#One if those things I've thought a lot about

[blarshwritezz]

Idea for a Fic: So lets do the Childhood Friend stuff but lets give it a spin... So basically the Reader (Male) is a Hybrid (Like it has animal features) and gets Bullied a lot for that..

So about the Childhood Friend, he and the reader kinda got separeted because of the CF new popularity (Like he could be the Star player of the School or a super popular jock), but he wants the reader back with him..

So lets just say when he finds out about the Bullying.. Yeah some people are not going to be around anymore.. (You could also make him a possessive boyfriend that clingless a lot with the reader now and plans to never leave him alone again)..

Finally getting to this one!

Yandere Childhood Friend x Hybrid Reader

M yan x M reader

TW - bullying, murder, stalking

The days blended into each other. By now you've grown numb to the snide remarks people made about you. But it was harder to ignore the other things they did. Pulling your tail, making exceptionally loud noises next to your ears, cornering you, forcing you to get on all fours and act like an animal. At least, most of those things weren't exactly painful...right?

The only solace you found was in your childhood friend. Orbit used to be. The two of you grew apart. You really didn't want to, but he became so popular, his schedule so busy. There was never enough time for you anymore.

That...was fine. Things couldn't stay the same forever. Those were the same words you used to keep yourself going. When the bullying only seemed to get worse, you reminded yourself of how everything changes. That meant someday, it would all stop...hopefully.

And a change did come! A small one. But your old friend texted you saying he was free for once and wanted to catch up. Maybe rekindle your friendship.

You were ecstatic the day of. Your tail happily waving back and forth as you say him approaching. You agreed to meet at the park.

As soon as he saw you, he instantly ran over and picked you up in a strong hug. He's definitely gotten stronger since when you last saw each other. But putting you down, he frowned.

"You seem thin...have you been eating properly?" How did he notice?! It's been too long for him to remember something like that.

But he remembered everything about you. Everything.

So maybe you haven't had as much of an appetite from all the bullying and maybe they didn't give you a second alone to eat whenever it was lunch time anyway but it's fine!

"Oh, yeah, I've just...been trying to lose weight!"

He crossed his arms, clearly not believing you. He just couldn't figure out why...he'd get to the bottom of this.

The rest of your afternoon to get her went great but he just couldn't get your health out of his mind. You looked absolutely exhausted too, and seemed pretty weak. And when you thought he wasn't looking, you looked a bit...sad.

You didn't know it, but he didn't leave. He followed you home. And when you were asleep, he got in. He needed to know what was going on with you, so he searched everything he could. Your phone, your laptop, your book bag, even your trash. Everything he could.

And what did he find? Well, all the evidence he needed to know somebody, no, multiple somebody's were bullying you.

They wouldn't get away with it.

For the next few months he was...clingy, but it was nice. You spent more time with him than you have for a while.

He always walked you to your classes hung out with you at lunch and even dragged you along to his practice after school.

Not only that, but he couldn't stop touching your ears. Even as a kid he couldn't keep his hands off of them. He couldn't help it, they were so cute!

And after a while, he even worked up the courage to confess his feelings! It was so romantic. He gave you all sorts of sweet treats, took you on a romantic date, and gave you such a heartfelt letter. It took him so long to write that, and even longer to work up the courage he needed to hand it over! But now every day was a thrill knowing he had just the cutest boyfriend ever.

You hardly even noticed some certain bullies of yours going missing. He kept you distracted from all that. You deserved to only see the good in the world. To only be spoiled with his love.

But eventually the news got to you. Specifically when one of their bodies was found and it was the only thing anyone would talk about. That's when you really found out about all the disappearances. It was so cute how scared you got. You became about as clingy to him as he was to you!

And well, of course you did. He'd protect you. No matter what happens, he'll always keep you safe. Even if that means killing a few...insects.

I live! This one was cute I think!

[jinnie-ret]

the wisp sings

jeongin x fem!reader

genre: very angsty

warnings: hanahaki disease, idk grab a tissue maybe especially if you listen to the song at the same time

word count: 1.6k

summary: jeongin never confesses his love to you and it's to his own detriment that he becomes exhausted

requested by: @skzoologist

1K FOLLOWERS PLAYLIST 💚🖤

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Jeongin loved roses. Such soft, velvety petals, held up strong and protected from harm by thorns that could cause you that very thing. He thought they were beautiful, and didn't care if his thumbs always tingled slightly from the amounts of times he pricked them whilst trimming the flowers down. It was a reminder that he could feel something. Something other than longing and heartache.

"Wow! These are gorgeous! And you picked pink ones too? I bet it's because I said they're my favourite ones, hmm?"

Every time she visited her best friend's dorm, she found instant comfort in the light floral scents that drifted around the apartment. It was so pure, so welcoming, so... gorgeous. It summed up Jeongin wonderfully. And on top of that, it distracted her from the fact the dial on his love meter was slowly dwindling down, day by day.

"Anything for you."

The love meter was something everyone could see. A holographic vision that hovered above your head, a dial ranging from one end, a satisfied, content heart, to a dangerously lifeless one. People really lived to love, in this world. Those who were lucky to live alongside the ones they had fallen for, got to love. There was no burden of worrying if the dial would waver down to the dreaded grey heart, instead, a beating heart seen above them. It was the type of love that left couples in a state of being unable to speak without a smile.

How Jeongin wished that was how he could live.

She was oblivious, to a lot of things, but mainly his feelings for her. The way he would get lost in her eyes, searching deeply, an imploring look upon his face. If only she could realise the feelings she returned, rather than remaining in some sort of limbo. The dial on her love meter remained firmly in the middle because as far as she was aware, there wasn't anyone she loved so deeply for it to move either side.

"Have you ever wondered why we were born in a world like this? It feels a bit, scary sometimes, don't you think? That we rely on finding the perfect person to survive?"

He wanted a life, a long life, where everyone could see their hearts happily floating above their heads, where they could share story after story, moment after moment, together.

"I don't know... there's something so painfully beautiful about it..."

It was often they had late night chats, sneaking up onto the rooftop when the campus security wasn't lurking. Taking in the starry sky, one of them admiring the peace and the other praying they wouldn't be joining them soon. Oddly enough, they hadn't done so in a while, Jeongin not turning up to their uni classes, concerning her deeply.

"Jeongin? I've brought you some leftover kimchi, your favourite. Jeongin?" she called out as she entered his apartment, having a spare key card they managed to trick the accomodation into giving when Jeongin's 'broke'.

Quiet. Too quiet. Worryingly, the usually pristine roses were wilting slightly, petals scattered across the kitchen unit in a wet path.

"You've really made a mess with these roses this time..." she sighed with a slight laugh, placed down her tupperware box of food on the side and entering the lounge. Immediately, she rushed to her best friend's side, alarmed to see him trapped in a coughing fit, sweat beading across his forehead.

"What's wrong? Tell me," she frowned, brushing his hair back out of his face.

"My meter... Can't you tell?" Jeongin mumbled weakly, a defeated look on his face.

In that moment, a something shattered within her, noticing that the dial on his love meter was wavering towards the faded, lifeless side. It was running low.

"What... No... You'll be ok, we'll find a solution to this, you're my best friend, I can't let you suffer like this..."

Little did she know the dial moved further down the slightest bit when she uttered those words...

Best friend.

She didn't feel like a very good friend when she was suddenly swamped in her university assignment. She texted every hour she was awake, just for that reassurance Jeongin was still with her. But when the replies became less frequent, there was obviously something wrong.

Rushing to his apartment one afternoon, she panted, hands resting on her knees as she pushed the front door open, letting it slam behind her.

"Jeongin?!" she called out desperately, hoping for a response. She didn't get one. Instead there was the harrowing sight of petals scattered across the wooden floors, leading to his bedroom. In any other situation, it would look incredibly romantic, yet the fate of this world created a vision of death and mourning.

Frail and weak, Jeongin was wheezing from his shivering form in bed. The duvet was messily strewn and his pillows were damp with sweat. Most frighteningly, he was pale, sallow.

"No, no, ok, Jeongin, you'll be ok, I'll get you some help," she grasped his hand tightly, kissing his knuckles gently was tightly gripping her phone as she rang for an ambulance.

It wasn't until the paramedics wheeled him out of the room on a stretcher, that she found a folded piece of paper, her name scribbled across it messily, like the writer barely had a grip of the pen. Sniffling with tears appearing in her eyes, it wasn't until Jeongin was rushed off into a private room, with mutterings from the nurses of 'a bad case of Hanahaki Disease', that she was able to read the letter. There wasn't any chance in the ambulance for she was too busy begging the cruel gods above for them to give her best friend a second chance.

I didn't want this to happen, but I knew as time went on, things would probably end this way. And I would like you to love me, but I'd never force that upon you. So instead, I thought I'd tell you all the things I love about you, because you're who I live for.

I love the way you cackle when I do something clumsy, makes it hurt less, I suppose.

"Jeongin, you pabo!" she cackled loudly, clutching her chest and trying to catch her breath as she watched him trip over the rug and bump his leg on the corner of his coffee table.

"Who put that there?!" Jeongin cried out, a smile tugged on his lips nonetheless.

"You bought it, silly!"

I love the way care for others, how you're so selfless, especially with me.

"Kimchi at your surface!"

"Oh my, you must be sleep deprived... You mean at your service?"

"Do you want it or not?"

"Let's eat together, come on, sit."

"I'm fine I've got to go and-"

"Sit down and eat with me, or so help me I will physically restrain you."

"Yes sir."

"I-"

She continued to read the letter, paragraph after paragraph until she reached the last part.

I am tired of this grief. I think these are the cards I've been dealt with and I'm ok with that now. I'm happy to have experienced life with you.

I love you, forever.

Sobs ripped through her throat, body crumpling in the uncomfortable chair of the hospital waiting room. The feeling of impending grief so overwhelming, she didn't notice the raised eyebrows from others as her dial furiously turned towards a full, illuminating heart above her head.

Her feet pounded down the hallways, stray hairs invading her vision where everything felt like a blur. She needed to find him. Because she realised it now, she felt it.

Love.

