#graining line

[zadeemae]

[imnotcursed]

[led-winged]

6.18.25

[futureselfbeats]

DAY 1016 - WRIST STRETCH

IG: @futureselfbeats

[hiddenonigiri]

I'll prove to you that we can have fun without drinking.

[yunuen]

Hi! I'm reading the kiss scene and as I understand it, the main reason Viktor stops Jayce is because he doesn't want to ruin Jayce's life. If I get it right, what future does Viktor imagine for Jayce? Him having a wife and children or something like that?

If you're still at the kiss scene maybe you should just keep reading the 40k or so words you have left! but no, it's not because Viktor thinks Jayce should uphold the nuclear family but because Viktor, as written, is dealing with what amounts to ptsd, dissociative disorder with a side of depersonalisation, a fuckton of guilt, self-loathing, sexual anhedonia and the dude he's always wanted suddenly being like "hey now that i am far away from friends and family and isolated from all i know i'm suddenly down to make out!!". it's not necessarily "I'm going to ruin your life" but "i don't think you want me at all and i don't think there's even a me to want anymore"

[dreaming-in-seams]

Rapunzel cosplay update:

So. I am to the dreaded ✨ pink wrapped blouse. ✨ Idk why, but I do NOT like making blouses/tops. Skirts, dresses, corsets, coats, heck yeah I’m there. Blouses? Screw that noise.

BUT. We are on Mission: Fabric Stash Reduction and we are going to MAKE THIS BLOUSE GOSHDANGIT.

So first draft. Slapped it on the mannequin with the corset and skirt, and it has the neckline silhouette we want (sans sleeves currently). Beautiful. Love that.

Gonna make it out of this rose-colored crepe chiffon that complements the other colors (and me). Perfect. Lovely.

Except uh. I have all of 1 yard of this stuff and there is no way I’m getting even 1 sleeve out of it like this.

But good news! We have 1.75 yards of this bright baby pink stretch crepe! And I f****** hate it.

So help me Ye Gods of Sewing…

I am about to commit war crimes.

[roxannepolice]

And then along comes this noise. All day long, this relentless noise.

OH YEAH AND HOW DOES THAT FEEL, DOCTOR????

[telesodalite]

Never getting over Fulcrum being a project manager...

Idk why, but something about that is so funny to me. Not just because the title of "project manager" is inherently kinda funny for a Decepticon, but also because-

1. It's vague sounding and hard to explain irl because it technically exists in multiple fields, like healthcare or manufacturing, which surely translates into canon in some way.

2. In canon, it's simultaneously a really mundane, innocuous sounding job, yet it's also a super morally awful position to reside over depending on the context. (*cough* forced colonization and cyberforming *cough*)

And 3. It solidifies the fact that behind all the surface level militaristic work we get with both the Decepticons and Autobots, there's also Cons and Bots with "normal" jobs in both factions.

Like, sure yeah we get scientists and doctors, engineers and programmers, but usually in big important or warfront positions. (For plot reasons, understandably.) But it's also really funny and interesting to think of those that worked background positions, or minor jobs.

Like an Autobot working in their equivalent of an HR department, or a Decepticon who runs one of their outpost's or starship's kitchens.

Just all the pre-war jobs that didn't just disappear with the war, but instead evolved to exist within the factions.

It's particularly funny with the Decepticons though, because it could be a super mundane job or situation, but because it's them, it has to have an air of ~e v i l~ to it, either legitimately and/or merely for the vibes, like Tarn's "performance reviews".

[vanpeltfoto]

What Carries, Carries Also the Past

(Photo: d.)

