#Idiot Savant Pictures

[ruershrimo]

k. nobara x fem!reader | two pretty best friends??

synopsis: nobara is nothing short of drop-dead gorgeous. you're really gay and super in love even though you think her affection toward you is merely platonic. but then an encounter during the sister school goodwill event makes you discover that you're also super oblivious.

seriously, how do you simultaneously keep those two up?!

word count: ~2.7k, tws: not really anything besides (noritoshi) kamo trying to hit on you??? it makes sense when you read it lol ('tw kamo' LMAO), reader throws shade (?) on mai and noritoshi, reader is called a ‘little mouse’ but more because of demeanour rather than,,, her figure,,,

you meet kugisaki nobara for the first time in the concrete jungle of tokyo. there, she looks like magic in a person, pure magazine model material: dyed brown hair cut girlishly short, wild and frayed at its ends like a paintbrush that had accompanied its owner for years; eyes the hue of a saccharine sweet milk chocolate bar; her back straight and confident, bold and all in place, as if she is where she should be and she knows this. the pinnacle of beauty, this girl is, perfect picture on the cover of vogue. 

she’s got skin that looks milky, silky; loved and kissed with her own tender, painstaking care, it seems. there’s a little bump on it— a blemish that goes unnoticed by the boys, covered by concealer, but it just makes her all the more beautiful. 

you’re barely able to talk to her. your brain goes blank as if it’s short-circuited, stricken and frozen in place. she opens her mouth and a melody sings mellifluously like a restaurant cabaret from an old record in your grandparents’ house. 

she’s magic. 

the second time you meet her, she drags you out shopping and you follow her like a magnet, not even bothering to make a begrudging reply. you’re hauled along by the collar, almost, and you let her. 

“I’m so glad that I’m not the only girl, honestly,” she states as the two of you walk along the pavement, “I can’t imagine having to handle those two all on my own, they must’ve been insufferable! actually, how did you deal with those idiots?” 

you have no idea how, actually. but the boys, savants in some ways yet complete imbeciles in others (oh they really could be bumbling idiots sometimes)— would never understand or comprehend this, any of this. no being of the male species would; they wouldn’t notice the way her eyes catch the light, her irises bursting into a kaleidoscope of colour, or the way she sits so confident of herself, position relaxed and powerful and self-assured. they wouldn’t have the mind to see these things, all right in front of them, and appreciate these traits, admire them. 

your words are almost caught in your throat; your reply comes out mangled and weak like asphyxiated fish from an iron net. “I– I don’t know, honestly,” you stutter, “I just, um, avoided them… but I guess it seems that they’re really close to each other already.” 

“...hey, you okay?” she asks, grabbing hold of your hand. your heart stops and nearly flatlines, heat pooling up in your cheeks. the summer air feels hot. yet it swelters you even more as she inches closer to you, her breath— mint mouthwash and grape-flavoured, mouth-cooling gum— nearly burning literal assaults on your skin. “no need to be shy. I mean, the two of us have got to stick together, you know!” 

“I’m– I’m okay, thanks. sorry.” 

she pulls herself away, and the little circle you have around you misses her in her absence, almost whining as you remind yourself that if she were to get any closer to you in proximity, you could possibly faint, or things could get much worse. 

“but seriously, if you’re a shy person, don’t let people pick on you or intimidate you!” she rolls up her sleeves, an impish yet valiant smile on her face, “I’ll beat them up if they do!” 

the third time you meet her, she’s teaching you a better way to do your makeup. something simpler, she says, a trick she learned online, something meant to mimic the stuff of movie stars and their picture-perfect, freshly-kissed lips. 

you don’t know how it’s gotten to this, though: your knees bent on the sofa as her legs are split on your lap (it looks less erotic than it sounds, you’re sure, but it still makes your brain feel like it’s being waved and wrung all over like a raggedy piece of cloth). she straddles your sides this way, snug between your lap and your stomach. 

“then you’re supposed to just dab it all around like this,” she continues, the blistering heat in your head spreading through your body pervasively as she presses her thumb to your lips, catching your breath in your throat. she places her hand on the side of your face, her fingers caressing your jawline and her thumb resting on your cheek, so close to your eyes that you can see it in your peripheral vision as you stare up at her, rendered a complete and utter mess. 

“come on, don’t be shy. stay still!” 

“sorry, kugisaki…” 

“hey,” she stops, her eyes boring into yours, unassuming and free of any sort of malintent, “don’t be so polite. you prostrate yourself too much, especially around me. seriously, don’t say sorry for everything, and just call me nobara, okay? we’ve got to help each other out— we’re both the girls of the group, the better half and all that. and we’re most of the only girls in this school. the ratio is crazy. so we’ve got to stick together and stuff, be comfortable with each other. no more apologies or self-doubts!” 

every bit of contact her skin has with yours lays a blooming garden of goosebumps on your skin, from your cheek, sliding all the way down to your shoulder. 

how could you act normal about this?

“see?” she asks, holding a mirror up to your face when she’s completed it. “you look beautiful! woah, I’m so good at this, honestly. it makes you feel pretty, right?” 

you’d never be as beautiful as her. for a long time, you’d thought you’d never be beautiful at all. 

but for once, you do. even if you won’t ever compare to her— and you guess nobody else ever could as well— it’s the way she says it, that gleam in her eye as she flashes you a grin while you marvel at how your face looks when it’s ‘dolled up’. you feel like you’re in a painting. like you’d been loved enough to be put in one. 

so you smile back at her, your teeth bare after years of covering your face in pictures and dreading when you couldn’t. she makes you believe that you could be beautiful. maybe that’s what real beauty is. that’s why she herself is beauty beyond compare. “yeah.” if you think about it and believe it enough, then you could embody it. like this, people would want you because you think they would. like this, you could be knockout because you think you could. you’d always known that her confidence factored into her beauty. 

“if you want, I could teach you how to put more makeup. it’s not that you need it to look ‘pretty’, but it would help you show others how you want to feel pretty. the reason why this looks good on you is because I did it to make your features stand out a little: see? you’ve got these gorgeous lips, so I made them look like that,” she highlights, “oh, yeah— want me to take a picture?” 

“you like kugisaki?” fushiguro asks. 

you remain silent. 

he rubs at his temples. “oh my goodness, you do. you’re in love with her.” 

“…not like you would understand,” you retort under your breath. he hears you anyway. 

“she’s so beautiful,” you start, sighing, “and so kind and confident. like she can walk into something and know exactly what she needs. she’s put together like that. and she does things with purpose. she doesn’t wander aimlessly or fight without a goal. she’s so good at makeup and fashion and resourceful when it comes to playing by her skills on the field, and she’s so outgoing and welcoming with people who she can get along well with, and she’s so warm—

“oh, I can’t stress it enough, fushiguro. I— she’s literally perfect. I like her so much, I-I feel like I’m on a cloud or something. every day feels like that.” 

“you’re down bad.” 

“I know,” you choke out pathetically. 

“but I’m pretty sure she already thinks the two of you are dating.” 

“…wait, what?!”

this happens, well— around the fiftieth time you meet her: 

sports festival preparations have been as lively as bubbles in soda pop lately, and you’re sitting down next to her, knees bent on the pavement, mourning a classmate you barely knew and the fact that he could have been a lifelong friend had he not been snuffed out prematurely. as you take another swig of your drink— green tea in the can so that she can have it too if the coca cola’s making her teeth have that weird, fuzzy, plaque formation-indicating feeling like always— she places her hand on yours. 

the heat on your cheeks, the barely formed but nearly forming sweat on your body. that stuff isn’t going to go away, ever. you’re pretty sure of that. even with a thousand indirect kisses from sharing food and even warming up to having her lying back flushed to your lap, it’s never going to go away. each time she looks at you, your gaze is transfixed on hers, your voice nearly comes out mangled, and you feel heat blossoming on the back of your balmy neck. 

“yeah?” you ask. 

“you know, [name], I love you. a lot. like, you’re really special to me,” she smiles warmly, a faint hint of red on her cheeks, just like the rose in her name— though that could just be your imagination. 

“...I love you too.” 

“heh,” she giggles, an impish, graceful, secure sound, like a kiss to your ears, your favourite song playing on the car radio in a memory from several years ago, “I’m glad!” 

it’s wonderful. 

your worst fears are never confirmed, but there are definitely things that give way to them. 

you’re quite sure that nobara herself isn’t like that— she does talk about having a boyfriend, but she doesn’t actually want to date a boy, you’re sure. the closest thing to a crush that you’ve ever seen her having is her admiration for maki— and you understand that. 

you respect maki: she’s impeccably smart, strong, and everything in between. yet her existence begets a small worry. if nobara crushes on maki and they end up together, what would be of you? 

the only thing you’d be certain of was that you’d keep loving nobara. you’d just want her to be happy, after all— all your tears and mourning for time spent on purposeless yearning, just to see that grin on your face. that would be worth it, a fair trade. 

but this is how you’re proven wrong, and you fall deeper in love with nobara after that. 

before the sister school goodwill event starts, the six of you (plus yuuji— you’d hate to admit it but seeing him again nearly made you break down in tears) have been given the opportunity to meet the kyoto students and welcome them. it goes about as well as you’d expected it to be— at least the physical portion of the fights and conflicts hadn’t already begun there. 

after having met them, you’re sure that half of them are out for blood here. they’re an eccentric crowd, but not just eccentric, per se— borderline terrifying. you’ll be sure to avoid them throughout and just focus on the plan. 

which is why you nearly sprint in the other direction like a deer from wolves when you see kamo noritoshi and zenin mai approaching you. 

and zenin mai has a stunning face. even if it can’t compare to nobara or her sister’s, she’s got a charm to her, a glint in her eye that you’re sure somebody else will appreciate someday. (just not you.) kamo is just there, his eyes closed for some reason even though you’re sure he must be fully capable of keeping them wide open, and his hair in an awful haircut that you fail to understand the appeal of. probably something traditional that his clan wanted. 

“oh?” mai says, a lilt in her tone. you’re going to get bullied, right? your stomach lurches forward and you nearly keel over, fainting— an all too familiar feeling. the popular people in school used to do that, especially the rude athletic boys. she would probably be popular among them, had she been born into a normal life. “what a little mouse. she seems like a doormat.” 

“zenin, teasing our competitors is unbecoming of members from our lineages,” he admonishes before mai groans. “shouldn’t you be with the other tokyo students?” kamo asks. 

why couldn’t you have just had to meet todo? he’d say that you had wonderful taste in women, you’re sure. why the girl with family issues and the guy with family issues and an atrocious haircut? 

“I, um— I got lost. but I don’t know if they’re going to have me anyway, I mean yuuji’s stronger than me so now I’m just going to be the weakest member there. anyway, um, nice chat, I’ve got to go, bye-bye—”  

“no,” kamo denies, “itadori yuuji besmirches the title of ‘jujutsu sorcerer’.” 

“and the title of weakling goes to maki, not you, I’m pretty sure,” mai says, “but you’re an adorable little thing. what’s your name— something-something, [name], am I correct?” 

what were they doing, completing their sentences like that?  did they practise their lines in the morning, staring in the mirror and repeating them over and over? they sound like people who’d be mentioned in the local family restaurant comedian’s shows— no, not even their shows, they’re not entertaining enough to be in their shows. they’d just barely be mentioned in passing in the bits so that five audience members could get an extra laugh they’d eventually forget about. 

“maki’s really strong, though,” you refute, trying to keep your mind calm “and yuuji, too. it’s hard fighting with them because nobody can ever beat them down, really.” 

“durability does not equate to power,” kamo claims. well, and then there’s someone like him, with neither. “and be confident of your own abilities. I can sense your cursed energy from here. it’s impressive,” he remarks. 

“...I appreciate the thought, but really, I have to go now—” 

“oh, stay for a while, won’t you?” mai asks, inching closer to you like a large ant from the corner of a room. how were insects always so good at slipping into houses and mentally impaired when it came to exiting them? 

kamo joins her, gripping your wrist. you’ll have to sanitise your hand and double-wash your sleeve now, especially after what you said (you’d be fine if mai was doing it, but why kamo? kamo of all people?) 

“ah, and this may seem rather spontaneous, but you’re rather beautiful.” really, it only sounds as good as it usually does if nobara is the one saying it. it feels like his words are assaulting your ears. “good luck.” 

“come on, don’t let her go yet—” 

“[name]! you okay?” 

it’s nobara. thank goodness, it’s nobara. 

“what the hell do you two think you’re doing to my girlfriend?!” 

girlfriend?! 

“oh, nothing,” mai goes, “just playing with her a little. she’s a doll. you picked well!” 

the only thing she can play with is her fucking audacity. 

“ugh— let’s go, [name]! don’t care about these people!” she pulls you along by the wrist. 

“I should’ve made sure you were okay,” she says as the two of you walk to the tokyo students’ gathering point. “I was worried! you’ve got to stick to us next time.” 

“sorry… but they really didn’t do anything. but, um… I think kamo tried to hit on me…?” 

“ew— with that haircut? hate it when twos go looking for tens.” 

“but um…” you hesitate, “about what you said, am I really… your girlfriend?” 

“huh?” she pulls back, “I thought we’d been dating for almost a month!” 

“wait, what—?!” 

“I even told you I loved you! we literally sleep on each others’ laps!” 

“I couldn’t tell if that was platonic or romantic or not! I mean, I don’t mean that I don’t want to date you, I just meant that I didn’t know—” 

“okay,” she exhales, “since we both need things to be clear. want to be my girlfriend?” 

“like, a girlfriend-girlfriend? like, going out on dates and stuff and um…” 

“yeah, a girlfriend-girlfriend. we can go out on dates and do even more than that, maybe,” she greens cheekily. 

“woah… I mean— it’s a dream, I—” 

“so it’s a yes?” 