"I get it now! Please! Don't take him away from me!" she begged, blurry figures of the nurses trying to hold her back but she struggled like a wild animal, needing him. "Please!"

They tried to soothe her, to calm her down, but they stopped when they saw the meter with the dial turned all the way up. And with that, she rushed to hold the love of her life, hands softly cradling his face, cold to the touch.

"It's ok, you'll be ok. Just let me sleep, love," Jeongin whispered with a sad smile, eyes fluttering slightly, heart monitor beeping ever so slowly. He looked drained, almost as much as his love meter was.

"No! I love you! And I'm sorry it's taken me so long to realise but-"

"You don't have to say these things, really. I get it, and that's ok."

It wasn't ok. Not to her.

With determination and sadness coursing through her veins, she pulls him towards her and connects their lips together. Passion and warmth flooded within her, and when she pulled away she was worried she had done the wrong thing when the meter above his head disappeared. However, seeing that smile light up his face, and bring new life to his eyes, told her the answer she needed.

"You're not leaving me. I can't let that happen," she sniffled, hugging him tightly.

"I'm here, you're here... I love you so much," Jeongin's voice cracked with a tinge of disbelief.

The nurses still left in the room watched on in amazement, mesmerised at the sight before them, two beating hearts, floating above the couple's heads. Pink. With a twinkle too.

Love was what let them truly live. You've got to nurture that flower within, and let it blossom, let it bloom. It dies when you start giving up, losing hope.But someone will come along to look after it, and just like that there is warmth in the world again. Hearts full of life, beating with newfound excitement at the love it is filled with.

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[twisted-king]

Hello! Since you also write genshin, I've thought about reader or F!S/O being from Teyvat. But that isnt really the main point. How 'bout their F!S/O is from Sumeru and is strictly bestfriends with Cyno and Alhaitham. How would Trey, Azul, Jade, Floyd, and Jamil feel about their F!S/O having boy bestfriends back at her world? Maybe if they're jealous, reader tries to comfort them by saying that Alhaitham is engaged(to Kaveh)XD Lol

You dont have to do this if its to much♡

Oddly specific but I like the cut of your jib!

Also can be read as genter neutral, I don't reall mention gender on this one?

Trey, Azul, Jade, Floyd, and Jamil X F!SO from Teyvat

who is also besties with Cyno and Alhaitham

Trey Clover

Well youre from a whole different world! Magic seems to exist in some capacity at least.

He doesn't know what a Zatyun peach or a Sunsettia is.

But he tries v hard to make you things that remind you of home sometimes!

He actually does a pretty good job at it too!

And thats where the issue arives.

Whenever he asks about your homeland he knows he is going to hear about your best friends

He's trying SO hard to be normal about this

Trey loves you so much but, he gets a little jealous!

You've done so much with these two!!!

"And Cyno's jokes are the absolute WORST! I swear some of the things he says are worse than Ace's!" "Oh that's... nice!"

but they're your best friends! He really shouldn't be jealous.

"I still don't understand why Alhaitham is so jacked, like all he does is read books all day!"

He really shouldn't be jealous

"And I'm kind of glad its never too hot around here! Like I know he works primarily in the desert but like put a shirt on sometimes! You know?"

But damm its hard.

He tries to be subtle (not really)

"So have you ever like... done anything with one of these guys?" "What do you mean?" "Like have you dated one of them..?"

oh.... OH!

You laugh at that, he's embrassed "Oh gosh NEVER! They both have boyfriends anyhow! Alhaitham is engaged!" "Oh."

You nod and give him a little kith

Wow he's relieved!

Azul Ashengrotto

He loves learning about you and your home world! Truly!!!

Azul thinks your mind is briliant, you're so smart and quick on your feet due to years of travel!

With travel comes a lot of experiences

a lot.

without him.

He's playing it cool though! suuuper cool

"Oh I remember Alhaitham would never answer anything that wasnt formatted or completed properly! maybe you could do the same? it would certainly free up some time, no?" "Of course it woudl free up some time, dear... But" "buut?" "Well it wouldn't be fitting of my benevolent nature now would it, my love?"

Azul keeps trying to prove he's a better boyfriend than your old friends

He needs you to know he's the best option for you <3

"And could this 'Cyno' make you a delightful seafood pasta like this?" "No, not really, he was more into rice." "I see..."

Oh hey he made you curry and rice

You know, by the way. He is NOT sneaky

After another bout of showing off, you finally say something.

"They have boyfriends, you know?" "huh?" "Cyno and Alhaitham? they have partners. You don't have to be jealous." "Why would I be jealous, dearest?"

DENIER

Denies his jealous to this day but he gets happier after you reassure him.

Jade Leech

Yeah he's super cool about this!

for the most part...

He's extremely interested in learning about the flora in your world!

and he thinks those vishap creatures you compare him to sound rather interesting.

Jade being rather curious in nature comes in handy! since he doesnt seem to get jealous.

His questions are... odd, though. they kind of make sense?

"Cyno once took out like-- 10 guys in like a MINUTE! it was so cool! "Is he that fast in the depths of the sea?" "No-" "I see..."

Sometimes he's a little less slick though

"OH my gosh Alhaitham is so weird about soup! He hates the stuff because it could get on his books of all things!" "Does he consume beverages as he reads? tea perhaps?" "Yeah, sometimes." *Pleased eel noises*

He's just being careful :)

Jade often prefers to dicuss your best friends while in the kitchen. he likes spending this time with you!

And he has his knives and mushrooms at his disposal.

*chop chop chop* "And so Haitham and I used to skip out on akademiya meetings together-" *chopchopchop-* "But Cyno would ALWAYS 'catch' us just before the meeting would actually ends-" *ChopChopChopChop-* "So then he'd bring us to Kaveh, Alhaitham's fiance to-" "He has a fiance?" "yeah,why?" "no reason." *chop~ chop~ chop~*

He's still keeping the information from his... questioning in mind.

Can't be too careful, after all.

Floyd Leech

He loves his shrimpy's stories!!!

He hates his shrimpy's stories :((

Floyd is reaaal conflicted. He thinks you're so interesting! your world seems like fun!! he wants to go there with you.

But not with those men you keep talking about

"So sometimes there are these HUGE mushrooms that kind of act like a launchpad! they're super springy." "Eh? Jade might like soemthing like that... OOOH! do ya think if I throw someone (Ace) on one of those they'd still bounce?" "Yeah they would! one time while going after a criminal, Cyno had to-" "Eeeeh I'm bored. You coming to my next game?"

Subtlety? not THIS eel

He audibly groans when you bring them up sometimes.

But he still loves hearing you talk! so it really confusing sometimesz

"So genius invocation uses 8 elements, 7 from the nations, one is omni. Usually the cards are based off of vision users like Diluc of mondstadt, Arataki Itto, from Inazuma... OH! there is one of my best friend, Alhaitham, he's dendro and Cyno's is electro, its actually" Oh he's no longer looking at you.

You get an idea... "There is one of Haitham's fiance, Kaveh" "Oh really?"

GOT HIS ASS

You're his girlfriend, you know him best.

He's a little less weird about listening to your stories now, he's way more enaged.

He still tugs you closer to him when you mention other men, but thats kind of normal for him now.

Jamil Viper

A confident king? He's not really jealous. He knows he can be better than them.

Plus they're just friends to you.

But in all honestly he like... doesn't care too much about Teyvat.

You're here now, with him. not them.

Don't get him wrong, Jamil likes hearing about what your world!

There's only oneee little thing he doesnt love hearing.

"Sometimes I miss the food from Teyvat... Cyno always made the best Tahchin." "The best you say?" "Yeah! he shaped it like a pyramid every time he made it!" "Have you ever tried mine?" "You make tahchin!?"

He's smug, you'll love his cooking more than that Cyno's.

He serves you a plate of tahchin, golden brown, perfectly seasoned, barberries topping the rounded rice dish "So, what do you think?" "This is so good! I kind of miss the padisarah petals though.."

The hell is THAT?

"Is it... not up to your expectations, my flower?" "No its delicious! I think I just miss the way my friend would make it.."

He's a little grumpy about it!!

Jamil gets kind of huffy with you next time you're together.

He's not ignoring you but just don't bring up food for a while.

Snake man will just respond with "Why don't you ask Cyno." when it comes to cooking for the next day or two...

[pumpkinbxtch]

Yes well, I've been following you for a while and I like a lot of yours… Well everything, I would like to request a Leo Valdez (We all love him, I don't argue) x Children of dionysus, thank you!

love at first eightminutes sight ෴⁠

— leo valdez x children of dionysus!reader

warnings; none, language a/n; hi! thanks for reading me. i'm so flattered 🥹 i hope you like it ): andd ik, In the photo they are cherries but let's be silly, lol.

Those 8 minutes were the toughest for Leo.

Dealing with his concentration issues when people talked about things he wasn't interested in was bad enough, but having to face someone as cute as you while that was happening didn't seem like a good decision on Dionysus's part. Leo was surprised because, being the god of wine and other pleasures, he thought Dionysus would understand.

— Valadez, are you listening? — The god tapped the table, bringing Leo's attention back. Leo saw his name on the corner of the blueprints made by Athena's children and wondered why that man never bothered to pronounce his name correctly, neither his nor anyone else's.

— Yeah, sir — Leo replied, not too enthusiastically, but it was enough for Dionysus to continue his speech, which Leo decided to ignore to keep admiring you. Seconds were enough for him to notice how your lips sparkled with some kind of gloss that tempted him even more to taste them, as well as the way you occasionally bit your lower lip, making him wonder if it tasted as sweet as your gaze, which, unlike his, was focused on your father's explanation.

— Do you understand?—Dionysus asked insistently, thinking Leo was playing dumb. Although he wasn't wrong, the son of Hephaestus nodded confidently for him to continue.

If he could get closer to you... would you smell like grapes? Maybe with a gentle breeze, he could find out, and then he wished he had Jason's power.

— Am I right? — Your father asked you in the middle of his explanation, and you nodded.

— Yes, father.

