#(I REALLY need to read more about more obscure labels...)

[heloflor]

Have a doc filled with Mario headcanons and wanted to share the sexualities part because fuck it, it’s still pride month.

Disclaimer since it’s relevant to this post : I headcanon that Peach, Daisy, Wario and Waluigi are all creatures from the world of the Mushroom Kingdom who look the way they do due to magic gems (those blue and green gems that Peach and Daisy have respectively). Peach is a Toad, Daisy is a Dino-Rhino (unless those flower people from Mario Bros acid trip Wonder are from her Kingdom, then again I like Daisy being a giant cool Dino, plus the trailer for Wonder showed several other big animals), not sure for Wario and Waluigi but they’re not humans. The Super Crown works the way it does because there’s one of those gems in it.

Also, since it’s briefly mentioned, what I call the “main” continent is made out of the Mushroom, Koopa, Bomb-omb, Thwomp, and Goomba kingdoms. Sarasaland (retconned into Flower Kingdom now ?) and other kingdoms are on other continents (yes I know in Superstar Saga the Beanbean kingdom is neighbors with the Mushroom. But since they never appear in other games, I’ve chosen to ignore that detail).

Anyways, onto the headcanons :

- Mario : Transmasc Aromantic Heterosexual ; he realized he’s aro after finding out Peach is a Toad and losing sexual interest in her (felt bad about it at first because he thought he fell out of love upon discovering Peach at her most vulnerable, Bowser made it worse for him by accusing him of liking her only due to her human form) ; him being transmasc is why he’s named Mario Mario (he thought it would be funny)

- Luigi : Cis Bisexual ; had a fling with Peasley + loves Daisy ; he’s gender non-conforming and sometimes shares clothes with Peach, he also trains his voice to be higher-pitched for the heck of it (+ it can help in case he has to take Peach’s place for a kidnapping)

- Peach : Demiromantic Pansexual ; is cis-passing in human form but is technically transfem due to being a Toad

- Bowser : Omnisexual ; Cis tho I like the idea of him being transmasc and birthing Junior’s egg

- Yoshi and Birdetta are T4T + poly (hence Birdetta flirting with others) ; Birdetta’s eggs aren’t actually eggs (insert joke about her “eggs” being white) ; not sure if “all Yoshis that lay eggs are female” but at least all those that lay eggs that can be fertilized are female (and on that note YOSHI MIGHT BE CANONICALLY TRANSMASC ???!!!) ; Yoshi is straight while Birdetta is plurisexual (bi/pan/omni etc)

- Daisy : Straight + intersex + transfem (imagine if Prince Haru from the 1986 movie was her appearance pre-transition, but remove the whole “Peach’s fiancé” part of the plot, or the plot as a whole since the events of this movie didn’t happen here, just keep Haru’s design as “Daisy before transitioning”)

- Big fan of the headcanon that Kamek is gay ; he doesn’t date because 1. He’s busy 2. He’s getting too old for this 3. He’s devoted to his son and grandchildren which takes all his free time

- Depending on which creature he is Wario would be cishet though I could also see him be plurisexual (bi/pan/omni/other label that has to do with dating more than one gender ; I like putting diversity in queer headcanons but I’m not the most knowledgeable on labels past the most common ones)

- Not sure for Rosalina, either aroace or she’s allo but just stays single due to her life situation ; probably non-binary (she/it, could also be a play on the fact that some see her as some kind of goddess)

- Pauline is Cis Lesbian and her and Mario parted on good terms after he came out as trans on top of other reasons (basically they still care a lot about each other but realized they were better off as friends, the whole “unknown aro + transmasc with lesbian” simply gave them an easier excuse to break up)

- Really not sure for Bowser's kids, the only ideas that are "set in stone" are that Ludwig is gay, Wendy is attracted to boys (doesn't meant she can't like girls), Lemmy is demi-boy (they/him) and Morton is attracted to girls (like Wendy it doesn't close the door for liking men).

Not sure for the rest, though I could see Iggy using he/neopronouns (likely xe/xem) and at least one of them being interesex. Btw the older kids say they don’t date because they’re busy with royal duties but the truth is they are just incredibly awkward + they can’t ask their dad for advice since he’s a romantic disaster

- I could see Toadsworth be aroace, since even in his younger years he cared more about raising his surrogate daughter than dating + he never pressures Peach into marrying ? In general he doesn’t seem to care about romance ? ; he’s also transmasc because Toad

- After seeing Bowser’s Inside Story and the beginning of Dream Team, Starlow is a lesbian crushing on Peach (is very buddy-buddy with Peach despite barely knowing her, makes a big deal out of Peach being kept safe, calls her “Peach” instead of “Princess” from the get go, at times seems to see Peach as the best person in the room)

- Toads and Goombas are naturally agender because mushrooms ; some choose to express a specific gender (ex Toadsworth, Toadette, Peach, the Toads and Goombas from the first two Paper Mario) ; some may use gendered pronouns even if their presentation doesn’t display any specific gender (ex Captain Toad using he/him despite looking like any other Toad) ; basically every Toad/Goomba that use gendered pronouns (or neopronouns) is technically trans and/or non-binary ; cisgender Toads/Goombas go by they/it ; the Super Crown gem gives the shape the Toad see themselves as but it doesn’t have to be cis-passing or even gender conforming, can be androgyne (Daisy took a while to figure herself out, hence her gem giving her Haru’s look at first ; she's not from an agender species but the way the gems work still applies to hers, hence mentioning how her being trans worked on that front)

- That previous point implies either all Toads have the same metabolism and thus all grow facial hair (Peach having to shave tho) or they have mushrooms that serves as HRT for those who want more “masculine” or “feminine” traits (hair/facial hair and tone of voice) ; the color of their hats has nothing to do with gender for Toads (ignore Nintendo’s weird obsession with making every female character in the Mario franchise pink)

- Sexual dimorphism in general is very rare/limited in this world (only the Beanbean kingdom has it ?), in “main” continent, Koopas are the ones where it’s the most present and even then it’s very minimal (genitals, who can lay eggs, possibly size but even then not really since Pom Pom is the only one smaller than her male counterpart, Wendy and other female Koopas aren’t particularly small)

- Toads (and other species) experimenting with gender could be due to seeing Koopas make the distinction between “male” and “female” and finding the idea of changing your appearance based on how you feel to be fun (even though you have the concept of male and female Koopas, there’s no transphobia in Bowser’s kingdom) ; by that point it’s common for Toads to change however they feel and go by any pronouns they want, just because they’re aware of the concepts of masculinity and femininity doesn’t mean they have to follow it to the letter with their pronouns unless they want to

- On that note, I could see Toadette as genderfluid, though she most often goes by she/her ; I could also see one or several of the other main Toads (Ala Gold, Bucken Berry, Captain Toad, "The" Red ToadTM) be bi-gender

- Not sure what’s going on with Waluigi but he’s definitely queer

[arcan3-reliquary]

VERITAS RATIO HEADCANONS (because we need more content of him that's him-centric)

And because you guys asked. Most of these headcanons are purely based on my readings of him or have 0 basis in canon, so if you don’t like them, feel free to scroll past them!!

fighting the war on autism on the side of autism. As a neurodivergent he's very nd coded to me, especially with the fact that he's a very caring person but terrible with emotions and words. He's losing the idgaf war so badly like there's no way a neurotypical person has a temper that short over the most (seemingly) inane shit

Kind of pasty. not just like porcelain skin, like clay-sickly-victorian-boy type palor. He tries to go outside more often, but by the nature of his job he's rather sedentary and inside alooot. He's perfectly healthy, he just looks like that. Same complexion as Freminet in my head, with fewer freckles and a tooth gap he likes to deny he has.

Wears the alabaster headpiece not just to deal with idiots, but to self regulate out in public. It blocks out smells, and dampens sound and light enough for him to tolerate some of the veeery overstimulating environments he visits.

For a man that values creativity explicitly, not enough people seem to believe he’d have an interest in the arts. So I think he's into sculpting. A chisel and hammer are very comforting weights in his hand, and while he doesn't particularly care for pottery or wet clay, he gets why it's so well liked. He uses himself as reference mostly because he's most familiar with his own body and asking others can be awkward or seen as weird.

The dude has extremely obscure taste in sci-fi novels. Like he will yap on and on about why he can't stand most sci-fi and recommend the most odd shit out there if asked.

Not really a hc, but he has very brittle self-esteem. It simply comes with the territory of being labeled “gifted” or “a child genius.” For years, a lot of his perceived worth came from the quality of his work or academic validation, and now his big reason for staying in academics isn't the knowledge itself, but rather the joy of teaching and sharing the things he knows.

Somehow both touch starved and touch averse. Contact must be initiated by him on his terms, or a shutdown will happen. But when someone he trusts does this, it's the funniest thing because he thinks he's being so subtle about his enjoyment of it. (Aven played w his hair once and Veritas passed tf out like that and Aven couldn't move for an hour.)

Chronic over-explainer. Either he misreads someone's tone and thinks they need the detail, or past conflict was caused by him thinking he didn't explain enough (it was usually just people being purposefully obtuse or daft.)

Unsurprisingly terrible to deal with when sick. Non-verbal, sits under a mountain of weighted blankets, and only communicates via the notes app on his phone or having Aventurine help him.