“yeah—” 

she kisses you and it effectively shuts you up. her lips taste like a latte from the fancy coffee shop the two of you had visited two days before. to think that she’d seen it as a date, while you’d thought the whole thing was just another outing between ‘friends’... 

it’s the best feeling ever. 

this is going to flop too lmao but back at it w the low-quality posts but

[sgiandubh]

The sound of silence

With the end of August already in sight - somebody, please, tell me where did this botched summer go, all of a sudden? -, a somewhat different landscape is slowly emerging, on the S&C front.

Dare we hope? The new normal seems to be a mix of latergrams, sibylline tweets, ultra-muted innuendo (most of it the result of a couple of pundits' sterile speculations on meagre hints dropped on purpose) and secondary (even third-circle) players being conveniently called to the rescue. A low budget, almost homemade solution to keep the prayer wheels of this fandom spinning. A fandom both of these two know, by now, like the back of their hands.

For months and months in a row, I tried to understand something that puzzled me constantly: not the messages being ventilated in here, but their circuit and lifespan, if you want. For what is worth, the rinse and repeat image is fine in my book, but in no way comprehensive, nor intellectually satisfying. And then, a couple of weeks ago, I started to suddenly figure it out.

I am not going to insult you with savant jargon or Venn diagrams, rest assured. However, I need some arrows. I called it the 4 R Circuit and here we go:

(an information is being) Released (via Anons or DMs exclusively: it's never sheer luck, that is a bloody lie and a poor one, at it) -> (it then prompts a couple different) Reactions -> (followed by an almost immediate) Retcon (by the other side of this very antagonistic fandom) -> (in response, an old information is being) Recycled (thus effectively keeping the chatter alive, but re-oriented until ) -> (a new or old/new information is being) Released

Historically, the lifespan of this news cycle was never shorter than 24, but seldom (if ever) longer than 72 hours. This summer is a resolute break off this pattern, but old habits die hard: the collective attention span has been also conditioned accordingly.

And how could it be otherwise? Because neither of them had any consistent A-list level gossip history, the emerging fandom had to resume itself to their social media accounts, for a start. And boy, were we copiously spoiled, with banter and innuendo and double-entendre galore, and then with voluble Anons being simultaneously directed to the main players of all the factions. I bet it was elating. I am sure it was also great fun: a merry, sunny age of innocence. Until it wasn't and the ugly manipulative streak began its inglorious march in here. The thirst grew, and so did the stakes. Pictures, pictures or it did not happen. And when we got them, we started to immediately diss and hiss and hum and drum. In the Real World (you know, out there, where we all go every morning and are civilized, amiable people), this kind of behavior would be more than uncanny: it would be uncalled for and drastically sanctioned as such. But, I digress.

The result of this disco inferno by design is a pattern of reactivity I have never seen in my entire life. Nano-inquisitors immediately spring out of their chairs once you dare write something: why did you say that? how dare you speak your mind, you are supposed to be a stupid, stupid shipper? In the meantime, almost nobody bothers connecting the dots, finding a solid background for arguments, placing facts or speculation in a logical context. It's frowned upon. Yet, the whole experience would be way more enjoyable, if instead on focusing on idiotic and obviously doctored details, we could bring some perspective to all this hubbub.

Last case in point, this freshly baked imbecility:

We all know who the fuck Brave Heart is: the kilt obsessed, once Mightiest Troll of Mordor. The one who invented by herself the grotesque story of the Hôtel Costes Rash sightings, last April, via Anons written in painful English. Also, the one who spun, based on a friendly snap at a sportive event, the Ellenwood Innuendo, promptly ditched - it didn't stick well enough- now reactivated. A sample:

Calling all stations: there is no side exit at the Hôtel Costes' restaurant, you fool, who's been to Paris as often as I went to Oahu, which is to say never. There is a back exit, through the kitchen, madam: next time, do your damn homework properly! Unlike you, I often went there (I preferred other, less nouveau riche playgrounds, that being said), back in 1996-2002, when it still was the boldest celeb' spotting venue in town. Not anymore. And who in their right mind would bring luggage or shopping bags in a very peculiarly laid-out French restaurant, without immediately taking the risk of being a conversation stopper, a bull (heh) in a china shop?

The "have seen it with my own eyes" gave you away, this time. A classical, by the book way to spin a cheap lie.

Also, C's witty latergram, via a tertiary player. I am sure (and I will film myself eating my socks live, if proven wrong) that back in Mordor someone already came with the agit-prop retcon: "it's irrelevant when the picture was taken".

It is very relevant. July 31. One day before August 1st: I always admired her humor. But who would take the time to tell 1+1= 2?

If I could gift this fandom anything, let it be this: context is always important. Manipulation starts exactly when you stop questioning and let your brain live the 72 hours news cycle.

The only real sound of this August, on the S&C front, is the sound of silence.

I rest my case.

[sweetish-original-story]

Chapter 8

*click*

Her camera goes off, a flash of light followed by the sound of its internal computer digitizing the photo. Dulce was hypnotized by the green liquid that shimmered and flowed through it's crystal clear pipes. It always enraptured him to watch the picture develop.

When the

*chirp*

finally went off it signaled that the photo was done and he came closer to take a look.

A silken sky that bled into an ombre of royal purple to maroon to marigold, twinkling full of rhinestone stars, red and gold and blue. It all melted gently down, only broken up by cotton clouds, to a bright blinding belt of gold before reversing itself in waves, effortlessly dancing against the invisible wind. The chic and textured hemline pulled the whole look together in a modern yet artistic A-line gown, underlined with a pale coral petticoat adorned with a delicate sandy motif, lightly freckled with multicolored shells.

"Well, drown me."

Dulce was always so impressed with everything Sammy made, no matter how simple. The way she could take a moment and make it look like a portal to a perfect world at the perfect time felt like magic to him. At first she thought it was simply because he had moved away from South Lumen Forest and couldn't adjust but no, she was simply a savant in his eyes.

She also noticed he thought she was an idiot at times. Like how she didn't know butter came from a plant, unlike what she learned from her 'alien cartoons'.

Humantai. It's CALLED humantai. He's an idiot for not knowing THAT. Or how he had to ask her just now if she really wanted to delete that photo. Wait what?

She stumbled with the camera before saving the picture and stuffing it into her pocket, and very very casually leaning on the bike in attempt to flirt again.

"You know, I only take pictures of the things I find gorgeous, gorgeous." She sent a kiss though the air and and a sultry wink right after, all accompanied by her pretending to take a picture.

Dulce was stone faced. "Cute." Was all he could bring himself to say. To anyone else but him, they would have taken her seriously, fallen in love, only to have their hearts devoured like a line of candy wrappers leading to a chocolate covered child. But no, he knew her enough by now to know that she just watches too many cartoons.

It's not that he didn't like attention, he just found it better when she was herself instead of trying to put on a front.

He's not friends with the Samuela superstar photographer, the cassanova, the princess of fashion. He's friends with Sammy, who almost deleted the picture of the sunset, Sammy who left the house perfectly ready with everything except for her own car, only to forget her keys in them at the event. Sammy who once called him in the middle of the night crying because some cartoon hairdresser wanted to find a HairPiece and had his brother died?

She has relaxed quite a bit over the six months they've known each other, but old habits die hard and she still tries to flirt to distract him from her natural goofiness.

He doesn't remember ever saying being goofy was a bad thing.

What he can't deny is that she does it well, and it's better than the attention he usually gets.

They step off the bike and head south, Sammy clicking away at boring little dust crystals and bits of broken Counterfit Shells, completely oblivious to the fact that the man leading her was a little tenser than before. He tiptoed around the sharp shells, controlling his breath.

[leam1983]

On Generative AI as a Process

ChatGPT: You're basically slotting coins into one of those old Mechanical Seers you'd sometimes see at county fairs or on boardwalks, back in the fifties. The difference is the Seer claims to know exactly what you're statistically determined to want to hear, but is otherwise a beautiful fount of ignorance hidden behind self-effacing verbiage. The worst part is all of this somehow was enough to blow the Turing test out of the water, even if you're made very much aware that there's nothing going on in there if no prompt is being processed.

DALL-E 2: There's rumors of a DALL-E 3 incoming at OpenAI and even more niche whispering of an insider version of the project that is wholly and completely uncensored - and it's likely to put Midjourney to task, apparently. As of now, however, using DALL-E 2 feels like its name is an indication of where its strengths lie. Are you looking for a Cubist rendering of Michael Fassbender riding a motorcycle out of the Milky Way? It's got you covered. If, on the other hand, you're trying to push for photorealism or for the stylistic trappings typical of Optane renders, you're likely to be a little disappointed by the results. It's a painter, no ifs, ands or buts - and its understanding of other visual art forms still leaves much to be desired.

Midjourney: you're handing off commissions to a genius painter and illustrator that can emulate almost any style, but that still has a relatably frustrating time comprehending the physics of the human body. Seeing it try and fail to produce believable human hands is so true-to-life you're starting to wonder why nobody's tried to come up with a picture-based alternate of the Turing test. Unlike a painter and more like an idiot savant, however, it conflates concepts together that shouldn't be agglomerated and makes weird assumptions based on your prompt.

It almost feels Taoist, in a sense. Is there a difference between someone yawning openly and someone screaming, honestly? If not, then what's the real frontier between belting out a yawn and thrusting out your chest to push a sustained note as an opera singer? A human knows there's degrees to it all - but a machine?

Stable Diffusion: unlike the other two, SD feels like a community shop where you're free to pick up tools to do whatever you want, whenever you want. The model itself exists in demo-grade and constricted forms online, and it's also the basis for all the Anime face generators that now pollute app stores - but its real power shows when you take it home and spend at least one full afternoon wrestling with Git, Python and Hugging Face credentials to turn your humble gaming rig of choice into your own personal digital Pygmalion.

There's a catch, though: earlier Stable Diffusion models used to solicit your GPU to the maximum of its abilities, which I've seen toast graphics cards within weeks. The latest revision takes a wiser approach, but it dramatically changes the way you can approach generative art.

As of SDXL 1.0, slotting in a prompt feels like setting a cake to bake. It used to be you'd be guaranteed a ho-hum result within five minutes, after hearing your GPU's fans scream for their life. Now, if you do what I did for my first run and give it the max amount of passes at 1028x1028 pixels, you're looking at a nice and cozy experience that actually lets you use your PC for other things while it's working - at the expense of time.

I asked for four simple images at the best generation parameters possible, and it took my home-based Stable Diffusion webUI eight hours to render anything - with xformers appended, too!

As of now, then, using Stable Diffusion is like baking a long recipie. It stands neck-and-neck with Midjourney, is fully uncensored and entirely under my control - but getting anywhere costs an entire evening. If you're a fan of pushing for variation after variation on Midjourney until you get something perfect, you'll be here for a long fucking while.

All the other ones: BlueWillow, Pepper AI, all the modded Stable Diffusion WebUI installs with a bespoke URL, an account and credit system, all those vaunted open platforms for NSFW generative content - they're all a waste of time, honestly. Text-based systems don't factually need to be able to crank out verbal smut, not considering the type of use they're getting. Image-based ones are running off of deprecated Stable Diffusion imageweights and typically heavily bias towards an expected use. If your need falls within their purview, then you're in luck. If all you want is big-breasted Anime waifus, you don't even need to bother with running Stable Diffusion natively. If, like me, you're using generative art to mock up WebUI elements or generate partial elements for promotional campaigns, running natively is invaluable.

On the whole, both Midjourney and Stable Diffusion have been invaluable to me for pursuits both personal and professional, seeing as both of them clearly state their product cannot be covered under copyright, which leaves their intended use as purely illustrative. Coming up with complete mockups within minutes was instrumental for our Web design team, seeing as I could quickly communicate the sort of design presence the company was shooting for and just as quickly receive revisions or refinements to said mockups until we'd be in agreement. At that point, generative art left the premises entirely and the Web Design team got to work from scratch.

Privately, running stat sheets for NPCs for a D&D campaign and being able to quickly gin up a portrait made it easier to reach my desired tone, in the understanding that if I ever want to give my characters or concepts their just desserts, I can turn these images' basic prompts into someting verbally elegant, and just send that off to my favourite commissions-friendly artist to get that still-elusive human touch. Similarly, getting unique desktop wallpapers out of what's essentially Art Class shitposting is always fun, but I can always commission them for something I could take to a scanner and use as a desktop wallpaper.

Closing Thoughts

Knowing that all that I've had these systems output can't be used to make a single buck, legally, is a sobering and comforting thought - and it makes the now-storied excesses of the early days of visual generative AI all the more disturbing. Nobody should win art gallery prizes with a piece designed by a GAN, and artists shouldn't have to fear that their likenesses and voice are at risk of being exploited. I shouldn't have to fear using both of these for exploratory projects - but I also have the responsibility to not identify as an artist and to not claim ownership of the resulting text blocks or images. Considering, it makes the hucksters on Amazon selling booklets on prompt-work for ChatGPT to shit out entire novels in a few weeks feel a little tactless - as if their entire industry wasn't at risk of collapsing the exact minute a few savvy lawmakers get their act together.

Plus, if you metaphorically consider commission work to be a sort of human-to-human prompt engineering, eight hours for SDXL to produce four images doesn't seem like such a bad deal - at the expense of the process. I haven't asked for commissions often in the past, but there's something fun to knowing that you're at the top of an artist's pile for the next several days, and could even receive emails containing said artist's interrogations, their need for added refinement, their suggestions - all in service of something that'll a) put some food on their table and b) that matters to you.

Considering, I'm not entirely afraid for the wider aspect of human-led creative purposes.

