#and the humor of this show is kind of like community where it's supposed to be a normal show but the characters are too chaotic

[beanghostprincess]

if one piece were a sitcom sanuso would be the most gut-wrenching, painful slow burn ever

#sometimes i think about sanuso being kind of like chandler and monica but nobody wants to hear me talking abt this for hours #except that they would need more seasons to get together and a lot of more angst #typical will-they-won't-they behavior but at first they're just best friends #sanji kind of like having a new girl every episode bc let's be honest he could flirt in a sitcom #and getting heartbroken every time #and usopp is always there #and the humor of this show is kind of like community where it's supposed to be a normal show but the characters are too chaotic #one piece #sanji #usopp #sanuso

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

How to Write Disability: SPOP vs ATLA

(TW: ableism)

(before i start talking about this, i have to tell you that i am not physically disabled so my observations may not be a 100% correct. i'm only writing this post in relation to my experience with autism. if you feel like something i've said is inaccurate or insensitive, please feel free to let me know!)

so the two characters i wanted to talk about, in reference to writing disabled/neurodivergent characters, is Entrapta from SPOP and Toph from ATLA.

Entrapta is an autistic woman who grew up in solitude, only surrounded by robots. as a result, she is desperate for human etherian connection while at the same time, struggling with social interactions because of her autism.

she was pretty heavily autistic-coded, even before the writers confirmed that she was canonically autistic; she has a hyperfixation on tech and machinery, she is shown to stim a lot, she has a preference for tiny food (likely a sensory issue) and she is not good at reading social cues or communicating in a way that neurotypical people would understand. she is also an extremely intelligent and intuitive person who is not only good at handling tech but also shows love and affection towards people in her own way.

Toph is a character from ATLA, who was born blind. not completely unlike Entrapta, Toph was also raised in solitude, although she had her parents and servants to look after her.

her parents were convinced that Toph was incapable of being independent, because of her blindness, and were unwilling to look past her disability and treat her as a person. as a result, Toph is extremely rebellious and stubborn. she is an incredibly capable individual who learned how to navigate her way through earthbending. however, she still faces difficulties due to her disability and has to rely on her friends every once in a while.

the trope that these two shows share in relation to their disabled characters is the humor. there are jokes made about Entrapta's and Toph's disability in both shows. however, the key element that differentiates these jokes is the target.

Toph was never the butt of a joke in ATLA. in fact, she was the one making jokes about her disability 90% of the time. Toph was comfortable enough with her blindness that she didn't mind joking about it or even pranking the others sometimes.

in fact, one of the running gags in the series is that the other characters forget that Toph is blind because of how insanely capable she is.

Toph is never the butt of the joke, she's the one making fun of the others for forgetting about her disability. and it's all done in good faith.

and whenever someone is being ableist towards Toph, it's taken seriously. it's not played off as a joke and the narrative doesn't act like people mistreating Toph is this funny gag that everyone should laugh at.

now let's come to Entrapta. there are “jokes” in the show made about her disability as well, except these jokes are often made at her expense.

one of the most problematic parts of the show concerning Entrapta is the way Perfuma leashes her TWICE, because she was worried that Entrapta would get distracted and leave the group. so instead of holding Entrapta's hand or something like a normal person would, Perfuma decides that the best way to tackle this situation is to treat Entrapta like an animal and put her on a leash.

this is shown as a joke and is never addressed seriously. the show writers think that Entrapta being dehumanized and infantilized is supposed to be funny and quirky. Entrapta never gets to confront Perfuma about this or gets any kind of closure.

this was the main example of ableism in the show but there are also other minor scenes where we see characters treat her in a way that other characters aren't treated.

examples being Catra using Entrapta's trauma and loneliness to manipulate her, and Mermista literally yanking on Entrapta's hair and yelling at her, because she couldn't understand social cues.

there are also multiple examples of what i'd like to call the “translate nerd language” trope, where one of the other characters get irritated at Entrapta for using technical terms while speaking, and she has to dumb it down for them.

there's a way to write disabled characters and while Entrapta was a very relatable and sympathetic character, the ableism towards her is never addressed. the princesses are never called out on their actions, while Catra gets off scot-free after a vague apology.

when ableism was portrayed in ATLA, it was always taken seriously. Toph was allowed to leave her toxic parents and find people who accepted her for who she is, she was allowed to prove people wrong and be a powerful character in her own right. meanwhile, Entrapta was forced to be friends with the people who mistreated her and she was only kept around because she was useful.

#yes this is a repost because tumblr decided to act weird lol #ableism tw #tw ableism #spop critical #spop salt #spop criticism #spop discourse #spop #she ra #anti spop #neurodivergent #autism #disability #entrapta #toph #atla #also toph was allowed to be vulnerable as well she wasnt strong 100% of the time #she was allowed to talk about her concerns and miss her parents even after the way they treated her #meanwhile entrapta's trauma is never addressed

[hexfloog]

2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024

Can you believe there's barely 10 days left to the year?? Because I can't! Time to lay my feelings bare again!!!

So I definitely slowed down quite a bit compared to 2022, but I still made enough to fill the template and, in spite of everything else, lots of life development things happened these last 365 days that I think makes 2023 one of my best years in recent memory :)

I have less to say about the art this time. The drop in quantity checks out when I stop to reflect on just how much time I spent on each one. I definitely don't have as many sketchy works to show off this time either (probably in no small part due to the fact that I've also slowed down on Detco) - and that's probably owed to having spent most of my art effort this year drawing for other people, be it commissions or fan projects, and I already know that I'm more inclined to take risks when I have just myself to please. It's not a bad thing, that's just how it is.

I suppose my one observation of this year's body of work is that the vast majority of it is quite ambitious. Real pushing-my-comfort-zone stuff, but it's more of a polished brand of risk rather than the kind you get sketching ideas on the spot. Some examples:

February - both a collab and a thing that became a fan cel intended as an autograph piece at a con

April - simultaneously a gift and a very personal piece

June - silly comic (anything humorous is automatically out of my comfort zone)

August - community project + comic page redraw that really tested my ability to find a new style to play with

September - made to become tangible merch (it did)

October - redraw of my very first digital piece

November* - character design from text description only and formal reference sheet commission (my first ever)

December* - digital watercolor + fake children's paperback cover

*active WIP, not yet complete

It's not that much (really, it's average output for me) but I will take my wins where I can get them, especially since this is pretty much the scope of my art projects this year. Didn't really have much time or energy to write, or make more models, or scan more cards, because... ya girl was too busy getting a promotion/raise, moving out, enjoying the best con experience of her life (so far), volunteering, meeting lots of new people, dating again, having general fun, eating good food, trying new things, finishing a monthly art challenge for once, playing creative romhacks, waking up to new career opportunities, etc. etc. etc! It feels like so much happened this year!!

I tend to be harsh on myself and often feel like my life is not going anywhere, but this year really made me feel like I'm finally gaining some momentum again. And like... I don't expect (or want) to live life in the fast lane or anything, but stagnating isn't good, either, and with every passing year I have to ask myself with a little more sincerity what my future looks like.

So all that said, thanks very much for sticking around and suffering me another year <333 Who knows what 2024 will bring!! But for the first time in a while, I think I am looking to it with more than just a resigned "meh" and I hope the same for anyone reading this, too.

#personal #summary of art #summary of art 2023 #2023 summary of art #queue

[bugeyedfreaks]

So I was thinking about the whole “misogyny behind the supposed lack of interest in teenage girl Powerpuffs” statement you made and something hit me: the reason why the reboots suck is because they’re trying to squeeze edgy, Cinemasins-style teenage and adult situations and humor out of perpetually five year old girls and it makes me so mad that Craig said that because teenage girls ALREADY think that their lives end once they have boobies or are interested in girly hobbies and it would be so subversive to have a show that continues off of the “GIRLS CAN BE ANYTHING.” message of the original with “TEENAGE GIRLS CAN DO ANYTHING. THEY DON’T HAVE TO BE MEN LITE TO BE HEROES.” but instead, we get like five reboots of various levels of quality, all because he thinks teenage girls have cooties or whatever.

Oh yeah, what I said on this post! I could have given you a short answer like a normal blogger, but here is my long, rambling answer where I basically agree and get a little off track and go more in detail about the suckiness of the reboots/the suckiness of saying the girls aren't special if they're older... behind the cut. 🤣

“Teenage girls ALREADY think that their lives end once they have boobies or are interested in girly hobbies.” It's definitely not an inherent thought by any means, but I totally know what you're saying. Society and culture and the media and the internet push girls into thinking they have to become a certain kind of "mature" by a certain age and it's awful. And to say that the girls wouldn’t be “special” if they were older felt as if it was reinforcing the whole gross notion that women allegedly turn into completely different creatures at puberty and from there on out rapidly lose their worth/usefulness as they get older. To say that the girls wouldn’t or couldn’t be “special” when they grow up… yeah, the wording was pretty yikes.

