post in January and thinking about books is better than thinking about family things! so here's another one.

Recent: Not all that recent now, but I finished Imre at the beginning of the month and I did actually enjoy it very much. It's very Edwardian, both in style and attitude, but along with the Weird Ideas about ethnicity there's also a sincere attempt to refute misogyny in gay male culture. And idk, the romance is just sweet.

Also read Wired Love by Ella Cheever Thayer, which I first heard of somewhere on tumblr most of a decade ago, and loved that too! And this one actually has surprisingly little in the way of Period Typical Attitudes. People respect each other's boundaries (or, at least, the good ones do) and there's a very nice portrait of life in urban boarding houses in the late 19th century.

Read Paladin's Faith by T. Kingfisher, which I loved all the way through, but I finished it at a point when I had kind of a lot of pain and PMS, which means I have ended up with no ability to comment on it. I liked the ground wights. Oh, also halfway through I decided Wren should ditch her party and marry me. Possibly I have a Type.

Reread an early Cat Sebastian, which, well, it's nice to see how much she's improved.

Still reading and listening to a lot of RWRB fic. I don't think there's anything I want to specifically call out as good, but it's nice and non-demanding. At least as long as I stick to AUs or shove it into the wish-fulfillment area of my brain rather than the class-conscious part. Oh, and I relistened to the first chapter of Life of Crime the other evening, that was great.

Current: In the middle of the climax of Gwen and Art Are Not in Love - thank god for skip-the-line copies, I have been reading this very slowly over the last six weeks. Recommended if it sounds at all like your kind of thing. Hopefully I will finish it on my commute tomorrow.

Have started The AI Who Loved Me by Alyssa Cole, because sometimes reading about living in a dystopia is, what's the word, sympathetic.

Last year I read The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth and wondered why she doesn't have the same reputation as, at least, Ngaio Marsh or Josephine Tey. Now I'm reading The Coldstone and finding it somewhat less impressive. Possibly because of SAD and possibly because it doesn't have any characters I straight up like as much as I liked Jane Smith. But the bit I read today had some very fun sneaking around at night pretending to be a ghost. Also a bicycle. I should read more books with bicycles.

Also I got Poetic Designs by Stephen Adams (one of my university professors) from my brother (we should have two copies between us, but mine has disappeared in a box somewhere) and am rereading that for nice practical unemotional nonfiction and nostalgia.

Future: I am going to pick up a gay sci-fi regency romance that I found in the local library and hope it is as awesome as it could be. And either Sixpenny Octavo by Annick Trent or One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny, depending on whether I feel more like even more regency or even more medieval by then. And I have If You'll Have Me by @eunnieboo on hold at the library.

At some point I'm going to go through my reading file and run the stats to see if I'm actually reading more queer fiction this year than usual. Probably not, honestly.

[sunnybomber]

Choose your bomber; trivia

Selection of random thoughts and hcs for the bros

Yapping below.

White/Shiro

The meanest thing he's ever said was, "I was not impressed with your performance tonight."

Is a fan favorite for the exact opposite reason black is, he's very respectful to all of his opponents, even black. He considers them more as competitors rather than opponents.

Wanted to fight because of karate movies and martial arts films.

Slowly became more adjusted to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and incorporated elements of it (sweeps, reverses etc) into his wrestling.

Uses a jumping/lunging punch, or "superman punch" to catch opponents off guard.

Was a DEFENDING champion (of a regional organization) at a very young age before making it to the world stage.

Many consider him the only true mixed martial artist.

Aged (age in context refers to cumulative lasting damage a fighter takes over the course of the career) very well, is mostly defensively sound.

Only black has ever finished white with strikes.

Him and black began training together. It was mutually beneficial, with white being able to improve his striking in sparring black and black being able to improve his defensive grappling with white.

Mentored red through his regional career, but both had to split off to different trainers at the professional level.