[academyguide]

The subconscious, unconscious or other-than-conscious mind is a complicated thing to understand. It has been called inner genius, inner wisdom, robot, idiot savant, and likened to a seven year old child. For example, we are often advised to write affirmations in simple language, using short sentences, because the subconscious mind has the vocabulary of a seven year old, yet this same subconscious mind provided the genius behind Beethoven, Mozart, Edison and Einstein. How can we reconcile this kind of discrepancy? Which portrait of the subconscious mind are we to believe, or can they all be true?To understand this you need to accept that the other-than-conscious mind encompasses all of these roles, and more. It is the intuitive force behind the genius that comes through in all of our lives. It has the capacity to receive, catalog, store and sort billions of pieces of information simultaneously, compared to the tiny forty-some pieces of information that our conscious minds can process. With all that information, it also holds the mind's ability to discern patterns within that information, and is more powerful than any computer yet built by man.Given the proper commands, the subconscious mind's prodigious ability to chunk down copious amounts of information makes it a powerful ally in the creative process. But it is also a robot, a slave to the programming that it has itself accepted and put in place, usually in our childhood years. That programming provides the parameters that we function within, unless and until we recognize the frail walls for what they are, and break free.Aristotle's allegory of the cave was meant to describe the difference between ordinary people and philosophers. In the allegory, people live in a cave, staring at a blank wall, upon which reflections are cast from a fire behind them. This is their only experience of reality, and it is what they believe the world is. The philosopher is the one who steps out of the cave, and realizes that what the people are seeing is not the world itself, but only a reflection, a version of that reality.Likewise the subconscious mind shows us a picture of the world, and on a conscious level we happily operate within it. The limits or parameters of our world are built of the beliefs that we accept as children and reinforce throughout our lives. We believe, for instance, that we can never be thin, or we can never be affluent, or that the world is a place of scarcity so we had better play it safe. We believe that we are from this or that segment of society, but these beliefs are only reflections upon a cave wall. When you step out of that belief system, by seeing it for what it really is, you find that there is a much larger world and that you can decide for yourself how to operate within it.Another allegory that works is the one offered by the movie The Truman Show. Let's argue that the character of Truman represents our conscious minds operating in the world. Truman thinks that he is in charge of his life, his actions and his fate; he thinks he can go anywhere in his world that he wants to. He has no knowledge that his world has parameters that he cannot and does not cross, and those parameters are established by his subconscious mind, which in this case is represented by the director of the Truman Show. When Truman finally realizes there is a puppet master that has been controlling his life, those parameters all fall apart.The secret to working with and getting the most out of your other-than-conscious mind is to understand how it works, and by doing that you can learn to move beyond the functions of this part of your mind that may serve to limit you and more fully tap into the functions that bring creativity, insight and genius. The robot that cannot operate outside of its programmed parameters will accept new programming, if you know how to provide it.This is best done using hypnosis, self hypnosis and/or meditation as tools, because programming that resides in the subconscious mind requires access to the subconscious to change it.

Change the programming, create new beliefs that enable you to reach your true potential, and then keep the channels to your inner genius open through a practice of self hypnosis and/or meditation, and use these tools to learn to listen to the language of your inner mind. Source by Cindy Locher

[onepeas]

List of Strawhats that CAN read:

Nami

Usopp

Sanji

Chopper

Robin

Jinbei

Strawhats that CANNOT read:

Luffy

Zoro

Franky

Brook

[approximately20blorbos]

Ayo, it was really fun, so here goes right back at you! What's the latest song you've heard that makes you think about one of your wips/characters, and why does it do that? <3 Gimme, gimme.

!!! thank you!!

man this is actually kind of hard, my memory is so bad lmao. according to my song add history for my big playlist it was Choke by I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, which could certainly apply to more than one of my characters, but when I played it back right now it made me think of Regaya more than anyone else. as a matter of fact most of the recently added songs apply to her so I guess I'm just fated to talk about he no matter what :)

so tw for murder, grooming, and abuse beneath here but honestly Regaya's past as a whole is a bit of a dead dove do not eat sort of scenario so PROCEED WITH CAUTION, I'm not really gonna sugarcoat things and I'm gonna hide this under a cut too

so this song makes me think so much about when she killed her horrible abusive fiancé, who definitely deserved death many times over, and a little bit how she'd love to do it again to her horrible abusive mother given the opportunity. but mostly about the former so I'm gonna pull some lyrics and talk about them for a bit

first of all, the chorus (trimmed down to the most relevant part):

I wouldn't hesitate to smile while you choke yourself and die now that would be just fine and what a lovely time, that it would surely be so bite your tongue and choke yourself to sleep

now this part kind of makes me think of the murder while it was happening more than anything, it just puts this picture in my head of what happened, BUT before I get into that I have to say that I love that it's written in the future tense bc this was absolutely a premeditative thing on Regaya's end. it took her months of preparation to not only have a plan and poison made (especially being under the ever-watchful eyes of her mother and fiancé) but also an escape plan because going right back to her mother after her fiancé's death was guaranteed to bring her back to square one. She had Embrist's help for all this of course, but that didn't necessarily make it any easier to pull off.

now she used cyanide for the murder (which she made herself) which basically prevents a victim's blood from carrying oxygen around the body (which is sort of like suffocation, I guess?). this was over the course of a little business trip so hiding the evidence and escaping would be easier. Basically due to a little bit of lore if her fiancé tragically disappeared during their travels over this specific stretch of land, no one was likely to look too hard at it, and Regaya could get off scot-free. anyway, she hid the taste of cyanide by serving it to him in sliced marzipan and she used far more of it than what already was a lethal dose, just to take no chances. I'm sure she was terrified this entire time but she was desperate to get out of her situation. I want to say more about how she was feeling in the moment but idk how exactly to explain it? I'm sure she was in the sort of hysterics that can have you laughing and in terrified sobs at the same time. regardless, she did pull off the murder, hid the evidence fine, and fled to the Crystalline Capital where she attended college for the next several years. I'll stop rambling on about the details now lol I'm sure it's a little weird that I have so much to say BUT there's another little lyric I wanna highlight for a second:

you get everything you want and money always talks to the idiot savants

so her fiancé was the sort of entitled rich businessman that this sort of lyric applies to, which is a fairly small detail in the song, but I love when little pieces line up with my daydreams and not just broad themes so it was definitely worth a mention!! this also kind of applies to her mother, who's definitely not only involved in "high society" but also is quite wiling and used to using any form of manipulation and even violence she can to get her way, which mostly has to do with her obsession over continuing the once-royal bloodline so that one day power to the family may be restored. (get over it girlie, your family lost power like 30,000 years ago. things change). she cherry picked that fiancé for his money, status, and family before Regaya was even named and said fiancé tried his damned hardest to groom her into the perfect future trophy wife but yeah, that backfired when she killed him. honestly there are arguably some parallels here bc Regaya's mother killed her husband when he started to realize how horrible she really was and tried to leave with the kids. obviously not identical situations here but I still really like to think about it.

to leave this off on a lighter note - don't worry too much for Regaya. her life gets so much better from here even if she certainly hit more tragedy on the way. nowadays she's very happy and in a pretty good place mentally. she's got a job she loves and finds great satisfaction in, great respect in academic communities for her advancements in medicine, plenty of friends by her side, a husband who loves and adores her for everything she is (especially her independence!), and the kids she's always wanted even if she's been afraid of indulging that dream in the past. so although her past is dark, things turn out alright for her in time.

so that was a lot and I hope it wasn't too dark but thank you for the ask!!! I was glad to have something to answer and this was really fun :)

[celticsalternia]

m-me? [picture of that one bear with the tiny head]

ok i'm about to sound real biased to everyone else but since we're dating i think i will be forgiven. it is genuinely so hard to narrow it down because i love all of your trolls so much and i have the joy of getting to talk abt them whenever we want and we have so many quads. it's HARD to pick favorites -but my favorite is tobyas for sure. or he's at least one of the biggest faves! i've known that man since 2012 and we've been thru everything he DESERVES that spot. corbyu is kissing him as we speak -GETONI. obligatory. getoni is amazing and perfect and an idiot savant i love him so much i would lay down my life for him in an instant. catboy

-kageya. that's all there is to say.

-pteryx is REALLY getting up there him and hawkor are genuinely so funny together and i'm getting really attached to these gamers -i can't not bring up cynrik and vasili my perfect boys. i am thinking about them DISRESPECTFULLY rn. like a whore

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP meme from Scream Queens Ep 6 "Seven Minutes in Hell" (Note: Offensive content, use at own discretion)

Everyone would immediately assume the killer is me.

Are you one of those idiot savants who's heavy on the idiot, light on the savant?

I am simply a victim of my times.

Are you aware your pants are on backwards?

Then whose fault is it?

I am never talking about anything ever again!

Yeah, super sorry about what happened down there.

Why are you laughing?

What about that fit you threw down there?

You're not mad at me?

Oh, I meant everything I said about you.

I still think you're useless. I'm just not sad about it.

You never, ever want to be the boss in a time of extreme crisis.

As soon as you become the boss, you get a target on your back, from the feds, the other families, ambitious underlings.

Sure, seems like you have all the power, but you also take on the most risk.

Oh, don't judge me for trying to stay alive.

Do not give an inch.

What's your game here?

I trust you about as far as I can throw you.

I know we don't know who the killer is, but we know it traces back to this house.

There are two things that always happen at a slumber party; someone experiments with lesbianism and secrets are revealed.

We can create situations and scenarios to really prime the pump.

We'll lock everybody up overnight, and we're bound to find out something.

A slumber party sounds fun.

Let's play spin the bottle.

Someone always goes lesbian.

We're playing spin the damn bottle.

Why spin the bottle?

That is not a nasty rumor. That is a true rumor.

So I propose a panty raid.

You taste like wax.

I guess we have to kiss.

You're a great kisser.

Was I interrupting you?

I was just practicing looking disinterested.

I'm pretty sure I was born without that part of the brain that actually feels stuff.

We have so much in common.

I'm starting to think we have something very important and specific in common.

My sex life up until this point is what you'd call unusual.

I think the only way to be sure of your feelings is if you let me gently rub your uterus right now.

When I love someone, it drives them insane.

Believe me when I say that if it was possible for me to feel anything I would totally be crying right now.

That doesn't seem healthy.

All the doors are locked solid. Windows, too. Upstairs and down.

I decided to have the whole house turned into a panic room.

But wait, doesn't that mean that there's some sort of switch somewhere to deactivate it?

I hate being trapped in small places.

There's only one reason why the killer would do something like this-- to pick us off one by one.

Guess it's just a matter of time before one of us or all of us ends up dead.

You have to help us.

Look, I'm prepared to say I'm sorry I did that.

What I'm not prepared to do is say the sex was bad.

Yeah. I'm not gonna apologize for that one.

I'm about to get murdered, so can you please just hang up and get over here?

How on earth are we supposed to get in if all the doors and windows are locked?

Dude, we climb up the ladder, break the windows upstairs, save all the girls, climb back down, then it's vagina city for all of us.

Why would you bomb-proof upstairs windows? For what, like, a flying bomb?

Don't be an idiot.

It's hero time.

Save me and I'm yours forever.

I'm not really sure I'm ready for that level of commitment.

Break the glass!

Stand back, fair maiden.

Give him the dignity of watching him die.

Someone in this house definitely knows who the killer is.

It's truth or dare time.

Whatever it takes to stop the douche that's trying to kill everybody.

I mean, do you ever just stop and ask yourself if we can actually pull this off?

Maybe we all just need to get out of here.

The best way to avoid a shark attack is to not go in the water.

We all have a crisis of faith sometimes.

Maybe you're hiding something.

I'd pick truth and then just lie.

If you want to lie, you can just pick dare.

That's the whole point of truth or dare. You can't lie.

Does your vagina have teeth?

I'm not lying.

My vagina doesn't have teeth.

Does your vagina still have teeth?

So it used to have teeth, but you got them removed?

So your vagina still has teeth.

Sounds like you're trapped in a web of lies.

You're forfeiting your turn, bitch.

Okay, I guess it's my turn, then.

You promised you wouldn't tell.

Sorry. I had to tell the truth.

Of course you're the killer.

I propose we take a little break, You know, take a whiz, get a refill.

You know what? I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever trusted you.

I wanted to talk about the other thing you said, about how you thought you had feelings for me.

The only feelings I have for you now are rage and pissed offedness.

Now go sit in that bathtub and think about what you've done. And try not to rub one out, okay?

Come on! I said I was sorry!

If anybody's down here, please don't jump out at me.

Is that blood?

Wait. If you're gonna kill me, at least show me who you are first.

I knew it. I knew it was you.

Please. You don't have to do this. I could help you.

There's never any food in there. Just laxatives.

I got the impression that you and I are on the verge of being the next "it" couple.

See, this is the problem with texting, you know? You can't hear the context.

Even though I decided to not wear a bra, you haven't been staring at my shirt raisins once.

Okay, look, I was waiting to talk to you about this 'cause secretly I was hoping you'd be killed and I wouldn't have to hurt your feelings.

I just don't think it would work out with us.

You're nuts, and not like a typical crazy-eyes co-ed, but wake-up-with-my penis-in-a-jar lunatic.

I love space mountain. Best ride at Disneyland. But I love my penis more.

Number one-- I never take second place. And number two-- I don't stop till I get what I want.

Was that salad spinner hitting on you?

I am super turned on from her, and I need some sweet release.

Is there any, like, Crisco or cooking oil here? Just, like, dry handies bum me out.

I propose we treat ourselves to a little heaven. Seven minutes in heaven.

Whatever your plan was, it isn't working.

Would you like to pat the little man in the canoe?

I want to take our relationship to the next level.

I want us to be together, but I want it to mean something.

I love boning girls all over this great land. But really, at the end of the day, I just kind of want to bone one girl. Like, that one special girl.

I just didn't think that girl was you. Because, obviously, there's so much wrong with you.

Will you get back together with me?

I would consider taking you back under one condition.

You have to pinky-pledge that you will be monogamous to me.

You will not have sex with anyone else. Do you understand me?

Dude, she looks like prepackaged meat from the supermarket.

Oh, god, has someone checked on the kids?

Pretty convenient that you're the one who found the body.

You're the darkest bitch of them all.

Those are some serious accusations, and they make no sense.