Ratio is terribly farsighted - just genetics. Lasic surgery fixed most of it, but he still needs reading glasses and contacts.

Intimacy issues alert. Vulnerability is scary and being put on a pedestal your whole life tends to make letting down pretenses a lil nauseating. Mortifying ordeal of being known and all that.

Girl Anachronism by the Dresden Dolls makes me think of him. I can't explain it. I think it's a combo of him being hella self aware of his issues but also just kinda treating them like something of a character flaw or moral failing rather than something he can ask for help with. Just a thought

AND THATS ITS IVE YAPPED ENOUGH ABOUT RATIO. The Aveenturine and Golden Ratio posts will come soon but for now have these. He makes me insane.

[sailtomarina]

Don’t laugh

It took Hermione a few moments to realise exactly what had happened to her. One minute, she was walking through the portrait hole into the Head’s dorm, and then the next, she couldn’t see anything, her sight and hearing obscured.

Her hands flew up to fist the thick fabric covering her face. Just as she was about to remove it, she heard the plea of her roommate.

“Don’t!” Malfoy’s voice was…odd. Commanding, that was normal, but also frantic?

Ignoring the request, Hermione proceeded to pull off what turned out to be his jumper, which still smelled faintly of bergamot, patchouli, and something vaguely reminiscent of the sea. If not for his urgency, she might have let it stay, breathing in the intoxicating aroma just a while longer.

As it was, she let the garment drop to the floor, he could cry about it later, and trained her eyes on the figure standing in the common room. 

Draco Malfoy, topless, mouthwatering except for the fact that his skin glowed a startling shade of emerald green. His pale grey eyes stared at her, wide and anticipatory.

“Don’t laugh.”

She couldn’t help it. She wouldn’t have stopped it even if she could.

First a snort. He blanched at the sound he usually found so cute when he intentionally prompted it at any other time than now. Then, a giggle. His broad shoulders slumped in defeat, the hardened plane of his abs curling inward as he started to sink onto his haunches. Finally, the guffaw that broke him completely. Hands came up to cover his face.

“Why do I have such a sweet tooth?” he wailed.

Through the tears in her eyes, Hermione spotted the box of chocolates on the coffee table. She didn’t remember seeing them there before, but she’d recognise the bright orange packaging anywhere.

“Oh, you beautiful git. Don’t you know a Weasley product when you see one?” She walked over to read the accompanying card.

To Draco. May these sweeten your day nearly as much as you do mine. Yours, H.

“Well,” she said lightly, “look on the bright side. Now we can concoct a plan for revenge.” She flipped the card over and cast a quick revelio. Good boys. They knew well enough to include a counter-charm; had they not, her retaliation would have been merciless.

Her lips pursed as she studied their instructions. The original charm was brilliant. Neither removed by a finite incantatem, nor affected by a potion antidote, all she needed was their specific incantation and a glass of milk.

“I should have known something was off. You almost never call me ‘Draco’,” he muttered.

She had to grin at that. She only called him by his given name when under intense pressure, the kind that resulted in blinding, toe-curling pleasure.

“Wait right here.” She returned with glass in hand, pushing it into his own. “Drink up.”

As he did so, she cast the spell and watched with satisfaction as the alien shade slowly faded into his more familiar alabaster tone. It was a shame. She was curious if the colour lightened or darkened in more…private…areas. He continued to drain the glass, throat bobbing with each swallow. Hermione licked her lips. Malfoy really was delicious, green or otherwise.

“All better now?” she asked lightly, fingers trailing along the thick muscle of his thigh.

“Mmmm.” Glass set aside, he inspected his torso, the fine white blond strands of his hair flopping forward as he did so. He must have tugged at them earlier in frustration. “I don’t get why they’d try to trick me like that.” He glared at the chocolates, his wand hand twitching like it wanted to bombarda them on the spot.

“You’re kidding, right?”

Slate grey eyes turned back onto her, eyebrows crinkled in puzzlement. She sighed.

“You haven’t exactly been friendly to them, you know? Even before. And now that we’re together…” Her voice trailed off. Were they together? They hadn’t exactly put a label to it. They hadn’t been particularly discreet about their hands-on interest either. The entire school had to know by now that they were more than just co-Heads.

“Are we together?” He echoed her insecurities, adding mass to the weight expanding in the pit of her stomach.

“Is that what you want?” Hermione hadn’t intended to push him into deciding one way or another, but she wasn’t going to ignore the opportunity now that it had presented itself. “Because, you should know, ever since I saved Fred from the wall that would’ve killed him, the twins have been…grateful.”

It was wickedly fun to poke him where she knew he’d feel it.

Her words had the intended effect, the usually light irises darkening as his lip started to curl downward. Hermione wasn’t lying, either. George and Fred had indeed been thankful, demonstrating just how much the summer before her return for 8th year. They held no claim on each other. The door just remained open for either party wanted to walk back through it if so desired.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

A shiver ran through her at the drop in his pitch. Malfoy was furious. Fred and George couldn’t have picked a better colour for their little prank.

“It just means that if they see an opening, they’re bound to take it.”

In a flash, she was flat on her back, the plush rug cushioning her fall but her breath knocked out at the sudden change in position. He loomed over her, caging her in with the arms and legs that straddled her on all sides.

“There is no opening for them to take.” One hand wrapped gently around her throat, belying the harshness of the action. He passed a thumb across her lips. She parted them willingly, eagerly, flicking a tongue to the surface. His hips dropped almost immediately in reaction, grinding an unmistakable presence hard against her. He nearly growled out his next words. “You’re mine.”

“Only if you’re also mine.”

They stared into one another’s eyes, darkened silver against glinting bronze, daring, threatening, pleading. Hermione could let the moment pass with an arch of her hips and by bringing her lips to his own. That’s how most of their encounters went, any thinking silenced by doing. She relished those stretches of time where there was only them, skin to skin, the usual roaring in her mind muted behind closed doors. There were still many months of schooling ahead of them; why endanger the good thing they’d started with serious discussions about labels and commitment?

She was tensing her muscles to lean up for a kiss when he stopped her by speaking.

“I’ve been yours since our first kiss.”

What?

He took her gaping mouth as permission to continue.

“If my public displays haven’t been clear enough about my intentions, then let me be so now.” He maintained eye contact, the fingers around her neck sliding down to press against her heart. “I only want you. Now. In the future. As long as you’ll have me. I’m yours.”

And to think, Hermione had started this entire situation by walking straight into a jumper attack and a Head Boy cursed Slytherin green to match his jealousy. She’d still pay the twins back in kind, but maybe she’d also include a thank you note along with her detailed feedback on their chocolate charm. A postscript stating her relationship status should also prevent any future surprises.

“Then have me, already.”

They spent the remainder of the afternoon locked up in their quarters, the space spelled silent against any curious passerby. Maybe one day she’d convince Draco to give the twins a spin, even if only to allow them a frontrow seat to the action.

WC 1285

Written for the Twitter DramionePrompts daily prompt, “Don’t laugh”

Cross-posted to Tumblr and (eventually) AO3

I don’t know where this impulse came to dye Draco green, but here we are. Don’t laugh at him, please. He’s fragile.

[maxwell-grant]

🔥 Fantastic Four

I think the whole "oh they were adventurers in the 50s but then they fell through a time warp and now they're in modern times" idea that's been floated around forever for an MCU pitch doesn't actually do much for them and only kills them further by solidfying the idea that the F4 is a "retro" team. Take it from someone who thinks about fictional (and real) dinosaurs 24/7, "retro" is very very very frequently a poison. It's a cage, it's an Achilles heel label, it's a prison that traps perfectly fine characters into bullshit cycles of repetition and boredom and obscurity, you don't want the Fantastic Four to be the retro guys more so than they already kind of are. I get why this is a popular idea, because it at least addresses a problem that doesn't really have an answer: How do you sell people on the Fantastic Four without pointing them to comics that they will never read? How do you make people care about them again?

I want good Fantastic Four adaptations, obviously, I don't think it's impossible to make good ones, but Marvel has changed so much over the past decades and changed specifically in ways that make it very hard for the Fantastic Four to be anywhere near as relevant or popular as they used to be. The MCU's done such a titanic overhaul of Marvel's entire public image that now, what matters isn't even nominally decided by what mattered at the foundation of Marvel. What matters is the foundation of the MCU, and it couldn't be further from the Fantastic Four. I don't think you're ever really replicating what made the Fantastic Four such a monster hit in comics during their heyday in another medium and it's pointless to even try. I don't think the things that make them so great and lovable and critically important and groundbreaking are as easy to reproduce or adapt as they are with someone like Spider-Man.

I think the MCU film is just gonna be another bomb and I think unless some mega successful game comes along on par with Batman Arkham or Insomniac Spider-Man, I don't think the Fantastic Four are ever really going to be again a thing people outside of comics really care about. I actually really hope I'm wrong here and that the movie works out okay, if only because failing on the world stage of the MCU is way too harsh a fate especially coming off two prior bombs, I don't want the F4 to have that kind of stigma attached to them even though the MCU is already a sinking ship. The Marvel Universe is much worse off without the Fantastic Four than the Fantastic Four are worse off without the Marvel Universe. I've read enough F4 the past months that I'm convinced they really are the best superhero team, and they are really not an impossible nut to crack outside of the circumstances the MCU set them up for. I really don't need the F4 to make Avengers money, I just need them to keep being in good comics. If they get to be in good other stuff like cartoons or movies, that's a bonus.