Leo opened his eyes slightly wider, hearing your voice for the first time, feeling a warmth in his fingertips warning him not to get too excited, or he would end up revealing his interest in you in front of everybody. The way you smiled at Dionysus made him truly want to be interested in what he was saying, but it was a lost cause; you had him in some kind of trance from which he didn't want to escape either. How would Leo feel if he were able to make you smile?

— Then, in this part of the plan is when you come in — Leo was startled by the sudden increase in volume and nodded repeatedly to disguise it, stealing quick glances in your direction to avoid being caught. So when your eyes met his, Leo almost burst into flames from embarrassment. You didn't immediately look away; you held his gaze, and he saw a sparkle in them that he had never seen in anyone else's. Was your mother Ariadne? Were you made of something truly divine, being one of Dionysus's only children?

A smile began to form at the corner of your lips, making Leo feel like he was about to fall flat on his face, but the table he was leaning on wouldn't allow it.

—So? — Dionysus asked, tapping the table hollowly, and the empty look in the boy's eyes said it all: He hadn't heard a damn thing. The god let out a guttural groan and rolled his eyes, muttering something about when his father's punishment would end.

You let out a laugh that immediately relaxed your father's shoulders, and to Leo, it seemed better than any power anyone else could have. Dionysus snorted and rolled up the blueprints, handing them to Leo, who clumsily took them.

—You'll figure it out, kid. Now, scram.

No, he didn't want to leave. Leo began to stammer, trying to find a reason to stay a little longer, but before he could do so, the god was dragging him toward the exit with a flick of his finger.

— Father — you called, and his attention shifted to you, halting the magic. Your father's purple eyes questioned you, and you smiled calmly as you pointed to some papers on the table that had slipped from the blueprints.

Dionysus tried to take them, but you stopped him, asking him to let you do it for him. Leo was dumbfounded. Would you accompany him to the exit? Had he died again? Why didn't it feel as bad as the first time?

Your hair shimmered in the light as you leaned over for the papers, and he noticed that your nails were painted with burgundy nail polish. Everything about you was intoxicating, new, and when you started walking, he felt a heat burning from within him as if he had taken a sip of sherry. Was it because he had fallen in love with you at first sight? Or was that the effect you had on him?

The tips of your shoes touched his, causing him to lose his balance, and you shook the notes in the air.

— I'll walk you out —you said. Dionysus glanced sideways and suppressed a curse because he knew you very well. You never approached anyone.

Leo swallowed hard and nodded, taking steps back to walk with you to the exit of the Big House.

—And well...— Your words came without warning, even to you. You didn't know you had the courage to confront a guy as handsome as him. When Leo turned to you, his curls bounced, making you want to run your fingers through them... and you did.

The brunet jerked back and started to stammer again, yeah, he always acted like don juan, but few times did someone approach him the way you were doing.

—And well?— he asked when his tongue allowed him to form something coherent. You sighed as you descended the first step.

— Are you going to ask me out, or are you going to keep staring at me every time my father calls you?

He froze, wanting to meld into the porch wood, but you didn't let that happen because you pulled him towards you, confirming many of his suspicions. Yes, you smelled like grapes, and you were more beautiful up close.

— Do you want to go out? — he managed to ask after stuttering like an idiot. He looked at your eyes shining along with the smile you showed him, and now he knew how it felt to make you smile, and he had become a fan of it.

— I'll see you around, repair boy —and you pushed him down the last porch step before going back inside.

Oh shit, to hell with the camp blueprints, he had to plan a good date for you.

*don juan: kind of womanizer but not that too much.

[desceros]

some updates for people so you know where we are here at desceros dot com:

i took the last couple days off of doing anything fandom-related to recollect myself, and i'm in a really good mindspace now thanks to my friends, my partner, and all of you. thank you, thank you, thank you.

i'm really itching to write again, which is super exciting! i have a brief collab that i'm doing with truffle, and i'm also going to be working on the next chapter of symphony. i think it's about time we hear about that history between viola-chan and alopex, don't you? ;)

also, i've got, like, holy shit a lot of messages of support in my inbox over the shitshow that rocked us all a few days ago. i'm not going to answer them because honestly i'm really tired of wasting brain cells on the whole situation and those people don't deserve more of my attention than they've already gotten; but know that i read every single one of them and i really, really, really appreciate everyone understanding my concern, supporting my new boundaries, and sending me such kind words. it really reinforces my thoughts that i made the right decision to stay. this is such a good community, and i'm glad i get to keep you :)

thank you especially to those of you that came off-anon. i won't ask you to do so in the future in order to keep interacting, and i will keep your identities secret, but i really appreciate the gesture of trust. i'm still keeping anon asks open since i know a lot of people are a bit shy, but it means a lot that you were like hey, this is who i am, i'm an adult, breathe easy.

anywho! barring someone hitting me between the eyes with a fic idea, after the next symphony chapter i'm going to be doing the house of leaves-inspired leo fic. that one's going to be really fun to write, and the people i've told little details about it have started vibrating enough to power a small country, so i think everyone's going to find it really interesting!! should be another symphony chapter after that, and then i'd like to do the leo fic for the dayjob au. that one is... well. teehee. :)

okay, that should give everyone an idea of where i am on working on things. i look forward to sharing all of it with you!! :D

[irlrikomoriyama]

🗣️ (also sorry this got long, turns out i have thoughts) so like riko is one of the weirdest fandom cases i've ever seen. i've been in fandoms where characters who commit actual war crimes and genocide are badass babes or uwu soft bois, and even spoiled mafia brats who commit terrible crimes against the heroes for daddy's attention that get love and redemption. it's so weird to see just how isolated from all that riko is to me.

i do think it's partly how aftg is written, and that's also partly because niel's pov is not at all forgiving of riko, while is entirely forgiving of people like andrew. but i also think it's because of how riko himself is written. he's one of these characters that's better on paper than he is in the book to me. because he's never presented as smart enough to fall into the magnificent bastard trope where everyone applauds how devious his plans are, but he's not outright hammy enough to just be a fun read, he doesn't even get the same stupidly dramatic flare as andrew. and while we're told he's powerful and doing dangerous stuff, he's presented on page, more often than not, as a petulant child that neil is just done with or a guy who likes to torture people who neil is also done with. neil is never actually scared of riko, or even particularly threatened by him, and i think that hurts him and makes his position in the narrative weaker. especially when nora is trying to play him as a villain and a threat in a mafia story rather than a good old fashioned rival in a sports drama. for example, his first impression on the kathy show should live up to the hype of this imposing charismatic villain who broke kevin's hand, but instead loses him temper, forgets all of his media training and lets a nobody like neil goad him into losing control of the interview, and then his payback, things like shoving neil around and seth's death, are basically brushed off because neil doesn't really care that much. it's not given the weight to be a seriously omg this guys a threat first impression. and this isn't uncommon, lots of media hamstrings their villains at the start by making sure we know the main character is too sassy for them and can humiliate them, without thinking about how weak that can make the villain seem. it feels sometimes like nora wanted riko to be this chess master villain or tragic child who's lashing out at the world, without committing to it fully to either, or was just not an experienced enough writer to have known how to write either of those things in the pov of someone who hates riko's guts, which is understandable, writing is hard and that sort of nuance takes practice, especially if you just go by the books and not the extra content, and i do wonder how differently nora would have portrayed riko if she rewrote the main trilogy now with presumably a lot more practice under her belt. in the end riko ends up in this weird grey area to me where i understand why he's not popular, given he has none of the usual obvious traits that fans like to latch onto when redeeming a villainous character, and even the ones that are there are glossed over pretty quickly because of neil's pov, and a lot of his more interesting pieces are on paper not actively presented in the book, and not everyone reads super deep, but i also don't understand the amount of hate. i have literally never seen a character in any other fandom i've been in have this much fandom wide hatred.

See I have nothing to add here because you single handedly dropped the best analysis of Riko's character in the series I had pleasure to read so far and summed up all my feelings about why and what of the fandom. If the goal was to write a character that is impactful yet easy to hate then that goal was achieved but for me it real takes away form the magnitude of feelings Riko could evoke in reader and questions he could provoke in narrative if he was given bit different presentation that woudl still align with the lore we already have.

[tobiasdrake]

Hi! Absolutely adore your DBZ analyses, thank you so much - just spent a delightful time reading them all. I was wondering, since you've commented on Chi-Chi and Goku's marriage, what do you have to say about Vegeta and Bulma's relationship? (I've always been entranced by it - mostly because as with all his romances, Toriyama had the wisdom not to show any of it onscreen. But I'd love to know your thoughts about it.)

Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell, and they deserve each other. (Which is to say yes, I love this ship.)

Hooking Bulma up with Vegeta was a hell of a narrative swerve. Generally speaking, stories rarely do this; They rarely let characters break up once they're already invested in a romance, unless it's supposed to be like a love triangle thing.

And Bulma? Bulma was invested. At least, to a degree.

This was the birth of the original Bulma romance that ran through about half of the manga. Two teens interesting in the opposite sex suddenly realize the availability of the other and a relationship is born.

Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but to be honest, this has always hit me as more believable than your typical drawn-out five-seasons-of-pining Will They/Won't They affair. I'm a girl. You're a boy. Wanna go out and see what clicks?

And these two... these two do not click. We only really see their relationship from Bulma's perspective but it's clear that these two are miserable together.

The manga sorta takes Bulma's side, in that we never really get to hear Yamcha's opinion about their relationship one way or another. When he's around, all he wants to do is talk shop about martial arts. Since Toriyama doesn't like to write romance, we simply don't see much of it from them. What little we do hear about it comes from Bulma complaining about how miserable she is.

Bulma is pretty much always pissed off whenever the relationship is in focus at all.

Anime filler tends to take Yamcha's side instead, portraying him as a put-upon victim of Bulma's jealousy and abuse. A nice guy who doesn't deserve the way she treats him.

It's not hard to buy into this interpretation of their relationship since, as noted, we rarely get anything from Yamcha with regard to his relationship to women or Bulma specifically but we know Bulma's a lot. It's easy to accept Bulma as the "bad guy" of this relationship because. Like. Remember that time she enslaved a sentient being? Good times.