I would be opening myself up to a lot of trouble if I were to turn you in to the authorities.

It doesn't do any of us any good to start accusing each other with no evidence.

I suggest that we just have someone stand guard and watch me for the rest of the night, or until someone else dies, therefore proving that I am not the killer.

This feels so good.

I tried to scream, but nothing came out!

Interesting. That's all I'm gonna say. Interesting.

There is a trapdoor with, like, a tunnel system.

But wait, there are secret tunnels in this house perfect for a killer to use, and you neglected to tell us?

That's a little suspicious.

We are losing sight of the big picture here.

I'm not going down there. I do not dig on cobwebs, and I'm guessing there are loads of cobwebs down there.

If you get murdered in those tunnels, I promise I will never bang anyone harder than I banged you.

You're so rich and hot.

These are the nicest secret tunnels I've ever seen.

Wow. What amazing legacies they all have. What do you think ours will be?

If we can get through this year without everyone getting killed, I think we'll go down as the greatest of them all.

You came back for me.

Purely selfish.

You are probably the worst cop ever.

Wait, where are we going?

I won't go!

In three seconds, I'm gonna pick you up and carry you out of here.

I just kind of came over here because I farted over there and it smelled bad.

Wait, you're a lesbian?

Basically, I'm in love with love.

The next time I feel love for someone, I'm going to tell them. Right away. Just in case they're murdered before I can.

I just feel like I'm never gonna find a guy who likes me.

I'm a freak.

Nobody actually likes me.

You are totally gonna find another guy.

They're custom-made pink nunchaku.

Thank you for making that announcement that no one cared about.

No slumber party is finished without a kickass dance party.

This is so wonderfully random.

What a great way to pretend all these people we know weren't brutally murdered.

[sunset-novice-writer]

When The Dust Settles |Shigaraki Tomura x Reader|

A lot of things have changed in the world of  Heroes and Villains. The rise and decline of power shifted so often between those two forces as it was like a rising tidal wave crashing against one another. One will always end up beating the other which had you hoping for the latter since you supported your lover. All of his achievements lead up to the recognition he worked himself to the born for most times you two had your ups and downs. Yet, where most people who would rationalize dating a villain came to their senses--to be fair that’s a fair point. 

Love had no grand design for two people involved. It was crazy, unexplainable, wonderful, and sometimes a bittersweetness that had lessons to be learned from it.You knew that it took rather long time in the beginning to build that trust with him.Where how he found so little trust in others their were precious memories you shared. He knew this fragile thing to experience a foreign closeness with other human beings, even a platonic one. At least patience had been something that was your strong suit coupled with you could actually touch Tomura. 

How could you explain your relationship to get to this point with him?

Well, it was literally a rollercoaster ride that sometimes could be so frustrating other times it was with all the risk you endured.

 Purely you loved Shigaraki most didn’t know you existed because you didn’t want to be used to trap him against the law. You’d rather risk your freedom to make sure he ensured his own. Everything you did was for him all the sacrifices that balanced between your relationship.You had no intention letting him doubt why you wanted to be with him--his moral compass were choices you respected, his appearance did not affect things for you either.

As much as he dodged and weaved to push you away from him you always stayed with him through the ringer. The occasional pout came on your end when you tried your darndest to beat that unnatural gaming genius that was your lover. He teases you about how his you-player two was almost catching up, but gets creamed. Those times were fun you didn’t win or lose against him, as much as you loved spending more time with him.

There were no missions for the League to fill that Tomura had him calling for meetings soon. The other members took off to enjoy themselves in their own personal adventures outside the hideout. You and Shigaraki  had some pleasant time alone for yourselves with a video game marathon.  Topic for the game you picked: Soul Calibur,  Tekken, Street Fighter, and Shigaraki picked a few of his own as well, which was quite the selection. 

You both were playing Street Fighter Chun Li versus Bison which your boyfriend used the muscle antagonist to kick your ass. You sat between his legs with his head rested on your shoulder, biting back a snicker at your determination to win against him.  Tomura knew your health was at its crucial point although you slightly got him in the yellow whilst you already dyed from green to red.

“It’s not even  a challenge learning the basic movements, Pet.” He teased you with his hands keeping a four finger grip on the  controls  like  usual--curse his teasing and taunting you would win. You shivered when you felt his lips brush against the shell of your ear, as tingles rippled a familiar warmth within your belly. 

This is just unfair right now.’ You thought to yourself, eyes went to focus back on the game. All you needed to do was focus on the game, not Shaggy's tempting touches from his mouth.You stammered a little feeling his teeth playfully scrap the edge of your ear.”You may be the best gamer here, Shiggy. I’m going to make a comeback.” 

“Oh?”Tomura rose a brow  lifting his face to stare into your own to look at your face. You challenged him that moment it made you wonder what sort of thoughts were swirling in his head.  It both thrilled you to see what he would come up with, and  scared you to see what stirred up in his mind sometimes. 

Yet, it usually ended if Tomura was a savant of video games, no wonder he made excellent strategists when coming with the tactical parts of the mission. You knew if he ever accomplished his dreams with villainy, your man would be the wickedest video game creator on the planet. 

His carmine ideas brightened you instantly knew he was thinking sort of wager formed in that brain of his. You always like trying to beat him occasionally, you tried to win-- keyword tried. Shigaraki always topped you though.” All right then, [Y/n]. If you beat me in this round, I’ll do something just for you.” He smirked down at you, loving how you gulped nervously, as he explained the terms of the bet. 

“Fine, I agree with the bet.” You knew despite his grumpy reaction he secretly was happy with the affection. If anything Tomura loved when you backed your affectionate gestures up with words. You loved the reactions you see come from him in so many expressions that he could show was always new.

He grunted at you trying not to think about what transpired he scowled at you as he spoke.” Really, I can’t say I disliked it. But distracting me won’t help you win, pet.” This had you rolling your eyes knowing that already, but you kissed him because you wanted to. “Don’t worry, I just wanted to kiss you Tomu.” You grinned, giving a laugh when he called you an idiot,  and then you both returned to the game. 

Not expecting within those few minutes you knew Tomura had been you without so much effort. You pouted though while giving him your word, waiting for him to see what he wanted you to do. He wanted to just hold you, which were his terms for the beat, not that you minded. A moment you kept just between the two of you besides it made you feel a sense of pride. You were the only person who could ever touch him like this, thanking yourself that your quirk came out to be like this.

These moments of silence became treasured time together as you peppered him with a kiss--much to his grumpy, flustered protest and cuddled him for the rest of that day. “I love you [Y/n]” He whispered, causing you to become flustered with your heart fluttering again, and hugged him tighter.

“Love you too, Tomu.”

Your own fears made you think in the most critical of times while he was out on missions. One’s that he thoroughly planned to put himself on the line to complete his goals, and his subordinates too, though you admitted they all had weird relationships together. In the beginning, a lot of bickering with clashing egos hitting heads leaving you as the peacemaker (mostly, for Tomura when it came to himself and Dabi.)it surprised you how things settled between them now.

When the dust had settled through each trial everyone came out stronger from their journey. You did so as well mostly given most couldn’t handle your choices. While you felt happier now more than in your old life you were grateful to have met Mura.Sometimes you wondered how he thought about you when he was away. Time after time, you noticed those little looks of insecurity, wondering when you’d leave him. Whether he feels elation to be rid of you coupled with those nuisance in emotions he developed.”I love him now more than ever truthfully,” You smiled thinking out loud glancing out the window, noticing the sun beginning to set  in array amber-orange with purple tint to the clouds it was beautiful.  A picture of what could explain your life and their own making you ponder a bit more.

Tomura wanted you to stay at the home base for this recent mission. What irked you be not being there with him. He’d been stubborn about you getting caught in the crosshairs of this one with much reluctance you agreed to his whims. Sometimes, you wished he knew you had a handle on your skill set not to be babied inside your own head you rationalized it. He never would tell you anything unless he wasn’t damned sure you were capable.

If there was one thing for him, you could say he didn’t sugarcoat shit  to cover up facts. You felt anxious sitting there doing nothing until they got back home. You missed him wondering if Toga left any updates on your phone, yet you didn’t receive so much as a ding of a notification. Drifting back to your thoughts for a moment, thinking of your parents who slurred your name about who you loved.

A part of you felt bitter thinking of how they came to be was irony itself. A reformed villain and a hero clashing together into separate sides of the spectrum to lecture you on the news. Now, that shit right there was so laughable you couldn’t contain the hypocrisy of it all. You’d never expected to see through you too well through your mannerism to call you out on the lie.

Why hide behind better yet why give a shit about it. More that those thoughts lingered he did make a good point instead of wholly in stupid state of self you erased them from your mind. It wasn’t good to waste time in the useless memories of the past, and shifted to lay comfortable in the bed.

“He better come back in one damn piece..”You grumbled under your breath huffing in annoyance, as cuddled up in his coat inhaling his scent to seek some  sort of comfort. A sandalwood musky scent that carried in his favorite hoodie he always wore around sometimes you’d sleep in it to cuddle with him. 

A soft thud of footsteps trailed up the hallway that went noticed by you with little murmurs that left your mouth..At the thought of his latest victory you wondered how the story would be told this time to you. Always eager to hear every feat he accomplished to look like child’s play, as  the heroes were left guessing to his true motives. Tomura Shigaraki was a man that laid hidden talents, so the underestimation where he would lead his organization shifted the world.

You shifted your eyes to the ceiling thinking about a variety of things that sprouted many different thoughts in your mind. “Making me worry like this...darn you Tomu-chibi..”Your scowled deepened, your cheeks puffing out in a noticeable pout.

“It’s a good thing I won huh,Queenie?”

Shigaraki’s raspy voice startled you out of your dampened mood, as you jumped up quickly on the bed to stare at him.  A smirk adorned his lip and his carmine eyes were in pure amusement delighted at your pouty expression.Taking in his face, a calm sort of confidence was in the aura he pleased with himself at the success about the mission. You felt relieved he was uninjured moving from the bed to walk over towards Tomura his eyes glanced at your attire noticing it.You’d just be wearing something comfortable if you caught the way his eyes darkened focusing on you. Clearly, pleased with the way his jacket looked too big on you though still cozy with you only in a set of thigh high socks in a tight fitted t-shirt with a pair of lacey panties in his favorite color.

Down to the choker you made yourself that had his initials TS dangling on your neck. It was fact that you in all utterance were his completely, and he thrived on that sheer fact. You could tell your gift made him happy you spent most the time he was out to finish it.

“I see you liked the gift I made.” You smirked, sauntering you away over to him, carmine eyes followed your movements as you approached to stand in front of Tomura. 

‘It’s a good thing  I told those idiots, not to disturb me.’ He thought to himself, he had collected fully on when you lost to him in your wager, plus he planned to collect his reward. “I do pet, I really do.”His eyes focused on your own trying to drink up the vision of every inch of your body.

You walked over to Tomura to bring yourself closer to him though the growl clear in displeasure.Your visage was coming closer to his own taking the view away from appreciating your outfit in the full glory he wanted to take in. Tomura knew that you’d  walk around like this sometimes though by his gaze he wasn’t having you go out like that. Not that you cared, you wonly focused on spending time with him now that he returned safely.

Well, there were hickies all over your neck and collarbone last time he saw you in something was for his eyes only. To be fair, you wanted to make something for him to eat that day still that was a great, great way to start the morning for you both.When he first learn that your quirk allowed him to touch you with all five fingers he shown shocked. the first time it happened, and enjoyed the being touched.  Unlikely to admit how touch starved he was to anyone else if teased he’d threaten to disintegrate them. 

“I’m glad you made it back, Tomu.”You pull him into an embrace and your face nuzzles into the crook of his neck, as you feel his hands come to wrap around your waist. Both of you alone together you’d seen his vulnerable behind closed doors at this moment he enjoyed how close you were to him.

“Those pathetic Heroes didn’t stand a chance, [y/n]” He scoffed at the notion, he would let himself lose against  those unskilled bosses' attempts to capture him. After all, he got a bonus item that would aid his cause even further, not to mention he had his very own princess he needed to come back too. 

“I believed you would, Mura.”You lifted your head up to stare in his eyes, as he in turn watched your own look at him liking the way the affection for him always seemed to show on your face.He placed his hands on your hips tugging you closer to him making gasp in surprise at the action. “Besides that, nothing in the world would keep me from my angel.”He smiled at you making you’re heart do flip-flops before it shifted into a wicked smirk, as you noticed something else was excited to see you too..

[a/n:why in the hell I did add that]

“Your Decay Daddy seems to recall you losing our bet last time..”Tomura’s voice dropped lower thick with his lustful intentions that stirred up an all to familiar warmth in your stomach.He chuckled a little at you as he added on,”I need to collect it, princess.” While the thrum sent brief sparks of pleasure to your core as you clenched at the thought of him taking you. They spoke no more words between the both of you. Hiis lips came down to capture your own dominance, making itself known. 

You’d stick by his side through the thicket of worse times soon to come for you both. Now, you let all that go, enjoying the feeling of his lips against your own as he kisses you wrapping your arms around his neck, pressing your body closer to his.

The dust of chaos that consumed both your lips you’d been there for Tomura without a doubt. When the world was sculpted  with the ruins, be cleared to a fresh hope you’d be by his side. A feeling of love that couldn’t be justified to one who didn’t understand it, and your love for this man was something you never regretted. 

He pulled away from your mouth causing you to let out a disappointed whine, as you both knew none of the members would get sleep thanks to their leader. But, hey, it’s not like they didn’t know who was dickin’ you down so well, anyway.  

“Don’t get distracted now, Angel.” He chastised in a teasing voice, as his hands grabbed your chin gently, you noticed the tempted twitch of his fingers to disintegrate your clothes. “I’m all you needed to focus on now.”

