#trying to also draw more Autumn and Winter stuff!

[my-darling-boy]

But where have we come? And where shall we end?

[whumptywhumpdump]

🔪 Name: Vicky

🩸 Pronouns: They/it

🩹 Years of Whumpmas participation: I think I participated in the first one? I'm not sure tho

🔪 Favorite season: Like weather wise? I prefer autumn and winter here, my country is very hot and I get to have a break during those months

🩸 Average amount of sleep: About 8 hours per night, but I always try to sneak in a nap or two during the day. I am very sleepy.

🩹Dream job: In this capitalist society we live in, I'd love to get paid to make art, but as an actual dream, I would like to not need to work.

🔪Blog established date: June, 2019. I had been lurking for months by then, but I felt the need to start rebloging stuff and some of it was a bit intense for my main blog lol

🩸Username/blog meaning: As I said, this was meant as a place to reblog and post my whump stuff, a kind of whump dump. Which also sounded fun since it rhymed, thus the whumpty whump dump was born.

🩹Hobbies: I cannot live without reading stories, I also love drawing, watching movies and shows, and also random YouTube videos about The History of Bread, or How Highways came to be lol

🔪What you love about whump: I think I just really like projecting lol Most of my life I've been some kind of uncomfortable, or scared, in pain, unhappy... I just enjoy seeing that reflected in characters I love and can relate to, it's cathartic. It's also very nice to see them recover and be happy.

🩸 Anything else to add: I have loved this community more than many others I've been a part of. I have also been away for a while because I couldn't bear to be here while dealing with my grief for one of us, I miss it tho, and I hope there are still some people around I can be friends with

[mooseung]

୨୧ winter’s date !

ch. 1 : halloween night

kwak jiseok (gaon)

ᨳ you and jiseok decide to attend all the christmas festivities pretending to be a couple just for the extra butterflies. it ends on new year’s day, then you’ll go back to being good friends.

next chapter ->

❆ no one would believe me if i said ive been working on this fic idea for five years man

❆ sounds like a hallmark movie but i say we keep making christmas romance stories fun silly and dumb

❆ i’ve never committed to chapter stuff before but surely it goes well since i know where it’s going *nodding*

it's the second best holiday of the year. aligned trees now enter the process of stripping their colorful leaves that now hang lifelessly off the branches. fuzzy boots follows the trail of the fallen leaves, and the harmonizing crunches down the street creates the soft melody of sweet autumn.

pumpkin meadows flourish in popularity. the scent of cinnamon and apples wraps a steam blanket around a pie tent. the air is something you've been craving for months now; it’s given you a crisp feeling that brings you warm comfort.

you’ve been able to attend all the fall festivities this year. your carved pumpkin sits outside your apartment, a singular light flickering your creature to life. you ranked all the pies you’ve tried this month, with apple sitting on its throne untouched. funnily enough, you also apple picked at a local farm. the assortment of your favorite fruit piles inside your fridge, their crystal glow enticing you every single time you look at them.

but all these activities you’ve done alone. your autumn checklist was too ambitious, and midterms shifted your availability to avoid your friends’ invitations. that’s why when the very last day of october arrived, your best friend forced you to make an exception for her. the halloween bash she's hosting is not a cozy one, but you have to do something fun and social before marbles start getting lost.

mingi is your only friend from the university, which you think is imperative when it comes to the reputation of this school. social gatherings is a pledged promise of the students; there are always grand events happening around campus, and the committee never finds it in themselves to lose creativity. in turn the students feel more like community, and the friend groups tend to be large. mingi's house party depicts that principle perfectly. even more, not a single person in here is worried about midterms.

as you look through the sweaty piles of people, you find some familiar faces from your fair share of group projects and school events. the few conversations are brief and soon enough you're stuck alone, waiting for your only friend to tend to you while keeping her house afloat with the large crowd.

"hey, you made it!"

she's one of the fairies from tinker bell - one that you can't seem to remember. nonetheless your lips curve wide after she's found you sulking on her couch.

"what a crazy party! do you know all these people?" you think this is the loudest you've been, trying to talk to her over both the music and her adrenaline.

mingi shrugs, plopping herself next to you as her arm wraps around yours. "are you bored? you should be mingling!"

"i feel a bit too embarrassed."

the two of you look over your body. it's a simple green princess gown that doesn't seem to draw immediate attention. however, if you get it...

"WOAH, you're princess fiona! WOAH."

mingi laughs, a little too hard. you playfully shove her as your ears burn up, "it’s too silly, isn’t it..."

her hand grasps your arm as she drags you into the kitchen. for now it's empty, and the table holds all the hard liquor and fruity drinks you could think of. "just drink a bit! loosen up, have fun~"

there's no time to protest. you're left stranded next to the island that holds all the drinks, many of which are unfamiliar to you. it takes you a minute to grab one, just for you to let go of it and stare at the selection as students filter in and out.

"it's a little overwhelming, right?"

the voice feels soft, yet you hear it clearly over the music. when you turn to your left, the girl who spoke matches her voice perfectly. a pouty smile sitting perfectly underneath her brown doe eyes. her hair is a bright hazel that innocently sits as a single braid, tiny strands of hair peering out of the tucked in look. along with her grin, a faded blush bounces on her cheeks; it seems to be from romand rather than any liquor.

she's the cutest, it brings you to match her smile. "ah, it really is."

your eyes continue to observe the woman; you notice the familiar costume she's wearing. it's a green sleeved dress with little gold embellishments. a laugh quickly breathes out of your lips, and she giggles at your quick notice.

"fiona must've been a popular choice this year, huh?"

she laughs at your remark and replies, "you're pulling it off so much better though." you can tell her intentions are to make you feel like the prettiest princess there, and now your own shade of romand blush colors your cheeks. "i'm mingi's cousin, yeona!"

you gasp, "oh, i've heard about you!" you already find yourself in a bow, greeting her formally. "i'm y/n, a friend of mingi's. it's nice to meet you."

she mirrors you completely, and the air finally feels comfortable for the first time since you've walked into this party. you find yourself sitting there, chatting with the girl as the two of you find plenty of common ground. yeona is a violinist attending a prestigious musical arts university just right around the corner of your school. the students tend to be quiet and elegant, and while yeona doesn't really fit the elegance she is soft-spoken like the rest of her peers. but her aura is comforting, and your energies match like puzzle pieces. for instance, she's an avid watcher of kdramas like yourself. it led the two of you to discuss your harsh disappointments among the catalog, your first target being infamous love alarm.

yeona learns much about you too. you attend a social school simply because it's a common one, and perhaps the easiest one to get into. out of all the majors that were presented to you, the winning choice became natural sciences after a coin flip. you haven't quite figured out where you want to be in ten years, and you're content with taking your time. the only thing you want to do is enjoy your time before life becomes a consuming loop of work.

yeona notes that and studies your personality more. you tend to find yourselves on the slice-of-life dramas, and your taste in books are hopeless romantic core. a pattern begins to illustrate itself.

you both find yourselves lounging around the kitchen for quite a while, your conversations being fueled by admiring the many costumes that flutter into the kitchen every now and then. neither of you take another glance at the drinks beside you, and eventually you agree that it's not a priority to drink heavy. you feel like you've found your other half.

after twenty minutes, something interesting happens. a duo of boys arrive, their loud laughs halting your conversation as your eyes peer out of curiosity. both are wearing a garment that you're unable to piece together for a while. but then it hits you; the bulky, round fabric mimics the crisps of the iconic kid's food.

unlike the other visitors, the pair of boys spot you and yeona and engage in conversation.

"oh - you're both princess fiona!"

he's the shorter of the two. his hair is a bright blonde and his cheeks high and defined. yet the look he shoots you guys is pure astonishment and amusement. he's gripping his friend in excitement, a boy who's also bouncing. this boy has darker locks of luscious hair that tuck right behind his ears. his almond eyes sparkle and he equips a wide smile, all 32 teeth shining brighter than those eyes.

and they are dressed up as, "chicken nuggets?"

their surprise grows, "yes! you're the first person to actually get it."

you and yeona gently glance at each other as the two celebrate their victory which only conducted further hops and laughter. when they're finished, they approach the drinks and stare with their arms crossed and their seriousness suddenly skyrocketed. you feel like you're watching a sitcom, wondering how people can be this bubbly and animated in person. but it's funny.

"okay jooyeon. which one of these is our first target? this decision is incredibly important and will impact how the rest of our night goes..."

"...i've never had any of these before. AH, kool-aid though!"

the blonde wiggles his arms, "i was thinking the same thing."

the duet proceeds to grab the jug of fruit punch, one that's meant for mixing alcohol into but instead is poured sober. they take their swigs and scream in unison when done, like drinking nonalcoholic kool-aid was the biggest thrill of their life.

you can't help but laugh out loud, and it gives yeona the courage to talk to them, "isn't it just plain kool-aid?"

the taller one, who you've concluded is jooyeon, grins as he points at yeona. "it tastes better than vodka!"

you're nodding along, "and beer."

yeona loudly agrees with you; a true hater of beer.

"i think beer is yummy." the odd one out frowns, going in to pour himself another shot of the virgin fruit juice.

jooyeon shoves him, "jiseok's actually just a freak."