[prettyqueerwitch]

Weave The Liminal

a review

im back ♡ was very depressed for a bit, and then i was in sweden for a while! this is my first read of 2024, and i quite enjoyed it, honestly.

Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff is a wonderful book for beginners and seasoned practitioners. It may not be for everyone, but I think it's a good book for when you're learning/wanting to formulate your path and practice.

Table of Contents

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-

I found that Zakroff had very insightful points throughout the book. While I felt the book could be shortened a bit, I also found myself finding pieces of information I'd love to use in my practice throughout the entirety of the book.

Zakroff begins the book with her experiences in her path and practice, then going on to explain modern and traditional witchcraft. She has 3 keys to "The Witches Path" (Know Thyself, Maintain Balance, and Accept Responsibility).

She defines the witch and goes through the origin of witchcraft, which I plan on rereading as I found it educational and I wanna look into it more.

The third chapter is the one I found the most important, in my opinion, of course. She talks about RITES (Roots, Inspiration, Time, Environment, Star). These are different things to consider when formulating your path, and I found it so incredibly useful and will be utilizing it in my practice.

Now, while I really resonated with the first half of the book, the second half, specifically the last third, did not resonate with me as much as it was stuff I already knew or already had my own opinion on.

I did enjoy the parts of this talking about 3 sets of 2 keywords. Observe and obscure, listen and speak, and change and rest.

I enjoyed her different definitions of each type of dead (the familiar decreased, the ancestors, the mighty dead, other people's dead, psychopomp, and ghost and residual energy).

She also has what she calls "A Witches Guide to essential etiquette" towards the end of the book.

That sums up the parts I personally enjoyed and/or considered/am considering when relating to my practice.

Zakroff has a very pick what resonates with you and leave what doesn't as you define your own practice vibe, which I agree with. I never felt like I had to change my practice a specific way or be a certain way throughout this book.

She uses her own practice for examples throughout the book, which I enjoyed as I feel it adds to the book and furthers the information.

Her view on Gods and mythology is quite interesting. I enjoy the concept of humanity and culture, always intersecting and changing. She mentions her 'chicken or egg' question about the gods, did they create us, or did we create them.

She works with gods and does not consider herself to worship them, which is how she decides to label it, and I find thats a very valid way of labeling it. There is no pressure to work with deities in this book, which I always found refreshing considering the need to work with deities being a hot topic recent, especially the past 4 years.

I would recommend this book to anyone in the witchcraft or occult community, even if it ends up not resonating with you or if you're like me and only some parts resonated with you, I feel it could be a good read.

☆Ares☆

[milfzatannaz]

going to a local comic book store is so scary because u bring up any character and 90% of the time some guy there feels a need to “test” your knowledge on an character or be just genuinely condescending. I want to go preorder the new Zatanna black label at my LCS tomorrow but I’m genuinely afraid of getting made fun of for not knowing the most about Zatanna. Can you give me knowledge about her so when I am given the “name 20 songs from this album” quiz I’m not killed by a neck beard, oh Zatanna knower. I’ve only seen her in crossovers, JLD, and in her Webtoon but she’s really cool so I’m excited for her to get a new comic for me to actually get introduced to her yknow? God I hate men.

the best knowledge abt comic characters comes from reading and rereading! it’s what makes it fun. I love to read Zatanna’s solos and some random team books to get a feel for her! right now I’m foggy on suggestions but her 1993 book Zatanna: Come Together is obscure so you can def one up a neckbeard with that!

and I’m sorry men were awful at the comic store. the more mainstream the book you’re buying, the ruder and weirder the guys are. god forbid a woman buys a spider man comic, suddenly all the random dudes come out of the woodwork. that’s why I stick to my vertigo corner bc the ONE TIME a guy got uppity at the store he accidentally sold me sandman 8 for 4$ instead of 150$ 💀

[hikennosabo]

trimax vol 12 random thoughts

okayyy i'm FINALLY done with all the art i had to do this week so i can focus on writing this post lol. this volume is so much, i don't know if i want to read it again...

i love that vash is ourple on the cover <3

chapter 1:

i like domina, she's cute. tbh i wasn't sure whether she was a plant at first because i assumed they were all blonde...

wait, pause, tell me about this. what are the circumstances of the other plant fusion incidents. were they rebelling against humans, same as knives? or were there other reasons??

vash's black hair is so STRIKING. i'm sad about it but i also kind of love how it looks...

the memory montage has been talked about like a dozen times by now, so idk if i can add anything that hasn't already been said... LOL. there's some deep cuts in here, i don't even remember them all... it really speaks to vash's memory of people. and there are anime-only characters too, which is cool! part of me wants to go through each page and label everyone but... nah.

ik they've taken a bit of a backseat in the latter half of the manga, but i feel like meryl and milly's section should be larger. :( and for that matter, legato takes up a lot of real estate on his page?! that's kind of unexpected... although legato and vash DID have that seven-month-long psychic battle... and i guess legato is on vash's mind rn because of the coins... so i suppose it makes sense...

a few things about the ghg page - first of all, WHO is that on the top right?! is that supposed to be elendira??? is it??? because it's not like vash doesn't know what she looks like, they've met face to face!

secondly... livio. this is his old self. face in shadow, skull mask visible. i don't think this necessarily means vash still views livio like this; that's unlike vash. livio's face is obscured while his mask and long hair are highlighted, both things that he has discarded along with his identity as a gung-ho gun. this is vash remembering the gung-ho guns specifically. it IS a bit sad that this is what livio gets... i suppose drawing him twice might've been redundant, but still...

a bunch of people have already pointed out wolfwood's grave being depicted next to rem and given equal weight/importance (page space) as her, so all i'll say is that scrolling through the pages and expecting to see wolfwood but getting hit with his grave instead was a fucking gut punch that i DID NOT need.

anti-plant missiles... so plant incidents have been common enough that they'd need to be built in the first place, and built into the fleet at that...

so they CAN be broken apart?! i see...

domina is so funny.

the ark just straight up vanishing really had me think for a second "wow! so that's the power of thor's hammer!" but no it just teleported. LOL

knives... oh, knives... he's looking less and less like a person. i'm probably supposed to be horrified, but i'm just sad.

chapter 2:

knives is the first creature in the universe to warp... wow... he's so talented~ i'm proud of him~

domina is so CUTE!!!! it's too bad what happens to her right after this... and it's impressive how likable she becomes in just a few short scenes. it makes her death more effective than it would be otherwise.

nothing to say, i just think they're cute.

knives putting his feelers out to interfere with the earth fleet was brought up in... volume 9, i think... so it's not like this was completely unexpected. (also "feelers" is kinda cute... like a bug...) wow... knives is fighting so smartly~ i'm proud of him~

i speculated a few volumes ago if knives would try to "save" the earth plants, but he just want to kill them... or at least kill the independents. i still feel like i don't have a full picture of what it's like for plants on earth or the relationship between humans and independents. either way, it's unconscionable to knives that independents would work with humans like this...

chapter 3:

perhaps i shouldn't laugh but shooting straight up into the air is such a dumb thing to do. haha get rained on idiots.

brad is stunned at their idiocy, lol.

chronica worrying over domina is sweet. she's not always "cold and calculating"...

i love how this spread is framed, with the black bars on the top and the bottom. it's cool.

and the double meaning of the chapter title. "the interceptor"... knives intercepting the earth fleet and vash intercepting knives's connection to the fleet...

uhhh... i don't have that much to say about this chapter...

chapter 4:

the universe conspired to deal me massive psychic damage by having 'brother' by gerard way start playing on shuffle while i was rereading this bit... i don't NEED this right now!!!!!

NOT THE IMAGE OF THEM AS KIDS

I'M EATING ROOOOOCCKKKKSSSS!!!!!!!

people have already pointed out knives covering his eyes (and vash covering his own with his sunglasses), it was a fucking punch to the gut the first time i read this chapter and it still is and i am fucking EATING!!!! ROCKS!!!!!!

is that REALLY the reason why you don't want to see your brother's corpse, knives?? is it really???

people have already talked about vash's little gunman speech so i won't say too much about it, except that it's fitting that we started this story with vash being just that - a gunman - we didn't even know about him being a plant - and now vash is determined to end this story as a gunman. well, "end," sort of. there's still 2 volumes left.

also, we're recycling chapter titles again for some reason... we already had a chapter titled "the gunslinger" in volume 6...

chapter 5:

should i call these their "teenage years"? ...i'm writing that in my notes.

i wish i could express my emotions about the plant twins beyond incomprehensible screaming and eating various things (rocks, glass, drywall...) because then i might have more substantial things to say LOL...

the virgin "did you really just shoot me?!" 98 knives vs the chad "if you're going to shoot me, improve your aim" manga knives

y'know, up until now, i never really bought the claim that "tristamp made knives more morally grey," because i was thinking along the lines of "the morality of his actions didn't change, orange just took a magnifying glass to his emotions, so he's easier to sympathize with," but... they COMPLETELY changed the context of knives cutting off vash's arm, huh?! i guess they DID make him more morally grey...

he's ready to go down with knives. if you'll excuse me, i'll be crunching on some more rocks.

chapter 6:

can't help but remember baby knives saying "we can work through a few little differences if we just talk to each other" :')

trying to talk to the plants... yeah... good idea! it's too little too late for knives because EVERYTHING is for him, but... it's a good idea!