Hell, you agreed with whoever said bad boys needed love were not wrong whatsoever. “Yes, sir.” You replied giving a peck to his lips, yes, this was your happiness now with someone you loved.Nothing was better than enjoying this moment with your lover while you prepared to show your actions all afternoon long..

|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||||||||||| FIN||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| |||||||||||||||||

I can’t believe that I finished this today, so happy about this!!

Taglist : @mrsreina​ @blackgirlanimes​ @koiibito​ @tomurasprincess​ @fairylucynamipiece​ @shigaraki-is-my-master​

Hope you all will give some feed back and comment. Still, I feel like this is came out so well. Let me know if you want to get tagged on this.

[nomanwalksalone]

ON ATHLEISURE, AND SECRET SARTORIAL SINS

by Réginald-Jérôme de Mans

A recent piece by David Isle steered me to The New York Times’ oddly behind-the-times prognostication about the death of the necktie, to be replaced by the suit with open shirt. For the NYT, precision about pretentious details and wrongness about the larger picture are par for the course, but even for the Gray Lady (or as Gore Vidal termed her, the Typhoid Mary of American journalism), announcing the birth of a look that was current 15 years ago is a new low. (Will it recommend untucked striped shirts next?) Today the suit without tie look is a tired cliché, as passé and dubious as a Judith Miller byline, the businesswear equivalent of what a notch-lapel tuxedo worn with a dark necktie is for black tie. Nonetheless, the article spurred me to think about a topic I’ve brought up when Isle, Léon Philippe and I get together to Netflix and chill (What? We watch movies and hang out over drinks. Are you suggesting this means something else?).

Those of us who are not The New York Times’ readers or reporters may have noticed that in recent years the fashion for tailored clothing has led to a renaissance of the necktie, a reflowering of an accessory whose death has been predicted since the rise of business casual workplaces 20 years ago. Now natty ties, the more soporific the pattern or obscure the maker, are fashionable, at least to a segment of the population. Indeed nattiness, itself – for avoidance of the word “dapper,” is momentarily fashionable.  

Any moment has its end. My fear is that fashion, having swept the suit itself (not simply the tie) to the forefront of menswear for the last 15 years, will wash it back out again.  The current wave of dressiness has surged to the point of flamboyance.  Excess breeds avoidance.  So it is that the so-called tailored look became in its more debased recent exercise cinched, curtailed and shrunken, singularly uncomfortable-looking (think the suits in the more recent Bond films).  A debasement of what tailored clothing is, a caricature of what is supposed to be clothes made to fit an individual’s body.  We’re already seeing fashions chafe at this priggishness in what is supposed to be “the coming thing,” as Brisco County, Jr., would say: that awful neologism “athleisure.”

This portmanteau word is a portmanteau fashion, a fusion of athletic (wear) worn for leisure, a descendant in spirit of the tracksuit chic that’s been around the dark alleys and mob social clubs of fashion since the 1980s. Now, however, fashion media are recommending that track pants (or even, another nasty portmanteau word, moga pants) be mixed with sportcoats and suit jackets, in the name of a comfort that would have been there all along, if only we were wearing clothes, tailored or not, that fit.  

As so much else in fashion bears out, there’s nothing new under the sun. This year’s The Rake recommends stretchy knit jersey (similar to the usual sweat pants material) to wear in or with tailored clothing, something Gentry magazine was proposing 60 years ago. And, as for wearing sweats with tailored clothes, the picture above shows that none other than America’s best-dressed president in living memory, Ronald Reagan himself, would occasionally sport the look in an unguarded moment. Well, maybe he thought Star Wars was guarding him.

It’s true that no matter how well your tailored clothes fit – and ideally, well-fitted tailored clothes should feel as effortless as pajamas – comfort is always a compromise. Stretch and elastic replace precision of cut or make with the easy pleasure of stretchy approximation – that’s why it’s easier to fit into shoes that have elastic sides instead of laces or buckles. Of course, over time the stretch gets stretched out -  if you keep the garment that long -  and the points that stretch may not always be the most flattering. Like Reagan, I may have swapped suit trousers for a pair of warm-up pants at home once or twice.  Some have gone even farther. #Menswear idiot savant the Duke of Windsor wrote that he preferred to drop trou and walk around in nothing but his shirttails at home. While he explained (if I recall correctly) that it was to keep from wrinkling his suit pants, he may have been free-balling, since he had many suit trousers made with underwear pre-buttoned inside (I have the unkind suspicion that was because he may otherwise have been too dense to remember to wear it).

Where does this roiling tide of ridiculousness, rolling from extreme to extreme, leave us? I don’t know about you, but I’ll be wearing what I usually wear, like I was a decade ago when dressiness was the province of a few enthusiasts on our secretive specialist forums and “sartorialism” was an unborn neologism, content now to become once again a mildly foppish eccentricity on the sidelines. I don’t believe in timeless style, I believe in wearing what I like. Don’t sweat it.

Quality content, like quality clothing, ages well. This article first appeared on the No Man blog in May 2016.

[bobasheebaby]

Howard Wolowitz Prompts

1 “You know, I'm really glad you decided to learn Mandarin.” “Why?” “Once you're fluent, you'll have a billion more people to annoy instead of me.”

2 “NAME does not cry.” “That's true, you'd rust.”

3 “I invented a game. Want to play?” “Sure.” “It's called NAME or DOG NAME. I give you actual quotes I've heard NAME say, and you guess if he/she was talking to his/her boyfriend/girlfriend or his/her dog.”

4 “Settle this. Those little animated pictures on the Internet, are they called ‘gifs’ or ‘jifs’?” “Well, the G stands for ‘graphics.’ That's a hard G, so I'd say ‘gif.’” “What? The guy who invented it says it's ‘jif.’” “I'm sorry, do you mean the guy or the juy?”

5 “So you can never take it (the sweater) off?” “No.” “Not even to sleep?” “No.” “So you're just an idiot?” “It's called proving a point.” “Is the point you're an idiot?”

6 “We have to go over some ground rules about NAME.” “Like when it turns out he’s/she's made of rubber, I don't say anything?” “He’s/She's very real.” “That's what it says on the box. Right next to dishwasher safe.”

7 “Aren't you gonna come with me?” “While you confront your father:mother about his/her sex life? I'd rather go back to that bar in assless chaps.”

8 “OK, is everyone clear on the plan?” “Yes, NAME 1’s going to wet himself/herself I'm gonna throw up, NAME 2’s gonna run away and you're going to die. Shall we synchronize our watches?”

9 “NAME, let me take this opportunity to point out that you are looking particularly ravishing today.” “Not with a thousand condoms, NAME.” “So there is a number.”

10 “Hey, you want to make sure he/she gets nowhere with NAME without jeopardizing your friendship with either of them?” “I'm listening.” “Just tell him/her to do everything you've done with him/her for the last two years.”

11 “On the potty, what are you five?” “It's a potty, what do you call it?” “A toilet.” “That's a little vulgar for the dinner table, don't you think?” “And potty is okay?” “Potty is innocent. Potty is adorable.” “What do you do on the potty, wee-wee?” “If I don't have to boom-boom.”

12 “Try telling him/her it's a non-optional social convention.” “What?” “Just do it!” “It's a non-optional social convention.” “Oh, fair enough.” “He/She came with a manual.”

13 [NAME smiles in a grotesque way] “Oh crap that's terrifying.”

14 “He/She didn't dump me. We were just in different places in the relationship.” “I fail to see how a relationship can have the qualities of a geographical location.” “It's very simple. NAME was living in a little town called ‘Please don't leave me’, while NAME had just moved to the island of ‘Bye-bye!’”

15 “Are you planning on kidnapping a man/woman?” “Sarcasm?” “Yes, but mixed with genuine concern.”

16 “NAME knows football? I mean Quidditch, sure, but football?”

17 “Puppies, how do you stand on puppies?” “A puppy once bit my face!” “Of course it did.”

18 “NAME, there's no place for truth on the Internet.”

19 “I see. I assume since the rest of you have set the bar so low, you're saving the most impressive contribution for last. Go on NAME, dazzle me.” “Well, my power is the ability to pretend like I give a damn about your piddly-ass problem. And that's 24/7 buddy.”

20 “You can't just throw everything in the closet.” “Hey, you can tell me what to do and how to do it, but not both at the same time. This isn't sex.”

21 “We're looking for NAME, not Marmaduke.”

22 “NAME it's the phone!” “I know it's the phone NAME! I hear the phone!” “Who is calling at this ungodly hour?” “I don't know!” “Well ask them why are they calling at this ungodly hour!” “How can I ask them when I'm talking to you?”

23 “Well no, you're mistaken. You give speeches all the time. What you can't do is shut up.”

24 “The way I see it, I'm halfway to pity sex.”

25 “Why do I even try?” “I'm going to fix this right now.” “Okay, but just make it look like an accident.”

26 “Love is not a sprint, it's a marathon, a relentless pursuit that only ends when he/she falls into your arms — or hits you with the pepper spray.”

27 “Look, if you don't want to go to the party, just don't go. You're a grown man. Act like one. Tell NAME you want to spend the weekend having a sleepover and playing video games with your friends!”

28 “Can we take a moment to discuss that I just lied to the government for you?” “Yeah, I would not have done that for you.”

29 “NAME ruined Raiders of the Lost Ark* for me, so I'm trying to find something beloved of his/hers and ruin that.” “Because his/her life wasn't enough?” *[insert any movie, play or book]

30 “I think you broke the dowels. You're not gonna have time to glue it back on. You'll have to nail it.” “With what?” “Does he/she have any pillows or wine glasses?” “He/She does.”

“Great. Neither of those. Try a hammer!” “Did that feel good? You feel like a big man now?”

31 “Why're you being so quiet? You upset or are you just rebooting?”

32 “Come on, NAME, Star Wars.” “I'm pushing play. I mean it. If we don't start soon, George Lucas is going to change it again.”

33 “Come on, one day this may double in value and be worth half what I paid for it!”

34 [Chuckles] “Look at that. There's finally a man/woman in your life you can talk to.”

35 “I shouldn't be raising a kid. I don't even eat my own vegetables.”

36 “I love you. And I'm not just saying that because your breasts are gonna get bigger.”

37 “First take a picture with me.” “Why?” “Well, NAME and I always talked about learning how to make cocktails like this together, so I taught myself and I'm putting this on Instagram so he/she can see it and feel like a turd. Say cheese!”

38 “Stop hitting on my man/lady or you shall experience my wrath.” “I am not hitting on him/her.” “And I am not your Lady.” “And you have no wrath.”

39 “NAME, relax. I am not interested in your boyfriend/girlfriend.” “I hope not. Because you don't wanna mess with me.” [Gets in NAME’s face] “I'm crazy.”

40 “How did you get so brave all of a sudden?” “It's easy. The spider's crawling up your arm.”

41 “Why are you back from your date so early?” “Well, in romance, as in show business, always leave them wanting more.” “What exactly does that mean?” “He/She struck out.”

42 “Sit, you look like you've had a long day.” “Naw, she always looks like that. ... Because she married an idiot.”

43 “You guys never use that space up there. Why not get a table?” “Do you want the long answer or the short answer?” “How come we never get that option?”

44 “You're a putz. Do you what that means?” “Yeah. Do you?”

45 “Excuse me, I happen to be very comfortable with my masculinity.” “How is that possible?”

46 “Oh, you're saying I don't do anything around here? Look at my chore chart!”

47 “Well don't come crying to me when you don't get your allowance.” “It's not an allowance. It's a stipend! And we said we weren't going to call it an allowance in front of my friends.”

48 “Neither of them will be the actual cake. I'm just using it as a bargaining chip to get NAME to agree to the whole wedding party getting rings and us getting one ring to rule them all.” “I forget, which mental hospital are you guys registered at?”

49 “You know what we should do? We should show the closet to NAME.” “Why?” “Are you kidding? He’s/She’s like a savant at organizing. Everything in his/her apartment/house has a label on it. Including his/her label maker, which has a label that says label maker. And if you look really close at that label maker label, you’ll see a label that says label.”

50 “I was so smooth on that date.” “Dude, I made you smooth. You were an idiot.” “Whatever, dude. He/She kissed me.” “It might have been on your lips, but it was my kiss.” “Oh, fine. Let's agree he/she kissed both of us.” “Okay.”

[worldguardian]

it’s finally done! this has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but kept procrastinating on for various reasons.

may I present: a mixed canon-and-headcanon (mostly headcanon) family tree for some of my favourite mahjarrat! full-view the picture here, because it’s way too big for tumblr.

now for the important stuff - backstory, explanations and headcanons under the cut! I hope you’ve got a drink, because this is going to get lengthy.

General:

gendered terms such as “mother”, “father”, “daughter” and “son” are used here for the sake of shorthand. mahjarrat are a monosex species in my headcanon and as such had no concept of separating parents (or anyone) into such categories until after the move to gielinor.

you can assume that almost everyone on this chart has more relatives than are pictured, but they were excluded because they weren’t directly relevant (or haven’t been fleshed out and designed yet). notables will be mentioned in everyone’s individual sections.

mahjarrat children are born far more developed than human children; they can walk, talk, and cast magic (though not effectively) much sooner than you could expect of other races.

I really wanted to design outfits for Nabor and Trindine but it wasn’t to be. that’ll have to wait for the fullbody art.

Azzanadra:

azzanadra, as the oldest mahjarrat alive, was born an extremely long time ago. I don’t have a specific headcanon age for him, but it’s in the ballpark of two hundred thousand years. he’s old as balls. he was the middle of three children born to two tribe leaders who were very powerful, befitting their position in the tribe. their first child was temekel. there was a reasonable span of time between temekel’s birth and azzanadra’s - by human reckoning, temekel would have been in his late teens or early twenties when his brother arrived.