"you scream at vegetables."

jooyeon suddenly gets loud, "YOU DON'T GET IT!"

the room laughs comfortably. yeona covering his face and you slap your knees, the air is light.

"i'm yeona, mingi's cousin."

you’d feel awkward not to follow yeona’s introduction, "i'm y/n."

the boys have a kind smile at your introductions, and introduce themselves despite knowing you've already used context clues to put a name to their faces.

"how do you guys know mingi?" yeona asks.

jiseok turns to jooyeon who answers, "we used to be group mates for a writing class and we became casual friends." jooyeon then nudges to his friend, "he's just my plus one."

"in the non-romantic way." jiseok adds.

you mention, "trying to distract us from the couple's outfit, huh?"

his hands fly up defensively, "no no, i promise this makes sense."

jooyeon straightens his posture, holding his friend's shoulder as he presents themselves, "we do this podcast called nugget time. it's a bit popular around campus."

"WOAH, i've heard about it actually." you laugh. "it's like we're meeting celebrities right now..."

jiseok wiggles his eyebrows, "do you want our autograph?"

yeona cuts in, "actually, it's popular around mine too! many of the students think it's too childish and immature, but everyone there is also pretty stuck up." she shines a smile as she gives a thumbs up, "personally, i like it a lot. you guys are doing very well!"

it’s a cliche move, but jooyeon feels his heart lighten. a surprise attack of butterflies invade his stomach until his cheeks burn. his eyes fall softly as they stare at the girl who chose not to follow the stale crowd, and instead express her support for his pride and joy. he's in a daze for a minute, lost in discovering her delightful features. "aha, thank you."

jiseok's a lot more normal when he thanks the girl, but he notices how stiff his friend becomes at the compliment. a small grin compliments his face. he internally puts himself in a tuxedo with the coolest pair of sunglasses as he suggests, "do you guys mind if we hang around here with you?"

the coolest wingman.

you can't help but feel proud of yourself for meeting new people, and getting lucky enough they were a funny and kind bunch. your shoulders have inched behind you, relaxed and no longer tense from earlier. your smile creeps up naturally and responses fly out of your mouth easily. it surprises you when an hour passes of general conversation carried by boiling chemistry and fruit punch.

the house roars, snapping all your attentions to the living room. what probably started off as sober laughs have become drunk wails. aggregation becomes the look of the dance floors as drunk men start to shove one another for who knows why. your ears catch onto the occasional glass shatters and you briefly wince, "ough, it's getting kinda loud in here."

jooyeon tilts his head, "you're right... should we go outside?"

yeona leans in, nodding to express her interest in the offer.

it's a hassle. your newly formed crew attempts to slither past the sea of sweaty students without getting dragged in by any drunk sharks. jiseok locks his hands on top of jooyeon shoulders, creating their lonely conga line of two. they get further than you and yeona, who are caught by a hungry one.

"y/n! yeona! are you leaving already?"

mingi's cheeks are a dangerous color of red. pale lipstick smudges all over the lid of her red solo cup, and beads of sweat twinkle on of her round nose.

you simply nod, sparing her an apologetic smile. you clear up, "we're just heading outside!"

"okay!" she clears the rest of the liquid in her cup in one quick swig. "i'll come too!"

yeona leans in to her ear, "are you sure? this is your party!"

mingi shakes her head as she pushes the two of you until you're all standing outside, breathing fresh air. "it's too hectic in there; i don't wanna deal with it."

jooyeon and jiseok are walking in place as the duo waited for your arrivals. their bright smiles greet the host who looked them up and down a couple of times before shrugging. jooyeon shouted, "nuggets!" 

"OHH...kay?"

you and yeona snicker, and mingi just rolls her eyes at the reactions. after a while you plop yourself on the grass, relief unable to hide itself once you're finally able to hear the silly voices in your head once again. one being, "aghh, i can't believe you had no candy in there mingi! it's like you wanted me dead or something..."

"well!" she lightly laughes, seating herself right beside you as her arms wrap to embrace you lovingly. "i'm sorry."

"could've gone trick-or treating instead..."

"at the age of 23?"

"your problem?"

yeona cuts in, "you're never too old to go trick-or treating!"

you and yeona hold each other's hand in solidarity. the bit is funny to you two, and she developed a weird craving for candy as soon as you mentioned it.

mingi defeatedly sighs, peering her head to watch her neighborhood streets. they're not totally vacant; a handful of children happily scurry around with buckets or full-sized candy brimming to the top. occasionally their innocent eyes would swipe over mingi's house, one that's overly decorated for the occasion but very much not an open source to candy. you would defend this inference.

"there still might be time...should we go?"

jiseok's suggestion sprouted from watching the groups of kids flutter in happiness with their newly-acquired snacks. he also grasped onto the size, not afraid to admit that mingi seemed to live in a wealthier neighborhood. if an opportunity ever showed itself prominently, this was it. he's also a boy who craves these types of spontaneous activities; a group of college kids politely robbing rich people of their candy just to live up to halloween's truest image.

to be honest, you felt the same way. you wanted to feel your heart skip at the sound of candy stacking itself into your bag - one that you don't have. "wait, but how will we carry the candy?" 

-

it's an hour later. chocolate, sour, and sweet all ride up to the tip of your red solo cups. you guys only hold two cups per person, but it remains mingi's brightest idea up until the moment the crew realized this neighborhood was indeed not a judgement free zone.

"this mom just stared me down...do you think she wants me?" yeona piques, a smile cracking through her chapped lips. jooyeon, high off excitement, laughs as his body leans against her momentarily.

you're staring at something else though: jiseok's red solo cup. there's a sour patch topping his stack, beautifully beaming like a shiny cherry. after digging through your own, you feel a childish envy crawl all over you skin. "augh, you got a sour patch..."

jiseok doesn't spare a second, scoring the piece of candy right into your hands. your ounce of adulthood flickers back, and you throw it back to him. "oh no, it's okay!"

it hits you back, "no, have it!"

you laugh, guilt building up. "jiseok, don't worry! i can buy my own."

"im going to glue it to your hand."

you launch it to his shoulder in a rough manner, "enjoy it for me~"

as the bickering lives on, everyone lays down on mingi's lawn. candy sprawls out, like how it would on a kitchen table while your mother sniffs for any dangerous pieces. except it's college students, with the security checkpoint half way down their stomachs.

"mingi...right?"

there's a boy standing over the said girl. her eyes, slightly bloodshot, stare at him as if he's a hallucination. she treats it as one too; not a word passes through her lips. the boy uncomfortably shifts at her silence after a couple seconds. his hand reaches for the back of his nape, cooling the heat of embarrassment as all five pairs of eyes watch over him.

"oh, sorry. i uh...came to this party with one of your friends, but im not sure where she went... i was hoping you'd know?"

"who..?" mingi's host voice appears.

"ari."

"ARI'S HERE?"

the boy sheepishly laughs, "i mean...i hope she is."

mingi doesn't listen to him. instead she's attempting to get up, her dress riding up in all the wrong places. her spilled candies dig into the grass as she accidentally steps on them. she quietly murmurs something that nobody is able to decipher. what's heard is the small exchange she performs with the boy, "oh, and who are you?"

"jungsu. ari's my sister."

"ARI HAS A SISTER?"

"n-no, i'm her BROTHER."

the conversation feathers away as the pair dives into the abyss of the house. it will be the last time the group hears of mingi for the rest of the night.

jooyeon's heart quickens as candy plunges into his stomach. yeona watches him quietly for a while. that's when she points, "after this, you'll be having salad for days."

jiseok huffs, "jooyeon wouldn't go in a ten-foot radius of a piece of lettuce!"

the victim nods, turning to yeona with a sense of pride, "you couldn't pay me enough money to eat a salad. sorry." 

yeona nudges him, "you're just not having the yummy ones. i'll show you the good ones and change your mind! just you wait."

jooyeon doubts so, but he can't help but fall helpless to her commitment. he would try anything if it meant he could be around her more. that's why the veggie hater replies to the threat, "i'm open for that, let's do it!"

jiseok stares at his cup that's now lighter. a bright colored wrapper catches his eye, and he smiles to himself. he fixes his position, now sitting at curb of the road as his legs dangle outside his bulky costume.

"y/n, come!"

you crawl until you’re beside him, knees brought close to your chest as you wait. jiseok rips the wrapper down the side, and offers you access to the sour patch candies. "let's share the bag~"

your mouth widens, "wait really? are you okay with that?"

he nods, trying his best to convey his genuine smile just so you'd know. it's enough to get you thanking him over and over again, just until the sour hits your tongue and satisfies that specific craving.

jiseok rolls his eyes, "it's more fun to share stuff, right?"

"it's nice…thank you~"

it's a childish scene, one that brings soft smiles to both of your faces. because it's comfortable, familiar. fun.