Though one particular moment from Yamcha later on kinda stands out as a bit of a retroactive Yikes.

Yeah. Uh. Threatening violence against a woman for rejecting his bro is a bit of a Yikes. Is this who we were supposed to see Yamcha as all this time? Because, if so, it might have helped to let him opine about the relationship more. Just saiyan.

According to Toriyama in interview, Yamcha and Bulma ultimately broke up because she caught Yamcha cheating on her. I guess that's what him being "popular with girls" was supposed to mean: Once he got over his gynophobia and found confidence with the opposite sex, Yamcha became a player.

But that doesn't necessarily come across from the statement, "Bulma can't stand that Yamcha's popular with girls." A lot of fans took that to mean girls just like him for no reason, and Bulma's unreasonably jealous about it. The anime took that position too.

Note that the "Yamcha is popular with girls" thing isn't helped by the fact that we never see it on-panel because he's only ever talking shop when he's around. But we do see a wandering eye from Bulma often enough.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying the aesthetic appeal of another party even when you're in a monogamous relationship, but it doesn't really present the "Other party is a womanizer and cheater" case when you're the only one ever seen doing this.

So it feels like there's a lot about Yamcha and Bulma's relationship that never made it to print yet influenced later decisions. Those decisions ended up being controversial because the foundation for those decisions was never laid. Here, Toriyama's disdain for writing romance worked against him.

But ultimately, regardless of whose side you take, it doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter who the "bad guy" is. A healthy relationship does not have a "bad guy" in it.

Whether or not Yamcha cheated, whether or not Bulma's just an unreasonably jealous hell-beast, it doesn't actually matter. What matters is that once you reach the point where you're taking sides over which party is the most obnoxious asshole and I hate you and I wish we never met... this relationship is not working for anybody.

It doesn't matter who the bad guy is. It doesn't matter who deserves the blame for this relationship being a toxic shithole. That there is blame to throw around in the first place is the problem. Every relationship has its ups and downs but if one party is constantly miserable for years and has possibly been looking for an escape hatch since year 1, that's not a little tiff.

What matters is that these two are not working out. Any time we see their relationship in focus, they are miserable together. The anime tried to do some patchwork on that with audience reception by giving them some cute moments as well, but because those moments aren't canon the pair remained miserable.

And then this happened.

Despite everything, I think we all assumed that Bulma and Yamcha were going to work it out. Fictional relationships are often portrayed as tumultuous. To a writer, nothing says true love like being constantly miserable and despising every waking moment you spend with your awful, nagging ball-and-chain of a spouse. That's just. Like. What the straights think romance is. It's weird.

I think we all thought that was going to be the deal here too. And then Trunks came along and said, "Nope, actually, they finally severed the cord."

Again, Toriyama says he's bad at writing romance but holy shit, the toxic and miserable relationship actually ended. The two characters involved who only got together out of loneliness and desperation later found they were incompatible with each other. That's so real. Much moreso than a lot of fictional romances.

Instead, we got the absolute crack ship that is Vegeta and Bulma. What a wild-ass revelation for Trunks to drop.

Like. Until the end of the Namek arc, this was the only time these two characters even met.

She also saw Vegeta for like two seconds here.

That was it. That was their entire history together until Goku defeated Frieza while Kaio sent everyone to Earth. But that's when everything changed for Vegeta.

Stranded on Earth with no ship, no affiliations, no ability to leave the planet and nowhere to go or be and no obligations to anyone but himself, Vegeta's circumstances were wildly different than they'd ever been before. He had become one of the Namekian refugees.

And Bulma was offering refuge.

Hard to resist, indeed. That moment is absolutely hilarious in retrospect. Bulma rolled a Nat 20 on that charisma check. It's pretty clear who the instigator of this relationship was.

Like. It needs to be stated that at this point, the only thing Bulma knew about Vegeta was that he tried to kill them all multiple times, and also he's kinda hot. But. Like.

It's Bulma. Anyone who doesn't expect this from her by now either hasn't been paying attention or started watching the English dub of the anime when they did Z first.

So, naturally, Vegeta is a kind and loving man and became a phenomenal husband and fa--

Wait. No. I got my notes mixed up. It says here Vegeta's a rotten dirty bastard. Like. Chronically. He has Supreme Dickshit Syndrome. It's genetic.

Most of Bulma and Vegeta's developing relationship happens offscreen. From what snippets we get, Vegeta has a tendency to vanish during the day, but he still lives at Capsule Corp so Bulma sees him around.

By the end of the three-year timeskip, it's official. Or semi-official. Yamcha and Bulma broke up at some point during that timeskip and Bulma's given birth to Trunks.

As for Vegeta, he's evidently moved out of Capsule Corp and into his own place.

I guess he's still keeping contact with Bulma since she knows what his intentions are. Not to mention he found his tranquility during these three years, though it's somewhat ambiguous as to what exactly brought that peace to his heart.

But the relationship is off to a rocky start nonetheless. Clearly something went down between Vegeta and Bulma that drove Vegeta out of Capsule Corp. To. Uh. Somewhere.

I like to imagine Vegeta living in some shitty West City apartment he rents off a stipend Bulma's sending him that he refuses to openly acknowledge. Like, room 101 is a down-on-his-luck tax accountant, room 102 is a couple with a kid trying to make ends meet off two retail workers' salaries, and then room 103 is Vegeta, Prince of All Saiyans. Sometimes he goes to community events and pretends he isn't having fun.

No lie, I would absolutely watch that as a sitcom.

As for Vegeta himself, he's still a rotten dirty bastard.

Worth noting that Vegeta's saying this as a Super Saiyan which means he's drunk on the form's enhanced aggression. But. Still. Vegeta is an absolute monster being dragged kicking and screaming into a pleasant life that he'll one day resent himself for enjoying. This is his arc moving forward.

It's not so much a redemption arc as it is a domestication arc. The uniquely evil even by Saiyan standards Vegeta is gradually being changed by his new terrestrial life. He doesn't want to own up to how much he enjoys it here. Seven years later, he's still desperate to avoid owning up to it.

He doesn't want to be happy here. He doesn't want a loving wife and a son who looks up to him and the most lavish home wealth can afford him and easy, comfortable days spent with friends and loved ones by his side. He doesn't want a happy ending.

But it's like Bulma warned him: Dragon Ball's queen bee is hard to resist.

Welcome back to Capsule Corp, Vegeta. We hardly even noticed you were gone. Honestly, Future Trunks deserves a lot of the credit for this; Watching him die at the Cell Games was what flipped the switch in Vegeta's head that he wants the family he and Bulma have spawned together.

Sure is a good thing we have Dragon Balls because this is a hell of a time to suddenly decide you love your son. But we see the consequences of that seven years later, since Vegeta moved back into Capsule Corp from... I don't know, wherever he went. They're gonna miss him at the next community poolside summer BBQ event for all tenants.

Part of what makes Vegeta and Bulma work, I think, is that they're on the same page about one crucial point. For Bulma, there is one person who will always take precedent in her life above all others. Romance comes and romance goes, but this is the relationship that matters most to her.

Especially when it comes to martial arts and fighting. Bulma doesn't know a lot about the subject, but she knows that Son Goku is her #1. She has no reservations about saying that to her lover's face either.

When fists start flying, Bulma knows who she's rooting for. If Goku's involved, then it's not her guy. That's. Just. Something that anyone who wants to be with her has to be willing to understand. The single most important relationship in Bulma's life will always be her friendship with Goku.

And the thing about Vegeta is... He kind of agrees? Like. See above, re: I wanted Babidi to destroy my feelings for Bulma so that I could become the warrior that can fight with you, Kakarot.

As much as Goku will always be Bulma's #1, he'll also always be Vegeta's #1. He even gets included into Vegeta's fond farewell to the family he loves.

Goku is basically the platonic third in a two-person polycule. This is the second marriage that this poor ace plays a vital role in despite having no real interest in romance whatsoever.

Bulma is selfish, spiteful, petty, and vain. At one point, DBS: Broly directly compares her to Frieza; A comparison that manages to be unbelievably unflattering to both participants.

They're the same picture. A revelation that would probably be horrifying to both.

And Vegeta. Especially Vegeta. But. Like. She warned you she was irresistible. You didn't take her seriously and now look where you are. Married to the She-Frieza. Maybe you should think about your life choices.

This is just. So much fun. As I said at the outset, Bulma and Vegeta are a match made in Hell who make it work because they're both similar brands of awful.

As for Yamcha, it's a little known fact but Yamcha rebounded and moved on with his life. He stops having much story relevancy after he leaves Capsule Corporation so we see very little of his private life from there. After retiring from martial arts and splitting up with Bulma, Yamcha's left without any story hooks to keep him involved.

But there was this interesting moment, when he realized they had a Shenron wish to spare.

After Krillin comes up with something better to use the wish on, he takes it back and claims it was a joke.

This is, surprisingly, a point of contention in the fandom as some of Yamcha's fans prefer the idea that he died miserable and alone after Bulma ruined his life by leaving him. This takeback gets pointed to as proof that he made up his girlfriend entirely. However, in context, it's clear that a) he's trying to brush off his earlier attempt at making a petty wish and b) the thing he's transparently pretending was a joke is the necklace wish, not the existence of his new girlfriend.

Like Bulma, Yamcha moved on with his life after the break up of their miserable relationship. And that was the final word that was ever uttered on Yamcha's romantic prospects, because this was the last time he was ever meaningfully involved with anything at all.

[tacomanarrows]

Between the Sea and the Sky!