okay, so the story of the village. they got kicked out of the city for being "contaminated," so they built their own village and had to resort to stealing from travelers to survive. right... chaining vash up is pretty extreme but i suppose it's indicative of their level of desperation. (especially since vash still looks like a teenager, like, as far as the villagers knew, the person they attacked was just a normal human kid...)

obviously this story doesn't move knives in the slightest, but even with the explanation for the villagers' actions, the bit about "the contaminated humans being kicked out of the city" is a different example of human cruelty that knives could've spat back at vash, lol. like, they were kicked out, and just left out there to die i guess? with no resources or plan to supply them with anything? except for the lone girl who seemed to be bringing canned goods back, but 1. this wasn't a regular thing for her since she hadn't been back in three years, 2. she was literally the only person trying to help, and 3. it was just luck that she wasn't contaminated to begin with - if it weren't for that there would be NO ONE trying to help. not trying to justify knives's worldview or anything but i just think this is interesting because even though now we know and understand the villagers' situation, there's still an undercurrent of human cruelty in this story, and that's something that can't be erased and something that knives invariably clings to to justify his actions.

and his worldview gets even further reinforced in this moment because the military starts shooting at the ark lmao. but then it's vash's friends to the rescue...! the takeaway from all this and the entire ethos of this story as a whole is "humans are complicated," they're not all bad and not all good, vash acknowledges that and tries to see it, and knives does not, blahblahblah it's been said a hundred times...

microorganisms :)

someone in the tag pointed this out already, but the way the earth fleet talks about independent plants is weird. "salvage," "persona," "repair"... that's weird, right? in my last post i said they were giving like, advanced-AI-robot vibes, and this is doing nothing to change that impression. but they're made of flesh and blood...

chapter 7:

knives is wrong about human nature but there sure are a lot of humans in this story who piss me off. fuck you, military guy!!

we all knew that vash was going in to this fight prepared to die, that his plan is to bring knives down with him, but actually seeing him bleeding so much... hurts.

LIVIOOOOO!!! I LOVE YOUUUUU!!!

he's so cute, what the fuck!!!! "i'm mr livio"?!?! oh my god. i'm sobbing. he's so cute.

gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. manipulate, mansplain, malewife.

this image of a single man facing down an entire military...!!! he's so cool!!!!!! also he's kinda caked up too

and he just bowls through them like it's nothing!!! i LOVE watching him fight, livio is one of the coolest fighters in this entire story, i'm so glad we get to watch him kick some ass!!!

chapter 8:

they said it's just a projection, but this is what i was imagining the "consciousness" of the merged plants to look like...

no concept of the self except for independents, i suppose. so do all plants think the same? last volume, vash said something about billions of thoughts being "exchanged," so there is SOME mental distinction between individuals, i think...

i wonder what information chronica is gathering from this, exactly. just the essentials, since time is limited? or all of it, every single detail?? knives's past and trauma included??

he's talking as if this is a mercy. i wonder if that's really how he's justifying this to himself.

oh, just this panel by itself is a fun dynamic. i don't actually expect elendira to live to the end (sadly...) but i AM looking forward to seeing these two fight again. interestingly, she doesn't seem surprised that livio is still alive...

this last bit of the chapter feels like all the dominoes falling at once, lol. elendira and livio, chronica and knives... and then BOOM! LEGATO JUMPSCARE!! ...from. seemingly nowhere. where did he come from. also i still don't know what to make of his... iron maiden... giant matryoshka... i don't know what or who this is!! it's driving me nuts!! is it going to be explained?!?!

chapter 9:

it's SO funny that vash says this because I WAS ALSO WONDERING THE SAME THING!!! the previous volume put so much emphasis on the coins that i assumed vash would fight legato FIRST and THEN move on to knives. but he never wanted to fight legato to begin with, so it makes sense that he'd skip right to knives LOL.

knives GRINNING when the earth ship appears and then staring straight down the barrel of their cannon... he's not afraid at all. dare i say this scene is pretty cool. knives and chronica are now on even ground in terms of knowledge about each other, and knives probably knows this, but he's still so confident. and then the cannon fires and he BLOCKS it. i shouldn't be complimenting him so much in this post. but i must give cool credit where cool credit is due. this scene is COOL!!!!

oh, so this IS how his powers worked all along, okay... i was confused. i guess this means his power in tristamp is different... because it's clearly NOT strings... it's just straightforward telekenisis i think... hmmm...

... i'd previously heard about what legato's backstory entails, but actually seeing it...

...

knives isn't even visible in this spread. legato hasn't even seen knives yet. but the framing of legato looking at the vast sky, the light, is evocative enough.

legato being able to even control knives with his strings... well, he was able to (somewhat) control vash, so it makes sense that he could, but i've never really thought about the implications until now. under different circumstances he could've been a massive obstacle to knives, if not outright stopped him.

new hair, new outlook, right?

and okay, sure, it's likely that knives's train of thought was "i could use this power for myself, so i won't kill him," but i want to believe there was something else... legato was used and abused by humans, and knives isn't stupid, he can see that just from looking at the state legato's body is in. so maybe knives recognized there's a kinship between them, even if he'd never admit it... i dunno, it's just, his expression here... it's hard for me to describe, but it's something...

oh, this is making me feel something. this is implying knives gave legato his name, right? that's... oh man. i want to say that it was kind. i don't know if i can call it a bond, but their relationship, whatever it is, is deeper than i imagined.

"...but in that moment, i was reborn." new name, new life, new purpose...

on a lighter note, now i'm thinking about where legato's name actually comes from, and i'm remembering this comment from nightow:

i want to believe knives thought the same thing... LOL. as for "bluesummers," "blue" obviously came from his hair, but "summers"... i want to say maybe it was summer at the time of this flashback, but i'm not actually sure if this planet has seasons...? do they ever say if it does??

oh, legato... my legatito... i should've known he'd be one of my favorite characters the instant he showed up in tristamp voiced by kouki uchiyama LOL. i've laughed at him a lot and made fun of him a lot but i really do genuinely love him.

i fully do not expect him to live to the end... but i'm looking forward to seeing whatever else he does before he goes...

[horseshoemybeloved]

wait i am really intrigued with your versions of the suitehearts i love the designs and seeing your take on them so please infodump about them to me about this obscure fob au that i’ve been insane about for years

It is now time for my long ass ( my version of the ) suitehearts masterpost * wiggles fingers *

Keep in mind!!!

So basically first things first, my versions of ‘em are Completely different characters. Some draw/view the suitehearts as fob in silly costumes ( which is super chill ) but my versions are very different. So when I say “ Benzedrine is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba“ I am in no ways implying that Patrick is a repressed gay wizard obsessed with abba. There are some similarities between people but it is never intentional. ( also I’m constantly changing stuff nothings set in stone lol )

Da world!

The world is kinda like a purgatory, everyone there has died but could move to another plane. Thusly there are people from all different decades. Magic is very common here, a lot of people can do small basic spells. But it takes years of practice to become a wizard, and decades to become a good one. There are 5 main,,, species? Races? I’m not quite sure how to label em. But we have:

your average human, nothing really of note here

elemental benders ( they are born with a cavity in their chest relating to what “ element “ they control. Some control water some Disco music! )

Pixies/sprites, they usually have abnormal colored skin, pointy ears, and the ability to float around. They naturally have good connection with spirits and can summon them when needed ( if they’re good at it )

Angels, they’re naturally fun colors, have magical hair, and vaguely cow like ears?. Angles can use their magic to make themselves look like normal humans tho. They usually live together and provide comfort for people. But there has been a rebellion happening and now a lot of angels try and live life not for the sole service of others but now for themselves ( is allegory 4 womanhood moment )

And then of course furries xoxo

Now the reason you even started reading this, info about the suitehearts!

Dr. benzedrine is vaguely narcissistic and full of himself, but in an oddly charming way. Personality wise hes a mixture of howl ( hmc ) without Any of the swauve, mostly just the dramatics, and aziraphale ( good omens ). Hes a middle aged man who Will Not admit hes gay, he is Incredibly repressed. He was apart of the huge royal academy of wizards, best one they’d ever had. But had a falling out with the leader in charge and now just has his own little wizard store. He befriended Donnie at a little diner because he made a reference to a Kate bush or Fiona apple song, or something or other. Him and sandman do Not get along, sandman often visits the store just to annoy him. But they have more similarities than they know, they just need to stop bitching at eachother!

( also he was born like 5’ something but the spirits in charge of transferring people to this plane were like “ I’d be mad funny if we made him really short he’d be so mad “ )

He is my autistic little meow meow 😔🙏

Horseshoe has a regal flowyness to him, semi-oblivious to his own charm, and loves to dance the night away. When everyone around him is disheveled and falling apart, he still manages to look fantastic. He appears to be the dumb blonde of the group, which he definitely doesn't mind and loves to indulged in the trope. ( he may not know where or even what Sweden is but at least hes pretty ) But he is a deeply creative person, and that in its own special way shows an intelligence. He works at a small local craft store ( bcus then he gets first dibs on all the cool new art supplies :D ) he is an angel, but chooses to focus his little magical power on constantly disguising himself cus he doesn’t wanna be bothered lol.