[rontra]

Tell us about they/them lesbian Cinder with text to back it 👀

askfbhs okay but this post is like 2000 words long

statement one: doing a reading of a text, and then using that analysis to draw a particular conclusion for one's own enjoyment, is largely disconnected from the authorial intents that created said text. it's common for a piece of text to be able to be read in many ways, and for those readings to be able to used as supports for a multitude of conclusions. by no means should this post be framed as a comment on what "the canon text Means", because that is fundamentally not what we're trading in. we're not "proving" anything

statement two: cinder's character is complex, deftly written, and can be mined for a lot of meaning, much like all of rwby. there's a lot going on at all times in this show, and many parts remain to some degree an open question since the story hasn't finished yet. you can draw dozens of readings from almost everything in this work. by the same hand, some parts of this post were necessarily abbreviated for time lmao

statement three: cinder's relationship with gender SPECIFICALLY is genuinely textually interesting no matter where you go with it in the end, so if nothing else, at least enjoy Thinking About It... 😌

the core idea here is actually really simple hahaha. we'll take a scenic route though, to affix that idea into a more complete picture. a Pattern if you will

cinder is very strongly characterized by two linked ideas: the fear of being powerless, and the annihilation of the previous self that was powerless. the outward face of cinder's identity is very unstable because of the latter; a lot of conscious effort is expended trying to erase the cinder fall that once existed--the one that was at other people's complete mercy (and received nothing of the sort). cinder is always in "survival mode", trying to achieve some sense of personal safety and to avoid being perceived as weak and vulnerable. that terror and hunger nipping at cinder's heels is what leads into salem's claws--into a new grip of abuse, of course--because salem promises to solve it and give all the power cinder could want and more. yeah?

the most easy-to-track manifestation of those twin drives is, of course, where they intersect with a major piece of rwby's own thematic language: weapons! in rwby's language, weapons are closely tied to their wielder's identity--"They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us!", famously! (v1e2)

(...which also gives us very funny little unrelated nuggets like the eternally faceless and repressed "i was the machine, just following orders" winter having weapons whose names--if they even have any--we don't know. but that's a knowing smile for another day)

cinder was trained by rhodes to wield two swords, an idea that's later combined with archery into what we consider "cinder's weapon", Midnight. in the flashbacks of v3e7, Midnight is in its earliest and most ordinary form. this Midnight is made of normal weapon stuff like metal lmao and cinder uses it very effectively in taking down amber. HOWEVER, as soon as cinder lays hands on half of amber's power, this version of Midnight is thrown aside and destroyed: the pyre that destroys Midnight is used to demonstrate cinder's power and intimidate the Fang. after this—for the duration of the beacon arc—cinder instead uses glass to form a replica of Midnight. this "imitation Midnight" lasts until cinder is maimed by ruby atop beacon tower (and presumably medevac'ed by one of salem's other guys LMAO)

after 1) suffering this defeat, and 2) obtaining the rest of amber's power, cinder flat out stops using Midnight. beyond this point, cinder solely relies on magic to create an ever-changing roster of weapons as needed. with the completion of Autumn's power, so too is the killing of Midnight completed: as far as cinder is concerned, the "self" that was connected to Midnight no longer exists. the part of cinder's story and identity that was in Midnight has been buried and no one will ever know about it again. preferably everyone would just act like none of it ever existed and cinder has Always been powerful (and did NOT just get rent asunder by a teenager! please and thank you!)

the incremental deaths of Midnight really show the crutch that power is to make cinder feel safer and more confident, and the urge to destroy the past/the version of cinder who was not as powerful. once cinder has the maiden power, Midnight is unnecessary. it's also interesting to see that many of these magic-made weapons are visibly fractured, fragile, and expendable, which i'm sure in the Weapon Symbolism Show doesn't mean anything its fine 😭😂

anyway in this new era of relying completely on magic we start to observe another quirky aspect: rather than drawing on personal identity, cinder will frequently imitate other characters who were in some way "powerful" (or at least "impactful"). see: floating array and miló. cinder imitates people who left an impression of strength or skill; in endlessly chasing "power", cinder is nabbing pieces of what makes other people powerful and cobbling them together, to cover the "flaw" (heavy quotes) that is cinder's own identity.

without you, i am nothing.

still, what does cinder keep falling back on, like a habit you can't shake? the original! and when cinder defies salem's orders in v8, what do we finally see again, for just a brief moment? hey, i thought you were dead! for as much as cinder wants to pretend the past is dead and buried, it sure seems to be Haunting us: right there underneath the paint, as soon as cinder stops thinking about copying someone else, or is defiant of salem's control and has to rely on Just Cinder (god forbid!), there it is again.

"okay, that's fine," you might be saying, a few million words into this gigantic post, "but what does any of that have to do with cinder fall's gender". listen to me. this was all setting up very important context for the funniest thing about cinder fall.

like, anyone that's even half-awake while watching rwby will notice the huge differences between how cinder acts and looks in the beacon arc VS how cinder has acted and looked Since Then. beacon arc cinder is smooth and in control and mature and dangerous. and of course, she's feminine. i've seen people outright call this incarnation of cinder a femme fatale! and i guess i can see why; she has mystery, beauty, a little bit of seduction to sway people. she plays manipulative games. and of course, she's dangerous. cinder in the beacon arc is exceedingly threatening because of how good she is at being the underdog; when she has to use cunning instead of brute force and scheme her way uphill in both directions, she kills it! literally!

--hey that was a lot of she/her all of a sudden. hmm. let's talk about women (audience cheers) NO I MEAN. evil women (audience cheers louder)

cinder's life is strongly marked by two women in particular: the madame and salem. both of them exert an immense amount of power over cinder; when we talk about situations where cinder has been powerless, these two people are the ones that spring to mind. in cinder's world, which is very coldly divided into people who Have Power and people who Do Not Have Power, both madame and salem very much Have Power. they have maybe the Most Power It's Possible To Have, by cinder's math. this also makes them Very Important figures for our examination, because what they are will reflect back onto cinder's malleable self.

madame and salem are both feminine, both older, both powerful; examine these two and suddenly you start seeing the pieces being stolen. the mature shade of red the madame wears. salem's levelheaded control paired with her distance and mystique—(trying not to say "and her cleavage")... v8e6 even places explicit focus on the sound of the madame's high heels as a herald of incoming danger.

their bearing, their ways of navigating the world, the way they dress. their… oh my god… their gender presentation!!!

the thing about cinder fall is that the mimicry of power does not stop at weapons. this is a Pattern that extends BEYOND merely "doing the floating array trick". the entirety of beacon arc cinder, including gender presentation, is mimicry. because in cinder's mind at this point, the most powerful thing a person can be is a mysterious older femme.

to cinder, ideas traditionally associated with femininity, specifically the femininity of adult women, are explicit markers of power and threat; and these things can be picked up and worn and imitated. these things can be performed. but there's never a sense that cinder owns these things or is particularly attached to them (i mean, beyond cinder's conception of Power). furthermore, cinder doesn't fully understand how these two women operate, and (being far younger) lacks the experience to fully embody them.

(--the way cinder handles emerald in particular is very revealing of this disconnect, as the dynamic shown as early as v2 is a clear attempt to wrangle her the way salem does her own minions; but cinder fails to understand and execute the crucial part, which is tapping into what emerald actually wants. because cinder, living in their own "survival mode" priority list, can't understand or relate to what emerald wants from them. the attempts made to replicate salem's affectations only push emerald away and strain her loyalty.)

but goddamn if cinder doesn't think power is stored in the gender!

it's interesting, then, that after the beacon arc blows up and a huge L is handed to Femme Cinder, they gradually drift further and further away from this; the illusion has broken. in lockstep with their drift from salem—cinder's exile, then intentionally testing the ice to see how far salem will let them stray—the further they go, the more they assert themselves, the further they also stray away from those "markers of power" associated with salem and madame. in the era of the blink-and-youll-miss-it flash of cinder's own identity, of Midnight, we also witness the ever-increasing straying from the performance of femininity that the beacon arc cinder clung to. huh!

so, let's see, we have a very intentional and consistent streak of cinder attempting to annihilate their own identity and replace it with something else (something strong) (something no one can hurt); this theme is visible both in their armory and wardrobe. cinder is terrified of who they'll be without these masks, because that person has been victimized, betrayed, and abused by every person who had power over them. the solution cinder has in their mind is to Become So Powerful that no one can do that to them ever again, no matter what they have to do or sacrifice to get there. and a lot of that conflict is slathered in this layer of Gender Stuff! this is INTERESTING!!!! no matter what people take from this post i at least hope you can find this aspect interesting, especially if you hadn't really thought about cinder's mimicry before...

anyway the very Gendered tension in their character comes bearing down twice as hard when considering that madame verbally invokes ideas about "being ladylike" while she's abusing them, reinforcing this mental link between Being Ladylike = Having Power, Not Being Ladylike = Not Having Power (= being crushed under the (high) heel of those that Do). cinder's femininity is ungenuine at best and coerced at worst; in my opinion, that much has been gestured at pretty overtly

from here, you can draw whatever conclusions from it that you please; e.g. would cinder LIKE to claim femininity for themselves in a genuine way, or would they not? do they feel attached to it, or not? in the Midnight glimmers of cinder's own real human self—the one they try so desperately at every turn to kill and bury, by directly coöpting pieces of other people they think are powerful—what do you see there? that's a conclusion for you to draw, of course…

you've no doubt twigged by the pronoun heehoos happening in this post that i'm quite fond of they/them cinder lol. i like my non biney lesbian struggler (the lesbian part Specifically i don't have a whole post locked and loaded for, that's just because im a lesbian and i like it<3). i rotate the disconnect between cinder and their identity and their performance in my mind and go "huh! your gender is Lesbian. congrats sweet prince" well anyway i think salem shoulda been cool FOR ONCE and offered to give them top surgery when she was gluing them back together after beaconSJHBHBNSDHB

of course, there's a myriad of ways to take this and make it serve whatever gender and pronouns headcanons you like, so i'm not saying it definitely means exactly what i personally like. like i said at the start, i'm not interested in "proving" anything or whatever. i'm just observing that it's interesting, and then im applying it to beef up headcanons i personally like... so you do as you will, too 😌

but to me, no matter what final conclusion is drawn, gender is a performance and cinder fall is trapped on the stage! goodluck up there!