I guess I should quickly clarify that I prefer Craig doing what he does best, and I'm perfectly fine with the girls continuing to be kindergarteners if the show gets rebooted or continued. And he hasn't been involved with the series since 2008, so he's not responsible for any of the content in the reboots that have already happened. I don’t believe he’s some raging sexist (…well, I hope not) either, it’s just that the way he’s said some of the things he’s said concerning this topic are kinda… ugh. Poorly communicated. It's frustrating sometimes! 😩

I get what Craig was trying to say: having the girls be ass-kicking kindergarteners is a fun and unique premise (true, and I love them that way, it's OG, baby!), and having them be teenagers or adults… well, there are already a lot of ass-kicking superheroines who are teenagers/adults. But that's such a limited view of who the girls really are. Their being kindergarteners isn’t the only thing that makes them unique compared to other superheroes/hero teams. They’re three sisters (essentially triplets) with a creator who acts as their single-parent father figure (so they have a loving and stable family life), and each one of them has distinct personalities and talents. They’re fully fleshed-out characters on their own, but they’re also incomplete if they aren’t together. How many other superheroes or superheroines are like that?

Regarding the comment he made about their “kryptonite,” I definitely think that an interesting setback (and strength!) of theirs– regardless of them being in kindergarten– is that none of the girls have alter egos, so they can never just have “normal” lives. At least Clark Kent and Diana Prince could maybe pretend to be regular people once in a while. Blossom and Bubbles and Buttercup can’t! No matter how old they become, the girls will always have to deal with their “real world” responsibilities in tandem with their “superhero” responsibilities because they don’t have to hide anything about their powers from the world. Other superheroes’ lives would end if their “normal” identity was exposed: theirs wouldn’t. And then again, no matter what unique responsibilities they’d be facing, no matter their stage in life, they’d continue to have to deal with the positives and negatives of that kind of existence, and, like I've discussed on here before, I think there are soooo many stories that could potentially be explored stemming from that. So... like... come on. Not special, my foot! It's not like their adventures would all of a sudden end or could never be just as unique as they've always been!

In the case of making a story with the girls being older, yeah, that doesn’t automatically mean you need to stuff your show with edgy, "adult" humor. You barely even have to change how they talk. They don’t have to talk about sex or comment on the latest pop culture thing to be “mature.” They don’t have to get all serious and gritty to be “mature.” Those are the kinds of things people in Hollywood think maturity is (does a certain someone who's also in Hollywood believe that, too? 👀). The problem is in the writing, in misunderstanding what the show is and who the characters are in the first place, how they deal with life to begin with, and so far it seems that the right storytellers who could tell really cool stories in that sort of setting who do understand all that haven’t come along yet.

Also, a thing that I feel is critical to getting the tone of the girls as characters right is that they exist in a universe that, while it may have exciting action and fighting and carnage, is still a very silly place. The goofiness of that universe comes with a very specific tone that has not been well replicated in these other iterations of the series. The balance of the girls' “normal” and “superhero” lives is always off-kilter (and I’m gonna be controversial… I think the live-action script didn't hit the mark but was a billion times closer to getting that balance than the 2016 reboot), and the type of humor that gets used is way off in tone (PPG humor ≠ twerking/Simpsons humor/lazy pop culture jokes/sex jokes). Plus, that small but critical dose of sincerity in the writing of the original show barely ever feels like it’s present in any of these newer iterations.

...but what do I know, I dunno, do I even get the characters? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ That's just how I feel about it all. Sorry for all these words, haha.

#me to myself after writing all of this: shhhhh grandma let's get you to bed #but yeah gahhhh there could have been better ways of saying what was said fr #serious time

[beloved-blaiddyd]

Dear Brynlee,

I hope my letter finds you in good health. I appreciate your swift and kind response. I'm quite relieved you do not mind my ignorance at times.

Moving on, I'm quite glad to hear your fondness for both the architect and the Duke. I favour the architect a lot, agreeing that he does put other artists at peace with his reliable nature. His way of communication is certainly one I nod at with great appreciation, and his sentimental disposition easily captures my curiosity.

As for the Duke though, my gaze of favour does not have any particular cause; it is simply that Monsieur Neuvillette an I happen to be close associates, and a friend of a friend certainly deserves my favour.

Of course, though, much like you, even I retain my appreciation for them away from romance. I simply adore them, is all.

Lord Kamisato is a curious one indeed... in spite of his status, it's safe to say that I consider myself quite fortunate to never have had the privilege bad luck to have a chance at interacting with him.

The Bough keeper is a more fascinating character though; I have never exactly been able to pin down his personality in spite of having had multiple chances to speak to him, in all of whom he has been nothing short of poised, respectful, and brilliant.

I believe he drapes on himself the title of a mourner, shading all other of his brighter qualities with its dull colour. He is illusive, but quietly so, never entirely being honest, or a liar; masterfully treading the lines that separate all that is good and evil.

Who dares to observe the observer? I do, of course. I await the day he shows his true nature; perhaps eagerly so.

I would share my enthusiasm for Sir Dmitri as well, should I have known him better; but considering that you adore him so, I believe he must be a good man. He certainly deserves my curiosity, then.

May I ask yet another question? Who do you adore from yet another parallel universe where the star of Stelle/Caelus finds home?

I hope my letters do not disturb you.

Yours Truly,

Chryseis Valois.

Dearest Chryseis,

You have no idea how much happy I was to receive another letter from you. I agree with most of your points, and I can definitely understand your relationship with the Iudex.

You better thank the God you believe in that you've never encountered Lord Kamisato. The Kamisato Commissioner is the elusive type. Perhaps one day you would encounter him. Who knows? Well, perhaps I do. I am an overseer after all.

I think I have a grasp on the former Black Serpent Knight's personality. He is someone I have the privilege of working with as of late, alongside Black Swan and "Medjed". Dainsleif may seem hard to understand upon first meeting, but the subtleties in his speech and humor shines the mote you interact. Though, considering that you are one of our guests, perhaps limited interacts is better. You know well that he asks the most mind boggling questions.

Interest in His Majesty...? Oh, no, you must've misunderstood our relationship. If you saw me inquiring women and men alike about their opinions of our King— it's an act done for my duties rather than... Whatever romantic airs people will label them as. I'm just helping a friend find someone to love him. That's all. Really. Please, believe me. Please.

As for the that other realm... Hmm. Well, Dr. Ratio and Aventurine are very similar to the Professor Veritas and Kakavasha I know— so it's no secret I'm fond of them. Though we'd never met, I think I would get along with Captain Gepard of the Silvermane Guards just fine. Jing Yuan is very hospitable, Kafka is charmingly persuasive, Sparkle is easy to befriend, and Blade is... Something. Hilarious how I found him most difficult to describe when he is my closest friend from that realm. His circumstances are unique, and I suppose I can relate to his... "tendencies".

Well, how about you? Who do you favor from that realm? I don't suppose Mister Aventurine is also in that list? Most people I know are quite obsessed with him. Do tell me your opinion. I'd love to know!

Sincerely,

- Brynlee <3

#Gepard still ain't home it's killing me #$ support conversations #$ a-support = cherry

[riyangiis]

I LOVE FILO ZB1 CONTENT SMMMM i usually have these random thoughts in my head abt what the members would be like as filos AND BRO for me ricky is definitely englishero. specifically those kinds that are fluent in tagalog but just prefer speaking in english

actually ricky is so me what the heck.. 😬😬 HE DEF LISTENS TO HEV ABI😬😬😬 it's either he's conyo and is horrible at filipino or he's just what you described him.. this guy is a bgc boy you can't say no

I think I would still keep the chinese and american in him😂😂.. guys guys what if he's a chinese-filipino that grew up in the us and has little to no knowledge abt the philippines.. bro when he gets there he would be THE airport crush wtf.. his parents told him that he should try to go to a public school but he's concerned and worried that he might get made fun of.. A LOT. so he goes to a private school first, then goes to public once he's able to speak filipino properly and stuff but he's only gonna stay there for a year..

bro def goes like "what's the orange ball with the little egg inside?" LMAOOOO🤣🤣🤣🙏🙏⁉️⁉️ he cringes at those err what do you call them.. the genggeng boys😬 they often tell him to try and hangout with them but he just.. ignores them.. "kumaldag ka nga!!" "wtf is a kaldag??"

bro tries so hard not to show off in the days where you're able to wear civilian clothes instead of the uniform but does it anyway.. "bat may lalaking mukhang pupunta sa party.." he even ricky-fies his own uniform and makes it look richer and more classy than it was originally supposed to be.. ehh you get it

def the guy that has EVERYTHING you need for a project, he doesn't really do anything except make the art and have the supplies.. "gaga nawala ung ink ng marker!" *biglang may 7 na marker, bago pa..* the main reason why he doesn't really do anything in the project because his group mates find it hard to communicate with him since his first languages are english and chinese and when he speaks filipino, he has this weird accent..

he knows how to speak filipino naman, it's just that accent that messes everything up.. medyo insecure siya abt it so he just doesn't speak at all. he also doesn't understand kanal humor AT ALL so his classmates don't really like his type of humor.. when he found out that he actually has english-speaking classmates with aircon humor, he tried his best to befriend him but they thought he was weird or didn't want to become friends with him since they thought he was some rich spoiled kid who knows nothing but money.. heck people even used him because of his wealthy status and got hold of the fact that he likes giving gifts to people he's close with..

he's famous around the school just for his looks, nothing else. when he thought his popularity would give him an advantage to get more friends and have a good image. he caught girls trying to sneak gifts or trying to state at him, he thought that this whole thing was making him uncomfortable but he can't do anything though. that's only gonna ruin his reputation. so he didn't mind and ignored the admirers, they're not really his business anyways. he knows he's handsome, he doesn't have to show it off at all times.

he stopped trying to make friends in his school and just sticked to doing his hobbies when he was bored and continued talking to his friends from china and usa, the others just viewed him as some rich kid anyway. the teacher assigned a project that needs a partner for the class, everyone gets to pick their own partner. he looks around with people debating on who should be their partner. he just continued drawing whatever was in his mind waiting for some unfortunate person to have no choice but be partners with him (to his admirers it's very fortunate to be partners with him.. you can see them fighting on who should be his partner, ricky is just enjoying the thought of being alone with no one disturbing him.

ricky suddenly felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. he looked up to see someone, is it an admirer?