Hi everybody! Meet the TWO new guys I made between last night and today! Their names are Tarmac (an Aeromorph dog) and Soda (a pooltoy fox), and they've filled a desire for these two specific kinds of OCs I've had in mind for MONTHS lol. They were super fun to design and draw and I'm super excited to do more with them soon!! This piece is relatively simple but more so serves as their introduction hehe

See more about them, including refs and some additional pieces/information below the cut :] (it kind of turns into a huge braindump lmao)

Tarmac is an aeromorph, although a bit more towards the furry side of things rather than the plane side lol. His design is influenced primarily by the Concorde and the Space Shuttle! I couldn't decide for the life of me which of those two things I wanted to use so I thought "why not use both?" and here we are lol. I'm super happy with his design, with the black/dark gray markings mean to emulate the look of the Space Shuttle's thermal insulation tiles and then I really like how the red and blue stand out against the gray. I really like his icon too! I wanted to make it look like a stylized depiction of a plane (mainly a Concorde hehe) breaking through the sound barrier with a sonic boon! In terms of personality, I don't have a whole lot in mind yet. Mostly that he'd be the brave, adventurous type and since he can fly both in the air and through space, he's gonna be friends with Astro too :3

Soda is a pooltoy fox! I have wanted to make a pooltoy OC FOREVER (blame my mutuals for always posting/reblogging so many cool pooltoy OCs hehe). I finally got brave enough to actually give it a shot, and I love how he came out! I was mainly just thinking about summery themes and as I was just trying out different colors and stuff, I thought about orange soda, and that's the direction I ended up going! He's got a big stupid tail [affectionate] and can have either rounded bappy hands or have actual fingers, you're free to stylize that either way! I've only ever drawn a pooltoy character once ever before, so this was something way out of my realm of familiarity, but I'm so happy with how he came out! He's so shaped I love him so much already <33

So those are my two new guys! Making two new OCs at the same time is already a rarity for me lol. The only time it's happened before was when I made Rye and Pumpernickel back in August of 2021. And then making these guys when I had only gotten Astro about two and a half weeks ago means this is an exceedingly rare event for me lmao. My friends know how infrequently I make/get new OCs, so this just goes to show how much these guys have been bouncing around in my brain lately lol.

They are definitely gonna have some sort of connection to each other, but I'm not sure how I wanna go about that yet. Since I made them back to back, they are already connected in my brain, but I'm not sure how I wanna express that in a meaningful way. I don't wanna make them siblings bc, well, they're obv very different from each other lol, but they're kinda parallels (with one being in the sky and the other being in the water yknow), so as of right now they're definitely good friends with each other. I might upgrade that to bfs at some point in the future, but we'll see how things go hehe.

Anyways huge braindump of a post lmao, thank u for reading if u did! I'd love to hear your thoughts on these guys since they're so different from all my other characters! Also if anyone may wanna do an art trade of either of these guys (or Astro as well! I'd like to get more art of him too!) let me know hehe

[historical-fashion-polls]

another follower celebration?

hello my loves! 💕

I come to you with both good and bad news today

bad news first: we have just over 10 flower children polls left, at which time they shall all return to the gardens and fields from whence they came to continue bringing joy and whimsy to all those they meet

good news: in the meantime, we have hit 2k (!!!! 🤯🤯) and I would love to do another celebration for you all to say thank you!!

my plan is as follows: I've had a number of requests to do earlier fashion periods, and for a lot of reasons, I have limited myself to primarily commercial fashion plates/fashion illustrations (more on that here) and thus the images that I personally source for the blog don't go much further back than the mid-1700s (more on that here). HOWEVER, for our 2k celebration, I will be temporarily lifting some of those restrictions and expanding the time period of the blog!! 🥰🥰

two caveats:

sourcing these types of images takes more time and effort, so I will not be able to keep this up indefinitely (esp since I'm starting my phd program in the fall), but as I get things sorted for the celebration I'll let y'all know how long I'll be personally sourcing images from a more expansive time period and a broader range of sources

you are always welcome to submit images from earlier periods!! I just have to be realistic about what I can personally do in terms of research and sourcing for the blog, but if you have older images you want to see featured, you can send them in at any time!! (all info on submitting images can be found in my pinned post! ☺️)

but now onto what I'm best at: a poll!! I'd like to know what you all would most like to see and what areas I should focus on, so if you have thoughts, please vote in the poll below and let me know! also, some of these responses are vast ranges of time, so if you have a specific year/decade/century within one of the options, please do let me know via tags, comments, asks, etc. 🥰 also I cannot promise that I will be able to find usable images for all of these periods – I mostly want to gauge interest before I go looking for potential images to use ☺️

and yes I did use art historical classifications, please don't judge me it's what makes most sense to my brain 😅🫣

if there is a lot of interest in a specific time period, I'll likely run some more specific polls to narrow in on some key moments of interest, but please do let me know any specific things you might like to see! ☺️

[ms--lobotomy]

Almost done with finals. Almost. Pretty merman on the mind. Aah. [Previous] [Next]

Summary: You and Mortarion go for your first swim together.

Word Count: 1044

Content Warnings: dad rock, scars, saccharine sweet content this time around

Image Credit: @squishyowl

You slid the wood-and-glass door shut with a loud THUMP. You held your phone in one hand, encased in a plastic bag, and a small speaker in the other. You felt his eyes on you, careful not to linger too long on your exposed skin. You looked down at him, a light smile dusting your lips. His eyes widened as they trailed up to meet yours, and his mouth hung slightly agape.

"Mortarion?" you asked, feeling your heart skip a beat.

"It's nothing," he said gruffly. "What's in your hand?"

"Oh!" you exclaimed, holding up your phone. "This is a phone, it's... it's a lot of things, really, but the battery on it sucks. But if I open up the right music app and turn on the speaker..." you said, pressing a button to light up your speaker before focusing on your phone to open up your music app of choice. You scrolled to one of your more calm playlists, and pressed play.

Mortarion's eyes widened as he heard the strum of an acoustic guitar. You dipped your toes into the pool. D-major-7 chord, followed by a B-sus-2, dropping to G-sus-2 before moving back to that D-major-7.

"I can... play the first chord," you said. "I'm still learning this one." Meanwhile, Mortarion was laser-focused on the sound coming from the speaker.

"Hello... I've waited here for you..."

You were knee-deep now, getting acclimated to the water. Mortarion's tail swished from side to side, and he leaned on the side of the pool. You stepped lower as the voice in the speaker crooned its next word.

"Everlong."

You stepped off the stairs and winced as the water came up to your chest, cold against you. Mortarion turned around, his face expressionless as he edged his way towards you.

"You're cold."

You nodded as Dave Grohl continued the first verse of the song, shivering as if on cue. "I'm sorry," you mumbled, folding your hands over your stomach. "Sometimes I just need a minute to acclimate to this pool."

His expression was as rough and cold as ever, but he lay a light hand on your upper arm. It almost engulfed it. His fingers ended in sharp, ash-dark claws that rested against your skin. His pale skin was slightly iridescent, dotted in some places with light yellow-green scales. You shivered again as you looked back at him. His hand was warm on you.

"Do you..." he started before clearing his throat. "Do you wish to come closer?"

You froze, blinked, and then nodded. "I'd like that," you said sheepishly. Before you knew it, his other hand was cupped behind your back and he rested your head on his chest. His skin was rough, scarred. You felt not one, but two heartbeats in your ear. You would have said something, but his two hearts was far from the strangest thing about him. He leaned back, putting his back to the water.

"And I wonder... when I sing along with you..."

As the song hit the chorus, you looked up at him. His eyes were still trained on the speaker, even though he was swimming around in the pool with you. It was almost uncanny, but... cute? You couldn't deal with those thoughts. Not now. You looked back down, and right next to your eye was a stitched-up scar. You tensed up.

"Your scars," you said, a lump forming in your throat. The scar was already scabbing over, and the sutures stuck out of his skin like skinny little spikes. You opened your mouth to say something, but he spoke up first.

"They'll heal," he rumbled. "I've dealt with worse."

"But you haven't washed up on shore..." you trailed off, looking up at him. "Right?"

You felt him shudder underneath you. "Oh--" you interjected before you felt him tense up. "You don't have to talk about anything you're not comfortable with," you said. "I promise."

"You saw nothing," he hissed, before his expression softened. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine, I guess I have no other choice than to trust you," he huffed, a hand on your back. You felt the claws against your skin, but he refused to let them sink in. "I will not be talking about it. Not now."

"Go at your own pace," you mused, as the last chorus of the song began to come into full force.

"If everything could ever feel this real forever..."

You felt a hand at the back of your head, pressing you into his chest. You felt his heartbeats in full swing, beating wildly. You didn't resist, wrapping your arms around him as much as you could. He was skinny for his size, yet muscular. You couldn't wrap your arms all the way around if you tried. You stayed like that for a few moments. He closed his eyes.

"Are you feeling okay?" you asked as the song came to a close.

You felt his twin hearts flutter. "I am doing fine," he said calmly. "I can ask the same for you?"

"Yeah," you said, shifting on him. "Yeah."

An advertisement blared out of the speakers, and Mortarion cocked his head. "This is... far less pleasant," he said, turning upright in the pool.

"Oh, right," you said, holding onto him. You couldn't reach the bottom where both of you were, and he wrapped an arm around you. "Oh, uh.." you started. "Do you mind if I swim over to my phone? I need to close and reopen the app."

His grip on you relinquished. "If that's what it takes," he said as you doggy-paddled over towards your phone.

"I promise I'm a better swimmer than this," you smiled, looking over your shoulder once you reached the side of the pool.

Mortarion was staring at you. Not as coldly as you normally had seen him, even though he hadn't even been in the pool for 24 hours. You felt your heart seize in your chest. You didn't want to admit anything to yourself, no, you hadn't known him that long! You felt your heartbeat calm down. This was just fascination, not real love.

"The... phone, it was called?" he asked.

You felt a lump in your throat grow. "Yeah," you said. "Let me stop this ad real quick."