---------------------------------------------------

Black/Kuro

If the term "crash out" was a person.

opposite to white, he spouts pure vinegar and genuinely seems like he hates his opponent.

White and black are 3-2 respectively, with 1 draw.

Both have finished eachother, black in their first fight by R4 TKO and white in their 6th fight by R2 SUB.

His respect only comes post-fight, win or lose. It really throws people off.

Regularly gets into legal trouble for his antics outside of the cage.

One of his opponents teams tried to intimidate one of his teammates, so he gathered them together and swarmed the bus they were on.

Also smashed a bottle on one of his opponents coaches head when they shoved his coach.

Will regularly escalate situations (I'm changing up his character a bit for this, as I will be for the others but his will be most apparent)

Wasn't a good role model at all but would have peaked later in life and matured.

Is NOT a fan of the stick-and-move style despite having the physical attributes to suit it best. He never does something for no reason, everything is done to set up more offense and pile it on.

Despite being a longer, rangey fighter he also prioritizes body shots very well. His favorite kick is the spinning back kick to the body.

Is a master at keeping fights standing, black is actually what got white to improve his grappling to the championship level, by learning how to hold someone as skilled as black down

Funny enough, after he got subbed by red he approached white about training with him, and it was after theyd already fought 3 times.

Granted, neither thought they'd be fighting again, let alone 3 more times.

Shiro and Kuro's rivalry stands as one of the longest running rivalries, as well as the biggest draw in the sports' history.

---------------------------------------------------

Blue/Ao

Was actually a D1 (Division 1) wrestler. His first ten wins were either by ground & pound TKO or slam KO.

Was team mates with red during the regionals (amateurs.)

Blue opted to start a bit later than red and stayed in the regionals for experience.

Red and blue are 1-1, both having finished eachother with strikes.

Red beat blue by standing TKO and blue pulled a 1-off head kick and KOd red.

Gets stunned/wobbled but very difficult to drop.

Has Never been KOd... yet

If he gets cracked really badly he has a tendency to "zombie" his way back into the fight instead of just going down or shooting a takedown.

Accidentally defended his own takedown once after getting wobbled badly.

Since he dropped pressure-wrestling almost entirely, his offensive grappling isn't as good at the top level. But he retained enough to be able to deny takedowns.

Realized he had heavy hands after narrowly escaping a submission and turning his opponents' lights out with a right hand after standing the fight back up.

Is still quite susceptible to upper-body takedowns or well timed entries.

Began developing leg kicks after realizing opponents had a harder time running from his power punches if he damages their legs.

Is actually quite intelligent with his power, always has a plan to "deliver" that power as efficiently as possible.

Has a tendency to get trigger happy, sometimes needs to be reminded by his coach to "take 30 to 40 percent off your shots"

---------------------------------------------------

Pretty

Mentor to pink as well as a team mate and co-trainer to her.

Essentially pioneered the "karate blitzc" style.

Very upright posture, tends to go for "straight kicks" like teeps and lead-leg side kicks.

Can and will break components like opponents' hands if they block too much.

Developed slick boxing and fast 1-2s and 1-2-1s after losing a decision to black where he left too little room for her to kick, but just enough to punch.

Her and black made an agreement pre-fight that neither of them is shooting takedowns. It'd be a pure striking match-up.

As opposed to black, where he relies on a mixture of building up damage and offense over the course of the fight, pretty almost exclusively builds damage throughout a fight.

Alot of her finishes are ref/corner stoppages. Like black, she's not exactly known for putting people's lights out.

She likes to "snap" her kicks out from her hips, this makes it tough to tell what kicks she's throwing and when to defend against it.

Her grappling is a bit less effective than black, she also trained with white (also got to train with black to improve her boxing) in an attempt to get around this but she's never been huge on wrestling.

---------------------------------------------------

Aqua

Was mainly a pressure wrestler who'd submit her opponents but wasn't too active offensively. She'd get the takedown and wait for an opportunity to present itself rather than taking the initiative. basically a "lay n pray" style of grappling.