Donnie is very nurturing and kind, yet extremely energetic and bubbly, think kinda like,,, super sweet valleygirl. He’s slightly based off YouTuber Garret watts. He is very big solid guy. He has a bit of a problem with feeling like he Needs to take care of everyone, like it’s job ( he’s workin through it in therapy ) Like I mentioned there are people who are like elemental benders, Donnie is one of them. He has a little terrarium with either a mushroom or a daisy, and can make vines grow from his hands and legs. Donnie is also autistic ( heavily based on my experiences with it, he’s also just kinda heavily based off of me ) He's from da 60s, during the whole hippy thing.

Sandman is your typical bitchy mallgoth, who goes around calling everyone a " poser" and everything " poser shit " they put up a bitchy angry front but deep down theyre an insecure sensitive little guy. Sandman is a Pixie so that means they can summon these ( usless ) spirit guys ( they’re not very good at it ) shes also kinda Super into typical """ cringey """ stuff from 2015 ( ie undertale, fnaf, the lving tombstone, mlp ) Sandman is semi kinda not really it’s complicated openly non-binary, but still seems to repress quite a bit and just push away all deeper feelings. I thought it would be interesting to experiment with a character who is a trans femme gay guy, kinda like a reverse trans masc lesbian I guess. Idk lol don’t get mad at me

Anything else kiddo?

The format id choose to express this story would def be a movie. Uhhh… I can’t really think of much else right now, but feel free to ask questions I luv talking about em :3

[edupunkn00b]

Where the Air is Sweet, Chapter 5

Photo by Rachel Martin on Unsplash

Prev - Ch. 5 - Next - Masterpost - [ AO3 ]

WC: 1881 - Rating: T - CW: fluff, teensy bit of unfounded worry, a smidge of non-sexual D/s.

The hot water turned on with a little squeak, something that used to irritate Logan when he and Patton had first moved into their apartment. It would grate on him, and his jaw would clench as he’d silently—or not so silently—curse the plumber who’d installed it with insufficient lubrication.

But then one day, Patton had called him in when he’d been preparing his own bath. Enveloped in a fuzzy towel and his baby blue polka-dotted cap on his head, Patton had turned the knob back and forth while squeezing his rubber duck.

“Listen, Lo! They make the same sound!” he’d laughed, the naked joy on his face infectious. Logan couldn’t help but laugh along.

Ever since that day, no matter how tired he was, no matter how long of a day he’d had, that little squeak never failed to curl Logan’s lips into a smile each time he started his shower. He adjusted the spray so only a little water would hit the aromatic tab he'd placed in the corner of the tub, then undressed and tested the temperature. It was still heating up, so he took a moment to stretch before removing the small necklace he wore under his shirt.

He kept the key for it in his dopp kit, hidden in an otherwise empty razor box. Not that he feared Patton would ever violate his privacy by rifling through his belongings, it just felt… safer to keep the key tucked away.

Patton didn’t know about this necklace. Using his reflection to find the tiny keyhole, Logan shrugged to himself. Necklace wasn’t quite the right word for the delicate silver band he wore low on his neck, just above his clavicle. The shop where he’d bought it, not at Mr. D’s, but one two towns over, had labeled it a… collar.

At the time, Logan couldn’t identify what had driven him to research the topic. If asked now, he wasn’t sure he’d really be able to explain. He’d come across a mention of it in a book of poetry. One which he’d wrapped in another dust jacket to obscure its unusual title. The poem had spoken reverently of a collar worn by the writer. It spoke of love and peace, of the quiet that fell over the poet when his… friend had latched it into place around his neck.

Phrases and feelings from the poem danced in Logan’s head for months after he’d first read it. The soft hush that eased sharp, anxious thoughts. The certainty of being needed and wanted and cared for that the simple circle of leather and metal had granted the author.

Logan longed for that.

He’d felt compelled to learn more and, slowly, furtively, as he did with any problem or idea, he researched it. And eventually, that research had brought him to Stolitz’ Treasures.

“Are you looking for something for a gift?” the tall, thin man behind the counter had asked. His voice lilted almost musically, and he spoke deliberately, as though he chose his words with care.

Logan’s cheeks had flushed at the question. “W—well, actually, I am looking for something for myself.”

“Ah, I thought so,” he’d suddenly grinned and nodded knowingly. “No shame in that, not everyone’s needs to be gifted to them.” Long, thin fingers came up and stroked the red and black jewel that hung from a choker around his own neck. “Did you have something in mind already or would you like to browse in peace?”

“Perhaps it would be helpful to look around a bit?” There was a dizzying array of items in the glass cases, rings and bracelets and… collars. The shopkeeper smiled and nodded, then stepped back with a welcoming gesture toward the displays.

Logan had nearly given up, overwhelmed with choice, when a small blue heart hanging from a silver collar had caught his eye. His hand had moved almost automatically, bumping the glass as he reached for it. “Ah, you have a fondness for denim lapis, I see.” The shopkeeper was already opening the case.

“I… I didn’t know lapis grew in both shades of blue in the same stone,” Logan had stammered. “I’ll take it,” he'd said before he could overthink it.

That had been three months ago. Logan didn’t wear his collar everyday. Well… at least not at first. But on days he'd abstained, he’d quickly found himself missing the gentle weight, the way both the stone and the silver warmed against his skin throughout the day. It fit nicely under his shirts and ties and his fingers felt the tiny heart each time he straightened his Windsor knot.

The shopkeeper had warned him the stone could be discolored by some soaps, so he removed it before each shower and, of course, before swimming with Patton. A small part of himself hated to take it off and shame flushed his cheeks. What would Patton think if he knew?

“Lo?” As though summoned, Patton called to him. Logan fumbled the key and it clinked at the bottom of the sink before disappearing down the drain.

“No!” he said, louder than he’d meant to.

“Lo, are you okay?” Patton asked, knocking on the door. “Can I get you something?”

“Uh… uh…” Panic coursed through his veins and his hands shook. He stretched over the sink, reaching for a flashlight from the cabinet, but bumped the faucet. Water rushed down the drain, washing away the key. “Oh, no,” he near-sobbed.

“Lo? Lo, you don’t sound okay…” Patton knocked again. “Please, what’s wrong?”

Without the key there was no way he could get this off. Even if he could somehow protect the precious stone in the shower, he and Patton were due to go to the beach together tomorrow. They’d been planning it for weeks. If he backed out now, Patton would know something was wrong. There'd be no way to hide this collar on the beach. No way to postpone until he could return to the shop for assistance. He could face the music now, or could face it later. Either way…

He’s your friend. He’ll understand.

Patton knocked again. “Um, just a moment,” Logan managed and turned off the shower. Delaying the inevitable, he took his time pulling on his robe and tied it tightly before glancing in the mirror. Without his flannel pajama top, the silver collar poked out, glinting brightly against his skin.

Wordlessly, he opened the door.

“Lo! Are you—“ Patton rushed inside, reaching for him and patting his shoulders and upper arms. Head hung low, Logan stared at the tessellating tile floor, afraid to see Patton’s initial response.

But Patton was having none of that. Logan shivered when Patton’s soft, warm hand cradled his jaw and lifted his chin until their eyes met. “Lo, what’s wrong?”

Unsure how to explain, unsure there really was any way he could explain, Logan pulled aside his robe just enough to show the collar. “I dropped the key down the drain,” he admitted.

“Key?” Patton asked, blinking at him. “Why does your neckl—Oh…” His words faded and he stared at Logan's collar. 

Patton’s fingers now felt cool against his skin, shame burning over his face. Logan closed his eyes, waiting for whatever Patton might say, whatever judgement might fall. He wasn’t sure what was worse, buying himself the collar and hiding it, having his secret revealed, or losing the key out of sheer clumsiness. All of it swirled together, spinning in his head until the blood roared in his ears and he imagined falling through a hole in the floor or washing himself down the drain just as sure as he’d—

“Lo.” His eyes snapped open and he stared back at his friend. Patton smiled at him, and when he spoke, his voice was low and soft. He pointed at another towel folded on the edge of the tub, creating a padded seat. When had Patton set that there? “Sit down for me, Lo.”

Nodding, Logan sat and Patton stood in front of him. “May I?” he asked, fingers hovering over the collar. Logan nodded again, but Patton simply waited, eyebrows raised.

“Y—yes,” he said, then cleared his throat. “Yes, of course.”

Smiling again, Patton smoothed his fingertips over the delicate silver band, then cradled the tiny heart affixed near the locking mechanism. Logan shivered at the gentle touch. “It’s lovely, Lo,” he murmured. “This stone is in both of our favorite colors, too.”

Logan nodded, swallowing hard against the lump in his throat and his adam’s apple grazed against Patton’s knuckles with the movement.

Patton moved his hand then, cradling Logan’s face between his hands. “You’re scared,” he whispered and Logan avoided his gaze. “Oh, Lo, were you afraid I wouldn’t like it?”

“What?” Eyes wide, Logan finally met his eyes again. “N—no… I… Well…”

“I think I can help you take this off,” he leaned close, squinting at the lock for a moment before a bright smile bloomed across his face. “I’ve locked myself out often enough to have picked up a few tricks from the locksmith.”

“You won’t have to break it?” Logan’s hand moved to the collar. While he was confident he could repair it—or find someone who could—just the thought of damaging the delicate metal made something deep under his breastbone ache.