"hello? can I be your partner?"

"huh? oh, sure.."

his attention is now on you instead of the drawing of a rose, ricky was caught off guard because of how.. quick this person asked to be his partner without being shy or nervous. he looked at the group of admirers, now fuming because he already has a partner.

(medyo inaccurate ito sorry😭😭)

#riyangiis #talk2yura ! #yura.writes ! #zb1 #zerobaseone #zerobaseone x reader #zb1 x reader #zb1 x you #zb1 ricky #ricky zb1 #shen ricky x reader #ricky x you #ricky x reader #shen ricky #shen quanrui x reader #shen quanrui #zb1 imagines

[pb-dot]

Writer Q&A Tag

Full disclosure, this is my second attempt at writing this tag. After I was mentioned by @mthollowell-writes I started filling in the questions with the enthusiasm I usually show for these kinds of things. Then, I actually double-checked the post and discovered I was not tagged, but rather mentioned as an inspiration. This flustered me to the point where I plain forgot to read the next line encouraging those tagged in this way to participate as well, and so, not wanting to be gauche, I deleted the post-to-be. Now I know better, and found the whole thing humorous enough to share, so good on me, I say. Q&A below the cut

1)What motivates you to write?

Writing just makes me happy. I might hem and haw about the obscure pain of trying to nail my thoughts to the page, as well as the sheer nightmare that is editing the result, but the truth of the matter is that writing lets me be a happier person. Part of it is no doubt that it allows me to unload one of the several stories I've got rolling around in my head at any given time, and part of it is that I just enjoy the process of it, forming formless thoughts into linear sentences and linear sentences into more or less coherent paragraphs,and so on.

2) A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud/happy of. If not maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them)

The description of Jake's first impressions of 13 sticks with me. I can't quite decide if I think it's good or if I just think it's good-shaped, but it'll do for this example.

There was something with the pensive look in the eyes of the strange young man that just drew out the similes. His eyes weren’t blue, they were like a perfect sky; His hair wasn’t blond and tightly cropped, it was like freshly harvested wheat; His cloak was not over-sized and ill-fitting, it was like an immaterial fog swathing his delicate form. Perhaps the young man could not be comprehended otherwise, at least Jake couldn’t.

3) Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them and what are they like?

I am very fond of the main couple of my book, Jake and 13. There's just something about the slow but inexorable and unashamed way these two grow to rely on each other that really works for me. They both have good cause to be cynical about the world and everything in it, but despite this, there's something about how they are together that allows them to be vulnerable and gentle with each other, and that's the kind of thing that makes me smile.

4) What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

I love the drafting process. Getting words on the page in the form they're supposed to have just fills me with energy, and every time I add a detail that flourishes into a whole subplot or important worldbuilding detail I feel an incredible level of mastery that just fills me with energy. That's not an everyday occurrence, to be clear, but a couple of times per draft I'll get into the "wait, what does that bit I added on a whim imply exactly"-headspace, and often that leads to the discovery of something neat!

5) What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Oh, now this is hard for me. Not because I don't know what to say, but because anything that might constitute bragging is just difficult for my brain to handle. That said, I think I'm really strong on structure and plot, thinking about characters and their struggles and development in terms of part of an overarching story just comes naturally to me and I enjoy working on that scale.

6) What is something in the writeblr community is most enjoyable?

I honestly just love the very specific kind of commiseration writers show to each other, and Writeblr captures it perfectly. There's just something refreshing about posting something like "got distracted from writing by worldbuilding, got distracted from worldbuilding by research about Parisian sewers through history" or whatever and have people popping up like "Oh if I had a dollar every time that happened."

7) A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

I'm a Scrivener boy, and I must say a couple of features of that program help my writing a sizable amount. I enjoy how it's offline and not integrated or associated with any level of AI fuckery on any detectable level. The way it organizes your manuscript on a chapter-chapter level and the chapters on a scene-scene level has also been very useful for getting nitpicky with the structure, in addition to finally getting me to organize my writing into chapters which I had dragged my feet on for months at that point.

8) A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law etc)

I just got done writing up a lengthy summary of The Coal Wars that set the stage for my setting, so while I hatelove it on the level I hatelove most of my ideas, it'll be my pick for this. In short, the city the story takes place in isn't commonly referred to by name because the name it used to have, Imil, is so closely related to the name of the empire it used to be the capital of, Imelia. Imelia was an expansionist maritime empire that maintained colonies and suzerainties all over the world until its chief colony Pelia declared independence after a series of unpopular taxes were levied against them along with the kind of draconic control that an empire might employ against its subjects. This declaration led to a spreading wildfire of requests and demands for emancipation from Imelia's other colonies.

Long story short, Imelia declared war on all of them in an act of imperial hubris. Because control of coal production was such a big deal for the Imelian empire's steampunk technology, these wars were known as The Coal Wars. These wars ended up bankrupting Imelia, and with the hereditary line of emperors cut off with the last empress' death, the whole nation was at a perilous tipping point.

What ultimately decided the fate of the empire was a bunch of the government's debtors and creditors banding together and deciding to repossess the imperial palace, which led to a scuffle between the debtors' private security and the remaining government and their loyalists that saw the last government of Imelia fall in a rather ignoble way. Not wanting to get into the mess of inheriting Imelia's many problems by claiming the throne, the debtors declared the nation of Imelia defunct and went back to their business consolidating industrial and real estate holdings while their security and private military forces maintained a sort of peace in the city.

9) What piece of advice would you say to encourage others to write if they are having a rough patch?

If you are like me and writing in and of itself brings you joy, try to find little moments of calm or clarity to write a bit. Doesn't have to be much. Just fiddling with some sentences or correcting obvious mistakes in your text can be enough to keep your writing fresh in your mind until better days come along.

If you're less energized by the act of writing itself and it's an actual drain on you, I recommend you to not worry about it. Take a break. Rest. Maybe read or watch some fiction, go see some friends, and live whatever slice of life you can in your current state. It might not seem like it, but this is a vital part of writing as well, since you need a steady stream of impressions and thoughts and feelings to fuel your writing, in addition to needing them to live a fulfilling life of course.

10) Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters

I should be way better at reading other writeblrs stuff honestly. There's some good stuff in here. That said, I do enjoy reading up on @stesierra multitude of projects and @dyrewrites' dark, wicked, and delightful Pale Blood. I also have a longer list of people I just like seeing pop up. In no particular order: @anxious-andconfused @starbuds-and-rosedust @words-after-midnight @holdmyteaplease @teacupsandstarlight @ettawritesnstudies @simonambroise @writingamongther0ses @leisoree @wrenofthewords @isabellebissonrouthier @rickie-the-storyteller @robin-writes-a-lot @scifimagpie and of course @mthollowell-writes

Everybody mentioned above can consider themselves tagged in this. I also wouldn't mind getting to know the following people a mite better: @maskedemerald @deadhunter-series @your-absent-father and @unspokenvastlywritten

#writing #writeblr #hearts in clockwork #peebs thinks #the clockwork boy

[inkabelledesigns]

Hey so have I ever told you guys about the most ridiculous thing to happen to me online as a teenager? Yeah I got trolled and harassed by the same guy for so many years that I lost count. And it was all because I told him you shouldn't steal people's Sonic fan character sprite sheets. Here's the story.

So as a teenager, I was really into those SSS Sprite Show videos. It was a genre of Sonic content on YouTube that consisted of Sonic and Shadow with Sonic Advance style sprites, and Silver with a Genesis styled sprite, over realistic photo backgrounds, using Speakonia voices to talk. The humor was often pretty terribly written. The three would often live together, Shadow would beat the crap out of Silver, Sonic was obsessed with the Sex and the City Franchise, Amy was constantly written to be a horrible, obsessive antagonist which sucked, and so many people would recolor Sonic Advance sprites to be their fan characters, which would slowly take over the show and lead to more wacky adventures, becoming more about them than the canon cast. Some were pretty basic recolors, others put a lot of effort in. And as I said, this was a genre, as in, multiple people made sprite series with this setup, all using the same voices and formula, and they all lived in the mansion with the SSS. They were baaaaaaad, but y'know, the kids were having fun, and I used to know a lot of people in this community. I even tried my hand at spriting and got actively told to quit by one of my former boyfriends so I couldn't be better at it than him. Yeah he was a peach. This is sarcasm, he was a dick and incredibly sexist towards me. Hell the amount of sexism I faced from guys in this community was kind of ridiculous. The stuff I went through just for being a girl on the internet in the 2010s was something else. If this part of the sprite community somehow still exists, I hope people have gotten better about that.