Taglist: @bispecsual @justeverythingnothingelse @bleedingichorhearts @nekotaetae @historitor-bookshelf

[nouvell-vague]

begin again.

warnings: toxic relationship, mentioning weight, slight cheating, insecurity, i think there's more but please let me know !!

you've been thinking that love isn't worth it and only makes you heartbroken and crying every night for the past eight months. you got used to ellie's behavior while you were in a relationship with her. she was always late on your dates—always. even being 30 minutes late was pretty early for her, or worse, she didn't come at all without telling you. she didn't like it when you wore any heels, even those mary-jane shoes you've been dreaming about, because she thought you looked uglier wearing them. ellie is the one who makes you worry about getting fat whenever you gain even a small amount of weight. she doesn't like your appearance if it doesn't match with her taste. she never laughed on your funniest jokes, always mocking your music taste and called it gross. you spent three weeks with crying alone in your bedroom after you caught her cheating with another girl, and it's not just a 'girl', the girl she cheated with was your close friend that you always vented about ellie to her which makes you think you didn't even deserve any love. you broke up with ellie right after the night you caught her, through message because you couldn't even stand yourself to see her face, it hurts so bad, so bad that you thought all girls were the same as ellie. ellie had made you so afraid to having a relationship again, with anyone.

then you met abby anderson a few months after you ended relationship with ellie. she's one of dina's friends that she had been friends with since 9. basically, dina is a matchmaker between you two since she was tired of abby because she had a crush on you for a while and she always vented to dina. you didn't really know about her since you always set your boundaries because ellie was really easy to get jealous. you were full of skepticism at first because you weren't really healed from the past, but dina convinced you that abby is different from ellie, completely different. the first meeting with abby was not really fine; you didn't pay much attention as your mind was busy with your fears and you barely listened to her voice. but as the time went by, what you feared about her was absolutely wrong. a month after the first meet, you could see how abby treated you and it was... different—no, ‘different’ wasn't enough to describe it. abby did things that ellie never did to you, and she didn't do anything that ellie always did to you.

dina was right about abby. she's entirely different from your ex-girlfriend. she always comes earlier than you on every date, or when she comes over your house—she'd came 10 minutes earlier than she said. she bought you a pair of heels that had been on your wishlist for months, saying that those heels looks so good on you.she always got your back every time you feel insecure about yourself, she would praise you, saying sweet things to your ear. she never mock your music taste, instead, she's amused. “you are.. wow, i've never seen any person who has a lot of music vinyls in my life like.. ever! do you mind if i play one of them? maybe i would like it.” then she played one of taylor swift's vinyl on record player, and she liked it, loved it even. which is why ‘so high school’ stayed on her 1st on repeat songs for months. abby laughs on your jokes, every jokes, even when you tell one of your jokes that made ellie pissed off, abby would laughing as she throw her head back like a little kid. “that is the funniest joke, you know?” oh, and it feels so strange to you because your ex would never do that, ever. saturday night, abby came over for another movie night and after the movie ended, you both shared stories, but you struggled to tell yours properly because you felt a bit shy and worried—worried that abby wouldn't listen as attentively as you did. however, she proved wrong. she listened to your stories, got excited, and, god, she even remembered your stories too well.

and on wednesday, you were on a date with abby, again. you two walking out from the cafe, your arms hugging abby's, wide smile on your face. you were about to get into abby's car, while she already inside. but you couldn't move your body as you saw your ex-girlfriend, alone, standing not really far away from you and looking at your eyes. there's no such gaze that you always saw on her eyes back then, you couldn't tell what she was doing. abby was confused why were you still outside, she went out from the car, “is there anything wrong—oh,” abby approached you right away as she knew what were you staring at, swiftly opening the car door for you while keeping her other hand on your back. “hey, let's go. don't we have another place to go?” your eyes were switched from ellie to abby, little awkward smile appeared on your lips. “yeah– sorry." you muttered. once you two already inside, no one breaks the silence, it was all awkward. you couldn't help yourself when your mind went back to those bitter memories, you didn't even realized your mouth opened as you started to talk, “so, abby, uh.. months ago when ellie—” right before you could say more, abby put her left hand on your palm hand, “angel, i just got an idea. what about we watch some movies this christmas? i used to watch those movies with my family every christmas, and i think you'll love it. what do you think?” your gaze was locked on hers, watching how well she tried to change the topic so you wouldn't have to bring up about your ex-girlfriend again. abby smiled to you warmly, waiting for your answer. and you couldn't help yourself from the tears on your eyes—you've never experienced anything like this before, not with ellie, who never appreciated you the way abby does. you began to think that perhaps love is worthwhile if you find the right person. maybe love doesn’t always lead to heartbreak, and maybe you can open your heart again and learn to trust someone new. in fact, you feel incredibly loved with abby, and she makes you feel like the luckiest person in the world.

the tears were coming down through your cheeks and it keeps going as abby's hand wipes your tears, “hey, hey, hey, angel, are you okay? is there something wrong or my idea was—” you shook your head in response, trying to calm down, but you were so overwhelmed by your feelings. “i'm fine, abby. i just...” you trailed off, looking at abby, who looked completely worried. you let out a small chuckle through your tears. “i'm really fine. i'm sorry for bringing up about her again all of so sudden when it's only two of us here, and i.. i never felt like this before when you tried to change the conversation and i really appreciate that, and all things you did to me it's all make me feel like.. i really deserve so much love because back then you know that i was—” abby cuts your words as her lips pressed against yours, and you didn't think twice to melt into her kiss. it was full of love and affection. once the kiss broke, you could see her warm smile, hand caressing your cheeks gently and wiping your tears away at the same time, “shh, don't bring that up again, okay? i know back then was too painful for you, and i want you to get over it because i want you to be happier than before, you really deserve so much love, angel.” you really sure about your face turns red as she speaks, you couldn't hide it. her words were made you feel better. “abby, can we.. uh..” it's hard for you to say the right words as you want to ask her for another kiss, but you were too shy. “speak up, sweetheart. before we go to gelato store that you recommended to me earlier?” oh really, those nicknames were always successfully made you flustered every time. “i– oh, fuck it.” asking her only prolonged things, so rather than wasting time stuttering, you chose to kiss her with your eyes closed. you felt embarrassed but happy when you heard abby chuckle during the kiss. and if dina asking you if you have already healed from the past after this date, you would answer it in less than ten seconds. yes, you healed.

a/n: i don't even know what am i writing right now but yeaaahhhhh !!!!!!! another weird fic is out !!!!

[genopaint]

Week 19 of the Daily Dragon Challenge! Been having a busy May! Which isn't always a bad thing I suppose. But I've been slowing down on my Daily Dragon Duties. Gotta pick it up!!

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #126 - Hothead

Happy 40th anniversary TMNT!! I've been wanting do draw Hothead, or just some TMNT dragon, for a bit now. Soooo, why not take advantage of the anniversary, right?

This is my own design inspired by a few different sources, mainly the action figure and tournament fighters' boxart and his in game sprite. There's a LOT more TMNT dragons than I think you realize, so dont be surprised if I do another one later

Daily Dragon #127 - Marci Midas

This dragon's main interests are: Gold, Golden things, looking richer than everyone else, and ignoring you. Maybe if you ask reeeeaaally nicely and give her presents she'll look in your general direction,

Saw all the really good gold week posts and the idea of like, a dragon that hordes gold wearing a golden bikini came to my mind so I thought I'd try making her. I'm not 100% satisfied with how it came out but I think the concept is hot enough, and she's already finish so- yeah

Anyway happy (late) gold week I suppose, I may try to do other clothing challenge dragons in the future but we'll see how I feel cause I have a hard time keeping up with all of them and I keep wanting to draw the Axel girls in them instead

Daily Dragon #128 - Mirage Wyrm

Those who are lost in large deserts and tundras, when stricken with exhaustion and dehydration, often see Mirage Wyrms approach them. Although they are strange 2D specters, they are physical manifestations and WILL consume you if you're weak

Daily Dragon #129 - Dojo Kanojo Cho

Missed yesterday's dragon and I feel like the perfect dragon for a late day is our boy Dojo! I feel like I don't talk about it nearly enough but I LOVE Xiaolin Showdown so much it's unreal. Don't be surprised if I do another dragon from it

tear down the false idol

Daily Dragon #130 - Naten Shellie Shieldheart

This character was a ton of fun to work on and I'm glad people trust me enough with non-animal characters to design their humanoid ocs lol Thanks for letting me include them in the challenge!

Daily Dragon #131 - Raptor Wyvern

These predators can tear through the air at incredibly high speeds, using their massive claws, they can strike at prey quick and swoops them up before the poor animal even realized what happened

Daily Dragon #132 - Huggogon

Large, kind, and fluffy dragons who just love love! They're very affectionate, love hugging, and are kind to everyone they encounter. Similar to Capybaras, they seemingly have no natural enemies

Quick redraw of a dragon I did at FWA LAST year. Figured it was the perfect chance to reboot them for this challenge! I also love the other two so dont be surprised if they get a redo eventually too

[mimisempai]

I wasn't expecting you 2/4

Chapter Summary - Radiant

Meeting the new barista who works at Nina's, Aziraphale realizes that the Whickber Street gossip was far from accurate. The newcomer is absolutely gorgeous, and Aziraphale forgets all his resolutions about relationships in the face of beautiful golden eyes.

Notes

Aziraphale POV of their first meeting

On Ao3

Rating G -  1702 words

Chap 1 - Chap 2 

"Well? How would it look if you were gone for a month!"

Aziraphale had just brought the last box of books into the shop and set it on the floor before turning to Muriel, who had just entered.

He rubbed his hands together and replied, "I must say this trip has been quite satisfying," he looked at the various boxes around him and added, "But it also means a lot of work for the days ahead."

Muriel came in and, after putting their things in a corner, replied, rolling up their sleeves, "But you're not doing it alone, so you'll be fine."

They winked at him and grabbed the first box in front of them before heading to the back of the store.

Aziraphale watched them walk away, thinking that his young friend and now colleague was a godsend. They had a cheerful disposition, despite what life had thrown at them, and Aziraphale found them to be the ideal working partner.

They worked in harmony most of the morning, and after emptying a third box, Aziraphale said to Muriel, "I'm going over to Maggie's to bring her the records I've collected, and on the way back I'm going to stop at the coffee shop! Do you want anything?"

Muriel replied loudly from the back of the store, "A hot chocolate!"

Aziraphale put on his jacket and was about to leave the bookstore when Muriel, who had come up beside him, said, "By the way, Aziraphale, I heard that Nina finally found someone to work with her, and that he lives upstairs from the coffee shop. I haven't met him yet, but everyone else says he's great. Maybe you'll get to meet him."