Occasionally goes for submissions. Landed quite a few earlier in her career, she has several decision wins during this period as well.

The audiences weren't too happy with this.

Very good at reversing/scrambling out of bad positions.

She's still the only person to ever KO red stiff with a single punch.

Even after rolling most of the impact off, black was still wobbled.

The closest anyone's ever came to dropping black.

Not very much skill on the feet (on the feet = standing and striking) but her punching power is usually enough to put most on the back foot.

Very good durability. Has yet to be finished by strikes.

Has a knack for winging big looping overhands.

Has been described as a new fighter ever since her big win over red. She's been described as more of a "marauder."

The shift in fan perspective on her has been night and day. Went from being seen as a boring pure-wrestler to one of the most volatile and exciting fighters on the roster due to the fact that she can end the fight at any time if she lands flush.

---------------------------------------------------

Red

Very good analyst, can sometimes get someone's style down on the fly.

Very good mix of speed and power, although hits quite hard himself.

He regularly trades power for speed and vice versa, he relies on cumulative damage just like black but his punching power is much more intimidating.

Very good wrestler during the regionals. Once he went pro, he began to develop good boxing and kickboxing but made sure to keep up on his grappling.

This gives him an extra layer of both offensive and defensive versatility.

Uses an odd, older school style of blocking where he cover-blocks one side normally with its respective hand and crosses the other hand over his face, in a modified "cross-guard"

Has finishes by both strikes and submissions.

Good defense, tough to hit clean due to mixture of blocks and movement. Has good durability for when defense fails.

Maintains that black was his toughest fight, despite red having 3 victories over him.

Misses training with white.

Very outspoken and direct, isn't a fan of trash talk and when he does talk trash, he means it.

Tends to take things a little too personally

Is the most thrown off by blacks' behavioral patterns.

Despite being younger, he's actually considered a veteran having nearly as many fights as white and black.

This is because he opted to turn professional as soon as possible.

Generally a stand up guy, he hates fouls though.

Can be a little salty sometimes.

---------------------------------------------------

Pink

Most of whats applied to pretty can also be applied to pink as far as styles go.

Very kick heavy, but whereas pretty likes to keep both her hands low, pink always makes sure she has her right hand glued to her face.

This is because she found out she was a bit "chinny" after getting finished.

Since the defensive adjustments she's been far too elusive to finish with just one strike.

Can get wobbled and dropped, but can usually weather it out.

I honestly wish I had more to say about pink... I'll work more of it out as I go.

---------------------------------------------------

Yellow

Like pretty, usually likes to keep both hands low.

Also a little chinny, but their division also has some pretty heavy hitters so it's not surprising.

Their offensive skill is incredible, known for putting on kickboxing masterclasses on top opponents

Very slick with their boxing but mixes kicks into it as well.

Their favorite combination it's a 1-2 followed by a rear-leg roundhouse kick.

Very jolly individual, very different from how much of a killer their are in the cage.

Loves to do funny promotional material.

One time went to a press conference dressed as a famous wrestler.

Has gotten knocked out one time.

In the rematch with the same person, they made the improvements and took the champion to a razor thin decision... one that they were, sadly, on the losing end of.

Since then, modified their style to do as much damage to opponents as efficiently as possible.

Has pretty underrated wrestling. Rarely needs it but can be expected to mix it up every now and again.

Pretty good takedown entries, although to their own admission, can get a bit overzealous with them.

Actually won the interim championship, not quite the undisputed title but it was a belt that put them next in line for the undisputed title.

---------------------------------------------------

Green

Also don't have much I can say about them.

Deceptively long arms for their frame, often catches opponents off guard.

Perfected their "rubber guard" during the regionals.

Has some of the most mindboggling scrambles and reversals ever (in the context of grappling)

Somewhat of a submission specialist off their back.

Career will not last long due to buildup of damage but it'll be a spectacular one for sure.