Anyway, it was incredibly common for fan character sprite sheets to cross over into each other's series, but not everyone consented to people using your sheets. So often, you'd email people your sheet, and only people who had permission would use it. That is, until some assholes leaked them. One of my friends had their sheet leaked and given to someone else who abused the use of it so much, and then there was all this stuff with emailing where some confident lil shit decided to flaunt that he had all these sheets he wasn't supposed to have. We never found definitive evidence as to who leaked them, but I feel confident that I know who it was. But the person flaunting it, I and this other person called him out. He was not only flaunting the sheets under a false name and using them in hisain account videos (often turning my friend's character into a bitch to make them look bad), but he was also making fake accounts to troll himself to generate sympathy and get people's attention off of it. And when we called him on this, he proceeded to harass us for the better part of a decade. Impersonating me on YouTube to say things I would never say in grammar I would never use, hell, he did that to a lot of people that would go on to call him out. He'd make entire videos on his main account telling us we were awful and to stop harassing him when we weren't, he was the one actively harassing us. The drama was real, and this continued to happen for YEARS after all of us stopped interacting with him, on YouTube, DeviantArt, it was bad, and it bugged me. I would be on vacation with my family, completely unplugged, and then come back to hundreds of messages gumming up my DA inbox from him under fake accounts.

But like, at a certain point you learn to block it out. Like as a teenager, I was worried people would think his impersonation was actually me, and some people did! But anyone who like, actually knew me wasn't fooled, and if you're willing to believe that sort of thing on sight without questioning it in the slightest, maybe you're not someone I need in my life or should care about the opinions of. It was a valuable lesson that not everyone is someone you need to hold in high regard. Be respectful, but also know that not everyone respects you, and their opinions don't need to hold as much weight for you emotionally as someone who does.

The last time I logged into my old DeviantArt, I had like ten messages from deactivated accounts telling me to go fuck myself, from this guy, still impersonating someone else, the same way he had for all that time. It'd gotten a little less frequent while I was still active, but my account has been dead for years. I couldn't believe it, I haven't used my DA since I was what, finishing college? And the messages were recent, it was kind of pathetic.

Like, we just wanted him to stop stealing shit, and there he was, having learned nothing. Consent matters, if you have not been given permission to use someone's character in your creative work, you ask first, and if they say no, you respect that no. You don't get someone to send you their materials, abuse those materials, and then harass people for telling you to knock it off. Yeah, I probably could have been nicer in the way I handled things, I regret that, but knowing what I know now? Regardless of how I behaved, this guy had some unacceptable behavior. And I hope wherever he is now, he's grown up a little. Like, if I really lived rent free in your head for that long, all because I told you not to be a butt to my friend, to respect their boundaries, maybe I'm not the villain in this scenario. Trying to control my actions and obsessing over the fact that I thought you were doing something ugly, when I was an absolute nobody that no one took seriously anyway, isn't nearly as productive as working on bettering yourself. Like genuinely, I hope he's doing better. I felt no sympathy in the moment these things happened, but I do feel a little bad for him now. I've been there, in a place where I cared too much about people's views of me, and it left me wrecked and trying to people please far more than was reasonable. I changed all of who I was in an effort to be liked, and it didn't do me any favors, just made me miserable. It took me so long to learn that hey, you're likable and loveable just by being you, you're not a bad person or failing at being human, you just hadn't found the right people yet. And now you've found people who are in fact great people, and you're gonna be okay. (Yes I went through a character arc and changed as a person for the better, I am far from exactly the same person that I was as a teenager, I've grown. But I'd like to think that some of why people want me around and value me as a friend is because of things I've had inside me all along, things that are core parts of my character. As I often say, maybe being Kat isn't such a bad thing to be after all. Self love and self improvement is a process folks.)

Anyway another community's struggles came up on my feed today, and it reminded me of this story, that's why I'm telling it. To anyone out there that's had to deal with a troll, well, I can't say all experiences are equal, and the internet has changed quite a bit since this happened to me. There are some troll experiences that you can't ignore that will turn into something serious and bad, but there are others that you can brush off, because those trolls don't matter. And there are some that are a complex mix of it all. It's often not worth it to interact with someone that attacks you in bad faith. What I can say is that if someone makes it their life mission to take you down, without really knowing you? Think long and hard about how much time you really want to dedicate to that. Not everyone is going to like you, some people are going to hate you with no real basis or reason for it sometimes. Some people are going to believe things about you that aren't true. The best thing you can do is put your best foot forward, be kind, be courteous, be a thoughtful person, and surround yourself with people who are also kind and thoughtful. Of course, have some self reflection. If someone says your behavior is hurtful, really think about it and analyze yourself, work on yourself, we can always improve. But know that you're not gonna please everyone, and that in and of itself is not a moral failing. It's what you choose to do about it that matters.

The bottom line is this: You can't control how anyone feels about you or behaves, all you can do is control your own actions and make smart choices.

#longpost #sonic sss show #harassment #sexism #sonic sprite community

[heretherebedork]

Hii. Fellow Pining boys lover here! Could you recommend some BL series with unrequited love and long term pining? Thank you so much, lovely.

Unrequited love I can't help much with, honestly, there's not a ton of it in BL? But there are a few. But pining, oh pining, my favorite babies. I will only be recommending ones I love.

I mean, the first is the obvious of MekBoss from My Engineer. One of my personal favorite pining dynamics of all time because I adore piners who pick friendship over love every time until there isn't a choice anymore. But yes. Definitely good pining.

2moons2 is good for a speedrun of pining alongside some very flirty pining and it works very, very well for both, though I suppose arguments could be made about whether or not actively flirting with someone can also be pining but, you know what, I'll make an exception.

Cherry Magic does Kurosawa's pining oh so well and it's darling. Different than Thai pining but definitely one to watching.

Lovely Writer has both pining and unrequited love by the end. Honestly, I have to recommend this one strongly because the pining is delicious, the relationship is great and the unrequited love is painful in a whole rang of ways and goes in so many directions.

About Youth just ended but I cannot help how much I recommend it for the gentleness and pining. Not the plot so much but there is very gentle pining and love and softness.

Bad Buddy is A+ in terms of how much pining truly hurts and how much it can change a person when they know they can't do anything about it and how much that love can change them too. Absolutely A+.

Cherry Blossoms After Winter is truly all about pining that turns to love without distraction. I also love it so much, it's truly traditional yaoi in every sense but done by Korea so it's super stylized.

Cutie Pie is the only show where it is entirely about pining despite them already being in a relationship. Absolutely must watch for pining fans, honestly, both main pairs are established relationship that are still pining for each other because they're in arranged marriages.

En of Love TOSSARA is more like the conclusion of a long pining arc we don't see but it absolutely has to be here because it is glorious.

My Beautiful Man is dual sided pining with agony mixed in and is my purest 11/10 BL so, yes, you should definitely watch this one.

La Cuisine is close to this so Imma stick on here because I have a super soft spot for this little pulp. Very soft, very filled with lots of gentle and soft loving that starts as pining and pining that has lasted a long time.

Minato Shouji Coin Laundry is definitely perfect for this, honestly. They do everything. You gotta watch it for

My one mediocre recommendation: My Gear and Your Gown. This one is longterm pining but it's done super mediocre and they flubbed the ending but ugh SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Enchante also falls here but the ending was even worse for me so I can't recommend that one at all.

Old Fashion Cupcake is the mature version of this, in a lot of ways, but also just an amazing show and you should definitely watch it regardless.

Plus & Minus had good pining but, again, kind of fell apart at the end. But the pining was very, very good.

Secret Crush on You is a cringefest of the deepest emotions that somehow blended longterm pining and stalking into a gorgeous love story that is also... cringe humor but with an amazing message? I love SCOY so much and I think you will too, just remember that they're taking the comedic side characters and giving them depth and heart so that's exactly what it is.

Star in My Mind is very good at the idea of longterm pining on both sides but also deep, deep communication struggles so... watch out for that? I liked it a lot but I know it went too long for a lot of people.

Tonhon Chonlatee is another comedy that I honestly really enjoyed and it's all longterm pining and an oblivious idiot and also Neo Trai in one of his best roles before The Eclipse!

We Best Love No 1 For You is exactly what anyone looking for longterm pining is looking for, honestly, it's fantastic. Fighting Mr Second is... not exactly the same thing but does have a lot of good notes and has a different longterm pining couple that is also a touch more unrequited so this might just be perfect for you?

You're My Sky also has longterm pining in the main couple and is gorgeous.