(not that human time even remotely means anything to a mahjarrat.)

temekel was in all senses a prodigy. he inherited his parents’ incredible strength and was deeply respected throughout the tribe. he quickly rose to a leadership position alongside his parents. while he was alive, his strength eclipsed even azzy’s.

temekel was thought to have died in tumeken’s deathbomb, but as we later found out, he persisted for some time afterward before being ended.

alotor was the youngest brother in azzanadra’s family, and his birth came with the loss of their mother. he was born during a downturn in mah’s dreams - she was too comatose in this period to sustain many mahjarrat births, and as such, the strain was too much and killed their mother shortly after she gave birth to alotor.

not long into alotor’s childhood, their father was lost to a chelon-mah raid; he was in fact killed by the chelon-mah tribe leader of the time. this left temekel and azzanadra to raise alotor alone, and the clan missing two valued protectors.

alotor was murdered by sliske long before he was even of ritual age. to a human’s grasp of time, he would have been about eight years old.

the brothers all had distinctive blue eyes and gems; their skintone varied but all shared the faint yellow tint. azzanadra’s eyes and gems did not become violet until he formed his bond with zaros.

akthanakos is azzanadra’s son. akthanakos was born during a particularly difficult time for the tribe; their numbers were dangerously low and mah’s dreams had been violent for some time, causing constant muspah onslaughts and catastrophes from freneskae’s environment. akthanakos was born out of a desire to bolster the tribe’s numbers; his mother was not someone azzanadra was personally invested in, but they needed children badly.

azzanadra named his son “undying” with a twofold meaning: as an expression of hope for akthanakos to live through such a harsh time, and in honour of alotor. alotor’s death was some time before akthanakos’ birth. this was all he had to do with akthanakos’ upbringing aside from the tribe’s semi-communal child-rearing methods; the arrangement with akthanakos’ mother was that azzanadra would make no claim to him.

azzanadra has had a total of five children over his life: one died on freneskae, and the remaining three died in tumeken’s deathbomb. akthanakos was the only survivor, and he spent the entire empire unaware of his true parentage. by this point azzy felt it had been too long to reconnect, and was also aware that making his connection to akthanakos public would only put his son in undue danger (political or otherwise). unfortunately, before he could change his mind, the betrayal happened and he was sealed. fortunately, after being released six thousand years later in the fifth age, he finally realised it was time to tell his son.

Wahisietel and Sliske

wahisietel and sliske are half-brothers, born to the same mother. they were both born into the chelon-mah tribe. wahisietel is the elder brother and is “pureblood” chelon-mah: his father and mother were both chelon-mah - in fact, wahi’s father is the one who lead the raid that killed azzanadra’s father. neither of them realised this until far, far down the line.

sliske was born not long after wahisietel, when wahi was more-or-less a toddler. in an extremely rare turn of events, he’s a hybrid: his father was a mahjarrat. how his mother and father met and why they didn’t just opt to kill each other on sight is a mystery for the ages, but both of them had a talent for shadow magic, which was a huge contributing factor to sliske being a savant in it.

sliske’s father left the picture pretty much immediately - he either returned to the mahjarrat or was caught by the chelon-mah. sliske was left to be raised by his mother alongside wahisietel.

unfortunately, it was never a safe situation for either of them. the chelon-mah are far more volatile than the mahjarrat, and culls were frequent. the boys were both safer and more at risk because of their position: their mother was partnered with the tribe leader, the strongest chelon-mah in the clan. in that way, they were safest from the others, but in the most danger from him.

sliske’s mother couldn’t dare claim him. there was no way he could ever pass as being the chief’s son; there was no family resemblance between them at all. so while their mother did her absolute best with him, he was largely left to what group child-rearing the chelon-mah had (not much).

it couldn’t last. suspicions rose higher and higher over time and their mother knew that she’d be found out sooner or later. not only would the chelon-mah kill her for crossbreeding, but they’d kill the children too.

it’s almost unheard of for a chelon-mah to care that much about the wellbeing of their children. chelon-mah children are only looked after in the most barebones manner necessary to keep them alive until they reach the age of independence - which essentially means “old enough that killing you won’t be a waste of resources”.

wahisietel and sliske’s mother cared enough. she cared enough, when the boys were still very young, to send them across freneskae and to find the mahjarrat tribe. they were dead men walking with the chelon-mah, and with the mahjarrat she at least had the sliver of hope that they’d be taken in - after all, the tribes did occasionally snipe children (and adults, in Hazeel’s case) from each other.

the boys made the gruelling trip across freneskae’s wastelands, and eventually they stumbled on the mahjarrat camp. it was a rocky transition, as wahisietel was visibly chelon-mah, and sliske was an anomaly - an aberration, frankly, to most of the mahjarrat present. but children are valued much more by the mahjarrat than they are by the chelon-mah, so the decision was made to bring the boys in.

their raising was a joint tribe effort, left in the hands of the leaders for the most part. at this point in time, that included temekel and azzanadra. both of the boys latched onto these two out of sheer terror and a desire not to be killed. thankfully, they both found their niches in the tribe - wahisietel for his level head and great all-around approach to magic, and sliske for his incredible prowess in shadow magic and the fact that even if you wanted to sacrifice him, you could just never fucking catch the bastard.

Nabor and Trindine

nabor and trindine are two of sliske’s children, born to the same mother. sliske had a number of children over the course of his life, most of which he chose to have nothing to do with. nabor and trindine are two rare exceptions, as they both inherited enough of his power to be interesting to him. they were both relatively young; born on freneskae not too long before the move to gielinor. the transition to the empire served to further cement their father’s favouritism: trindine joined the ranks of the praetorians with him and nabor was appointed to a high position in the church.

(even though sliske found his psychiatry work horrifically boring.)

nabor met his end at azzanadra’s hands and trindine was killed in the god wars.

What in the fuck is Khazard doing there?

this is a headcanon from aaaages ago, but lucky for me I’ve explained it already! see this post.

tl;dr: turns out you can’t breed with gods, so palkeera was left in the very awkward position of having promised a child to zamorak and being unable to conceive. wahisietel stepped forward in return for palkeera promising to vouch for his zamorakian faith, as he’d made the fake switch by this point.

(worked out pretty well.)

Miscellaneous:

azzanadra and wahisietel are partners. wahi’s had a crush the size of the moon on dear old azzy for a very long time. (sliske did as well, and in fact he and azzanadra had a short-lived fling during the empire, which was completely casual until sliske caught feelings like an idiot. it sputtered out pretty quickly after that for mostly-unrelated reasons.)

HOO WOAH thank you so much for reading all that!! this project has been in the works for a while, like I said, and this is basically just the outline of it all. I have so much headcanon for the alien space wizards... I love them... I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!

all headcanon here is a joint effort between my partner and myself. I absolutely did not come up with all of this myself.

[woofools]

💙 and 💕for Elladicus :3c

Oh my goodness gracious did you just make up the ship name or is it a thing somewhere in the bowels of the internet? I like it!

💕 Who is more likely to make huge declarations of love in front of other people?:

Eradicus, because he’s a complete and total ham. He does it evilly, mind you, it’s all very dramatic and spine-tingling. Boy knows how to work an angle.The twist is he’ll make huge declarations of love in front of other people… unless Ella happens to be within earshot. If she can actually hear all the nice things he’s saying about her, he gets embarrassed and the words kind of just falter to a stop.

He’ll be yelling in rage about how she’s smart and pretty and the best thing in his life to a bunch of cowering civilians and then he’ll stop abruptly and turn. And she’s standing right behind him with a half-smile. And he just deflates.

“…did you, um. Did you hear any of that?”

Still smiling: “Not a word.”

“O-okay, good.”

💙 Who is more protective?:

Both are protective, but in different ways.

Eradicus is a lot stronger than Ella. More often than not, he doesn’t need her protection. Not to say if he was being beaten half to death in the streets she’d peace out on him; more like if something has him on the ropes, she’s already long since been taken out of the picture. So there’s no point. 

However, Eradicus is also the definition of an idiot savant. When he knows what he’s doing, he really knows what he’s doing. When he doesn’t... he ends up paying 13.50 to a guy that was initially only asking for 12, and at one point during negotiations dropped down to 7, presumably just to see how dumb he really was. Ella doesn’t take kindly to that. If she catches someone trying to take advantage of Eradicus when he’s having a lapse of judgement/common sense, she will unleash hell.

Eradicus takes a more traditional route. Usually, he doesn’t mind if someone/something bats his minions around during a fight. He’s not going to baby them, if they get their butts whooped, they get their butts whooped. ...that said. There’s a difference between his henchmen getting their butts whooped and someone trying to genuinely, irreparably harm them. And if Eradicus picks up on that when someone’s going after Ella?

Y’know how he usually flips between soft-spoken, almost cheerful and goofy, and aggressively bellowing in fury? All that goes out the window. Eradicus goes cold. Because they’re not just batting around his minion at that point, they’re attacking his girlfriend.

The lion part of his make-up comes out full force; hackles are raised and he’s giving off such a deep, snarling growl anyone still stupid enough to stay in the area has just shit themselves. And he is going to fight tooth, claw, and nail to put whoever was attacking Ella in the fucking ground.

[deanky]

Total - Andy Merrill Q&A

Total TV: You did the Space Ghost voice in your original demo for Coast to Coast, right?

Andy Merrill: The pilot, yeah.

What was your Space Ghost voice like?

It was just [in pompous radio announcer voice] "so tell me Denzel, what was it like being at the Oscars?" Kind of stupid. Just a dumb pious voice.

You were not destined to be the voice of Space Ghost obviously.

No, I wasn't, no. I just did this goofy little mock-up to put questions to interview answers from these sound bites of Denzel Washington. To this day I don't think Denzel Washington knows that. I mean we didn't like broadcast it or anything. The [Denzel] footage was from Showbiz Today, I just recorded it from that right before I put the thing together, so that interview could have been with anybody that was on Showbiz Today that day.

Right. Clay said he had a real thing about Zorak from back when he was watching the original show. Did you feel that way with Brak?

No, you know, I didn't even know Brak. I mean, I was familiar with the show and I watched it as a kid in the 70's when it was like Space Ghost Frankenstein Jr. And my brother and I used to watch it all the time, my dad would always watch cartoons with us. But I never like associated myself with the characters. We just threw the Council of Doom together from--there was about a six-part episode, it was like the last of the old Space Ghost made where the Council of Doom got together against Space Ghost. And we took the Council of Doom members, shy of one, that we didn't already have on Coast to Coast, and had them sing the "Twelve Days of Christmas." That's where Brak came from.

Oh really? That was Brak's first-ever . . .

That was the original Brak, that was my first time doing Brak and Lokar. Brak came out of the writers' meetings where we would like read over the script and take different parts. And I always took Brak's part and just said, [in quasi-subdued Brakian scream] "Hi, my name is Brak," and it made us all laugh, so that's kind of how I got to do it. I didn't get paid anything, so it was very cheap. And Lokar we were going to establish as this staunch snobby type person, so we were going to have him just sing out operatically. And so I kind of have some singing background so I sang his voice. And then we reprised the characters in the world premiere Toon In show and then it all escalated from there into Cartoon Planet.

It's kind of cool to have the dichotomy of Lokar the erudite and Brak, who's obviously at the opposite end of the spectrum.

I think it's fun they're just so completely opposite. One is completely devoid of a brain and the other one thinks he's like the smartest being alive, so he uses big words. It's really challenging to do Lokar, just because whenever we write his lines we'll thesaurize, we'll get a thesaurus and we'll like pick like the biggest words and the hardest words to say and like plug them in.

Did you ever expect that Brak would take off to become like a cult hero? He gets the most fan mail.

No, you know, I didn't. And he does.

And I've got to say, Brak is my favorite. I mean I love Zorak too, but Brak is just like. . .

Well, he's just lovable. He's me. [laughs] No--well, basically he is. There's a lot of me in Brak and a lot of little stories that we tell are taken from like personal experiences. Whenever Brak talks about school and stuff like that, a lot of that is real. But it kind of surprised me when we first went to Dragon Con, which is a comic convention here in Atlanta, and we showed the "Twelve Days of Christmas" segment like the first year we were there. And it just surprised me to hear that people were singing along with it and just doing Brak lines and stuff. I just thought that was just kind of weird. And they wanted my autograph and all that stuff.

Do you sign Brak or do you sign Andy Merrill?

I sign Brak a.k.a. Andy Merrill. I took that from Clay. Clay does that too, Zorak a.k.a. Clay Croker, Seymour Croker, or something like that. So it's still kind of weird and I'm kind of used to it now, but just to see all the websites that are out there and stuff like that, it's just crazy. I'm happy that people really, really like the character. I'm really happy about that. So many people, you know, are reaching out.

What I love is he's sort of got like this 4- and 5-year-old consciousness that's just so pure, and I'm sure you get a lot of fan mail from little kids as well.

All ages, pretty much, from little kids to parents. And since we're on at 11:30 Friday nights we have a major college student following and they watch us, you know, religiously. I even did an interview last week where the person brought to my attention that there was a Brak drinking game. I said, Well, I can't endorse that, but that kind of was flying around the Internet too, which is kind of a weird thing. So it's escalated to that point. When you drive people to drink.

Was it the character of Brak that really inspired the move into Cartoon Planet? Or was that going to happen anyway?

No, Brak was going to be a very minimal part of Cartoon Planet. If you see any of the original shows--we kind of changed Brak over about a year's time. He got such a big response we wanted to put more of him in, and I would go into voice sessions and only last 20 minutes because I would just be in there screaming in a monotone at the top of my lungs and then my voice would give out. So he was stupid anyway so we kind of dumbed him up and gave him a lot more vocal range. I can go up and down and all that stuff. I can talk more normally now.

Right, otherwise your throat would never forgive you.

Oh yeah, it's terrible. It was awful. I would be out of it for like a day or two.

Well, I take issue with the fact that Brak is stupid. He's more like an idiot savant I think.

Yeah, Mike [Lazzo] always describes him as an idiot savant. And he was struck dumb, I mean he used to be this evil mastermind, so he's got some form of intelligence in him somewhere that comes out every once in a while. He's kind of like, you know, Jim Ignatowski of Taxi, you know.