Fights are always so volatile. One moment it looks like green is gonna get finished, then they roar back and end up finishing their opponent.

Very unorthodox training methods, heavily cardio and durability focused.

More often than not, stops their opponent on cuts or swelling, I.E a doctor stoppage.

Their opponents never look too good after the fight.

Is considered the "boogeyman" of their division.

At the start of their career, they had a very tough time getting fights because no one wanted to fight them.

[skullduggeryandfilibuster]

Introductions to Writeblr From a Writer

So I never wrote one of these. Probably a good a place as any to get my foot in the door.

Who Am I?

I'm John (he/him), and I'm a 21 year old writer. I'm looking for friends, because my greatest fear is being alone in a room of a thousand people because friends are nice to have. I had the unfortunate realization that the only way I can share the stuff I make, is to actually make it? Eugh. Anywho, I'm a big fan of fantasy, mystery, comedy, mythology, folktales and urban legends, and lil guys in funny hats. I'm not here to write or read fanfiction. I respect the field, but it's not for me, apologies.

Well What Are You Here For?

Blogging about writing! Like actually! Not just thinking about it, or murmuring under my breath in the shower how cool it would be to run a blog, but like, actually doing it! I want this to be a place I can give my thoughts about storytelling and art, such as proper reviews or random ravings. I want this to be a place where I can work with other writers to hone our craft, and help each other out! Feedback, support, advice, criticism, you name it. I want this to be a place where I can share what I've written, lest the flashing cursor continue to mock me. From short stories, to tidbits of longer things, to flash fiction to everything in-between. I've been in a writing "rut," you could call it, for some time, and I'm hoping this blog will encourage me to get my fingers typing and track/show off my progress.

Huh, What Are You Writing Then?

I mostly write fantasy. My favorite type of media are stories that can make me laugh one scene and cry the next without missing a beat, so that's what I strive to write. I'm working on several things, but really I'm interested in making new things; stuff from scratch. But I'll share some tidbits of the WIPs I got:

Codename: TOaO

This is the project I've been working on the longest. It is also the one I am least comfortable sharing. Oh, not because it's my baby or my most precious project. It's cause I'm in the process of gutting it and stitching it back together to make my own Frankenstein's Monster! (did you know Frankenstein was the scientist not the--) I've been reassessing how I write and outline and reassessing this story for the last few months, and I'm kinda taking a break to work on something else right now. It's a comedy fantasy story in the vein of Discworld. The main protagonist is the world's biggest normie (that is the truth), who is an aspiring hero! ...And he can hear the narrator of the book but don't worry about that it won't lead to any problems like anxiety or depression or insanity or–– That's all I'm willing to share, because that's the only thing I know is 100% staying. Other characters, conflicts, settings, plot lines... who's to say what'll stay or what'll go? (Me. I'm to say.)

Video Essay About––

So yeah, I'm making a video essay discussing the writing of a television series. "Oh that's cool! What's the show?" Ehaha! Hahaha! Ha... sniff... ha... ugh... "Oh, this is a popular show that you think has bad writing, isn't it?" Nods Yeah... the internet. It's a scary place. And "hating" on things that people agree are bad is still gonna get you hate. But this is a passion project. I am 95% done with the script, and in the process of editing it down. It is sitting at 33k words right now. So yeah, safe to say, whatever show this is, know that I have thoughts. I'm excited to move onto the next phase of actually recording it, so that'll be fun. You'll get to see my beautiful face. (I can assure you I am very beautiful.)

Some Short Stories

These aren't actually WIPs, they're WHFs. (Work has Finished.) I have two short stories, one about a sorcerer's apprentice who murders a spell, another about a delusional overseer on a Southern plantation who is just baffled that one of the enslaved people would run away. Two very different stories, fairly different tones, and I may or may not post them here if people are interested. We'll see. Let me know.

Facts (Fun Optional) About Me

I'm neurodivergent.