Anyway, yes there are others but most of the others are ones I wouldn't recommend because I didn't like them. So... enjoy these!

#bl recommendation #bl series #thai bl #bl drama #thai series #thaibl #thai drama #gmmtv #japanese bl #old fashioned cupcake #minato shouji coin laundry #jdrama #tonhon chonlatee #we best love #scoy #star in my mind #utsukushii kare #plus & minus #la cuisine #tossara #about youth #2moons2 #my engineer #longterm pining

[fairydares]

figure this blog could use a pinned post now

[There's a chance I follow you if you follow me, but it'd be under my main username: @underestimated-heroine]

pfp is the character Guts from Berserk. Theme (on desktop) is "Oscar's Theme."

***How to find any post on Tumblr via tags (requires desktop, handy to have in the Fairy Tail fandom imo)***

-i block art reposters and anyone who reblogs them too often to be a mistake. period.

-in the same breath: if i share any kind of reposted fan content it was absolutely, completely an accident. if you have the time/inclination please lmk if i reblogged a repost and i will delete

-on why we don't link our kofis etc. specifically on AO3 (idgaf if you make money off fanfic. in fact, have at it...just not thru AO3 because it endangers our archive.)

-This blog is firmly Pro-fiction, by which I mean "pro the right to let people enjoy fiction as fiction," often called pro-ship. This includes being against anyone who says "pro-ship romanticizes [x]" or "don't like don't read EXCEPT [anything]." I am also defending stuff I personally find disgusting and wouldn't read with this statement. (My own words & more on this, non-graphic cw/tw for basically all the depraved content this discussion entails.)

*tbc I don't like to make DNI's Like This, but due to some personal life experiences, a harassment campaign I went through once upon a time over a (not even sexual) fic I wrote, and some troubling trends and language I now see in this fandom, I feel the need to be clear and also show some solidarity with darkfic writers and enjoyers.

MORE IMPORTANT THAN ANY OF THIS THOUGH.

My Writing

*have never opened up my inbox for fic recs. might someday, if anyone's even really interested, but not right now*

-(Mis)Communication: Gajevy week prompt I wrote f o r e v e r ago, it feels like! AO3 Rating M. Basically Levy misses Gajeel on a girls vacation with Lucy, Juvia, and Cana & tries to sext him. shenanigans ensue.

-Chasing Tails: scrungled-ass Next Gen fic. AO3 Rating E. Premise is that the NaLu child, Nashi, wound up on Our Earth as a child then forgot her family, Fairy Tail, and Earth Land by the time she was 17. Then Natsu finally finds her. Lots of the original beloved FT characters are missing in the beginning and there's a mystery as to why that is. Believe it or not, this fic is supposed to be more humor than anything, at least to my heart. Updates are going slow right now but I'm getting better chapter by chapter, and I'm determined to finish.

-Ice and Igni: feral baby mammoth next gen fic based on the Stone Age Omake, which fascinates me. AO3 Rating M. premise is Greige & Nasha "discovering each other" sort of like Natsu and Lucy did, with the necessary premise feature that the male and female tribes were separated long ago under mysterious circumstances (why do i love doing this?)

-Reminiscing on the Hard Road: a Gruvia one-shot where I basically give one version of events that might have led to Juvia and Gray getting together through memories. Couple-angsty, breakup & makeup fic with a happy ending.

There are others, but i don't feel they're worth mentioning. if you're intensely curious you can find them on ffnet. all fairy tail, for now.

#fairy tail #fairydareswrites #posts i actually wrote #chasing tails #my writing

[lindszeppelin]

So, this is a love letter of sorts to Elvis for his birthday (which is today!!). People are doing this challenge where they write a personal note to Elvis, with things in it that normally wouldn't be said or shared with people, and then you post it. Since he was an avid writer and kept a lot of random notes, he never thought they'd be read by the masses one day. So, a lot of what's being said here will be really personal, and it's things i've only ever thought about in my head and said aloud to Elvis in spirit. Here we go.

Dear Elvis,

I never thought that my life would be forever impacted by watching a movie. But it’s not just a movie. I remember wanting to go into the theaters with the hope of learning more about you, and developing a newfound appreciation for your musical genius. I certainly did experience all of those things, but I also went home that night with you by my side. You’ve always been around me growing up in small ways, and I took note of you, but I was never serious about who you were or what you meant on a larger scale to the entire world. You forever shaped the music industry. Without you there would have been no Beatles - a band that you know means the world to me, and has lifted me up in dark times. Without your effervescent light, the world would be a little dimmer.

The tragedy of your life is not lost on me. I wish you were alive and well today to see just how much you’ve inspired countless people, but also how you’ve changed the music industry at large. You didn’t deserve to die the way you did, you didn’t deserve to be made a mockery and reduced to a Halloween costume or a lip curl. You didn’t deserve to be kept like a bird in a cage made to play shows and sing songs that didn’t align with your souls calling. You didn’t deserve to be hooked onto drugs, which dampened your sunshine. You didn’t deserve to be taken away so soon and miss out on the formative years of Lisa Marie’s life. Sometimes when I think about the end of your life I get angry. There are many people and things to blame for your passing, but I suppose in a way it was all in the cards for you, and you played your hand as best you could.

Your humor, your light, and your presence in my life is what keeps me going every single day. What a blessing it is that our spiritual connection is so deep that I can talk to you everyday, and without fail you’re always there to respond back to me. I never thought it would be possible with my spiritual gifts that I could communicate with not only my ancestors but with yourself. In these couple of months I’ve learned so much about who you are and your personality from the conversations we’ve had. We’ve shared so many laughs, and I thank you for comforting me when I needed it the most. Your embrace is so warm, and your energy is powerful - it leaves me in awe every single day.

Thank you for wiping away my tears and for hugging my sadness away. Thank you for making me laugh and being your goofy self. Thank you for being one of my angels and guiding me through life. One of the many things Austin and I have in common that I cherish is the connection we have to you. You’re like the string that tethers us together, the matchmaker up there in heaven. I will forever take you with me wherever I go, and I know that you’ll be there to help me along my path in life. While there’s been a lot of things that have happened to me that I still find impossible and unimaginable to fathom, you are somehow always there to ground me and provide me with the answers. I don’t know what I did to have you stick to me like glue, but I’ll never want to be unstuck.

You’re a gentle soul, and you’re kind and wonderful. You are so beyond loved by not only myself, but to the entire community. We all love you and wish you a very happy birthday. I feel like within this community of amazing girls that I’ve found my soul family, which I never thought could be possible. You know that I always felt like I could never keep friends for very long and that I’d be okay with just maybe one or two. But now I have an entire armful of close friends and confidants thanks to you, and thanks to Austin as well. You know how I feel about that blonde beauty - I’m grateful to you both.

You know that I’ve struggled to come to grips with the trajectory of my life thus far and where I’ve ended up. I never knew what my purpose was in life. I lived comfortable in my box, afraid of my own shadow. I thought the dreams I had envisioned for myself were too big and I could never attain them, so why bother trying? I subjected myself to a life that made me more depressed because my anxieties told me it’s what I deserved. But that’s not true. With the help of my ancestors, and you being a new member to my angel team up in the ethereal, I feel like I can achieve anything. I’ll make you proud up there, and I know you’ll be looking down on me with a smile. I also know that it’s not just me you watch over in this community, and that strengthens the bond between my friends even more. So thank you.

I love you. I’ll always keep blowing you kisses up to heaven.

Yours for all eternity until we meet one day,

Sugar ❤️

#EP #elvis #elvis presley #thankyouelvis #thank you elvis

[alyjojo]

Past Life 🪡 Karmic Spread January 2024 - Sagittarius

Character Card: The Brawler (past), The Dancer (present)

Gender I’m Picking Up On (in the past life): Male in both

Who You Were: King of Cups

What You Did: 9 Cups

How It Ended: 3 Cups

What Karma Was Brought With You: 2 Wands

Who You Brought With You: Ace of Wands

Additional energy: Knight of Wands

Past Life Oracle: Vows (past), Knighthood & Orphan (present)

Dreaming Way: Snake & Tree (past), Birds (present)

Charms:

Key 🔑 on King of Cups

Dancer (reversed) 💃 on The Dancer

Red Flag (reversed) 🚩 on Knight of Wands

I’m not picking up on a time period, more like time is stale where you are, or that’s your perception of it. Doesn’t feel that long ago. You were born into a Mormon family and the preshuffle along with The Brawler card, shows a woman that’s toxic in your world, maybe your mother, or it could’ve been someone that either was your wife or was supposed to be your wife, because it was once it came time for marriage that you bolted out of this community and everyone you’d ever known as family. I’m getting you had a very difficult & painful childhood, there was not a single day you accepted the religion you were force fed, but you loved your family. Of course you did. King of Cups is key, that was you, and the genuine love you had for the people you cared about never faltered, even though you couldn’t agree with them or subject yourself to the kind of life they insisted on leading.