[zadeemae]

[imnotcursed]

[crossdressingdeath]

I am once again begging people to realize that Ivenci does not in fact want to "make Antiva better", that's not why they want the Crows gone. This is someone who straight up let Treviso get occupied by the Antaam who fuck up every city they occupy (and tbh it is actually insane to me that a mage let the Antaam occupy their city after the atrocities in Ventus, which must have happened before the Antaam took Treviso because occupied Ventus is referenced in Eight Little Talons which happens before Antiva is invaded; it says a lot that Ivenci thought that was a good idea). They tried to gas the city with qamek (again, insane thing for a mage specifically to be doing after Ventus, these experienced writers did that on purpose) to remove the Crows and their supporters yes but also anyone who spoke out against the occupation too loudly. Guys, please, Ivenci wants power. We are repeatedly told and shown that they want power. They'd rather destroy the minds of half the city and give those remaining to the Antaam than not have power. Their immediate response to being told they'll be put on trial—with the knowledge of the king and merchant princes, so even if we assume the Crows don't have the legal right to do that they fully intend to cover their bases on that front—for all that treason it is at this point well documented they've been committing is "You can't do that to me, I'm the governor of this city". Them saying the Crows are bad does not mean they're right because they could not more clearly think the Crows are bad because they're getting in their way specifically.

They're not even right about why the Crows are bad; first and easiest the stuff about the Crows murdering people in the street is just straight up nonsense, there is literally nothing in any other game or this one suggesting they do that, they kill people they are hired to kill (and because they're so expensive those targets are extremely unlikely to include random people on the street) and claiming they're as bad as the Antaam (who we do see dragging people away during the first visit to Treviso) is ridiculous. And second... I've said this many times, but defending Antiva is literally the Crows' job. If the people of Treviso or Rook (or Ivenci, although they wouldn't for obvious reasons) went to the king and asked for help to free Treviso, the king would send them straight back to the Crows because defending Antiva is their duty and they do it proudly and as well as they can. Keeping Ivenci in the loop is the limit of what they're really required to do, and frankly given Ivenci is a) incredibly rude, b) wildly suspicious and c) entirely useless it's really more than they deserve, someone please replace this person with a competent governor who actually wants to help their people. Also no I won't ever be over them standing around doing nothing except insisting Crows Bad right outside the field hospital the Crows set up and are fighting to defend from the Antaam in blighted Treviso. This is where everyone involved in this situation who claims to care for Treviso should be putting their money where their mouths are and it is telling and pointed that the Crows do at great personal cost—the Crow casualties dying of blight and getting warped into monsters that the other Crows with Rook's aid have to put down so they aren't suffering and can't hurt anyone was deliberate, can people stop acting like the Crows are totally fine and untouched in blighted Treviso—and Ivenci and the Butcher don't, that was a deliberate storytelling choice and I would like people to stop ignoring it.

Ivenci is not insisting the Crows should stay out of it because it's not their job and they're overstepping; they're saying it because it is the Crows' job and they are interfering with Ivenci's plans, which is in fact evidence of the Crows working as intended in their role as Antiva's defenders (which does make the argument that Ivenci's right about the Crows being bad for Antiva somewhat ironic, given they're walking proof of the Crows being pretty good at their role even while being actively sabotaged and before anyone suggests Rook's doing all the work I'm saying right now that that's not the case, the Crows are clearly doing a lot when Rook's not around, and if you claim it is because we don't see them doing it you'd better be claiming that literally every faction is completely worthless because that argument does not apply to just the Crows). I am begging people to use their critical thinking skills, people saying things you agree with in broad terms and people being right are two entirely different things.

[simplepotatofarmer]

for the record, i genuinely believe that most of the inconsistencies in c!dream's motivation and the things he's said can be explained by the fact that at heart he's a silly guy who is deeply committed to the bit.

[skimmingmilk]

How soon do ya think Tails starts to be comfortable with sonic? And how would sonic react? I'd imagine it would take a while so when Tails initiates any form of affection like a hug or leaning in for a head pat, Sonic thinks of it as a proud moment and his hearts squeezes internally bc why wouldn't it

This question is kinda based off your fics! I like where you have Tails be on the defensive even if he doesn't mean to be and how Sonic understands in the early stages since they've met

Thank you for the ask! I'm glad you like how I've portrayed the brothers in my fics so far :)

In the timeline of my fics, it's actually pretty quick how comfortable Tails gets with Sonic! Especially given everything he's been through. But Sonic is an unreliable narrator in the sense that for him it feels like it takes forever xD Which is pretty fair to him considering this was a spur of the moment decision; he didn't plan on taking on the role of temporary guardian/protector to a child who has a whole lot of trauma that he can't articulate just yet. Several weeks of that for an eleven-year-old who has no secure attachments and is constantly on the move is like an eternity of struggling.