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Backstage Story Translation - Sakyo Furuichi SR: My performance memories ~ Sakyo ~ - Part 1

yin yang midnight is mankai company's fifth mixed troupe play! you can find a translation of its event story on yaycupcake

also proofread by myuntachis <3

Sakyo: …

Citron: We have come to buy sweets!

Azuma: Fufu, nice to see you here.

Guy: I apologize for interrupting you while you’re working.

Hisoka: … Welcome.

[Flashback starts]

Citron: I heard from Sakuya that he handed out cookies with Homare and the others during their screening party!

Citron: We’ll hand out cookies too!

Sakyo: Those cookies came from Arisugawa’s own money. We can’t have our earnings decrease like that.

Azuma: How about we pay for them with our own money too, then?

Sakyo: No. You’ll probably pick out something way too expensive.

Citron: Do you not want to express your gratitude for our audience, Sakyo!?

Sakyo: That’s not it. But it ain’t like handing out sweets is in our event details.

Sakyo: If we start doin’ this everywhere, we’re gonna have to consider the audience that only attends specific events, and blah blah blah…

Guy: Would there be no issue if the sweets were cheap?

Sakyo: That’s not the problem here…

Citron: There is no problem, then! Japan has many cheap and delicious sweets!

[Flashback ends]

Sakyo: … I had pretty much guessed this would be where we’d end up, but you really just took us to a penny candy store.

Sakyo: Are you working part-time here again, Mikage?

Hisoka: … Only for today. The owners said it’s their grandson’s birthday.

Citron: All the sweets look delicious~ What would you recommend?

Hisoka: This one’s a new arrival. The best-selling one is over here…

Sakyo: … You sure know your stuff.

Guy: I think it would be best to leave the choice to Furuichi, our lead actor.

Sakyo: Lemme see…

Sakyo: ——

Sakyo: … Are those toy omikuji?

Hisoka: Yeah, but… Those aren't sweets.

Azuma: Omikuji, hm? Oh, that reminds me… Sakyo-kun, your name…

Sakyo: Yeah. I think I’ve got an idea for what sweets to hand out now.

-

Sakyo: I’m Sakyo Furuichi from the Autumn Troupe. I played the lead.

Citron: I’m Citron from the Spring Troupe! Thank you for coming today~

Azuma: I’m Azuma Yukishiro from the Winter Troupe. Did you enjoy our fifth mixed play, Yin Yang Midnight?

Guy: Also from the Winter Troupe, I am Guy. Thank you for your attendance.

Citron: … I’m feeling some kind of deshuffle.

Azuma: Deshuffle?

Sakyo: Déjà vu, I bet. At least learn katakana properly already.

Guy: This reminds me, this line-up is the same as the one for Furuichi’s birthday event some time ago.

Azuma: Fufu, that just goes to show how close we are.

Guy: You must be right.

Citron: Absolutely!

Sakyo: … Well, I’ve got no qualms about that.

Citron: Did you hear that, everyone!? Sakyo is being dere for once!

Audience A: Sakyo-san being dere… So precious…!

Audience B: Eeek!! So cute!

Sakyo: … Let’s get this talk show on the road.

Sakyo: We actually prepared some souvenirs for you today.

Audience C: Souvenirs!? I wonder what…!

Sakyo: When we learned that Arisugawa’s group had done so, we decided we’ll hand out sweets too.

Citron: Sakyo chose the sweets!

Sakyo: I chose the Good Luck Omikuji rice crackers.

Azuma: As their name suggests, these rice crackers have a fortune slip inside.

Sakyo: … I’m sorry for bein’ so cheap.

Sakyo: Some of you may already know this, but my father chose my name by drawing an omikuji.

Sakyo: Whenever I watch this performance, I’m reminded of him and the invisible bond we share through my name.

Sakyo: That’s why I’d like everyone here to take one home as a memento of the bond you share with us.

Citron: Ohhh, everyone looks happy!

Sakyo: I take it that you like that. I’m glad.

Azuma: How about we try it too, then?

Citron: Nice! I’ll draw More Luck for sure!

Sakyo: There ain’t no such fortune.

Guy: Choose whichever you like, Furuichi.

Everyone: One, two…

part 1 | part 2

[dragonmarquise]

BRC MerMay Ideas

And now for my BRC MerMay headcanons!! Like I mentioned in the poll, every year I try to do a drawing for MerMay, which is usually just a mermaid version of a favorite character. I’m hoping to do something for BRC next year, so I’ve got a bunch of ideas for mermaid versions for almost every character!

Benni, the Oldheads, and Berlage are not here, but maybe they can stay as humans in this… I guess it’s basically a MerMay/mermaid AU by this point, lol

Starting with the main cast:

Tryce = red snapper

Bel = floating bell jellyfish (Get it, bell, Bel, lol)

Vinyl = sailfish, probably the Atlantic sailfish in particular

Felix = coelacanth (for headcanons-derived-from-implied-lore reasons, hee hee...)

DJ Cyber = manta ray, specifically the giant manta ray because they're cool as hell

Solace = garden eel! He pops in and out of the sand.

Solace: *popping out of the sand* Hello friends! How are y-- Tryce: You get back in that sand hole, or so help me-- Solace: *going back into the sand* Oh, okay, sorry!!

I’m sorry, I just find the idea funny, lol

Some bonus BRC members plus Escher:

Rave = wahoo

Mesh = threadfin butterflyfish

Shine = sunshinefish (was originally going to make her a sunfish, but I decided to be nice to her :P )

Rise = leopard seal

Coil = rainbow wrasse

Rietveld = orca

Escher = whale shark with prosthetic tail (I headcanon that the original Escher has non-cybernetic prosthetic legs, below the knees, so that’s getting carried over to his MerMay design)

Okay so also! With Rietveld and Escher in this weird AU, they used to be humans (Cops? Part of a navy who tried to hunt mermaids maybe?) who said “Screw this, we won’t be the bad guys anymore!!” and found a way to turn into mermaids. I guess. :P

So moving on, for the rival characters from here, besides DOT EXE, the seasons in parentheses indicate which in-game palette corresponds to that character. Just so you know!

The Franks = stitched together of different sharks and dolphins!

Bill (spring) = common dolphin + lemon shark

Charles (summer) = dusky dolphin + blue shark

Michael (autumn) = Commerson’s dolphin + thresher shark

Larry (winter) = bottlenose dolphin + leopard shark

Flesh Prince = Atlantic spotted dolphin (Spots and freckles!!)

Eclipse = all octopi

Vela (spring) = common octopus

Aquila (summer) = blue ringed octopus

Lyra (autumn) = mimic octopus

Cassiopeia (winter) = giant pacific octopus

DOT EXE = Robo fish mermaids!! So not specific fish species here, just general shapes/appearances basically.

Twoson (two ball) and Fourside (four ball) = robo guppies

Cinco (five ball) = robo sailfish

Neun (nine ball) = robo stingray

Eight Ball = robo shark

Jūrō (ten ball) = robo eel

Quatorze (fourteen ball) = robo octopus

Cueball = robo dolphin

Devil Theory = all sharks (more specifically picked species that have been most commonly reported in shark attacks)

Sai (spring) = great white shark (the guy with the anger problems of course gets the shark with the most reported bites :P )

Nunchaku (summer) = tiger shark

Daishō (autumn) = blacktip shark (Not blacktip reef shark! That is actually a separate species)

Bō (winter) = bull shark

Fun fact! Leopard seals are apex predators, and are even known to eat sharks on occasion. This is why Rise is allowed in Devil Theory’s turf (waters?) in this MerMay AU, lol

FUTURISM = stingrays, like with DJ Cyber

Nyx (spring) = eagle ray

Jazz (summer) = bat ray

Veronica (autumn) = whiptail stringray

Quantum (winter) = electric ray (maybe the marbled one in particular?)

Bonus round of “Red is somehow a separate person from Felix and Faux” stuff because I like the idea of that (but not as a replacement for Felix, the hate I have seen against Felix just to prop up Red that I have seen in this fandom is ridiculous...)

Red = A red guppy! So then Faux was this before being defeated too of course. Red in this AU is like… a talking hermit crab taking shelter in the old Red helmet. Felix was putting the helmet back together to use as his new mask, and found Red.