I hate all conspiracy theories. Yes, even the fun ones.

I love Scooby-Doo.

I have strong opinions about a fair deal of things...

...But I'm more interested in what other people think about those things and why.

Currently Reading Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. It's pretty good so far. Excited for Wind and Truth.

Thanks for reading. I know that was a lot. I appreciate it. If you're a writer yourself, or hell even if you're not, say hi. I want to see what other writers are up to, I've already followed a few folks, but I'm excited to follow more. Have a great day.

[xxmarvelouslifexx]

Hello to the handful of you who enjoy reading about my adventures. I need to do something besides work and doomscroll so I am attempting to visit all the museums in Balboa Park and making you all hear about it. Since I am driving into the city more, might as well get some visits in while I'm at it. Long post so I will hide the rest of it down below.

First up, kinda mentioned it before but home to the fun cannibalism exhibit:

Museum of Us (formerly known as the Museum of Man)

Anthropology museum! Had a bunch of fascinating exhibits I didn't even get through half of them. They had some replica mayan stelae, which as it turns out are from the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, which was held in Balboa Park and helped turn it into the jewel of San Diego that it is now. This updated exhibit on Mayan culture I thought was well done. In the intro they explained how they worked with Mayan consultants to ensure the exhibit was respectful and reflective of modern Mayan communities. Throughout there were excerpts of the Popol Wuj, one of the foundational sources of their mythology, which I thought was very cool. They also very much went into the impact of colonization on their communities.

My favorite exhibit of the ones I saw: Hostile Terrain 94. It was heavy, I almost cried to be honest. It explores the very deadly human impact of the 1994 "Prevention through Deterrence" US border policy. Which for my non-american followers was the purposeful choice to make official border ports of entry and their surroundings urban areas more difficult for undocumented migrants to cross, leaving them with limited options, such as crossing the barren Sonoran desert instead. The map you see above is the Arizona, USA and Sonora, Mexico border. Those tags you see all over the map are identification tags for all the bodies found of migrants attempting to make the journey. 3,205 from the 1990s through 2020 alone. Manila are identified, orange are unidentified remains.

My parents immigrated from Mexico, as did many of my tias and tios. They were all undocumented for a time. Luckily for them, they all crossed pre-1994 with few difficulties. So I couldn't help it think, that could've been them if things turned out differently. Reading through the tags, seeing how young some were, a woman 19 years old, barely even had a chance to live. And the unidentified remains. How many families are out there still searching for answers? The border isn't just a political talking point. Congress' inability to move on immigration reform is a disgrace when there is so much human suffering occurring at the border and the routes to it.

San Diego Natural History Museum

Moving on to lighter subjects. Dinosaurs and fossils! This place is huge, 4 floors of some amazing exhibits. Again did not even fully finish one floor. Really enjoyed the ecosystems corner that explained the very diverse habits that exist around here. Not to brag but beaches, mountains, deserts, chaparral we got it all.

Look at the ankylosaur and mammoth skeleton. Neat! And below the California Grizzly Bear. It's the one our state flag and also the one we very sadly hunted to extinction in 1922.

One last one because this is getting long.

Museum of Photographic Arts (part of the San Diego Museum of Art)

Apparitions, Bill Armstrong, 2005

They had some very interesting photos here! I had to document this one for you all. No, I was not out of focus, that is what the photos look like. And the subjects are described only as "roman sculptures". So are some of our guys hiding up there? One of them is looking awfully caesar-y to me.

They also have a collection of daguerreotype, ambrotype, and tintypes. Which I had no idea were different things. So fascinating to look at. Did these people imagine we'd still be looking at their photos almost 200 years later?

I've knocked two more museums off the list this week, so another post coming soon. Hope you actually enjoyed this very long post :)

[iantimony]

yay tuesday is back

return of tuesday! i had two weeks in the UK which was very fun but i am definitely vacationed out - i miss my routine. longer trips like that are only fun towards the end if you have a home base that isn't just a hotel room.

listening: newest coral bones ep is very chill. it's only three songs and they're all very vibey but i think my favorite is 'seatac'. i wish they were still posting on bandcamp. alas.