Aziraphale chuckled, knowing what that meant to his nosy friend, and replied, "Don't worry, I'll tell you all about it when I get back."

"I'm counting on it."

The bookseller chuckled again, for it was so funny how Muriel had quickly learned that gossip was a religion on Whickber Street.

He then left the shop and walked up the street towards Maggie's. However, he hadn't taken ten steps when he was stopped by Mr. Brown, who waved his arms as he approached at a brisk pace. The bookseller braced himself for the first wave of fresh gossip.

"Ah, Aziraphale, you're back!"

The carpet seller leaned toward him and said in a low voice, "There's a newcomer at Nina's. He's quite friendly, but that hair color and those eyes, it's still a bit fishy. You'd better watch out."

Aziraphale smirked and pointed to himself, "If we were to judge people by their appearance on this street, we'd never end." 

Then he showed the records in his hands and added, "Sorry, I'm expected. Have a nice day."

Then, without another thought for the other man, he walked the last few feet to Maggie's shop and entered. Maggie wasn't expecting him, but the excuse had been perfect to cut short the carpet seller's incessant, idle chatter. 

Maggie came over to him, her usual broad smile on her lips, and exclaimed with bright eyes, "Aziraphale, what a pleasure to have you back!" she pointed to the records in the bookseller's hands and continued, "I see you've got some things for me!"

Aziraphale placed the records he'd brought on the counter and watched in amusement as Maggie raved about each one. Then she put them aside in a neat pile and leaned against the counter, saying to him with a conspiratorial expression, "I'm sure you already know that Nina has a new employee."

Aziraphal simply said, "I just met our dear carpet seller."

Maggie chuckled and replied, "I can already imagine what he told you.

"He seemed quite disturbed by the newcomer's hair and eyes."

Maggie rolled her eyes and muttered, "What an idiot. Don't listen to him. Nina is very happy with her new barista and you know how difficult she can be. As for me, I've only met him twice and he's made a good impression on me as well. He seemed a little surprised by the reception he received, I hear he's traveled a lot and it hasn't always been easy for him. Anyway, since your next stop is probably the coffee shop, you'll see for yourself. And who knows..."

She raised her eyebrows suggestively and Aziraphale exclaimed, "Maggie!"

She shrugged and replied, "What? You never know. If you hadn't pushed me to offer Nina some music for her coffee shop, I never would have had the courage to talk to her, so who knows, maybe you'll find your happiness in the coffee shop, too."

Aziraphale shook his head and smiled, amused by his friend's flowery romanticism. He'd long since given up hoping for anything in the way of a love life. Those who didn't find him weird just wanted a one-night stand and weren't interested in knowing more about him, and Aziraphale was no longer inclined to such empty relationships.

Leaving these dark thoughts aside, he chatted with Maggie for a while before heading to the Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death.

Luckily, he didn't meet anyone and didn't have to hear any more about the new addition to the coffee shop. Anyway, a few more meters and he'd see for himself.

As soon as he stepped through the door, Nina greeted him and called out, "Aziraphale! You're back!"

Smiling at the cafe owner's enthusiasm, he replied softly, "Good morning, Nina."

His gaze was immediately drawn to the man next to Nina, who turned to him. If the carpet seller had been at his side, Aziraphale would have asked him if he was crazy. Whether it was the hair or the eyes of Nina's new employee, he was absolutely gorgeous. 

Aziraphale had never seen anything like him. The barista had medium-length red hair tied loosely around his neck and amber eyes, and the only words that came to the bookseller's mind were "warm" and "luminous".

Nina pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Good timing, it's Crowley who'll be taking your order.”

She nudged Crowley with her shoulder, took the dishtowel from his hand and added, “There's no better way to learn the ropes.”

Aziraphale mentally thanked her before noticing the slightly surprised expression that quickly crossed the new barista's face and held out his hand with a smile, "Hello, I'm Aziraphale, the owner of the bookshop across the street. Welcome."

The other man shook his hand and replied, "Crowley, new barista. Nice to meet you."

It was then that Aziraphale realized there was something Mr. Brown and Maggie had forgotten to tell him about the newcomer.

How could they forget to tell him about his smile?

Radiant.

The barista snapped him out of his reverie.

"What can I get you?"

Aziraphale replied immediately, "Two Eccles cakes and a hot chocolate."

"Very well, I'll serve them right away."

Aziraphale followed him with his eyes, thinking the back looked as delicious as the front, when Nina said, "Oh, a hot chocolate? Am I to understand that Muriel is here too?"

"Yes."

Aziraphale saw Nina lean toward Crowley and she said in his ear with a mocking expression, "Muriel is his assistant at the bookshop, if they weren't there he wouldn't be selling anything and the shop would be open at all hours.”

Aziraphale, offended and embarrassed, exclaimed, "Nina!"

As Crowley placed his order on the counter, Aziraphale leaned over and said rather loudly, "Don't pay any attention to what Nina says. I don't want you to think I'm lazy."

Crowley replied, another gorgeous smile on his lips, "I never rely on hearsay to form an opinion about people, so I'll wait until I get to know you better to form my own opinion."

Then he winked at him, and Aziraphale suddenly forgot all his resolutions about relationships and replied almost immediately, “So am I, which is why I look forward to the opportunity to learn more about you.”

At that moment something passed between them, fleeting, but Aziraphale was sure it was there and saw that the other man had sensed it too, but they didn't have time to dwell on it because Nina told them, "Well, that will be possible sooner than you think, my friends."

He saw that the barista looked as confused as he was as Nina continued, "I suggest we all meet tonight at the Dirty Donkey. It will be an opportunity for Crowley to get to know the shopkeepers of Whickber Street better and for us to celebrate Aziraphale's return."

Aziraphale, who hated being the center of attention, exclaimed, "But I've only been gone a week!"

Nina replied, "Aziraphale, you know that any reason is a good reason to have a drink together. So you'll both be joining us?"

Aziraphale saw the other man nod as he replied, " will be there. However, I believe Muriel is spending the evening with their partner, Eric."

Then he turned to Crowley, basking for a split second in the beauty of the barista's golden eyes, and added softly, "See you tonight, Crowley."

"See you tonight. Have a nice day until then."

Aziraphale nodded and headed for the front door with his order. He thought he could feel the barista's eyes following him and had to stop himself from turning to look at him one last time.

When he entered the bookshop and saw that Muriel wasn't in the main room, he went to the back room where he heard them humming. As he passed through the door, they turned to him and immediately grabbed the hot chocolate greedily before asking, "So, how is he?"

But Aziraphale, suddenly transfixed, looked at the wall behind Muriel and said, "Same color as his eyes."

"What?"

Aziraphale pulled himself together and replied, "He's... interesting."

"Is that all?"

"He's rather pleasing to the eye."

"Aaaaand?"

"Nothing."

He saw from Muriel's expression that he was absolutely transparent, but they were too tactful to say anything and knew when to stop. 

They just nodded, and the discussion turned to the books Aziraphale had brought back.

But as they chatted happily over the Eccles cakes, Aziraphale's thoughts couldn't help but drift to the handsome barista with the golden eyes, and he told himself that evening couldn't come soon enough.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here

[frogs-and-books]

Hello everyone. I'm sure many of you seeing this post know what it's about, but for the ones that don't, yesterday I made a post saying, and I quote "Hey, this is your daily reminder that Riz is not canonically Aromantic! He is implied to be, and it's totally fine to hc that, but I've seen a lot of people stating he's aromantic like it's a fact, when that has never been confirmed! He is canonically Asexual tho, you can't take that away!" Since then, I have gotten called stupid, bigoted, and I have been told to kill myself. As anyone who read my bio knows, I am a seventeen year old high school boy who is just trying to get through AP exams.

I never wanted to start drama, and I've never had any bad intentions. I just wanted to clear up some common misinformation I saw. But it seems no matter how much I say that you can headcanon whatever you want and ask people to stop harassing people who have different interpretations of media than them, people only hear what they want to. I was asked what I expected to happen when I posted that, and honestly, what did I expect? Well, I didn't expect to be harassed by a community that I thought was full of love. We are queer DnD lovers, and I thought that would be the last group of people to hurt those who are different. I believed, perhaps naively, that my post wouldn't do much but encourage people to do their own research on what's canon.

Please do not take away the wrong message from this post. I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for you, as a community, to do better. I don't hate anyone who has been a part of this mess. People are wonderful multidimensional beings with endless possibilities, and I choose to believe that everyone has good in them.

I am not perfect. I am sure there is a logical fallacy or two that I've had in my posts. I'm sure I've come across as too aggressive at some points. I'm sure that if any of these writings were submitted to the AP English exam I took today, I would've failed. I'm argumentive, extremely wordy, and not much to look at, but one thing I've always tried to be is kind.

I promise I tried to make sure everyone knew I was a safe space. Any opinions or headcanons you have are welcome and accepted as long as you respect other people. I have failed to make the community feel safe in my account, and for that, I ask your forgiveness.

Please do not search out or harass anyone who was related to this. If there's one thing I have learned from today, is that it can really mess with you. I love every one of you, even those who seem to believe I'm Satan himself. This was a learning experience for all of us, and I hope we can grow as people together.

And finally, to the person who told me to kill myself, I will not. I will live and I will be happy. I'll have a long, fulfilling life surrounded by my friends and family, and I will not let my opinions on a fictional goblin define me. Because I know I'm a good person and I hope one day you can say the same.

This will be my final post.

[tangents-within-tangents]

Thoughts on Echo as amputee/disability representation

First and foremost, I am not disabled or an amputee and I don’t claim to speak for those communities. What little I do know mostly comes from this youtube channel (@oakwyrm), this post, and other research I’ve done for my writing (and like one amputee I kinda knew in passing). By all means correct me and add to the conversation, I just have some thoughts I want to share because I haven’t really seen this discussed anywhere

Overview

So Echo is interesting. He is a triple amputee which is pretty rare in media. His disabilities come from extremely traumatic circumstances: injured in a near-death experience, imprisoned and dehumanized as an experiment with no autonomy over what happened to his body.