He decided to let the crab have the helmet (especially since it needed it more than him, having a hard time finding an actual shell after being bullied by other hermit crabs) plus Faux's old body. Using the helmet and some advanced set up inside of it (probably with further modifications by the Flesh Prince and DJ Cyber), Red can use it to control the body just like any other mermaid! Huzzah!

Faux's head is found at some point later, miraculously still alive and well! He gets attached to a non-mermaid sea dragon at some point. Not an actual sea dragon, but a leafy seadragon. Basically the Flesh Prince and DJ Cyber tricked him into agreeing to the new body, omitting the “leafy” part, lmao

They promise to get him a proper mermaid body if he behaves and properly repents for what he did (he still killed Felix here and tried to kill the others before being stopped), but uh, suffice to say at the moment he's got a long way to go.

It doesn’t help that he keeps trying to outright steal his old body from Red. “Dude, you literally threw it away to try and steal Solace’s body!!” “Don’t care, give it back!!” lol

So yeah! That's all of what I have for MerMay ideas! Feel free to let me know what you think of these :D

[ask-sum-2ps]

Awakening

That's right! guess who's finally back into the swing of things! your favorite pink haired fox thing, things have finally settled down. and i'm somewhat caught up with my collage work, but now i feel safe and mentally secure enough to start working on my blog and my boys again; if you all have noticed or not the blog has gotten some visual upgrades, mainly it is lore and that lore will be unlocked going further down the line. i want the lore to be like a fun puzzle, i will be sprinkling hints as i go. now that states this blog will still be goofy silly haha 2p hot men, but lore is still fun to have and i like making it now some more updates below

For Starters, it's been a while since i've shared about my precious cats. We'll start with my older son, Thomas (tried to be Tomato but Thomas stuck) he is a big fat boy, love him a lots and his Brother Catalina (we thought he was a girl until he grew nuts)

so those are how the cats are and of course if you guys ever want i'll happily show some more pictues of my sweet baby boys. but now to the actual star of the blog and what you really wanna see. . . . . .

Me (just kidding)

Now the 2ps, so i have made a realization that on this blog i currently have 41 2p characters for the blog and 164 characters in total for the blog. so to make it so i don't end up fucking dying from trying to ya know trying to draw and keep track of every character. i will be separating main 2ps from side 2ps, you can of course still talk and ask the side cast stuff but i will mainly be focusing on the main cast. speaking off the main cast they will be getting some outfit changes/new looks just because i wanna give them some nicer outfits, the main cast will also be getting some more Indepth information that i will be posting on the blog so you can learn more about some of the lore i have for them

Klaus and Azrail are in grey cube jail because they are so ungodly pale that they disappear on the white background so i needed a different color to help them pop out but looking at it they are still kinda pale, at least they're a little bit more visible.

of course i also have a good few asks that i need to answer from last i left the blog off, although i won't be answering all of them as i will mainly be cleaning out my inbox and answering the ones that i feel like i can answer in a way that won't be disappointing. that includes a joke one my boyfriend gave because he is silly (i love him despite his silliness) so rest assure that there will be some asks finally answered but i hope i will get some new ones seeing as i will be more active (the art will be simpilar to help me do this easier)

i will also be doing more artist adventures with my 2ps, one of those things i want to do is animation and animatics. so expect to see some of those in the future, but if you would like to see early wips and other stuff i may do i do have a youtube channel although so far it's only character playlists for some random 2ps but i will still give the link if you guys are interested

um i'm not sure what else i should mention in this update, uhhhhhhhh oh! right you might be wondering why i'm orange simple reason is that it's autumn so ya'know orange. yeah seeing as my Sona Jam is an animal like creature i made it so she changes during the seasons. mainly to reflect how i like to change during the seasons (close and hair wise) funny enough in the species i made for Jam the they only change for winter but Jam is special as she changes seasonally.

each are different flavored too, Spring: Strawberry Lemonade, Summer: Cherry lemonade, Autumn: Orange Lemonade, Winter: Blackberry Lemonade

and those should be all the updates i need to give, i'm happy to be back! i missed everyone a lot

[erissheiress]

Ooo birthday prompts! I’m not sure if I can do more then one but I’m gonna try. If nothing else pick your fav.

The first ones Autumn Court cuz I love my moot privileges!

But the second one is Winter court. And I want a unbiased report! Just because you know my fav means nothing!

I genuinely try to stick to a goth pixie look as my friends call it. I’ve got the split dye hair and the tiny black dresses with fishnets vibes. But! I also like to read and draw and sew. Basically If a grandma would have it as a hobby so would I.

I like sweets over sour stuff and eat way to many cosmic brownies. And I’ve been described as a black cat or a “scary chihuahua “ whatever the hell that means.

hiii! of course you can do more than one <3 you def have moot privileges lol

🍁 Autumn Court - (moots only please) I'll tell you some things i associate with you + some things i love about you/your blog &lt;3

(get ready for some really specific associations that probably only make sense to me)

cherry blossoms ~ freshly baked cake/buns ~ journaling in spiral notebooks ~ tattoos ~ the feeling when you get a new haircut and you feel really confident with yourself ~ white chocolate ~ bustling cities

and things I love about you/your blog:

the colour scheme/theme fr ~ your interactions with my works literally make me so happy ~ i love how you've been on my taglist for ages and somehow still have faith in me and my posts 🥺 ~ your sense of style after that description 😍

❄️ Winter Court- ships! description of any length and ill ship you with an acotar character!

first of all i love your aesthetic omg

i genuinely spent ages mulling this over but I def ship you with Amren 👀

I truly believe you'd be a perfect power couple, for plenty reasons; I think Amren would love your style and your hair, and of course she's very much a "black cat" character as well so ye would compliment eachother well!

also I think she'd find your hobbies endearing and fascinating, I can imagine lots of quiet evenings together just sitting in comfortable silence doing your own things <3 idk if this is a headcanon or not but Amren def has a sweet tooth sooo that works well!

hopefully that's an okay ship!! thank you for the ask!!!!

[spookysprings]

HELLO!!! This is an introduction to my account!!! PLEASE READ IT!!!

What to call me by?

Spring is fine! But you can also refer to me within the seasons!! For example

Summer for summer

Autumn for fall

Winter for winter

And spring for spring!!

(You can call me spooks too, I don’t mind! 🫶)

❤︎︎My interests❤︎︎

(Btw, I may not talk about many of the things I’m interested in but that’s because im hella hyper-fixated on spooky month TwT)

• SPOOKY MONTH!!

• Legend of Zelda: Breath of the wild

• FNAF

• Poppy playtime

• Bendy and the ink machine

• Undertale (and a lil bit of deltarune)

• Batman

• Family guy (lawl)

• Welcome Home

• Good omens

• Steven Universe

• Flamingo

• Horror in general

• CoryxKenshin

• Markiplier

(That’s about all I’ll name hehe, there’s more tho! Pretty sure…)

🚨🚨🚨DNI!!!!🚨🚨🚨

My dni is basically like any other dni

No maps/pedos.

No incestors or incest ew yucky

No pro-shitters.

No problematic people, like at all.

No people who fetishize/sexualize age regression.

No one over 21.

No holyfire (I despise that ship will everything in my body)

just shoo if you are bad

🪻🪻🪻🪻BYI!!!🪻🪻🪻🪻

When stress comes by (I just really stressed out easily) I start to understand less of what’s going on, which leads me to be confused and stuff, so please be patient with me

I have anxiety which causes me to overthink, it effects my friendships a lot and I’m trying to fix it 🫶

I have depression as well but I am getting therapy for both!! (My therapist is nice)

I do age regress a lil bit

I have ADHD and dyslexia

I tend to try and avoid conflict and stuff

If I do anything wrong I would like you to come me about it, it’s most likely that I wasn’t aware. I would like to know so I can correct myself and apologize 🫶

I’m weird (obviously)

I can post highly suggestive stuff or slightly suggestive stuff, but no NSFW since I’m a minor and this is a public area!!

I am catgender, bunnygender, Demi girl, and Bisexual :3

MY ASK INBOX IS OPEN AND YOU GUYS CAN REQUEST ANYTHING! LIKE DRAWINGS AND STUFF!! ILL BE HAPPY TO DRAW FOR YOU!!!

SOCIALS

I will add more if I remember something or need to add!!

[eiseryn]

Modern AU Outfit Designs (Lei ft. NPC friends)

Back on my outfit design BS, but this time for outfits in the modern AU. I've written a little stuff (fanfiction???) for the modern AU which takes place in a university setting!

Throughout her university and med school days, Lei actually had long hair! So in the modern AU, I decided to draw her hair long~ Also it really hits different 🥺 She's cute with short hair too but long hair Lei feels younger and softer to me.

For the outfit, I wanted to make winter/autumn outfit designs for another series of drawings I'm actually working on (I have like 50 bajillion WIPS) and so I made these as concept art / outfit designs. I wanted to include plaid elements so for Lei, her skirt is a green plaid! She's also wearing sheer tights, which is something she really likes, and she has some sort of heat-tech thermal white turtleneck as well as a fluffy probably sherpa wool? jacket but I didn't play with the textures enough for that (whoops). She's wearing white heeled boots the same colour as her turtleneck. She likes wearing heels cuz she's not very tall (158.5cm but she says she's 160cm when people ask). She also has a diamond shaped green dangly necklace - I like drawing her with diamond shaped green gems.