Yeah, exactly, that's a good parallel, actually.

Like Jim goes to a party and plays the piano and stops in the middle, saying, I didn't know I could do this, and so that's kind of the parallel. He's stupid, but he's not. And that's part of the drinking game too. Whenever [Brak] says something intelligent, you have to drink. And he's into poetry and Shakespeare and stuff like that though he doesn't know it.

I love when Brak just goes off and starts to riff on stuff. Like when he goes on and on trying to find a highway number that works in "Highway 40 Unplugged," that bonus track on the Cartoon Planet Band EP.

Yeah. I can't remember why . . . we went in just to like record an extra track for the CD, and I just brought in my ukulele and played that. And played this old song, the other bonus track is "Put Your Socks On Mama." I made that up in college for my friend Paula 'cause I used to, over the summer, like send tapes to my really good friends--just goofy things, you know. That's where "Put Your Socks On Mama" came from. It's a song I made up. I'd forgotten about it for years but she, like, put this tape together of goofy stuff that I recorded for her and that song was on it.

Do you think there's ever a chance that the Cartoon Planet Band would make an actual live appearance?

I don't know. I don't know. You know, [writer] Dave [Willis] and I and Ann Susan [Brown] and Stuart [Shacklee] in programming played a street festival last year in May and we didn't sing any Cartoon Planet­type stuff, but we sang like Rolling Stone songs and stuff like that. So we can like put a little band together. But I don't know. We do a few conventions every year, like the Dragon Con and the Comic Con and I thought it might be fun to like get up and do a song or something. But so many people, when they come to like have you sign pictures are always trying to have me sing "Highway 40" or something. I always just kind of shy up on them, feel stupid, 'cause I don't have any music or anything like that. And some of them I can't--I mean it's nice that we have the CD and stuff so I can at least remember the songs 'cause some of these we recorded like two years ago. And you know you record them once and never perform them or anything, so it's like you forget the words and all that stuff.

So you never had an actual musical career before this? You just did like these goofy songs for friends every once in a while?

Yeah, I'd do goofy songs for friends and I always just--my parents were very sad when I left the house for college, just because I was always like making noise and singing and goofing around the house and stuff.

Do you think there was always a Brak inside you, like struggling to get out?

I'm sure my neighbor thinks I'm nuts just because I live alone with my dog and I'm always like talking to my dog or, like, singing stupid songs to make her wag her tail or something like that.

What's your dog's name?

Sage. But I call her Stinky or Dummy or stuff like that.

What kind of dog?

Black lab.

Ooh, nice. I love black labs.

She's funny.

I bet. Do you ever get to the point where you're starting to talk like Brak when you don't mean to talk like Brak? Or can you like turn that on and off? I mean, do you have Brak-ish moments in your normal life?

Every once in a while. Not too often. I'm always trying to think of where the present Brak voice came from and I just remember my friend Wally and I in high school just going around saying, [in goofy voice] "You be dawg, you be dawg, you're a dopey dawg," and it kind of came from that, but not totally. It just like came back years later, but I don't know. It's such a different voice, I don't really fall into it that much. But there's times when I'm in the car, like listening to Queen or something like that, you know--there's a lot of Queen songs that would be really funny if Brak sang them. I mean it'd be fun to, like, do an album of actual songs, it would be expensive but it'd be fun to like have Lokar and Brak do "Under Pressure." Or something like that. It just would be fun to do certain songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody" or Alanis Morrissette's "You Oughta Know."

That would be outstanding. Another persona that I love of yours is the guy in the goofy Space Ghost suit.

That's the Space Ghost Dancer. You know, we auditioned people for that, I called a number of dance studios around town to audition.

You mean like real actual dancers?

Yeah, to see if anybody was like interested in auditioning to be the dancing Space Ghost. And I had five guys lined up for the audition. Three showed up and did okay. No, actually two showed up, did all right, and then we had all this studio time left and Pete said, "Well, why don't you put the suit on and dance?" I said, "Well are you going to do it?" He said, "Yeah, I'll do it if you do it." So I put it on first and Pete never did put the suit on. But I just got up and danced around and we had that on a tape too. The actual muscular professional dancer in a Space Ghost suit was just too freaky. It's like really a scary thing to see Space Ghost actually dancing nicely. So we showed mine too, which was funny, and then we went in for a two-day shoot and shot a whole bunch of openings and closings

There were some openings we didn't use, like my favorite was really funny, but we couldn't use it for obvious reasons. Space Ghost starts to dance and then grabs his arm and falls over from a heart attack and just lays there dead the rest of the opening. And we couldn't use that. But last year, last May, Dave and I went out with my video camera and I put the suit on and we went out to Stone Mountain Park and ran around and shot some stuff and it was amazing to see how many people cooperate with that. Like, there were these four ladies playing tennis, and we just went up and sheepishly asked them if we could film me playing tennis with them, and I thought they would tell us to hit the road but they signed releases. And we played putt-putt and went to a place just up the street from my apartment, and shot Space Ghost getting his hair cut.

What's going to happen with Cartoon Planet? I know it's been a little bit on hiatus because there's so much emphasis on Coast to Coast, but I mean it's coming back, isn't it?

[hesitantly] I . . . I don't know. I . . . I hope.

Mike Lazzo said it was when I asked him yesterday.

[somewhat incredulously] Really?!

Yeah, he said absolutely, oh yeah, yeah.

[eagerly] You have that on tape?

Yes, I do have it on tape.

[triumphantly] Okay, then we've got him. [laughs] I hope, you know, when we're done doing this deal that we'll do more. I'm hoping. 'Cause I'd like to do more of some of the newer stuff we were doing like "Cooking [with Brak]." We only did like two "Tales of Suspense," which I just thought of, like, at the last session we did. So I'm hoping to take a little vacation in September. Hopefully we'll be done with 26 [Coast to Coast] shows by then.

Do you have the whole arc of how the 26 episodes are going to go?

How they're going to air? No, 'cause that kind of changes all the time, until the last minute.

Right. But I know you do start with "Pilot," and I just actually got a chance to see [the second episode] "Rehearsal." I love the ending where you see that big human hand come down and then you realize that it really is this little tiny miniature set . . .

The set being broken down. That was good, yeah. That's like three-year-old footage. That's cool because that's some of the original footage. The original footage of them tearing down the set, we've had that for years, we've just never had a reason to use it. So it was cool that we could use it.

Who were your favorite cartoon characters as a kid?

Um . . . boy . . . My dad would come down and watch cartoons with us all the time and we would watch Super Friends and Space Ghost. Space Ghost really wasn't my favorite, though. I always liked the Herculoids, and Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle was always my favorite. All those Filmation Tarzan, Batman, Lone Ranger, Zorro cartoons; Fat Albert was big.

So those were all contemporary cartoons that were running at the time?

Um-hm. But Warner Bros., I always liked Sylvester a lot. Sylvester was always my favorite. Even today, it was nice when I was in programming to be able to work with those Warner Bros. cartoons and actually see the birth of those cartoons and how they were developed and stuff like that. I just love, like, the original Sylvesters. There's one that's amazing where Elmer Fudd is trying to sleep and he's outside, like yelling and screaming and singing and stuff. It's just really, really funny.

On Cartoon Network, on the Tex Avery hour, whenever the last one was, they had the original Bugs Bunny episode with Elmer before Bugs really looked like Bugs.

Yeah. That's another thing I'll probably be working on after Space Ghost is finished. We're going to do more Toon Heads where we show the evolution of the characters and also pay tribute to different directors of cartoons, instead of just Tex Avery. I had the idea of doing a Chuck Jones show but that's probably later on in '98.

One reason Cartoon Planet has to come back is we've got to have Brak's Monday Ratings Report again. I really miss that.

Yeah. We were worried about that, actually. Mike was insistent on us doing a ratings report and we kept saying, we can't do that cause there's some FCC rule or something, you can't tell people how you're doing cause that just kind of screws up the rating system or something like that. I don't know exactly the laws or whatever. But Pete thought of this way to do it which is to just make them up.

And turn the charts upside down.

Yeah. Like, "Hey guys, we're not doing very well." Just do it in a vague way, so we're not saying, you know, our ratings suck. They're all just kind of made up. So I don't know what's going to happen [with Cartoon Planet]. I know that probably scares people when I say that. But I'm sure, you know, when these 26 episodes are over, we'll need something to work on. I would like to do more. We would definitely like to do more. It's a fun show to do and it's pretty effortless to write.

Because you don't have to build it around the interview or anything.

Yeah. It's not as easy as it looks, but Pete and I have this good thing going and since we're the characters it's, like, easy for us I guess. I don't know. Some people try and write for Brak. every once in a while we'll catch some scripts on the Internet that people write. And they'll just make Brak stupid.

How many letters do you get a week?

Me? I don't know, maybe . . . Space Ghost gets a lot of letters.

They told me you got the most mail or rather Brak got the most mail.

Brak does, and a lot of them are addressed to Cartoon Planet, but if they're addressed to Brak, they get to me. I'm not good at answering mail because I'm a jerk. I'm not a jerk, but I just, you know, I let mail accumulate. I'm good at--I can answer e-mail. Usually I try to answer mail, but I'm just bad at it. As is everyone probably. [rummaging through some cluttered piles of papers and mail] This is a black hole. I got second place in most messiest offices.

Who got first place?

I think it was [TNT VP of programming] Phil Oppenheim. [rummaging some more] I can't find any pictures. I got a nice postcard of Amish people. [pulls it out] And it's funny, because Ohio's Amish country. I know this area very well. 'Cause a lot of my family grew up in Northern Ohio.

I'm from Northern Ohio, too. And I went to the College of Wooster, which is right in Amish country.

Really? That's like right next to Orville. My grandma lives in Orville, that's where my mom grew up.

And my great-grandma lived in Sugar Creek and that's where my grandma grew up, and my great-aunt and uncle live there and they have the Swiss festival every year and a lot of my family heritage on my mom's side is in Sugar Creek. And there's like some old historic pictures of like my ancestors and stuff like that. So it's like really cool. My dad grew up in Columbus. I grew up totally in Ohio. My parents still live in Ohio. My whole family like lives in Ohio.

Ohio builds good stock. Some great things came out of Ohio, like Chrissie Hynde . . .

. . . and Wayne Newton . . .

. . . and Pere Ubu . . .

. . . and Paul Lynde. [laughs]

Yeah. [laughs] So how did you get to Atlanta? You went to school here or something?

I went to school in Asbury College in Kentucky and my professor had a lot of connections. I, like, freelanced for ABC Sports a couple times and stuff like that through college, and I came down here for the National Association of Broadcasters conference with a group of students. This was, like, a month after I graduated in like March of '90. I came down here and visited CNN and thought, you know, I could work here. So I put in an application and didn't get hired, and just came down here after college and did an internship in sports. It's weird that they took me since I wasn't a student, but I did an internship in CNN Sports. I'm not a sports nut at all, I really hate sports. But it was like an easy internship, and I heard that if you had an internship and did a good job you were pretty much hired into the company. So I did an internship for like a few months and then the Gulf war broke out and there wasn't much to do in sports then. Before I went home, I put an application in at CNN one more time, and I was hired about two or three months later. I think my old roommate helped me out just to get the papers flying around. It was good to have somebody within CNN pushing your name around and stuff. So I got into CNN and I was there for a year and found the job here [at Cartoon Network], like, on the company bulletin board.

It doesn't sound like you were on this straight path of like 'I'm going into animation.'

Yeah, it's like, my mom always would bug me because I always watched too much TV and I never like read books or anything. And my brother and I would always make little recordings on the tape player and I would go out with my friend Wally in high school and make videos and stuff. And at the time I never thought it would amount to anything, till I took broadcasting in college and then it, you know, took me a year and a half to find the job at CNN. I did a lot of crappy work before that, working in a folding and binding factory making sure these machines ran and folded these stupid brochures and stuff. I hated that. I did that for three weeks and I believe I was fired from that job.

You didn't fold and bind correctly?

No. I was told to replace this guy at this one machine and the guy didn't like tell me what to do, he was like well, you just make sure these go in the right way. So I thought I was doing it right, and I guess I screwed up about like 400, 4,000, something like that, brochures. 'Cause they were folded wrong. So the manager brought me in his office--it was a temp job--and he said, "I don't think we're going to need your help anymore." So he signed my little temp form and I left. So you know that just was terrible. But I worked at a pizza place before I worked at CNN. That was like my big job.

Oh, well. I mean, everybody goes through those early jobs.

Which is good. It's a good experience, it's good to go through all that garbage before you get to a point in your life where everything's cool.

What do your parents think now? Do they think that that was time well spent? All those hours in front of the TV?

My mom, you know, doesn't say, I wish you would have read more. My parents have always been really, really supportive of everything I've done. So they've always been, you know, very encouraging. I have a really good family and I talk to them all the time and so they're always really supportive of everything I do.

Do they like the show? Are they fans?

Yeah. Mm hmm. My grandma watches Cartoon Planet.

Really? That's neat.

She was happy that they finally got Cartoon Network in Orrville. And yeah, they watch it all the time and whenever we have new shows I make sure they know. So whenever they see something new they'll call up, you know, laughing and stuff like that.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, it's nice. My brother doesn't have cable. Well, he has cable, but he has, like, the worst cable company in probably ever, like the cable company in Versailles, Kentucky. They're just terrible, they have like two of every network channel, NBC, ABC, Fox. And like hardly anything else, other than like American Movie Classics. It's just terrible. And my sister doesn't have cable.

But your grandma watches in Orville.

Yeah, and whenever my nephew's at my parents' house, when he was like younger he would always see me dancing on the screen and he'd dance along.

Oh, with the Space Ghost Dancer?

Yeah. [chuckles]

What a great uncle to have. I mean wouldn't you have liked to have had you as an uncle?