But it really is only several weeks before they find their rhythm. Because Tails admires and looks up to Sonic from the start. He latches onto him immediately because he's the first person to show him kindness and to care about how he feels. Tails can feel that, it's just hard to fully comprehend it when his worldview so far has been shaped by people hating his very existence for reasons never explained to him. While Tails knows Sonic doesn't feel that way about him, he also doesn't know if that will change someday. Maybe Sonic just hasn't realized what everyone else already knew about him, and maybe one day Tails will do something wrong and Sonic will understand why everyone hated him.

That anxiety lives within him for a while, it runs too deep to be resolved at this age. But what can be resolved much quicker is Tails learning that not every touch hurts. Sometimes it's a fond head pat or an excited high five or a proud fist bump. Each of those make him feel warm and nice and special in a way he never has before, so he soaks up these signs of affection like a sponge.

The problem is that usually Sonic moves too fast, so Tails is often startled by the sudden flash of movement before Sonic can even make contact. So he flinches or bites on instinct, self-preservation beating out logic, until Sonic figures out that he needs to let Tails see that he's coming first. He'll hold his hand out, let him see it, then he can ruffle his fur or give him a fist bump.

Luckily, Sonic adapts to this quickly within those first few weeks, and Tails is super receptive to it. But Tails doesn't initiate any of the contact himself for a while longer. Even when he wants a head pat or to hold Sonic's hand to feel safer in crowded places, he waits for Sonic to make the first move most of the time. The only times where he does initiate the physical contact are when Sonic is sleeping or sick, like in the "Little Gestures" fics, or when Tails is really sleepy and instinctively seeking comfort, like in the little arcade one shot "The Weight of Responsibility."

But "Where Water Wears Away the Stone" is the turning point for Tails where he finally lets himself be comfortable enough with Sonic to reach for him when he needs him, at Sonic's prompting. Unfortunately, Sonic's a brat about it at first xD He's not proud and his heart is not squeezing with affection, it's seizing in a panic because they were never supposed to wind up this attached to each other. Sonic mentally pins 90% of the blame on Tails being attached to him, but what really scares him and what he's really been ignoring for the past few months is that he's already so beyond attached. And that's terrifying for a kid who's never had anyone quite like this in his life.

But after he gets over that, when he and Tails leave Aquatic Ruin Zone and before they get to Casino Night Zone, Sonic adapts again and realizes that it feels warm and nice and special to be the person that Tails decided to trust.

To sum up: it takes about a month for Tails to be comfortable with Sonic initiating any kind of contact. Then several more months for him to figure out how to be the one to initiate when he wants contact. The fear of rejection is just too strong in this one little fox. The one thing that consistently overpowers Tails's absolute faith in Sonic is his lack of faith in himself.

[talentforlying]

said i would post about this blog's 10yr dodgeball-of-prophecy pay-off before i delve into drafts, so here it is!

way back in january 2015, roughly a month after i first created this blog, i decided that it would be fun to rebel against canon just a tiiiny bit and give my version of john a pet: a stray orange tomcat named church. about nine months later, church had been tragically stolen by liv / @whcwashe and to compensate john for his loss, i assigned him a second pet: a stray black cat named sid. an occultist with halloween-themed cats who himself hates halloween, i thought it was hilarious.

fast-forward to last year, my folks very unexpectedly had to take in my grandma's 4 cats (for whom they did not have enough room), and it turns out that among them were an inseparable pair of siblings — one orange cat, one black cat. now 10 full years after randomly projecting my ideal aesthetic cat combination onto this lucky british sonofabitch, i have successfully metamancered half of my will into being (one cat already living with me) & will be bringing the other half home with me in a couple months!!

chedrick "cheese" churchmouse & "coco" sid loco pictured below :)

bottom row far left picture was a mistake, that is clearly william howard taft.