And of course, I designed her friends' outfits to be matching. I really wanted to have a plaid element among all four of them, and I realize that the four of them together are red, yellow, green, blue.🥺 Like sports day colours or something.

I designed Elise first, and gave her a classic red plaid circle scarf - those were super popular a few years ago! I decided to give her some red plaid legwarmers as well to add some colour to her otherwise plain suede jacket and black jeans/leggings (not sure which one it is). Her hair ribbons are red too, but I didn't put plaid in them (too small). She has a pretty simple outfit, because I imagine she wears simple but classy clothing. The Keeper (COC DM) later described her style as dark academia though, so I think I might draw her in some stuff like that later!

Ceres was pretty hard to design TBH. I wanted to give her a long skirt because she is shy and I thought it would be cute! I gave her fleece leggings under for the warmth. I also wanted to give her an accessory which I decided to be a headband which goes super well with the bangs that cover her face (in my opinion). I made them both yellow plaid, but the long plaid skirt contrasts and matches with Lei's short plaid skirt (bestie things 🥺 - Lei totally made them buy matching outfits). She has brown leather cowboy boots because fashion~ I wanted to give her a short jacket to contrast her long skirt and this is where I struggled I ended up making it the brown of her boots and added fur trim for a more winter/warm look. She's also wearing fur ball earrings because I wanted her to have a sort of fluffy look to her.

Vail! He looks so soft anime boy here and I love that 💅 I wanted to give him a simple parka with the inner lining of it to be the blue plaid so he'd match the rest of Lei's friends with the whole plaid design. I gave him jeans with a thigh belt which COULD be a gift from someone (👀👀👀if you know what I mean). Underneath the black parka I just threw on a simple winter turtleneck sweater to contrast all the black. I imagine it's pretty warm and made of thicc wool/ knitted material. I threw on some silver dog-tag/chain necklaces to ~ accessorize ~ a little more since he wears small silver earrings (apparently).

And voila! We're at the end of my unhinged rant about fashion/ outfit design! I'm sorry that I did not try to draw hands here. It's true I draw them badly anyways but I really didn't try this time. Sowwy.

[sleepy-vix]

Book recommendations pls (I will read anything)

anything? damn you're bold

ummmm alr i'll try to recommend books that can be liked by most ppl (?) unless the genre/plot is specified

first of all, i have to recommend alice oseman ofc bc it is law (solitaire and radio silence are my favs, but all of them r very good)

if u want something just for cool characters and fun idk then go for six of crows

orr u can read 1984 by george orwell bc thats the book i am currently reading (if you are interested in themes of governments being corrupt and repressive, and a dystopian world full of absolute tyranny)

i would recommend if we were villains if you like shakespeare ? i didnt know much abt shakespeare while reading it and i still got attached. its a little confusing if u dk shakespeare but ... i still recommend. it's a good autumn/ winter book, especially if you're into dark academia (or the secret history !!! it's very good dark academia too, though i wouldn't read it lightly)

also i guess if you like fairies/ fantasy/ romance (???) then go for the cruel prince ???? idk im saying random stuff atp bc idk what ur taste is

now some books that i plan to/really want to read, which i will share with u in hopes u find somethinf that u like:

- Breasts and eggs (it "paints a portrait of contemporary womanhood in Japan and recounts the intimate journeys of three women as they confront oppressive mores and their own uncertainties on the road to finding peace and futures they can truly call their own" - this is for if u r interested in feminist novels ?)

- The wind up bird chronicle (this would be my first murakami book once i read it. "the novel delves into the depths of human longing and the frequently self-destructive consequences of pursuing forbidden desires")

- Schoolgirl by Osamu Dazai (of course i really want to read No Longer Human aswell, but i want to recommend one of his lesser known novels. Also i've been wanting to read this so badly, longer than i've wanted ro read NLH. The themes in this book are "melancholy, alienation and despair with levity and humor, (and) the contradictions of the teenage narrator's thoughts draw us into a tale where lightness and uncertainty are virtues.")

ahhh thats all i can think to say, hope i helped ??? ty for the ask

[natekashiri-exe]

Yall said ask random shit soooo-

How are yall today?

Do yall have a favourite animal? Is it the same across yall's system or does everyone have a different one?

Favourite colours?

Seasons?

Favorite art form? Like written, spoken, music, drawing, painting, weaving etc?

Any witchcrafty tip?

Imma stop asking stuff before i ask too much- am sorry

Also- am sorry i keep almost spam liking yalls stuff, yall reblog a lot or relatable stuff ill try to tone it down-

I did ask for random shit, so we shall oblige!

Headmates answering: Nate(🌊), Natemare(🎤), Chara(❤️)

🌊: I'm pretty meh, work was shit as per usual, but we're getting more staff soon so positives?? I love merman and dolphins, but also ravens. I love autumn bc aesthetic and spooky season lmao. I do love drawing, but there's something about singing (and certain people singing iykyk) that just makes me feel some kinda way

🎤: I'm pretty good, watching Nate freak out over the new album has been.. interesting. Considering I'm partially based on the guy that made said album. It's kinda endearing in a way, it's lowkey adorable (do not tell them I said that, haha). As for animals, there's just something about black cats, whether panthers or domesticated indoor cats. Black coated animals in general, I agree with Nate on crows. And as with my source, I tend to prefer music/singing, I feel like certain concepts and ideals can only really be expressed through music.

❤️: *Hello. I've been dormant for quite some time, so you'll have to forgive if I've missed out on some things. As for seasons, winter reminds me of Snowdin, so I think I'll pick that one.

*Animals? Hmm.. I'm not entirely sure, you don't see much of conventional animals in the Underground.

*As for art form, I believe a picture can say a thousand words. Particularly a painted picture. Totally not painted in blood.

As for witchy tips, if you're just getting into your craft, try perusing different branches of magic and see what feels right! It took quite a while for me to land on crystal magic, and even longer for Lord Lucifer and Lady Selene to take notice of me

Also don't apologise for spam liking/reblogging, I'm just happy the bullshit that we post makes someone smile omao

Thanks for asking!

[greensleeve]

👻🎃October shenanigans part II🎃👻

Unlike in the first part of October, I didn´t seem to really do much this time. There were plans to do all kinds of fun stuff but I just didn´t seem to have any energy. Oh well. Walked outside a lot though

Pretty and colourful autumny leaves everywhere. This stage never lasts long so you have to enjoy it while you can

Also mallard ducks with their very pretty emerald green little heads, excellent

(I have always visioned that a very tiny little narrow bridge should go to that mini island. Would be cute. Very Instagrammable. Or maybe it´s kept as a mini sanctuary for birds and such? Maybe)

Oh yeah the full moon threw me off once again. Effed up my hard-earned sleep rhythm as always. So this is me going for a long cycling session at 4 AM. That´s normal. It was very eerie because of the heavy fog

(once again Lahti proving to be a surprisingly aesthetic place)

Eerie super foggy morning look, very Silent Hill 2

Even more eerie pictures, I mean it is October after all. This looks like some kind of a weird foreign thing that the aliens have left behind

Oh yeah the live model drawing class begun! Nudity. Male nudity. Very ummm...exposed nudity. Was fun though to try to draw what you can in only a couple of minutes. This one was like I dunno...two minutes? But man was I rusty! A humbling experience for sure

And then as soon as November 1st hit mother nature was like WINTER NOW. Damn, like we are still celebrating Halloween at the moment, could you chill

It really was a very dramatic change of seasons this year. October 31st - autumn. November 1st - winter.

Oh and it was Lahti´s 119th birthday and the famous Christmas lights got turned on. I appreciate them so much but man it´s Halloween at the moment, Christmas lights already?? (are they this early every year?) Notice the Pelicans mascot in the left corner by the way

Somebody has a lot of nail polishes these days. What brand might be my favourite? Any suggestions? "Enchantment" is such a good halloween color, very glimmery purple, very witchy

[balkanradfem]

A year ago, I discovered the nettle infusion, and it was a miracle cure for 3 of my issues: calcium deficiency, chronic exhaustion, and vulnerability to stress. Not only drinking it every day was enough to give me a healthy dose of calcium, but it also gave me a power-up, I would miraculously not be stressed anymore, i’d have more energy, it would be a perfect pick-up any time I needed to get anything done. And it tasted so good to me, the flavour was almost like milk. The improvement of my calcium levels were visible too - my nails got stronger and stopped having white spots, I could tell the difference while clipping them.

Then, come autumn, everything changed. The nettle infusion started to taste worse and worse, it was almost like something that fermented for too long of a time, and it was making me nauseous. I realized it could be due to the fact that during the cold times, nettle drew out different nutrients from the soil; in fact, people said it drew out even more calcium and iron than before. But, it was yuck. As the winter came, I was unable to keep drinking it. The taste became repulsive. And it didn’t have quite the effect on me anymore, I couldn’t feel that spring of energy and vitality, I must have gotten too used to it.