SeaTac - Coral Bones

also got back into listening to the altogether - their album 'when we were kids' is very travel-coded to me for some reason, it was on loop my entire train ride from london up to edinburgh. (i'm also pretty sure brian david gilbert of all people is featured on this album haha)

Billy & Anne - The Altogether

finally, i saw st. vincent live in london this past weekend!!! it was a really good concert, lots of fun, interesting venue. she's definitely got an insane stage presence. the opening act (heartworms) was fun too, my brother and his friend weren't interested and described it as 'moody goth bullshit' and i was like well. that is right up my alley. you boys enjoy the bar im gonna go be moody and goth. it was good!

i think if i do standing room tickets again i need to invest in some platform shoes, at least two or three inches, because some of that was a struggle to see Anything ... i did manage to find a spot where i had a decent little corridor between heads to see the stage, however i was directly behind a guy in a bowler (?? fedora?? idfk) hat and his boyfriend who kept moving around and dancing (fine) and gyrating (also fine ?? i do not consider st. vincent particularly gyrate-able music but what do i know) so i also had to do some leaning side-to-side to see around them. one of her songs has a line about jumping off the london bridge and the way they both looked at each other and pointed gleefully at themselves while going "meeee" was very funny. i bet they're on tumblr, they had the vibes. hello gay guys at the london st. vincent concert, if you're reading this.

reading: i read 'when the angels left the old country' by sacha lamb in the two days that i was alone in edinburgh before my brother came! it was good, speedy read, i enjoyed the characters and overall conceit well enough. probably not on the to-buy list, i'd just rented an ebook for my trip.

some miscellanous articles from my pocket emails:

How to Coexist With a Belligerent Catbird by Caitlin Gibson (<3)

The Last Kid in Ninth Grade Without an iPhone by Liz Kreiger (this was relatable as a kid whose parents did Not let her get anything more complex than a flipphone for emergencies until i got myself one as a senior in high school and i think i was better off for it)

The Case for Doing Laundry Every Day by Rebecca Onion (insane, IMO)

watching: mostly fallow, did watch one of the dunmeshi eps that came out when i was gone with the boy yesterday and will probably watch the second one tonight.

i have Opened the jenny nicholson star wars hotel video, not yet watched, but saw in my patreon emails from friends at the table that the tablefriends did a related episode on their star wars podcast, which, i then noticed like [leo decaprio pointing meme] xeecee spotted in the credits for the cover art ?? i'm not surprised they are aware of each other but i thought it was funny

playing: fallow! completely, for once! no ttrpgs, no video games, etc. i guess i played a Lot of solitaire on my flight back from the uk, maybe that counts lol

making: i did a lot of sketching on my trip! i made a watercolor travel journal that somehow doesn't have enough pages so i'll have to rebind it but oh well. no watercolor pics for now but i'm excited to share those as i go! in the meantime, some sketches i did in the east princes street gardent, the scottish parliament, and the victoria and albert museum in london respectively:

i think once i finish the travel journal ill try to do a higher quality scan of it and upload a pdf somewhere, i feel like that will be fun.

eating: ough i ate a lot of good food in the uk. mostly the non-british food unsurprisingly but i Did have some really good fish & chips moments. last meal of the trip especially we got a recommendation from one of my brother's friends who goes to cambridge and ouuuugh that shit was So good.

misc: it's good to be back ... now i'm back in The Grind (work) but i don't mind it. despite the jetlag i'm feeling refocused and excited to get moving on stuff again. i liked a lot of stuff about the uk (trains, vibes) but i also did not like some stuff (why are the cold meds So weak there lmfao) and overall i'm glad to e home :)

[skypiea]