But rather than living a life of struggle, sadness, abandonment, you didn’t do any of that. You made a stable life for yourself outside of this community you considered to be toxic - Snake shows it’s those closest to you that were, because of this community, because of religion - Vows. You wanted no part of it, and left, some of these people you never saw again…and you accepted that. What you ended up doing was creating a new family, of others who had left too, either from the same community or just other “exiles” like you, and I’m literally seeing another community of people that support each other and gather like family. That was your family 💯 You did marry (or close enough idk about legally), did have children, and never subjected them to the beliefs you came from. The love was still there, and only grew within a whole group of families, it was just your *chosen* family. You died from being hit by a drunk/reckless driver, from your injuries, again showing this wasn’t so long ago cars didn’t exist, but I get no specific area or time period for where/when this could be, just the feeling of your transition from what feels like The Dark Ages - to a more modern society.

Your energy in this life is very positive ❤️ You still have issues with parents, Orphan came out and that can be literal, or you may have lost a parent when you were very young, in what could be a tragedy similar to how your last life ended. Sudden, unexpected, it’s described by The Tower. Again, despite experiences that could be quite dark, difficult, sad, you don’t show it in any of your energy. You don’t dwell on pain. You’re described as Knight of Wands twice, Sagittarius energy, with Red Flag rev on it, showing it’s the most positive expressions of Sagittarius and none of the ick. You could have 0-3’ placements in your chart, your energy is exciting, adventurous, never boring, probably having a great sense of humor and always playful, lighthearted, up for anything. Childlike in the best way. You could be really young too, teens or around there, or your heart always will be a lot of fun, no matter how old. You aren’t one for dwelling on overly serious things, but you are always ready to explore, discover, and find something new to get excited about. You probably have a lot of friends and prefer for others to go with you on your adventures, you’re not a fan of hanging out by yourself. King of Wands clarifying the Knight shows you’ll always be this way, even grown, it’s what people love about you. Or you may be a wise person/old soul inside of a young body. You’re like fun & sunshine in a person, human Vitamin D 😁

The only things I’m seeing as challenges, after childhood, are The Dancer card with The Dancer charm being rev. This is a card showing that you care too much what people think, and hold yourself back from expressing your talents - which could literally be dancing, but doesn’t have to be. Anything. I keep hearing gaming with this Knighthood card, you may have played with Knights & castles 🏰 as a child, or you really like tv shows or video games that are more medieval in nature, D&D could be one of them. If so, there’s some sort of talent you have in regards to your interests, and you don’t do them. Could be shy, but I don’t get that, more like you’re afraid what other people would say. Criticism. Spirit is saying fk people, you do you and people like you will love it and seek you out. Birds shows a need to be careful of snide gossipers around you, if they’re talking shit to you, they’ll talk shit about you too, and your energy is too good for that, fun, wholesome even, you’re here to show off some really cool skill or interest, and the rest will come as it comes, you’re not worried, or if you are, you don’t have to be. You’re supposed to be everything that you are, it’s a blessing 💚

#Sagittarius #past life reading #january 2024 #past life #karmic lessons #karma #tarot #tarotblr

[lacktastrophe]

That eternal flame page where lucy says that mike thinks she like seeing him miserable always rub me the wrong way, i mean he has reasons to think like that, when she came back he tried (although badly) to fix things and then she ignore him and say horrible things to him in his ear range, that doesn´t make her better than him in december

I feel we might be being a bit too hard on Lucy.

Cut because this is LOOOOOONG.

You're right in that Lucy's portrayal is very different comparing the original to the Omnibus. The main reason for this is because the audience changed during the course of the original and that's more than evident in what had been Volume 1, as BCB was originally slapstick comedy. Lucy was the sweet girl with an abraisive side the cast would often find themselves on, and Mike was the straight man of a comedy duo as they went through their school years.

A lot of the earliest in-fighting in the community was over the comic staying true to its roots when Veronica showed she wanted to tell a different story through inserting drama into various chapters (Hellooooo confrontation). When BCB gained more exposure, it started attracting even more people over the drama as well, but Veronica tried entertaining both audiences for a while until eventually the drama side won out.

The one bad side to trying to entertain both audiences for a whole volume is it left a, uh, bad predicent in the future, particularly when it came to Lucy's character, and this was felt more when the spotlight left her and Mike's relationship because we started to get starved for Lucy development. You aren't really supposed to have the audience sympathise with the antagonistic lead or show depth in a slapstick since that takes the fun out of it. But at the same time, we're are expected to sympathise with Lucy when we start noticing that not everything is what it appears to be, and Lucy was really this troubled kid at heart who has difficulty getting her feelings across the table. Volume 1 existed in two worlds.

Its for that reason I really feel like from the start, Volume 1 might be the source for a lot of people being hard-bent out of shape with Lucy and with people who are sympathic with Lucy today. It's kind of hard to imagine why this wouldn't be the case, because once the spotlight left her and her relationship with Mike in Volume 2 and 3 and started focusing on the other characters, I felt if people wanted to learn more about Lucy, they would've likely head back to Volume 1 to look for clues, and they would've found things that didn't look quite right; a Lucy that appeared so mean and cold to people, where originally she was supposed to be 'indifferent' to the things around her like she would be in a slapstick, and things have gotten lost in translation as the story and years progressed.

If you really wanted to understand Lucy, I really feel like you needed to discard Volume 1, because Volume 2 was where we started seeing answers to some of the abraisiveness, like when we learn that parts of her aggression are the result of her masking her vulnerabilities.

I don't feel it mattered how hard Veronica tried to try and convince people Lucy was worth sympathising over when she made her return, I think people fell that far in "love" with Volume 1 Lucy they wouldn't budge when she made her return.

I feel the Omnibus has corrected this course, it really tuned the feel of the original story for the audience it's ended with, while also keeping most of the original humor intact. It's also allowed Veronica to refine Lucy through subtle changes, but more so with the dialogue. I feel like it works even better now.

Going back to the first part of the ask; Lucy had every reason to turn Mike down in Unspoken Rule. The differences between both of these attempts to reconcile was in December, Lucy wanted to rekindle her friendship with Mike, in Unspoken Rule, Mike wanted to rekindle the friendship, but not for her sake.

We're at a part in the story knowing that Lucy finds her relationship with Mike invaluable, and we know this through the things she's willing to sacrifice in order to make that a possibility. That became ever the more clear in Eternal Flame when she was willing to undo all her person growth and being rid of her co-dependency, just so Mike would be back in her life for good this time -- All of it out the door. She didn't even resist his attempt to kiss her initially either, because ultimately she wanted it, she wanted him. Every other friendship pales in comparison; there had been various reasons, but there just is no alternative to Mike. We've known this from some of her actions in the past too where she had even turned down the chances of a (dubiously) better relationships with the other characters a number of times. I'm not talking about chapters where she made obvious like in After You, I'm talking further back in chapters like Carry Me, where you thought she was going to get along with Paulo after all that attentive effort to look after her and get them both home. But all Mike just needs to do is show some concern, pull out asprin and she's already forgotten about Paulo. That's how bad it is. Mike is irreplacable. He's had a long time presence in her life. It's not easy to replace him at all.

I wish it were the same with Unspoken Rule, but it wasn't; Mike wanted to rekindle the relationship, but not for Lucy's sake. Mike wanted it because he'd been having nightmares of his relationship with Sandy failing, and he had been running out of people to turn to who would convince him the relationship would work out. Despite her absence, Lucy had yet to make a slight remark at Sandy, though that would be something that would happen on the following page.

Had this not been the case and it actually were for Lucy's sake too, Mike would've needed to come clean on some of the meant back in December in his apology, something he had been meaning to explain ever since the night of the play. But that was something he couldn't suddenly bring himself to do. The reason for this is because he's hardwired himself to focus on only the negative side of Lucy. It's this way because he remembers how unhealthy the relationship had been. But, choosing to suppress some of the better moments with Lucy, couldn't help but to see reason to think that might also have something to do with showing obedience and loyalty to Sandy at the same time.

After all...

December was different at its core because Lucy was trying to get Mike to remember the better points of their friendship to try and save it, by getting him to remember. She'd be partially successful in this, as her way of getting him to see this would be playing their favourite pass-time, but playing her least favourite game, and giving him all the advantages. She'd be the punching bag for all the frustation in the past.

Well, it wouldn't be as great as saying sorry, but to say the two didn't appear to get alone would be wrong. Mike gets thrashed regardless and we find out he's stopped doing his favourite passtime. All the games he owns are two players. We'd probably have to assume they also reminded him of her too.

I'd be confident that Lucy would've attempted to reconcile more had the right moment and opportunity arise. But we wouldn't get that chance, as when Sandy re-enters the frame, we see a transformation in Mike. The hours and laughter before becoming meaningless in no shortage of time. The hard-wire is back in place.

We understand the origin of this change in no shortage of time through the next few pages as a glimpse into the past when Mike is telling Sandy about his day on two occassions, and Sandy becoming upset and distraught upon learning that Mike is being hurt by a friend. Mike takes this to heart.

It's a few chapters later we would understand this to have been a misunderstanding on Mike's behalf, as Sandy would have only really meant that he would've talked it out with Lucy.