During the winter, I wish I had planned my nettle consumption better, because if I had, I could have eaten the same amount of nettle in bread, pasta, pancakes, tortillas, I could have made a lot of nettle powder and not become calcium-deficient again. Alas, I kept trying to make infusions and failed to finish them.

I gave it up in the end, and decided that calcium is a problem for the spring. I was sure in the spring, the nettle would start tasting amazing again and all of my problems would be solved. Except, that didn’t exactly happen.

Early spring nettle was still.. yuck! Then I thought, okay, then late spring, when it’s real hot outside, then nettle infusion will taste good again, or so help me. Well, it’s late spring now. And guess what. It’s not yuck anymore. But it also fails to be absolutely delicious as I remember it, perhaps I have corrupted my senses by trying to drink it in winter.

However, the second I started drinking it and it wasn’t obnoxious, I experienced that same immense thrill of energy, power, clarity, like I could finally think! And now I’m binge-drinking it like I can’t get enough even though it doesn’t taste heavenly, the effect is too desirable to miss. I can’t believe I lived without it all this time, once again I can’t imagine not drinking it.

Since I’m still fairly mentally ill, the nettle didn’t completely fix me, but I have to give it credit for making my situation easier and more manageable. I was hoping it would be an all-year-round solution, and in theory I still hope it might be. If I had enough drying space and I harvested in the summer the amount I need for winter, that might work. Or, if maybe the dosage is the key, and I need to use a different amount in the summer and winter to get similar results. I don’t know what it is that the plant draws out of the earth that gives me a power-up in the summer, but doesn’t in the winter.

If you’re reading this and wondering how to make a nettle infusion, it’s incredibly easy - dry the nettle, stuff it in a jar, pour boiling water over it, close the jar, let it cool down, and leave overnight in the fridge. It gets more tasty after 24 hours of fridge time. You strain the liquid and drink it, discard the nettle into the compost. The process makes sure that all of the nutrients and healing properties of the nettle get into the water, and you get a powerful drink out of it, without having to eat it.

I can’t explain why it only works in the summer, but I’m so glad it’s working again. If someone can explain this, I’d be pleased to find out!

[icharchivist]

it's a bit early, but happy new year! i'll make sure to properly wish you when the time comes, but I did go through the mankai event now so it felt strange not to say it, haha... i was actually thinking about finishing this event new years eve to be appropriate, but i ended up getting a little sick so. might as well do the events now while ive got the time right? also also!! i started a3 almost exactly 2 years ago on jan 1 2021 so i thought it would be nice to maybe try to start act 2 then? since after this i just have the anniversary event and vday magic (i think i'll do one day princess after ch 5). anyways the actual event. as usual i'll go through my thoughts chronologically.

that first opening scene is so good. citron staring at that charm while sakuyas sleeping… now that’s not really any evidence for citron being a light sleeper but in my heart I just KNOW he is okay. and what great sound design!! like all silence. no backing music. just the sound of sakuyas quiet snores. it sets that mood so well so i really felt that the charm citron was staring at must be really important to him...

oh also i want to say this because i felt soooo smart for doing it. the moment that first scene opened with citron i paused and took some notes bc i wanted to guess who else was in the cg lmaooo. with all the act 1 non-play events, there's exactly 11 events. i'm assuming the anniversary event is special so that cg might have the whole a3 cast or smthing like all the leaders? or even like a cg of matsukawa and izumi or something. that'd be cool. but who knows. but without that, its ten, and then theres 2 per event cg which gets u the 20 members of the troupe. excluding inter-troupe pairings, there's 6 unique combinations of seasons you can make: spring summer, spring autumn, spring winter, summer autumn, summer winter, autumn winter. we've had 8 events so far, and 4 unique combinations have been repeated twice: spring summer (tsuzuru&kazunari + itaru&misumi), autumn winter (sakyo&azuma, taichi&tasuku), spring winter (masumi&tsumugi, sakuya&hisoka), and summer autumn (muku&juza, yuki&banri). there's 4 members who haven't gotten event cgs yet, then: citron, tenma, omi, and homare. and there's exactly 2 unique season combinations left: spring autumn and summer winter. suffice to say that when i noticed that omi and citron were in the same cleaning group, and talked to masumi and juza about their talent show thing, and THEN went to get groceries together... i cheered so hard. calculations for the win.

back to chronological thoughts:

i’ve written this before but juza 🤝 yuki: *sees any situation* how do I make this about banri/tenma (derogatory)

nonetheless juzas conception of banri is sooooo funny to me. like banris super smart and talented and juza is like. he’s a weirdo who will draw a face on his stomach and make it talk by moving his muscles. like that’s sooo specific. and then banri immediately being like. I CAN do it! the moment juzas like. oh. …you can’t? like. actually something is weird about both of you (affectionate)

sakyo: aren’t you all forgetting something very important we have to do before the new year

me, nodding sagely: ah yes. annual performance reviews. *cut to next scene* ohhhh they’re just deep cleaning. I was just like. 100% convinced that they needed to do their annual like evaluations. i don't even do those but it's just one of my first associations with the year end i guess???

anyways when they find that duct taped box w/ yuki mentioning they could sell old props for play funding… I don’t know if it’s ever said outright but considering yukis always talking to sakyo abt like costuming and stuff and they collaborated with that kigurumi punishment I have to wonder if yuki has like. a nonzero amount of info on play budgeting as compared to most of the troupe. kazunari. the 14 year old in your troupe knows more about budget management than you. i mean yukis been selling his clothing etc. on the net so maybe he does know a nonzero amount of this kind of thing with like selling props...

it was so cute to see their street act! they’ve come so far. love the way azuma thinks abt it like “how do I jump in here” and goes “I’m going to cause problems. on purpose.” with making a surprise phone call. citron though oh my gosh. its like. yes. he does know what a year end rush is. and abt travel prices. hes not stupid!! but god the way hes like im gonna wish all the grocery staff happy new year as his excuse for searching for his charm... he knows. what he is doing. same with those travel prices its like. citron can be So Loud but hes also so careful to not say much. i want to pat him on the head. unrelated but i didnt realize azuma called citron his highness? i thought monarchy hater no. 1 citron would dislike that a little more. its also making me think if citron has mentioned hes like a prince / royalty...? since azuma calls him that. but ive got to think he hasn't. still more points to my runaway prince citron theory. omi helping him find the charm was so sweet though! its like. wow. nice. still the way citron literally Does Not Say Anything. crazy of him

citron: …it is a very special gift that I received from someone.

me: …guy?

and later w/ citron: never mind. but there is someone in my country who I would like to see again.

me: …guy?

oh but i'm not glossing over the fact that citron has three younger brothers who he's convinced don't want to see him again. runaway prince im telling u. also thats so sad wtf. the citron and omi cg was cute tho! i kind of liked how little this event did in terms of revealing too much like... citron lets a couple of details slip but doesn't really say much at all. which makes sense for his character i think!! man what a great event in terms of making me excited for act 2, though... i hope it comes up when guy shows up!! not to be like. i want to see citron cry. but i want him to get a little emotional yknow. reveal some of ur feelings i want u to be comforted.

i thought a lot of duos for the talent show ep were so cute! like hisoka and homare with homare being like. ill get u special marshmallows even, so do something with me. idk how to express it properly but i feel like in this event especially u can really feel how much joy homare gets by like. simply spending time with hisoka? made me remember their play event. and shakespeare?? In ENGLISH???? im obsessing over this. was it much ado about nothing? what play would be best for them… i haven't read enough shakespeare to make a definitive decision, unfortunately... my personal vote is for othello. homare knows shakespeare in english bc he’s a fan but hisoka… if he’s proficient in english. hm. hmm. more points to him being some kind of assassin/spy/foreign agent thing. like chikage was also overseas probably doing some assassin/spy business for a while, wasn’t he… im watching you.

also tasuku and tsumugi with their pantomiming and the way when itaru compliments him tasuku is IMMEDIATELY like "oh im nothing compared to tsumugi though" like wow. its kind of so nice hearing this out loud bc its like. oh right. this is what they were yelling at each other about in act 1. and then masumi and juza's bartending act. with the rainbow cocktail. masumi and juza, pointing at a3: I know what you are. packing peanuts was my guess for what was inside the box so im glad it was at least like a daruma doll lol. and juza got his sweets! the lil bonus with the ppl staying in the dorm to celebrate the new year was so cute too tho. like when misumi mentioned the triangular carrots.

tenma: d—did you say carrots? why did arisu have to leave me now…

me: tenma and homare friends??? homare eats tenma’s carrots (which he. doesnt like?) for him??? i need to see this. well i'm pretty confident they're gonna be the duo for vday magic so I'm quite excited, haha. oh also in the new years text chat!! is homares screen name alice? i think thats cute. anyways what a sweet event! it didnt leave me feeling anything toooo emotional but it made me REALLY excited for act 2 bc i feel like that's where the real payoff is gonna be yknow? so it was cool in a different way.

AAH HEY HEY HEY! HERE YOU ARE! I needed to be done with the event to properly tackle this ask, thank you for waiting.