Yeah. I did have a couple really great uncles when I was growing up, but yeah. My brother and sister are both married and I'm the middle child so I just feel kind of like, okay, I'm stupid, I'm not married. I was feeling like that for a while, but when they finally had kids, both of them, I thought, well this is great, you know, 'cause I can at least have this.

And that's the best role, uncle. You don't have any of the father responsibilities.

[wistfully] Well, you know, I would at least like a girlfriend. But I like going to toy stores and buying all the cool things that are out there. And I like playing with my nephew and stuff, and my brother just had a child not too long ago, and it'll be cool to see him grow up too. It's just an amazing thing, you know. Just an amazing thing, just kids. I just . . . I like kids, I get along with kids.

I'm not surprised.

You know, once my nephew started to be able to talk, my sister would call me on the phone and she would say, he's got something to tell you. And I'd hear the phone being exchanged and I would hear this [in little-kid -trying-to-be-superhero voice] "I'm Superman." [chuckles] You know, it's just so . . . it made me laugh.

Has he ever given you any material you've used for Brak?

Um, no. He thinks he's Batman. No, not really. I really haven't touched that. We did do one thing with my nephew--we had like a contest or something or other here, not really a contest, it was just kids, send in your picture and we'll put your picture on a ghost or a scary vampire or something, and scare Scooby Doo. Something like that. It was around Halloween. And so when my nephew was pretty much an infant, you know, I had this one picture of him that I like gave to them, this one [shows picture of gnomish newborn]. They put his head on this vampire. [laughs] It was funny.

That's cool. What's your nephew's name?

Schuler.

What a neat name.

My other nephew is James. Schuler is named, I guess, after a family friend. Schuler James, and then there's James Robert. But James is just tiny, tiny. I saw him like a week after he was born, that's the youngest [baby] I've ever seen. I didn't even see Schuler that young, so it's kind of cool to experience, you know, a week-old relative of mine.

Yeah, that is cool. Back to Space Ghost Coast to Coast--do you think there's anything on the show that even those of us who think we are like the hippest aficionados may be missing? Some other level it's working on?

I don't know, I don't think there's anything . . . I mean, there's nothing cerebral about the show. I mean, we're all just a bunch of geeks writing for the show. There isn't much hidden stuff in any of the shows, you know. Cartoon Planet and Coast to Coast get mixed up all the time. I don't understand that, how people mix up those two shows, 'cause they're so different. One is completely written and strict to the script, and the other one, Cartoon Planet, relies more on not just the script but ad libs in the studio and stuff like that.

Right.

But I don't know of any hidden stuff, any deep things.

I sometimes see stuff when I see episodes over again that I didn't catch the first time.

You catch different things when you watch our shows, like more than once, but I think that's the case with a lot of shows, you know. Simpsons, it's more so just because they're able to animate their characters and there's a lot of visual comedy and stuff in The Simpsons that you can see but you don't see it the first time. Here, with us, we're just so limited in animation, it's almost like the opposite. You have to, like, watch it twice to hear certain things for the first time.

[film-focus-mind]

my essay on autistic representation in the media

I wrote this for three months for my usem class, it’s just my opinions on what is wrong with most autistic media representation

Abstract

The representation of those with autism in the media is, simply put, stereotypical and deeply flawed. From depicting people with autism as eternal children, rude, idiotic, or genius savants, the media portrayals play into and perpetuate harmful stereotypes. This portrayal affects how society views autism, despite how consciously some people realize that the autistic representation is not accurate and socially harmful. If a character with autistic traits is shown in a negative light, people will form implicit biases and associate autistic traits as being wrong and bad. Media representation of those with autism has to change to be more accurate and less abusive and stereotyped. There needs to be better autistic representation for the sake of both neurotypical people and people with autism. Stereotypes need to be rejected and replaced with people with autism as being people.

Keywords: autism, media representation, stereotypes, Autism Spectrum Disorder

My interest in autistic representation is personal. My little brother Leo was diagnosed with autism at age three. Despite this diagnosis, he never knew he had autism until he was thirteen. Around that time, the popular kids show Sesame Street started featuring an autistic character named Julia (Cohen, 2017). Julia talked like my brother did: in short incomplete sentences and sometimes repeating what others had just said, she got upset when there were loud noises, and she could not stand the feeling of paint on her fingers. As Leo and I watched the show and the character’s interactions with others, it dawned on me that Leo didn’t know what he and Julia had in common. My parents never told him because they didn’t want Leo to feel different.

“Leo, do you know why you’re like Julia?” I asked.

“Why?” Leo replied. “Why” in Leo’s case also meant who, what, where, when, and how. 

“It’s because you both are autistic!” I explained. “Your brains both work just a little bit differently.”

Although the Julia of Sesame Street was created as a caring and positive role model, she’s one of the few instances of positive representation of people with autism on television. Most autism representation shows people with autism as rude, child-like, dumb, or worse. Many characters who are on the autism spectrum are quite one- dimensional. Having autistic traits has been portrayed in a negative light or in an overly simplistic way. Autistic represetation hardly factors the experiences of actual people with autism. If the media portrayed people with autism as equals, there would be dozens of Julias in mainstream media (Safran, 1998). How is the media portraying people with Autism Spectrum Disorder? How can things improve? What does this say about society’s views on autism? 

For clarification, the terms ‘high functioning’ and ‘low functioning’ are problematic and will not be used in the context of this discussion because those words hold a very discriminatory view of autism, one that prioritizes the neurotypical ways of functioning over other ways of functioning. In this paper, the terms autism and Asperger’s syndrome will be used to differentiate between the two distinctly different types of ways that autism affects people. It is important to remember that Asperger, the doctor whose name is used to describe a branch of autism, was a Nazi (Baron-Cohen, 2018). That historical association speaks great lengths about how autism is/was viewed, considering how Asperger describes autism. Asperger’s opinions on autism would be considered very outdated and insulting to contemporary people with autism (Draaisma, 2009). 

Portrayals of autism in terms of fictional characters can be split into two distinct tropes, which are infantilization (Stevenson, Harp, & Gernsbacher 2014) and the savant (Draaisma, 2009). The former usually applies to autism generally, while the latter applies to those exhibiting the characteristics of Asperger’s Syndrome. Tropes are different character archetypes that group characters by their believed-to-be stereotypical traits. In a few cases of media representation, both tropes can apply to the same character, but for the most part they do not overlap. Both tropes only give a glimpse at the complexities of autism, usually leaving out autistic traits that can be seen as good.

To start, there’s infantilization (Stevenson, Harp & Gernsbacher, 2014), or for a better term, the eternal child trope. This trope portrays characters with autism of any age as child-like, and usually also naive or idiotic. These characters can be either autistic or have Asperger’s, but they act the same, naive, unable to focus, throwing tantrums, and generally interacting with the world in “innocent” and “unsophisticated” ways. Also, these characters typically have a special “obsessive” interest that they love talking about, some of examples of obsessive fixations are classical music, science, outer space, cartoons, trains, and dinosaurs. It is more harmful when adults are portrayed with this trope, as a person can be an adult with autism, and a mature autistic adult. We often think of neurotypical children as also having obsessive interests or naïve qualities, so the stereotype is not as blatantly discriminatory. Yet, when these are the only traits an autistic character has, that becomes problematic. This child trope creates a stigma of autism disappearing when one turns eighteen, or that people with autism are incapable of mental growth. Some examples of this trope that can be seen in mainstream film, television and book portrayals are Kirk from the television show Gilmore Girls (Palladino, 2000), Lenny from the great American novel Of Mice and Men (Steinbeck, 1965), and Amelie from the French movie Amelie (Jean-Marc, 2001)

Multimedia tropes are not the only case of infantilization of those on the autism spectrum. Most autism-based charities only show children with autism, effectively branding it as a children’s disease and leaving out the reality that many with autism are mature adults. In a study done in 2014, only eight out of 170 autism based charities had pictures that included adults with autism (Stevenson, Harp & Gernsbacher, 2014). When only children with autism are shown, it leaves out adults from the picture. Such absences also contribute to the man-child stereotype. When one only sees children with autism, and then meets adults with autism, they won’t be seen as the adults that they are. Adults with autism then get treated like children. Infantilization ultimately restricts the definition of what a person with autism is like, and the next trope does that as well. 

The next difficult trope is the savant (Draaisma, 2009). The definition of savant is someone who is good at one particular subject, at an almost unnatural level, but that other-worldly savant syndrome seems to come at a price. Characters with autism who fall under this trope are smart beyond their peers, but are depicted as being very rude and as lacking in key social skills. This character trope, like that which focuses on  infantilization, will show people have a special interest, like physics, medicine, drawing, learning languages to name a few examples, which they pursue with genius intensity and knowledge. These characters have friends, but are often depicted as being overly blunt and difficult or not nice to their friends. This kind of portrayal brands people with autism as being bad people and antisocial. Thus, the general public are led to believe that all people with autism must be rude (Safran, 1998). All people with autism are expected to be a know-it-all in one area, but are thought of as idiots if they are not. Some examples of the savant trope are Sherlock from the BBC’s television show Sherlock (Moffat, 2010), Paris from the sitcom Gilmore Girls (Palladino, 2000) and Sheldon Cooper from the tv show the Big Bang Theory (Cendrowski, 2007).

Sometimes, the savant trope is combined with the eternal child trope to create a doubly stereotyped character with autism. Typically these children are beyond their peers, but have trouble making friends, with a tendency to be alienated. An example would be Max from the tv show Parenthood (Holton, 2013). Max enjoys talking about beetles, wearing pirate costumes and he doesn’t like candles. When his parents find out about him being autistic, they resolve not to tell him of his diagnosis. Not telling kids of their diagnosis is bad because the children may be already feeling as if they are an outcast among their peers, but they don’t know why (Sinclair, 1999). Sometimes having information about what makes someone different can provide comfort in challenging situations. Keeping information like that from children with autism does more harm than good. It would deprive an understanding of themselves necessary to overcome their disabilities.

Another autistic stereotype is that autism affects more boys than it does girls (Lai, Lombardo, Auyeung, Chakrabarti, & Baron-Cohen, 2015, pp. 11-24). Most portrayals of autism on television are of males, effectively erasing autistic women from the narrative as well. This erasure actually has an effect on diagnosing autism because many believe that girls do not “get” autism. This also happens on a social level because females do not have the diagnosis that might help them understand their behaviors and social interactions at younger ages. With the bias of being a mostly male disorder, women with autism get diagnosed at a later age than their male counterparts (Bargiela, Steward, & Mandy, 2016). Many autistic women are not diagnosed until adulthood, which can set them back multiple years of working to get help with their disorder. Women being autistic is seen just as much of being an oxymoron as an autistic adult.

Autistic misrepresentation occurs even though characters are not explicitly stated as being autistic. When characters are portrayed with stereotypical autistic traits, they are understood by viewers as being autistic. When people see these traits being portrayed as dislikable, that may cause people to see those traits in a very negative light. This happens even before people with autism have a chance to prove those stereotypes wrong. In short, it doesn’t matter whether the word autism is used. Only the traits matter, not the label. 

How do autistic stereotypes affect people with autism? For starters, when people meet someone who shares traits with a negatively portrayed autistic character, people think that having those traits are linked with being a bad person (Safran, 1998). This leads to isolation, ostracization, and bullying. Stereotyping of any sort can be quite harmful. People will tend to judge all persons with autism they encounter in real life based on the examples they see in media. The general public will see what’s on tv and believe it to be true, even if subconsciously. It predisposes persons to negatively prejudge people with autism before meeting them.

People without autism are also hampered by these stereotypes by causing people with autism to struggle to find their respected and credible voice in social, educational and work settings. Successful interactions with people with autism require an unbiased and accurate understanding of them. These successful interactions are rendered less likely by stereotypical portrayals, which foster disrespect and distrust of people with autism encountered in real life. Everyone should want to treat everyone with respect, and correct their behavior if it is wrong.

People can actively undertake many strategies to make autistic representation more like Julia from Sesame Street, and less like every other character fuelling misunderstanding. The first solution is hiring actual people with autism as consultants for a show (Huws & Jones, 2010, pp. 331-344; Holton, 2013), ensuring the screenwriting matches up with the real experience of autism. Another way is to try to make a multidimensional and meaningful character, not a character who is merely a foil based on comic relief or being a challenge for the other characters. Autistic characters must exist as themselves, not as plot devices for other neurotypical characters.  

Another solution is to approach rectifying harmful stereotypes by using a character to educate non-autistic people about the realities of autism (Behind the Scenes, 2017). Upon seeing a character as a learning opportunity, research is done into the subject, and a more accurate portrayal occurs. People have a tendency to learn from engaging and considering fictional characters. Thus, making one accurate fictional character would do the most good when it comes to opening up people to the nuanced realities of autism spectrum disorder.   

.In conclusion, autistic representation in books, films and televisions shows negatively effects or influences therefore society’s general views of autism. These tropes are discriminatory and harm people with autism by spreading misinformation. There are many years of poor autistic misrepresentation that those in the media industry must work to undo.

References

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Baron-Cohen, S., Klin, A., Silberman, S., & Buxbaum, J. D. (2018). Did Hans Asperger actively assist the Nazi euthanasia program? Molecular Autism, 9(1). doi:10.1186/s13229-018-0209-5

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 Huws, J.C. & Jones, R.S.P (2010) ‘They just seem to live their lives in their own little world’: Lay perceptions of autism, Disability & Society, 25:3, 331-344, DOI: 10.1080/09687591003701231

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Safran, S. P. (1998). Disability Portrayal in Film: Reflecting the Past, Directing the Future. Exceptional Children, 64(2), 227-238. doi:10.1177/001440299806400206

Steinbeck, J. (1965). Of mice and men: With an introduction. New York: Random House.

Sherman Palladino, A (Director). (2000). Gilmore Girls [Television series]. Los Angeles, California: the WB.

Sinclair, J. (1999). Don't mourn for us. Autistic Rights Movement UK.