“Only if you asked me to.” Still smiling, Patton stroked his cheek. “Wait for me here?”

“Of course.”

Patton pressed a kiss on his forehead then hurried out and down the hall. He rustled in the kitchen utility drawer for a minute, then returned with a set of tiny screwdrivers. “I think this will work. Lift your chin for me,” he murmured, directing Logan’s gaze up to the ceiling.

After a few moments of fidgeting, the quiet click of the lock disengaging filled Logan’s ears, followed by Patton’s quiet cheer. “Got it! Look!”

The collar seemed even more delicate in Patton’s hands, but he held it with the same care he’d used when helping Logan with the baby pigeons last spring. “Were you taking this off to protect it from your shower?”

Logan nodded. Was this when Patton would ask him not to wear it? Did he—

“Would you like me to help you put it back on again when you’re done?”

“You…” He wasn’t entirely certain he’d heard him correctly. “You don’t think it’s… odd?”

Patton smiled and shook his head. “It looks lovely on you.” His brow furrowed when Logan remained silent. “Do you wish it was still your secret? I can—”

“No.” The word spilled from his lips without his control but Logan knew it was true. “No, I… I like you knowing and…” His mouth clamped shut, cutting off his next thought before it, too, could break free and shatter whatever this fragile thing between them was.

“And?” Patton prompted. He smiled, but his voice told Logan he wasn’t getting out of this discussion without finishing his thought.

He looked down at the collar in Patton’s hands and closed their fingers over it. “And I’d like it if you helped me put it on,” he said more to his hands than anything else. "Even after I get a new key."

“Oh, Lo,” Patton murmured, wiggling one hand free to lift his chin. Impossibly, he was still smiling. “It would be my pleasure.”

[ddarker-dreams]

hii im really sorry if you've gotten this ask before but do you have any tips for new writers? ^^ have a great day miss lock!

HELLO i'm sorry this was a bit of a delayed response... i just tried to think about it for a while, because i consider giving advice on anything relating to creating art to be tricky 😭😭 i always fear something i say might hurt someone's progress or make them feel like they've been doing something wrong have they not been doing what i suggested. all that to say, please please please take this with a grain of salt! write to enjoy yourself first and foremost!

consider your intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation 

this relates more to if you intend on posting your writing in the public sphere. don’t get me wrong, i absolutely Love feedback and it undoubtedly gives me the push to keep creating at times... but i also frequently assess myself to make sure i’m writing for what i enjoy, first and foremost. i know writers often feel this pressure to keep “churning content out” because of the advent of bite-sized media formats like vine/tik tok/instagram reels/youtube shorts/what have you, but doing this will inevitably make you miserable and burn you out. write stuff that you makes you happy. be self-indulgent. write the trope that’s been done a million times before. go for that super obscure idea that you’re worried no one will want to read if you like it. 

spurts of motivation will come and go

i had to come to terms with this myself the hard way. i’d get really hyped for a project, go ham with planning it, then my interest would kinda dwindle maybe a week or so into the process. at first, i thought this meant i wasn’t as ‘passionate’ about the story as i originally thought, but i no longer think that’s the case. there will be times when you feel like going IN with your writing and other times when you’ll need a break. try to be careful labeling this as ‘writer’s block’. speaking from personal experience ofc, i’ve found doing this kinda dooms myself for a while. i’d open up a doc, make no progress, then go ahh the writers block is at it again. 

the process of writing is more than typing sentences into whatever word program you prefer. it’s can be experiencing and taking inspiration from other art, making mood boards, daydreaming on your walks, talking over ideas that might go nowhere with friends. i try to look at this downtime in writing as a battery being recharged. go easy on yourself.

try to avoid editing as you go on the first draft

whenever i do this, i end up getting snagged on a particular section and making very little process. for my first draft, i just start tip tapping away, getting the foundation of what i want down. you can always come back and clean certain areas up later! you’ll get into more of a flow this way and it should hopefully stave off some of the frustration that comes when you just can’t find the words the first time around. 

[soleilnomoon]

i'm back. well, technically, I never left. I hereby submit a formal request for an art college type AU with Usopp needing to draw someone (reader or a strawhat of your choice) for an assignment. idc if it's sfw or nsfw cause ya know i trust your judgement. thankies!

babey, babey, babey art college au?? usopp??? i loved writing every word; this took me a month & a half, but yk how it is, i always want perfection for u — and this is far from it, but hear me out...૮₍  ˶•⤙•˶ ₎ა ok...i got nothin', chief. ily, siempre tho (u already know) 💓💓💓

1.5k words, gn reader (no pronouns), sfw (shock, gasp, awe), slightly suggestive, fluff???, tiny bit of angst (maybe a little more idk), 18+, mdni; art college au!, usopp is a shy coward and reader is full of sass & can't read the room; nothing major, death mention and that's about it. a very tame kaia production, i think

to be an artist is to willingly carry the burdens of the world, to mold their creations with clumsy, earnest fingers, to sculpt an absurd idea of the truth with precision, to paint the fleeting feelings of the masses without restraint, and to scrape any unnecessary remains onto a stained, concrete floor.

it's messy; an ordeal that requires dedication, innate talent, and an overwhelming desire to survive.

once upon a time, when everything in his life was still bright and full of promise, his mother often boasted to her friends — and almost anyone who would listen, really — about his artistic prowess. on days where she had energy, she’d say, take a look, he’s done it again; and when she was weary, but still proud, oh, goodness, you’re truly a wonder; but, the most poignant moment, the one phrase — question, rather — that stuck with him years later, even after her death, was: do you know the color of a person’s soul, usopp? the true color? i wish i could see you paint it. i know it will be spectacular.

it's not grief that drives him to pour his heart into his work, and it’s not out of any residual feelings of sadness, but because of his mother’s last words — he still remembers how he strained to hear her speak, how he begged her to repeat herself, how he cried himself to sleep for days and days. he’s a night owl out of spite — to chase his inner demons away, to not let her haunt his heart more than she already does — and he’s committed himself to mastering a style that’s uniquely his, so that he can tell his story the proper way.

after weeks of looking for a model for his latest assignment, he finds you by chance — with charcoal-stained fingertips that you constantly wipe on your jeans, a smudge on your cheek from when you rubbed it minutes ago, hair haphazardly thrown into a messy bun, curls poking out everywhere, the pinnacle of concentration and rebellion.

you, who frequently defies your professors’ suggestions, who reminds them time and time again that no you can’t simply change your piece because it doesn’t follow their guidelines, and no you can’t commit to turning in assignments on time because “art is freedom, why are you so persistent?”

and you refuse to be confined into their neatly labeled boxes.

he wishes he could have a tiny piece of your boldness, of your dedication to remaining true to yourself, of your outlandish outlook on life where you defy expectations without a care.

or he thinks so, anyway.

after the other students have filtered out of the classroom, you remain behind, tongue pressed against the inside of your cheek, lips pursed as you consider a new angle for your piece. he watches the quick, messy dark marks that adorn your canvas — you’ve been working on it for hours without rest. your dedication to your craft (to your truth) is admirable, if not a little intense, so much that it’s hard for him to approach you.

cowardice seeps through his bloodstream, pumping directly into his heart, making it more difficult for him to speak — let alone to ask you for help.

but you glance at him out of the corner of your eyes, lashes partially obscuring your eyes when you blink slowly.

he’s always believed that art is always imperfectly perfect, but you? he doubts he really knows the true meaning of art now.

“h-hey,” he says after a while, throat dry, palms moist and unsure. you pivot and stare, a curious smile prancing onto your lips, the edges curling impishly before you respond cheekily.

“after staring at me for so long, that’s all you have to say?”

you click your tongue in jest, and his face burns painfully — embarrassment eating him alive, making him fidget with the strap of his bag, where he nearly falls over the stool behind him. you attempt to quiet your laughter, but you can’t help yourself. he’s always like that — fidgety, lost, boisterous at times, but also a little serious. you wonder if he spends his life seeped in his passiveness, and he wonders if you’ve always been this vibrant and honest — reminding him of a few of his closest friends who never shy away from the truth no matter what it may be.

“chill, i’m just kidding,” you say when you realize he might’ve taken you seriously. “it’s no big deal, really.” you’ve learned that there’s no harm in people looking at you, no matter what their reasoning is. “did you need something?” because he rarely speaks to you, and he certainly doesn’t talk to you like that.

usopp shifts on his feet, tongue suddenly too big for his mouth, his words clumsily knocking against the back of his teeth; but after inhaling deeply, a bit of his anxiety rolls off of his skin, drips down to the floor — out of sight, out of mind.

“i, um,” he rubs the back of his neck, warm, russet brown skin still struggling with the overwhelming heat that’s permanently settled on his face. “well, see… i haven’t found anyone to p-pose for my assignment, so—”

“sure.” your voice is clear, decisive; you barely leave wiggle room for any argument, and that — the sheer oppressive power behind your assertiveness is what terrifies him. your intensity might literally kill him if he’s not careful.