But Mike had reflected on his relationship with Lucy during that time and would find that he was in an unhealthy and toxic relationship. Lucy had not been a good friend in all instances and resolves to cut her out as much as he could. He's within his reason to believe this given the times that Lucy had been pretty terrible, but at the same time Mike had volunterily suppressed the times when Lucy wasn't. More on that a litte later.

Towards the end of December, Mike unleashes hell for years of anguish. You would feel it deserved and justified, and while it could be from Mike's perspective, from our own we know Lucy had been trying as hard not to resembe what she had been like previously. Regardless, the friendship gets severed.

The first real opportunity to set things right would arise in the very same chapter when Sandy asks Mike to talk it out with Lucy.

Mike turns back twice in this chapter. The first one from his own will. The second when Lily begs him to leave, knowing he's hurt her.

The thing to note is Mike's pained expression in the very bottom of the page, he's forcing himself to do this knowing his perspective. But this attempt, if it would've helped doesn't go ahead, as Lily asks him to leave. He does.

The first real attempt to comes in Curtain Call, but it's only after Lucy graces him during the play, Mike suddenly remembers a moment from their childhood between them, and this becomes the main motivator for him to try and repair the damage from December.

It would be too late though by this point as the gears were in motion for Lucy to move.

And Lucy would attempt to take her life at this sudden twist in fate.

So, you're probably wondering why go back through all that? Well, the time between Curtain Call and Love again is the duration of Lucy absence and the next attempt for Mike to apologise. Mike attempts to talk to her in the next chapter after Love Again, Unspoken Rule.

We don't immediately understand until much later that during the entirity of Lucy's return she's been ascertaining who is really a friend to her. Towards Mike, there's a particular side of indifference because she really doesn't know if Mike wants them to be friends again.

When we come to Mike during the dodgeball, hearing David say the whole purpose of the class is to simply beat people up, well, there's an involuntary memory.

Mike is resigned to losing as Lucy takes very much everyone down. But becomes agitated as Lucy drags the game on. The PE teacher is pretty accurate when she calls out the mindgame.

For most of the duration of her return Lucy is judging the character of those around her and testing out various predictions. We can be pretty sure Lucy letting Mike take the initiative between their showdown was one of those. Whether the freakout was anticipated or not, we can see here that something about Lucy is clearly still biting with Mike.

Mike tracking her down at the end of the day comes with a mixture of emotions; we are fairly sure he feels guilty after learning what happened to Lucy in Breaking up. He felt that guilt back at the dodgeball game too and wanted her to hurry up and get it over with. He might have been prepared to lose if it would've meant something towards that guilt.

The problem though is the meaning behind the guilt, because the one that obviously matters to Lucy is not the one Mike's concerned himself with. She's more concerned with what he meant back then in December. Mike doesn't have the answer to it.

Well, actually, he did have an answer, but he wouldn't admit it; it's Sandy.

Lucy denied Mike a chance at apologising back in Unspoken Rule because his apology would've been worthless at that point in time. There is much more meaning when Lucy tells him 'When it comes to Sandy, it's only ever about her. Friend or not.' We've seen this play out a number of times, especially when Mike was starting to lose his mind and the others who found themselves getting in the way of him and Sandy are either assaulted or accosted when doing so.

Friend...

...or not, as Augustus was expecting it too and makes a point of that when he confronts Mike over his failing relationships.

Had Mike gone through with the apology, it wouldn't have been too different from how Mike felt about his relationship with Lucy back in the day - it's got strings attached. We could also bet pretty hard that Lucy would've found herself being wronged in some fashion, because she's right; when Sandy's involved, Mike is completely untenable, it's only about Sandy. She's the biggest threat to their relationship, because one way or another, Mike would find a reason to taken out his frustrations and insecurities out on her. It wouldn't be too much different from the way she treated him back in hid middleschool years. The cycle would've repeated.

Mike also is incapable of seeing past his own hatred of Lucy because that keeps him tied to Sandy. It stops the guilt of him feeling like a cheater because he knows that Lucy is interested in him. He needs to hate her.

We saw a number of times when even Mike had to begrudgingly admit he was wrong and while Lucy did have her moments when she had been insufferable, there had been many of those when the opposite had been true and Lucy had been a friend; being both supportive of him and Sandy and their relationship.

Mike just convinced himself otherwise.

Looking far back to the very start of things, deep down I don't believe Mike had ever been as bothered by Lucy's abraisive nature. Sure, it could've been better, but I don't feel like he really saw their relationship like a duty until the conversation with Sandy. If it had ever really been the case, his delivery to Sandy over the phone would've been much more pained and antgonistic towards Lucy knowing that fact. Instead he's laughing about it and downplaying all the bad parts. That isn't to say that it's fine; the relationship wasn't healthy in the least. It might even just be his way of coping because he's a pushover. But Mike isn't as bothered about it as he should be, and the evidence for this is really because Lucy made up for her shortcomings in other ways for the relationship to have continued purpose (outside of him receiving support about their relationship when Sandy can't be contacted) and that's why he's able to (and try to) down-play it during his phone conversations. There had been times when Lucy had been good to him, and it's not just because of her own support. It's because she can be capable of being a good friend.

And that softspot for her absolutely exists in the story and showed up from time to time. His guard dropped in December, I don't think Mike would've given her the leniency he did to even think about entertaining her thought of passing the first couple of hours with video game had it still been absolute seething hate. The only reason is because in that small period of time; he forgot about Sandy.

Not to mention if it really had been seething hate, Lucy's 'nightmare form' wouldn't resemble what we saw in Dial Tone either. Instead we saw a different side, so Mike really doesn't actually hate her. It's just he feels he needs to.

But yeah, Lucy wouldn't let him apologise back then because it would've been worthless. So long as Sandy remained a factor, Mike was just untenable and the friendship wouldn't last; they'd hurt each other somehow.

When it comes to Eternal Flame and Lucy saying she isn't the kind of person to wish the worst on him. She's really telling the truth, even when she's been wronged by Mike, because in DoubleDown when Paulo grants her the opportunity to get revenge on him by kicking him out of the table. She doesn't take it.

I definitely feel like it's time to move past how Lucy appeared in the original story and accept the Omnibus. You're not being forced to sympathise with Lucy, but man, you should. She's done some pretty questionable shit in the story -- but she's a kid, a kid with some pretty deep personal trust issues, and some that've yet to be dealt with. And she doesn't have the answers. We've seen some of those bite her back in more ways than one, we only need to look at the fallout of her relationship with Paulo as an example of that.

Shit, I hope that all helped, Eternal Flame anon? I'm gonna go collapse in bed now.

#bcb #bittersweet candy bowl #bittersweetcandybowl

[amplifyme]

"Winterfest?"

"An annual celebration. A gathering of the community for all our helpers Above. To thank them, show our gratitude for their generosity throughout the year."

"Kind of like a family Christmas party?"

"Of a sort," he agreed, "though it occurs in January. In fact, the initial gathering was on the occasion of my second birthday; a coming out, if you will, when Father first introduced our helpers to his adopted son. Before that, many of them knew of me only by word of mouth. It seems I was uncomfortable around strangers, especially in large groups. And Father was understandably reluctant to… show me off."

"I’ve never liked crowds, either," she quickly offered. "They tend to make me twitchy."

"According to Father, they tended to make me feral."

Startled, she slowed to look, and sure enough, though his expression gave nothing away, composed as it was, his eyes were glinting with humor when they met hers. She threw him a grin. "I bet you were a handful."

"And still am."

She smiled even wider, pleasantly surprised by his easy banter. Though she suspected he might have a sense of humor buried under all the grief he'd been carrying around since she'd known him, she'd never expected it to surface the way it had. And then she began to wonder why. Why now?

As if he'd read her curious thoughts, Vincent turned and said, "Beginnings can be awkward, Diana, but I'm hopeful we've moved past the worst of it. You should know you needn't be as careful with me as you might suppose. I'm not so fragile as I was when... first we met."

They'd come to the end of the tunnel and to a sort of doorway, wide and circular, that opened onto another passageway, the floor of which was a good ten feet below where they'd come to a stop. It looked as though the two sections should've been connected by a ladder or a ramp or something - and someone, at the last minute, had changed their mind and abandoned the idea.

Then Vincent took a step out into nothing and dropped down to the lower tunnel - just like that, in one easy motion, bending slightly at the knees to absorb the impact of the fall. One second at her side and the next below and gazing up at her, arms open and lifted in invitation. Without thought, she took the step off the edge, and he caught her at the waist and set her gently down beside him. She got her bearings, thinking hard about what he'd said about beginnings as they took off walking.

What kind of beginning are we having, here? she wondered. Different than the first one, when I yanked him out of that graveyard and brought him home. Which got her thinking about those three days he'd spent in her loft. And all the moments afterward, until he'd finally been able to bring Jacob home.

"Fragile," she admitted after a companionable, silent minute or two, "isn't exactly the word that comes to mind when I remember those first few times." And then wished she hadn't said anything at all. God knows, the last thing she wanted to do was embarrass him. It was one thing to make light of your own less than admirable moments, quite another when someone else did it for you.

There was a small silence before he inquired, "Will you make me ask, then?"