First of, thank you for the good wishes <333 Happy New year to you too if we don't get around to say it on the day itself. And saying it because you went through the a3 event makes total sense ahaha

And it's such a good plan with timing! I'd be nice if you manage to reach act 2 by then, i think it's supposed to start late February in the timeline so, at this rhythm you can get in synch with the story as it goes! (and good plan for ODP since it IS set right after chap 5 originally).

ANYWAY WAHOO ALWAYS NICE READING YOUR THOUGHTs, LET'S GO!

And oh god yeah, i can totally picture your HC about Citron being a light sleeper. As for the charm oh man… oh man.

and oh my GOD. THAT'S SO CLEVER HOLY SHIT. i would never have figured it out meanwhile you kept track of all of this!! that's so impressive holy shit!!! your calculation is IMPRESSIVE HERE.

ALHDLKDFJFDLKFD Juza and Yuki, together in being so damn tired of their leader (affectionly but also derogatory)

AND HELPPP I FORGOT ABOUT THIS SCENE. Juza's conception of Banri is truly the funniest, i love that about those two. And the fact Banri can totally catch the bait is what's even funnier. And they were both idiots (and they were both idiots!)

ohmygod you're really set up to be a fellow acting addict now that your first thought was "annual performance review" this is so funny.

And you're totally right about Yuki i think. I don't recall them ever mentioning it directly, but considering how much he's fighting with Sakyo about budget and how often Yuki wins, considering Sakyo isn't exactly the kind to go KINDLY on something just because someone would insult him, it figures Yuki is arguing with proper arguments when it comes to budget. Like, both arguing why he needs expensive material (how it would reflect on the company and all) AND on how to manage the budget to justify it. as you said, Yuki sells clothes online so he's probably the best equiped about it. Which is really impressive, the 14yo is the one the most adjusted to discuss budget with the yakuza. Love that about him.

ohmygod right the street acts are always a nice way to show how they changed. And Azuma <3333 my mister problem. But yes totally agree about everything Citron there (that isn't confirming or unconfirming theory at least). he's very considerate and very smart, his only issue is the grasp on the language, but aside from that? he knows stuff. And sometimes when he acts stupid, that's exactly what it is. an act. He knows when to not say much. For Citron, he never mentioned anything about his past to anyone, but you might want to read the Citron&Muku crossbackstage from the "Others" tab. It's called "Sir Citron's Secret" and probably would give fuel to your theories. (while you're on that tab do look at the Homare&Sakyo one just because it's one of the funniest on the list). As it though, aside from whatever he tells Muku and how serious he is about it, he hasn't really come into details about it to anyone at all, aside from hating the monarchy. So Azuma calling him His Highness is indeed strange. I feel like Azuma definitely got Vibes from Citron (which is mhmmmm considering Azuma is a really good people reader), and it seems that Citron hasn't found in his heart a way to tell Azuma to knock it off. Or perhaps Citron is more annoyed at the idea of ACTING like Royalty (so, with the royal roles he gets), than he is being refered as such? all the more mhmmm things about his behavior for sure.

Omi is so so sweet and so nice yessss and Citron was so interesting this event. I love when the mask falls around Citron for a bit. He remains mysterious in his own way, but it's always fascinating to approach. God the charm. I have many thoughts about the charm. That i will not elaborate on. But so many thoughts.

And god yeah, the sibling situation. It's so sad. Regardless of the details it also does explain why he wants the Spring Troupe to be a family this much and why he ends up caring about his troupesmates so much. (and Muku, who's one of the charas outside of his troupe Citron has a lot of affection for. Re: their crossbackstage)

And yeah i agree, this event was really good for Citron's development without ruining the mystery for now. It's also really a good event to go back to when you do know, it's so fascinating. BUT HELP "I WANT TO SEE CITRON CRY" I SEE YOU. I hope act 2 lives up to your expectations <3

god you pointing out that Homare has so much joy being with Hisoka. Yes you're totally correct. Like, he may complains at time and Hisoka can be so rude but Homare enjoys spending time with him so much. I do love that he bribed him into it though. Homare, of course, is just like that, talking in English and in French and whatever. For Hisoka…. Yeah it sure is shady isn't it. Like wow okay mister amnesia how did you get that.

Tsumu and Tasu being on this vibe was so good. I love how it shows just how complicit they are. And Tasuku gets to be more and more communicative of his feelings. It is, after all, the thing he had to learn, since it's because he didn't know how to talk to his troupesmate, especially Tsumugi, that things went wrong, and he's been learning and it's sweet. THE RAINBOW OMMENT HELPPP.

BUT YESS The preparation for New Year are so sweet. And DLKFJDLKFJFD THE CARROTS. THAT DYNAMIC. But yeah it's pretty much this, Tenma doesn't like carrot, Homare wants him to eat carrots, but as long as Tenma doesn't want to Homare will eat them for him. It's adorable isn't it. AND THE NEW YEAR CHAT YESS IT'S SO SWEET. Homare's name is indeed Alice on here (since his last name is Arisugawa = Arisu, which is pronounced Alice. It's also sweet considering Hisoka always calls him "Arisu" only. also i think it's really cute like, the duo Alice In Wonderland and Sleeping Prince (canon nickname Homare use on Hisoka). They're adorable.)

BUT YEAHHH this event was great. A good lighthearted event for NY and just. so soft all around. I love those guys so much.

And indeed building up some act 2 things which are going to be fun to explore. Looking forward to see you experience it all, since you do have a keen eye at picking stuff up ;DDD

thank you once again for sharing all of this with me. It was a blast to read through and relive, and reminded me of quite a few things (esp since you're entering the territory of material-i-only-read-once, compared to almost everything before that i read a few dozen times ahah). So that's going to be a blast to relive for me as well ;D

thank you so much once again, and happy new year if we don't see each other again before the 1st ;D

Take care <33

[fantasy-innit]

maybe a wilbur x reader where they play with sidewalk chalk like they used to do when they were really young? honestly miss being a kid again ^^

silly little sunsets | wilbur soot x reader

oh my god this is the cutest ask ive ever seen. you are an angel.

gn!cc!reader x cc!wilbur

656 words, another short-ish one, im tired once again LOL.

tw- childhood (LOL)

also sorry if this is kind of bad and not super "chalk" centric, but i tried.

-----

the similarly quiet and charming park had it's eyes set on the moon, the summer citrus of the sun shunning itself to the trees. the air fell cold, but not a winter cold, more of a late autumns vague yet timeless shiver down ones back.

A soft breeze rippled across the little pond, chilling the small ducklings who were huddling against their mother. a small pouch of colorful chalk sticks spilled across the bare pavement like the buckets of sanguine leaves littered across the lawn of the park.

y/n smiled, staring at the sunset. their coat cozied their body from the quietly boisterous winds, a pair of sweatpants hugging their legs.

"whats the chalk for, love?" wilbur raised his eyebrow, bending down and releasing y/ns hand as he picked up an orange piece of brand-new chalk.

"maybe if you had a brain, you could tell that we were going to use it."

wilbur spat a laugh. "okay, well what are we using it for?"

"drawing. i dont know. recently i just feel a little nostalgic. we drove past my primary school the other day and looking at the empty playground kind of made me sad."

"i know what you mean, growing up was no magical experience for me- yet i miss it all the time." he smiled, sitting himself on the ground and scratched the ground with the chalk. "maybe its all the work we're doing."

y/n sat next to him, groaning. "sometimes i just wanna quit. when i was younger i thought creating content and having a following would make me feel more fulfilled and purposeful, but all it is now is a job to me. like if i don't stream or post a video- i'll lose it all."

"take a break. sometimes that makes them like you more." he smiled. "beg you on twitter to go live. thats the stuff that keeps me going when i'm feeling unmotivated.

"of course you don't have to continue making content, and if this really isn't your true passion," he continued, "you should let yourself explore."

y/n sighed, drawing a smiley face with the purple chalk that stained their hand. "this is my passion, but sometimes it just feels like a job."

"well then it's decided. we both take a little break and spend time being a little silly and childish."

y/n laughed quietly and began to draw a rainbow on the black, rocky pavement.

"and see? i drew us. i'm feeling like a kid already!" wilbur smiled adding the finishing touch to his drawing by writing WG + (y/i) underneath. despite his drawing being two stick figures holding hands with hearts above their heads, nothing could stop the grin rising on their face.

y/n leaned down into his lap, staring up at his face. "how are you so perfect? you just know what to do no matter what."

"it's not my perfectness, its yours. you are the perfect person." he brushed his hand through their hair, twirling the strands in his lengthy fingers. "and i will do anything to make you feel like you are that perfect person i see everyday when i wake up."

"you are the somehow the most romantic but ridiculous guy i have ever met.." they laughed, getting up from his lap.

wilbur placed a hand on their cheek and kissed their nose. "and that is why you love me soooo so much. i'm so quirky and unpredictable."

"..." y/n put a hand over their mouth trying not to laugh. they caved and let out a small but loud laugh. "were breaking up. i can not date a guy who describes himself as quirky."

"oh, you'd never. even if i had called myself an unbelievably random and spoopy potato."

"yeah, i wouldnt break up with you. i'd kill you.

wilbur smiled, placing a kiss on their lips. "im so excited for the day that i marry you."