“oh, okay, yeah.” feeling a little more confident, he puts his bag down and grabs his large sketch pad. he sits on the stool and motions for you continue as you were.

with raised brows, you shoot him an unreadable look, but don’t offer any clarification. you face your canvas again and attack it with vigor, dropping the charcoal and opting to use oil pastels instead. you don’t think as you move your arm, instead allowing the flow to come naturally as you begin dotting colors all around; you’ve been in an impressionist sort of mood, wanting to encapsulate the unhurried movements of field of flowers surrounded in flames. you’re not quite sure what possesses you, but it came to you in a dream and you couldn’t stop until you brought it to life.

during your freshman year, someone callously remarked that you were demented, a lost cause — someone to watch out for. but usopp begs to differ; as he sits and observes, twirling his conté stick around his fingers before settling down in front of the easel and sketching lightly. he notices that you tend to move around a lot, bouncing on your feet, as if the floor is too hot for you to tolerate at times; you also talk to yourself, which he doesn’t find unusual because he also talks to himself.

maybe you both have more in common than he originally thought. for some reason, the corners of his lips twitch, he finds himself smiling, albeit bashfully, at the idea.

you peek over at him as you work, admiring his steadfast dedication, the precise movements of his wrist, the delicate way he holds the conté stick. you’ve never cared about the work of others, but you’d be lying to yourself if you say you’re not even remotely curious about how he sees you.

usopp works in silence for about thirty minutes before you decide to stop for the night.

he’s done several gesture drawings of you, one more animated than the last, wanting to capture the fluidity and beauty of your movements without interruption. you might just be the perfect subject to study, if he’s honest. and while he definitely has more than enough to work with, he doesn’t really want to stop sketching you.

he knows he can’t say that, so he keeps it to himself, allowing the words to die down on the back of his tongue as he pushes the easel back to its proper place.

after leaving your signature messy scrawl on the bottom corner of your picture, you walk over to glance at his work, but he’s already grabbed the sketch pad and shoved it into his portfolio case. he clears his throat several times, almost comically, but you refrain from laughing — this time.

“thank you for your assistance,” usopp says with a grin; he wears his false bravado with ease, but he’s tragically unconvincing. you smile encouragingly at him and wink.

“anytime, cutie.”

while you contemplate whether or not you’ll showcase this particular piece of yours, he stammers over his words, mumbles something in haste and, quite literally, scurries away. you’re not sure if you’ve permanently scared him off, but you have a feeling he’ll come back and ask for that favor again. as he makes his way out of the building, nearly tripping down the stares with all of his hurried movements, he tries to remind himself that he has to be more careful. he’s sure you almost saw through his act; all of that courage deflates and he slows his steps, glancing over at the building again, wondering if maybe — just maybe — he’ll find a chance to show you his finished work.

it’s not the answer to the question that he’s been struggling with for the entirety of his adolescence and adult life, but it’s certainly a good start.

[ausetkmt]

A Florida plantation that had slaves still stands today | wtsp.com

Tucked away on the side of a busy Manatee County road stands the vestige of a defining era in American history.

At its peak, the Gamble Plantation enslaved 190 men, women and children. Federal documents say they ranged in age from two months to 105 years old.

Their stories are not well known. In fact, few locals are even aware of a slave plantation in the Tampa Bay region.

Some historians say it's intentional.

A descendant says it's time for change.

Chandra's Gamble 'This is my history'

One of Chandra Carty's first visits to the Gamble Plantation was during her time as a high school student in Manatee County. 

"We didn't call it a plantation, we called it a mansion. I didn't know it was a plantation until maybe, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago," Carty, who is in her 60s, said. "Growing up, this was a mansion. So, they obscured what really happened here."

Interstate signs leading to the site make no mention of a plantation — only a mansion. It's only upon arrival that a sign reads, "Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Monument" at Gamble Plantation State Historic Park.

"How would the word change from plantation?" Carty asked.

However, Carty's quest for more information about the Gamble Plantation goes beyond the name. A family research project revealed she has direct connections to the site. Her great-great grandmother, Mariah, married Nelson Burton, who was enslaved at the plantation.

"The Manatee County historical records show in 1872, two freed ex-slaves being married, and that's where our family history picks up," she said.

It's history Carty and others who study the site say is missing from the Gamble Plantation, which now as a state park focuses heavily on its Confederate themes and memorial to Confederate cabinet member Judah P. Benjamin. He served as Secretary of State to the Confederacy and stayed at the plantation for a brief time on his escape from the country at the end of the Civil War.

"To be in line with how contemporary historians, contemporary museums, anthropologists try to interpret these public heritage sites, there needs to be a significant push to foreground the stories of the enslaved laborers here," Dr. Diane Wallman, associate professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, said.

"As you know, somebody who studies history, and believes in, you know, the thorough and full telling of history, it makes me sad that the stories of particular people that lived here, died here, worked here, are not being told," she said.

Currently, there is little on the site that mentions the experiences of the enslaved. A visit to the plantation's information center does have a typewritten list of the names of all those enslaved. However, unlike other displays, there is no museum label to describe its significance.

"I want to see when I go into the little information booth, to see the story of specific slaves, to see Nelson Burton's story, because life is a story," Carty said. "We need to tell the story the best that we can. Where did the slaves live? What did their day to day activity consist of?"

A big Gamble The rise and fall of the Gamble Plantation

In the early 1840s, Robert Gamble of Tallahassee, Fla., used slave labor to establish a sugar plantation on about 3,500 acres of land along the Manatee River. 

Federal documents show he came to the area under the Florida Armed Occupation Act, which gave away 160 acres of land to settlers willing to develop the area and battle indigenous inhabitants.

According to paperwork filed with the National Park Service, those enslaved to Gamble lived in 57 slave cabins on the plantation. They are credited for the success of the plantation and sugar mill. 

Unable to keep up with "natural disasters and a fickle sugar market," information from Florida State Parks says Gamble was driven into debt by 1856 and sold the plantation in 1859.

A path forward Reconciling past with present

Documents filed with the National Park Service show in the 1920s, the United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased the Gamble Plantation mansion, restored it and made it a Confederate shrine.

10 investigates got records going back to the 1970s that show the UDC made an agreement with the state to limit the plantation's interpretation mostly to its Confederate themes.

When a state park leader proposed changes, he faced resistance. 

"There was pushback from the state government level. There's letters from senators...supporting the UDC and folks and trying to keep this focused on the Confederacy Judah P. Benjamin and Robert Gamble," Wallman said. "it's come up in the 90s, it's come up again now, where we're trying to have these conversations about expanding the narrative here and making it more inclusive."

John Sims, the late Sarasota-based artist who based some of his last projects on reimagining parts of the Gamble Plantation said he would like to see a memorial to the enslaved at the site.

“The state should consider…funding and even through legislation being able to support efforts to memorialize the history of enslaved folks and their relationship to the various slave plantations in the state of Florida,” the late Sarasota-based artist John Sims told 10 Investigates’ Emerald Morrow before his death in December 2022.

“Let’s look at some of these former slave plantations as places that really belong to all of us, particularly descendants of African slaves who have occupied those spaces,” Sims said.

Requests for on-camera interviews with the Judah P. Benjamin chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy were denied, but member Evelyn Hoskins said she believes others will be open to doing more at the Gamble Plantation to honor the enslaved.

"We are all looking for answers," she said. "The slaves were just as much of the Gamble story as anyone else."

10 Investigates also reached out to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees the Gamble Plantation Historic State Park. A spokesperson denied our request for an interview, but said in a statement:

"The Florida Park Service is committed to providing resource-based recreation while preserving, interpreting and restoring natural and cultural resources, and the agency strives to do this in a positive and appropriate manner.

"Our agency is always evaluating how we communicate Florida's unique history across all state parks, including at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park."

Carty remains optimistic. She said her focus’s is not on removing what’s at the site. Instead, she wants to include what’s missing.

"I just want the complete story because this is my history," Carty said. "Why would I tear down my history? Nelson had to build this? Why would I destroy?"

So, she's calling on the UDC, the state park, lawmakers and even the governor to push a more balanced version of history—one she never wants to be forgotten. 

"I'm feeling hopeful," Carty said. "Hopeful that some I see the image of Nelson...the image of Mariah, and they say, 'job well done.' You finally got our story out so everybody can understand what it was like living here."

[roobylavender]

on one hand i do tend to be more critical of non-white produced media than white produced media but on the other hand within paki and more specifically paki muslim circles there's this constant tendency to look at a diaspora work and read it first and foremost to see if it has a positive portrayal of pakis or muslims. and it's like okay i get it we've been terrorized a lot and our rep in media at large is not particularly stellar but i also think there's a difference between critiquing that in media produced by white people versus critiquing that in ownvoices stories that are largely written as a reflection of these authors' lived experiences. like at some point you gotta understand how insulting it is to tell a diaspora author "you should be ashamed that you're making us look bad and giving white people more reasons to stereotype us" like first of all i don't think white people are their concern if what they're writing about is truly traumatic to your perception of culture outside of the bubble you live in. these are people trying to unpack their own experiences and yes maybe there is something to be said of trying to sell it off as an easy product (rupi kaur) but that is not to say every diaspora creative is like this and esp not the authors who are from smaller labels or who even self publish. like they have no grand white audience to which to pander and are often working off of word of mouth to get their story into people's hands. and admittedly this is a dynamic that changes as you move into tv and film but i nonetheless am not one to really embrace the idea that bc of white people's ignorance and bigotry we have to stick to telling "good" paki or muslim stories. like why? what is so bad if our current generation is questioning certain things and expanding their world view? if anything this constant focus on "good" portrayals of paki muslims leads to the obscurity of critiquing anything else in a review. i can't count how many times i've read books where that's all other reviews talked about meanwhile i had concerns like: well the mc's best friends felt underdeveloped, or i can respect that the mc felt suffocated by the idea of an arranged marriage but her white boyfriend didn't have enough personality to really feel like his own character, or the book painted parents as one dimensional villainous caricatures rather than fully realized people who are as much victims of abuse as they are perpetrators of it, etc. those are the kinds of things i'm thinking about when i dissect diaspora media. not whether what they've portrayed is close to an ideal that combats all pre-existing bigotry but whether they've given me a complete and fleshed out story with which to engage, rather than a collection of stereotypes that is never actually afforded any real analysis. this is where our critiques need to go if we want to get anywhere

[the-cybertronian-insertable]

Info:

List of known Cybertronian Reader-Insert Tumblr Writers (WIP) List of known Cybertronian Reader-Insert AO3 Writers (WIP) Recommended Reads (WIP)

/CR Posts Collected: 580

Recommended method of searching for specific content utilizing this blog: Pick out a writer from the list above, select the spyglass next to 'posts', type in the username of the writer then whatever character and/or 'rating' (modesty panel [sfw] / valveplug [nsfw]) you're looking for. This isn't a fool-proof filtering method, but it's the best I have to offer.