(I'm with you with regards to the "quite easily I like it" OP post btw! Just wanna make that clear ^^;;) I almost wonder if the gripes are like, in part people who see how the women are drawn and base All Their Opinions of the series on that. That or they got mad at the clown thing Tumblr did and just decided to hate the series for it. Or they're just a little hater, honestly anything can apply. I'm not a fan of OP, haven't seen a second of it to make a decision, but like. 5 or 6 (including you- im not just a random, im just really shy LOL) of my friends are, and the one thing keeping me off from watching it is the fact that it's one of the longest animes still going- And I almost wonder if that also has a part to play in the "lol how can u watch one piece" thing people have going on. Also, have you seen the bananawanis yet?? I don't go here but I love them.

Thanks for the message! I hope you don't mind a bit of rambling (all that I'm capable of, always).

The thing is, I think there are plenty of things to criticize about one piece. I’ve seen and had many thoughtful discussions about elements of the work that can easily be considered harmful stereotypes, as well as some well-intentioned ideas that I think were executed in a subpar and clumsy manner. Some of these are directly a result of the author being only 1 guy with 1 lived experience, some are the result of broader issues in the shonen genre.

And these discussions are great! Everyone is better off for having thought about these potentially damaging aspects deeper, and it’s incredibly important to be able to recognize that an author you respect and follow isn’t perfect and doesn’t need defending over every single thing. And at the same time, I fully respect anyone who has no interest in getting into the work because they don’t want to put up with any of the parts that are far from perfect.

Personally, what I can’t stand is the tone of condescension people are very quick to take… I do not fault anyone for not digging the show's visual style, it's not for everyone. But I don't really appreciate the implication that I'm like, stupid or misogynist or cumbrained just because I enjoy the work overall. Or even because I do enjoy Oda's art; I think he is a really talented artist, but elements of his stylization are not always my favorite, including both his general figures for both women and men. This is not even starting to mention the incredible talents of many of the individual animators who work on the one piece anime, who all put a lot of their own amazing flair into adapting the work.

On the topic of the latter thing, I've truly never understood the length being a barrier to the ability to enjoy the work. It's always really baffled me...? I don't know if it's like, people who are only interested in getting into OP specifically to interact with the fandom, but in my opinion there's no actual factor that makes you need to catch up to current as fast as possible. In my mind, having so much of a new thing is wonderful for me; I'll have a lot of great story to enjoy, I can take it at my own pace, enjoy watching a bit at a time for a long time. I guess everyone just wants to be done with something as fast as possible these days... Pretty sad... Make it last and enjoy it lots :-)

I've gone on for long enough, but basically, I couldn't care less if anyone doesn't enjoy the same thing that I enjoy a lot--that's life! I simply can't stand being treated like some sort of idiot for liking it, and I'm done basically agreeing with those kinds of people by giving them any ground. None of this is a super serious problem of course, just a pet peeve... but what is a blog for if not talking at length about my silly little pet peeves ;-)

Of course I adore the Bananawani, as well as all the other fun and silly animals of the one piece world. I hope we'll see them again one day, it's been so long... Here's one of my favorite one piece species for you, the Lapin. Love these guys.

To finish off, I'm just going to include one of my favorite recent pieces of one piece's animation. Hope everyone's havin a lovely day ^_^

[aclosetfan]

HIIII, I know it's completely random to come and ask about this, but curiosity was already killing me! I really wanted to know your favorite fanfics/users about our community of 5 rises from the shadows every 1 fanart posted per year 🤩 (Laughing at the misery)

But anyway, I'm just asking because you'll always be my favorite even after years, for me no one will ever be able to understand and write the characters exactly the way I imagine you do, and I wanted to know a little more about your point of view on PPG fanfics/creators. (Please never stop even with random headcanons during the week because I need them to make my month happier and survive in this fandom 😭)

The main question is right in the first part, but I just wanted to be able to express a little bit how much I love your profile, even though I'm not very good with words... Thanks for reading this far! ♡ (Sorry if I got some words wrong, English is not my first language and it doesn't even make the top 3. This is my first question on this app, i'm hoping to make a comeback, so please ignore the mistakes for I can sleep peacefully tonight 😀 God I'm addicted to emojis)

Thank you so much! <3 This is so sweet! Really, it means a lot that you like my characterizations so much. It took a lot of practice :) Please don’t apologize for anything!! gosh, this is such a hard ask because there are literally only five people, like you said 😂😂 I feel like I’ve been out of the game for a bit, so if there’s been any new exciting fan stuff, I haven’t seen it.