Ducking her head, she replied, "I was thinking 'crazed' was more like it."

He thought about that for a few seconds, as she threw him a series of surreptitious looks. "I believe," he finally said, "that would be an accurate assessment, as well. Feral. Crazed. I suppose I can take comfort in the fact that some things never change."

"Look, I didn't mean it that way. I was just –" She stopped talking because he'd stopped walking, and turning to her, very matter of factly took her hand and leveled those crystal blue eyes at her.

"You worry overmuch, Diana. There is nothing you could say that would offend me. You have seen me at my worst and yet here you stand, still willing to abide my company. Res ipsa loquitur."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"It's Latin: the thing speaks for itself."

She broke out in another unrestrained smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess it does."

They started off again. And neither of them said anything about the fact that he was still holding her hand. It wasn't like she wasn't deeply aware of it, because she was, and wondering at the same time just what the hell it meant. It wasn't some kind of earth-shattering gesture or anything, like it would be if he'd kissed her or something. Yeah, dream on, kiddo, she cracked at herself. It was just a simple clasping of hands: friendly, nice. But it surprised her, nonetheless. And then Diana decided she was probably making way too much of it, in any case. For all she knew, Vincent was a big fan of holding hands and did it with anyone he liked. Some people were that way. Nobody she'd ever met, but that was beside the point, because he wasn't like anybody she'd ever met. Just the fact of his existence, and her knowing it, had changed everything.

Upsidaisium

#beauty and the beast 1987 #vincent and diana #fanfic #beginnings can be hard #mine

[goingrampant]

The Boys #2 notes: pages 17-20

There's a bit about Butcher getting Mother's Milk back in the game sandwiched inside a longer segment about Butcher recruiting Wee Hughie.

Mother's Milk (who got his bizarre name for equally bizarre reasons I'll get into later) is a huge, hulking Black man drinking from a mug reading "bad ass", whose stereotypical nature is somewhat subverted by him also having a neurotic, nerdy personality. In the show, he has OCD (and normal body proportions), but I'm not sure if that's a thing in the comics. The comic portrayal focuses on the angle of him having both masculine dominance and somewhat impotent nerdiness, which the show broadly applies to all the Boys characters. Here, he has a massive frame, spreads his legs, uses ebonics in a white-framed context where that could imply aggression, imposes dominance on the room, is portrayed as equally as powerful a figure as Butcher, but he complains Butcher doesn't use a coaster--that could leave a ring on the furniture! It's not effective humor, but I can at least see the structure of what is supposed to be a joke not wholly rooted in downward punching mean-spiritedness.

Mother's Milk is shown to be compassionate in a way that doesn't undermine his masculine prowess. When you're that butch, you can care about being a good role model for troubled kids without that detracting from it. He works as some kind of counselor for local teenagers at a community center, and he cares about being a good father to his teenage daughter, Janine... who is portrayed as a skanky ho stereotype to remind everyone how horrible these comics are.

The conflict on display is a teenage girl wanting to be more adult and openly sexual, and her father being concerned and wanting her to dress and behave more conservatively. That is, at its heart, a universal human drama everyone can relate to, but because it involves a Black teenage girl in this racist, sexist, hellhole comic, it's portrayed as trashy and hateful. Mother's Milk is portrayed as a stable figure who is the only one who's really reasonable, while Janine is portrayed as letting her bratty nature as a child combine with her offensively feminine nature to insult him as a poor man just trying to be a good father--as translated through the anti-Black filter into becoming a skanky ho stereotype: an exaggerated sexualized figure comparable to porn characters, with a skimpy outfit with a tacky top calling her breasts "my lumps", pigtails as allude to invitations to anal sex, exaggerated makeup, and all rendered as grotesque under the art style. She is, effectively, a degenerate figure akin to Benjamin the dog, which was only a few pages ago.

Butcher, as fascist Mary Poppins, studies the situation, determines that Janine is the problem as a degenerate figure, and cheekily sneaks off to make the world better. (Don't worry, he doesn't rape her... is a thing I have to say because that's a logical conclusion... This comic's pond scum.)

He follows her out the door and stops her before she gets in the car with three guys she probably intends to have consensual sex with to tell her to be a good daughter to her father and push her into a more conservative role not able to explore her own sexuality--in a context where he's portrayed as like a sex god himself. It's paternalistic, misogynistic, and super fucking racist. The three boys are portrayed as hoodlums in the worst racist stereotypes, with guns and aggressive ebonics to scare the white readers and make them cheer for Butcher expressing white masculine dominance in scaring them off. Also, one Black guy has a cannabis hat, thereby portraying him as a degenerate druggie/Rastafarian (itself associated with white fears of a Black uprising). It is suuuuper fascist!

Butcher approaches them with, at worst, mild rudeness for interrupting them by asking for "a quiet word with Janine", and they respond by completely flying off the handle. I can understand them being confused and annoyed, but they completely lose it and start waving guns at him. (Comparable to South of Nowhere's depiction of Black guys not understanding Black friends sometimes having white friends who may take up their time for conversation.) White guy shows up; Black guys flip out.

There's then a cathartic bit of Butcher, the dominant white guy, putting them in their place. Cannabis Hat points a gun at him; Butcher takes it away, arms it, gives a one-liner, and scares them away. He gives Janine a talking-to about how she should respect her father, a hardworking man, and disrespects her mother in a misogynistic digression ("a stupid, drunk slag"). This gets through to her, so she goes home, apologizes to her father, and recommits to normative patriarchal values. As a result, Mother's Milk ends up rejoining the Boys, presumably impressed by Butcher.

I am absolutely serious here:

THIS READS LIKE NAZI PROPAGANDA

I need a shower.

#the boys notes #the boys comics #tw racism #misogynoir

[emokoala18]

My top 5 vtubers

I've liked vtubers for over a year now so it's safe to say I at least know a little about them. A very very brief description of vtubers is a streamer or YouTuber who uses a virtual avatar instead of showing their face. Their avatars usually have some kind of character backstory to them as well.

Starting at number 5 is Shoto. He is the one that actually got me interested in vtubers. Before, my friend had showed me some short videos with vtubers, but I wasn't really interested. I started watching Shoto (or his username Shxtou) because I saw some videos of him on Tik Tok. Then I decided to check out his Twitch channel and he was live since it was Valentines Day. Usually for holidays like this he'll do karaoke or some other activity to engage his fans. His character lore is he's a guild leader and a demon slayer. I really like his lore because it involves his fans, which are named "guildies". He's basically the "guild leader" of the group and we're all a part of his demon slaying guild. He mostly plays indie horror games and the occasionally first person shooter. He also does a lot of streams where he does karaoke and recently he's been drawing.

Number four in my ranking is Mysta Rias. He's part of the Vtuber company "Nijisanji", specifically their English branch since this is originally a Japanese company. He was one of my first favorites from Nijisanji and I found him because of Shoto. They had done a stream together and I really liked Mysta's humor. He tends to be more on the chaotic side and has a very big personality. His character lore is he's a detective from the past who got transported to the present, and his name is actually supposed to be a play on the word mysterious. I mostly like him because his humor is very "loud" in a way. There are others on this list who have a more subtle humor, but this is the kind of humor I go to when I'm in a more upbeat mood, or just need to wake up.

Number three on my list is Gavis Bettel. He's from a different Vtuber company called Hololive. He's specifically part of the subsection called Holostars, which is a male english group. This company also started in Japan, so they have a separate branch for its english members. His character story is he's a jester, which I think makes a lot of sense since his content is very comedy focused. Some other people on this list do multiple things like sing or draw, but Bettel just plays games and makes jokes the entire time. He recently debuted earlier this year in January, so he's still very new in terms of being a company vtuber. While his humor is also pretty chaotic, I wouldn't say it's to the level of Mysta. It's still very chaotic, but not as loud.

Next on my list is Kenji. Kenji is an independent vtuber who still hasn't officially debuted yet. He's been streaming for a while now, but he talks about how he's still planning and saving up to make a character lore video. Lore videos cost a lot of money because you have to pay for multiple artists to help. The main reason I like Kenji is because he engages a lot with his community. Most of his streams are based around talking to his fans and seeing what they'd be interested in doing. He's not as big as the other vtubers I've mentioned on this list, and I think that adds to that sense of community. Once you get to a certain point in your streaming career, it can be hard to engage with fans one on one, but Kenji still has that chance.

Finally at number one is Aster Arcadia. He's also part of the group Nijisanji with Mysta Rias. He debuted in late August last year. His character backstory is he's an actual star personified and he describes his character as a celestial being. Part of the reason I like him is because he does his best to foster a wholesome and welcoming community. His streams are much calmer than the other's on this list. He tends to mainly play games like Apex Legends and League, which I'm not really interested in, but I'll still play them in the background if I'm doing something. He also does his best to engage with his audience, which is another reason I really like him.

Overall I tend to like more energetic vtubers who have a lot of energy, the only exception being Aster. Usually when I get interested in something, that interest only lasts for a month or two, so the fact I've been consistently watching vtubers for a year now is weird to think about. Every time I start to get bored of them I just find a new one who catches my attention.