-Hypothetical FAQ-

What’s this blog about?: Reblogging and sharing links to cybertronian (or cyberformed/techno-organic) reader-insert fiction. Posts regarding rare-paired (possibly obscure) canon characters may also pop up once in a while (ex: Mainframe x Jackpot).

Is this an NSFW blog?: Not entirely, but there will be NSFW literature shared around (due to this, I’ll be auto-blocking minors despite barely being an adult myself; irony will be the end of us all.). Sexually NSFW posts will be tagged with ‘valveplug’ while SFW posts (labeled as such for a lack of sexual content - this doesn’t mean they’ll be free of adjacent mature themes) will be tagged with ‘modesty panel’ to make it easier for y’all to find what you want using the blog’s tag search. 

I don’t see ‘x’ writer’s; who’s made ‘x’ post; works anywhere on this blog but I know they make related reader inserts-?: Recommend them, then! The ask box is open for more than just questions! Hell, recommend writers/works from external sites (AO3, Fanfiction.net, Etc..)!

Can I become a member?: I’m not  really looking for members right now but if you’ve got a blog dedicated to writing /reader-inserts I may consider inviting you if you ask (I won’t go out of my way to ask, so you're gonna’ have to take the initiative here chief). Though, I haven’t thought through how that’d work yet so you’ll probably be  left as an option pending until I get.. I don’t know, rules? Sorted out.

What if I’m a writer for the related topics and don’t want my works shared here?: Aye, you just let me know pal’, I’ll remove what references to you I can find and slap your usernames on a blacklist. (In the case of external accounts, I’ll ask for a bit of non-intrusive proof so I know it's you asking and not someone who dislikes you for some reason or another. Ex for AO3 users: A short clip of you scrolling up and down on your dashboard profile while logged in).

Who runs this blog?: @slug-gore-bug / @notoriousslug

Disclaimer: I, slug, won’t be reading through all the posts I reblog before I do so as I lack that kind of time on my slime. If I reblog something ill-fitting of this blog, just lemme’ know and I’ll look into it. On that note, though: don’t bring interpersonal drama to my doorstep. I don’t participate in ‘cancel-culture’; this is a library, not a courthouse, xir.

Transcript:

-Galvatron and Sixshot stand Infront of a command console. Galvatron brings a picture of Unicron onto the console screen. -

Galvatron: This is Unicorn -referring to the picture of Unicron/'Grand Galvatron'- the earth will soon be a part of me.

Sixshot: *moans in awe of rotund girth.*

Galvatron: But before I can fulfill my ambitions, I need a lot of transforming parts, they are very vital to my final transformation -turns towards Sixshot- the weakest part of my body is my head, I can't just have any transforming parts I must have the best parts and thats from the best wARriors-

Sixshot: *voice muffled and nasally* of course my lord.

Galvatron: Now besides myself -points at Sixshot- I consider you to be the next best warrior Sixshot, your transforming technique and your parts are some of the best in the GAlux-C. -screen pans towards a silent Sixshot- Do you understand that? -screen pans back to Galvatron- Well of course there are many others who would sacrifice themselves to serve me bUT your my first CHOICE Sixshot *begins laughing manically* -screen pans to a pissed off looking Sixshot with a laughing Galvatron still in frame-.

[zahri-melitor]

Back to the Santa Read Along and my next stop is another obscure comic:

Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #15

There is something decidedly creepy about reading old horror comics with the Comics Code approval on the front, as your brain goes places that the story does not. Here we have A Slay Ride with Santa, where our opening scene is a hired Santa (Bill Digby) killing a child for her pocket money so he can pay rent, and not what my brain expected from the story set up (CSA). His landlady finds the little girl (who has been hanged – seems an awkward way to go about things but what do I know about child murder) and calls the cops.

REAL Santa is here too, as “Kristopher Kringull” who has a shop labelled “mender of toys”. This toy repair business apparently fools everyone over his blatantly obvious name. I do want to stop here and note that we are once again repairing toys for the unfortunates who would not otherwise get them, like in Superman’s Christmas Adventure 1940. Which, hmmm, is definitely another parable about accepting what you’re given and the Spirit of Christmas is in giving

Bill Digby runs away from the cops and ends up finding Kristopher Kringull’s workshop and sneaking in to hide, climbing into (oh no) the sleigh. I also want to note this story uses the phrase “I’ve gotta a see a man about a dog” to mean “I need to leave; I have commitments elsewhere”, which is fascinating, as I’ve always understood it to be a “Excuse me I’m going to the bathroom/pub”. A quick squiz at things says the general overarching meaning is the former, but it’s pretty much exclusively used to mean the latter. Anyway, language diversion complete, I’m guessing this is some joke bonus.

In terms of Santa – he is VERY delinquent in delivering the presents.

He notes that he better get started as it’s “midnight in Europe and Africa” but to get to Asia and Australia before the kids get up in the morning he really has to hurry! And to that, I would like to point out to Mr Kringull here he might need to travel backwards in time, because even if I’m generous and give him it being ‘midnight’ in the most eastern parts of Europe and Africa (which ranges from 0 to +3 if you count places like Belarus, Tanzania, Kenya, etc), then at Christmas, folks, New Zealand is in +13. The east coast of Australia is +11. Western Australia and China are +8. Japan and Korea are +9.

On my MOST generous estimate of ‘Europe midnight’…The kids are already up, Mr Kringull, as it is TEN AM IN NEW ZEALAND. They’re up in most of Australia because it is between 5-8am on CHRISTMAS DAY. If we use Central Europe, which is probably more likely, then it is 7-10am in Australia, 7am in China, 8am in Japan and Korea, and MIDDAY in New Zealand.

Santa. You should have left 12 hours ago.

Anyway, the sleigh takes to the skies (about half a day late) and Digby falls off the sleigh while they’re flying, clutching onto a rope. Santa does not notice. Digby presumably deserves this for murdering a child. The end.

Next time: some of the Rudolph stories? Maybe 1975 Limited Collectors Editions? We’ll see how I go. Hopefully some superheroes again soon.

[lloke]

I kind of have a weird perspective on the "is [currently trendy mental condition] overdiagnosed" debate because I've actually been falsely diagnosed with autism lol. Or at least, I no longer consider the diagnosis useful in explaining my actual problems. (Of course these days the trendy mental disorder that everyone is getting diagnosed or diagnosing themself with is ADHD, but previously it was autism.)

I mean yeah I have kinda got the stereotypical nerdy autism-adjacent personality in some ways, but my "autistic traits" are mild enough that they don't really cause any problems for me. Most of my actual problems with social stuff etc are really just due to anxiety. I guess I was more genuinely socially awkward/oblivious when I was younger, but like.... lots of young people are socially awkward lol. I don't really think I'm that much worse than average at reading people etc; sometimes I feel like I'm better at it than some people I know who look more superficially "neurotypical".

Another thing that contributed to the diagnosis though is that I do in fact have Sensory Issues. But even back during the period when I accepted the diagnosis, I did notice that my sensitivities seemed quite different from those of most autistic people (other autistic people were bothered by loud or sudden noises while I was bothered by quiet and regular noises, etc) Then I found out about misophonia and realized that I clearly have misophonia sensory issues and not autism sensory issues at all.

So it's not like I don't have any problems -- it's just that autism isn't really the best label to explain them. But my mom dragged me to the clinic and was like "my daughter has autism, I want an official diagnosis so we can get her off the hook for failing at school" -- so they gave her what she wanted. (My mom's reasons for doing this are kind of a whole story in themselves which I won't get into now.) Of course I'm not drawing any far-reaching conclusions from my own experience; I'm sure there are also many people who do need a diagnosis/treatment but are unable to access it for various reasons. My own misdiagnosis was at least partly due to my actual condition (misophonia) being obscure enough that nobody could recognize it. And I also got a social anxiety diagnosis at the same time which has been much more helpful.

But I guess I just don't agree with the idea that autism is "just a difference, not a disability" or whatever -- I do have some vaguely autism-adjacent traits, but since I'm not disabled by them I don't see any need to use the label. Just calling myself a nerd is enough of an explanation for why I'm Like This IMO.