When it comes to favorite users, I’ve made a lot of friends over the years. A lot of those people have deactivated or moved on after CW announced their show, so, for simplicity, I’m not going to name anyone because I’d feel bad leaving someone out. But truly, I’ve liked everyone I’ve had the opportunity to talk and bond over the show with. The little corner I’ve hung out with is a good group, and it’s nice to still see old faces pop up every once in a while. If anything, I haven't deleted or let go of this blog because I don’t want all the fun posts we’ve made to go too. I like them being somewhere, and it’s still important to me.

With respect to fics I’ll give you three! Whenever I’m asked this, I always link The Notion of Loss by Gold Scribbles (completed). It’s one of my faves. It’s dark. There’s major character death, and it’s not cutesy (which is what I prefer), but I loved loved loved the characterizations.

My next fave fic is no longer available 😭 (or at the very least, I can no longer find it). The premise involves the rrb coming back. Their goal was to kill the girls. They jumped Bubbles to get their attention and attacked her to the point of disfigurement. Of course, Buttercup and Blossom are out for blood via enhanced antidote-X. They end up capturing Boomer as bait (call back to the og show), and are able to fight Brick and Butch. Buttercup kills but not without Butch doing the classic “See, you’re as bad as me! Haha!” which she ends up internalizing in the post-time skip. Blossom ends up killing Brick but at the sacrifice of her own life, which is the only way to stop him, and the scene where she comes to peace with things is heart-wrenching. The epilogue shows Buttercup lamenting over Butch’s last words and honoring her sister by finishing her work. Bubbles, with scarring that never healed, visits Boomer in jail, who she sees every week to spend time with him. She’s kind and polite because she believes he can be better, and it drives him crazy. AND I LOVVVVEEED IT. But it’s gone now. And it hurts.

My third rec is Pencils Tell a Little Too Much by Iminaloine (completed). It's a Butch-centric fic that explores how he's able to channel his anger and more intense emotions through art, which is 10/10!!

And because one of my fic recs doesn't have a link, here's 2 extra! everybody screams at the end of the world by fuckin-rodent (incomplete). While it's incomplete, it sets up a post-apocalyptic story like no other. I also really like heartsickness by the same author, which is a greens story.

Finally, while I don’t want to stop making stuff for you, I’ve obviously slowed down :(( The blog's still on hiatus; I'm sorry! I finished school and have recently started a new job. I don't know when I'll have time to more consistently update, which I know I've been saying for years now, but that's just growing up sometimes :/ And because I've been so busy, I'm feeling pretty uninspired about things. I haven't written anything new in months for any of my own writing projects or fandoms.

I do have another fan blog for my general fan interests that I sometimes write on (justanotherfanwriter). I can't guarantee you'll find something you like, but I'm more active on there solely because that's where I reblog a larger variety of fan content and sometimes write one-shots for other fandoms. But when it comes to the fics, again, I haven't been very inspired, so there isn't much there. It's pretty devoid of my own content, actually. So, I don't have many friends through that blog!

I also have a side blog for my own writing projects, but that has a dismal, like, 10 posts on it because I've got nothing up in my brain rn. Also, it's harder to write when you have no friends to brainstorm with! I def need more friends who'd talk about personal projects with me, not just fanfics!! If anyone has made it this far down the post, let me know if this is something you'd be interested in (just for shits and giggles at this point nothing serious)