There are a few moments in the shows where Echo is treated… questionably. Like this bit where Rex uses him as an example of the Separatists' evils to convince the locals to fight back:

To be fair, yeah Echo’s treatment does prove that the Techno Union is not neutral like they claim. The modifications that everyone is gasping in horror at here obviously weren’t made with comfort and accessibility in mind, nor with Echo’s consent. But you still just want to be sure that “They took away his freedom, his humanity, they tried to turn him into a machine” is about using him as a living computer, not the fact that he is missing limbs. 

The Batch is also pretty insensitive toward him and his trauma imo, which is weird considering they've supposedly also faced discrimination for their mutations

Disabled people do have to deal with stuff like this in this day and age so I guess it can speak to those experiences. I think especially him being mistaken as a droid (and Hunter going along with it (bruh)) might resonate with some people. 

Aside from that stuff, Echo isn't really treated any differently as a character/person which is really good (as low of a bar as that is).

We get this moment in CW where Echo contemplates that yeah things are gonna be different now

While also (imo at least) showing that he is still the same person regardless, evidenced by the fact that he just echoed Rex :,) I also think it's significant that he joins the Bad Batch on his own terms and we're given a really emotional scene to specifically show that he's not just like 'lumped in with the other misfits' but that it is his choice to go where he feels his place is.

A lot of people, myself included, are disappointed that TBB didn't have more time to explore Echo's PTSD, but I think the one panic attack scene we did get is really good. Even thought it's minor it at least is an appropriate reaction from a guy who was medically tortured (which is more than I've come to expect from Star Wars shows lol)

And it's really sweet to see Omega showing Echo some empathy and consideration.

It would have been nice to see more of his adjustment period, and other side effects like chronic pain and maintenance, but there’s a lot of daily life stuff the show never had time for (i.e. we don’t know if he removed his prosthetics to sleep, but we also never saw him sleep anyway). His disabilities might take on a background role (much like the character himself sadly) but for the most part they aren’t invisible or erased, nor do they define his character and arc.

Physical Appearance

Okay this one is bit dicey, bc on the one hand, yes complaints that Echo’s paleness (caused by burns from the explosion or chemical burns from the cryo-chamber) is whitewashing are totally valid. But I also think you can draw comparisons to real life conditions that affect pigmentation/complexion (like you know burns). So while I understand why a lot of fanart will depict him with his original skin tone and with hair, consider that there are real people who have to live with temporary or permanent changes to their appearance, and the idea of “fixing" him by making him look more like his old self can be problematic.

It's also interesting to note that Echo could act as a reversal of the 'disabled/disfigured = evil' trope. He's pale and bald and wears black and red, which is so often visually associated with villains, but we all know Echo is the bestest boy™

The Headpiece

Echo’s headpiece is interesting because within the show we don’t actually ever learn much about it (idk if there is more info in books or whatever bc i don’t have them so?). He didn’t have it in CW so we know it didn’t come from the Techno Union and therefore Echo probably had more choice with it. We don’t know its exact purpose but it’s most likely related to his scomping abilities. When he is hacking with his scomp in CW, before he has his headpiece, it’s clearly very mentally straining:

We don’t see him struggling like this in TBB once he does have it (though that could be bc he got more used to it over time). There doesn't seem to be much of an impact when he removes his headpiece in s3 ep14-15, except that he gets stuck in the ports every time he uses his scomp which is not something we’ve seen before: 

There might not be an exact real-world equivalent, but the headpiece is some kind of accessibility aid. It means that someone specifically designed a device to help him adapt to the changes the Techno Union made, as well as a helmet that integrates it. It’s removable and visually very present, much like a cochlear implant would be. (A lot of people actually headcanon it to act partially as a hearing aid, since it makes sense that Echo’s hearing would have been damaged in the explosion, but there’s isn't really any indication of this in canon.) The headpiece is never really acknowledged in the show, but I think that's a good thing. It's something he needs/wants and it just exists, completely normalized, and that's pretty cool 👍

Legs

Sigh... So from the very first episode of TBB I was really disappointed that the animation team or whoever completely visually erased Echo’s prosthetic legs (I think we all were, honestly, if fanart is anything to go by). It’s one thing when he’s in armor because he would probably want to protect his prosthetics, but we literally see him in his blacks and there is no indication whatsoever that he lost his legs even though it was not left up for debate at all in CW:

Like ??????!?

This is just really strange to me! Idk what went on behind the scenes with this decision but I don’t really see why it would be that much harder to animate or anything since it’s 3D and they've done it before. We do see some pretty sophisticated cybernetic technology in Star Wars canon that mimics real limbs:

But Luke’s fancy hand is technically 20ish years from now, so Anakin and Maul are more of a representation of what level we could expect here

So yeah, for no apparent reason, his leg amputation is effectively, visually and narratively nonexistent. Which is not great 👎

Arm!

The scomp on the other hand (uh lol!) is the complete opposite and I kinda love it!

At first I, like many others, thought it was a bit odd that they didn’t give Echo a prosthetic arm. Losing hands is basically a Star Wars tradition at this point, so robotic arms/hands are well established within the worldbuilding: 

We aren’t necessarily given a canon reason for why Echo doesn't get a cybernetic arm (again unless it's in some lore book I haven’t read, sorry). General fanon explanations I’ve seen are that he either couldn’t because the Techno Union wired the scomp too far into his nervous system, and/or the resources to give him one were deemed too expensive for a clone (what about his legs tho?), or that he chose not to, usually because he thought the scomping was useful. 

Regardless, I actually really love this choice (and it's the whole reason I made this post), because here's the thing: There’s a lot of problematic tropes out there that either erase/cure disabilities or compensate them with perks (like how pretty much any blind character is actually not blind by some sort of magic power). With amputees that is done with robotic arms. The character is still an amputee or course, and there is still value in that representation, if this story from Mark Hamill that makes me tear up is anything to go by:

but for the most part these characters function like anyone else, just with a limb that looks a little different. It’s no more than a video game skin, an able-bodied actor with a green screen glove. It “cures” the disability, or it actually makes the character even stronger than usual: 

It usually makes sense within the world of the story, but the reason it’s not so great in my opinion is that in the real world we just do not have technology anywhere close to that yet. Prosthetics can more or less replace any mobility from lost legs, but not for all the complexities of a hand (and even if they could the average person wouldn’t be able to afford it).

So

I think it's actually really super cool that Echo’s scomp bypasses the canonically-established amputee erasure and functions much like a stump would irl. He integrates it into his movements and everyday life and it’s (as far as I know) a lot closer to an everyday amputee’s experience. 

It doesn’t define his character, it doesn’t hold him back, he lives a full life, the other’s don’t treat him any differently, and he’s still a total karking badass 

The only additional thing is that he sometimes uses it as a weapon (which given his story, I think it’s cool to see him taking back autonomy in a way, and we only see that like twice)

And also the scomping, which could be seen as the 'added/compensating superpower' trope. But narratively it's no different than if he was plugging in with a hacking gadget of some kind (he didn't necessarily "need" to lose his arm for it) and it’s not like Echo is completely defined by this skill. Personally, I think it's well worth the positives of him actually having a visible and realistically impactful amputation. 

I see a lot of posts or comments out there that say stuff like “how come Echo doesn’t get a hand?” or fanworks that do give him one and I just think it’s a bit of a shame. If he did get a robotic hand, it just would have disappeared the same way his legs and Anakin’s arm did (aside from that one time he got yoinked by a magnet). When Echo did “get a hand” in the last two episodes there were comments like “yay he finally got a hand! but it doesn’t even work” but I was actually so relieved that it didn’t! Bc for one thing that wouldn’t make any sense, he grabbed it off a droid, it wasn’t designed to implement with his scomp, that would be really complicated. But more importantly because it again refused to erase/cure his disability! It functioned like a real-world cosmetic prosthetic (useless beyond appearance) which is exactly what he needed it for, so that he could blend in better with his disguise.

And he continually took it off throughout the episode and ditched it at the end. He only used it for the necessity of a stealth mission, he doesn’t feel the need to visually “fit in” in his daily life. 

And, last but very much not least, he made a dad joke and from my intel that is very accurate representation!

TLDR: Echo’s scomp is actually really cool from an amputee representation perspective, especially within Star Wars, and I think that deserves some appreciation 

[dawnbreakersgaze]

Y'all asked for it so I'm finally doing it-

🩺 Dr. Greyson Headcanons 🧸

Remember these are just headcanons. Some will be based on canon 'evidence' while others are absolutely pulled from my brain. You don't have to agree with or like them. These are all SFW. I'll absolutely do a NSFW version if there is a desire for it.

Idk how many rounds of these I'll do (probably as many as you guys want bc I'm weak and have many many thoughts about this man pls 🥴)

I've said it before in a couple places, but I 100% believe this man grew up in the country. Like farm life. He's just so chatty, so friendly, so neighborly, and was even down to wrastle that old man who stole the nurses' access card in the Pure White Heart anecdote. He's quick to laugh himself into a fit when he hears something stupid but equally quick to be helpful when someone is in need. This might just be my own experiences talking, but I grew up ON A REAL FARM and this is just soooo how country people are. The vibes are spot on. Plus Greyson is just... such a country name I'm sorry you can't change my mind there.

Because of this, I feel like he's one of those "first of my family to become a X" kind of kids, in this case, a doctor. I even think it's a step further and say it's likely he's the first to receive a doctorate.

Very mechanically minded. Is definitely the type to be able to actually fix things around his house/apartment by himself most of the time. Can do maintenance on his own vehicle but doesn't do anything too big simply to spare his hands (surgeons gotta keep those hands nice and safe!!)

Genuinely prefers working in the children's ward. Grey is such a silly and approachable man, his caring and chatty personality coupled with just how goofy he is makes him a hit with the kiddos. I mean his pfp is an injured teddy bear ffs. This man was made to be in pediatrics and got distracted by cardiology. Kids always laugh at his jokes and think his balloon animal skills are neat, and that's way better than arguing with adult patients.

Learned how to bake from his grandma. I'm talking handmade pie crusts, laminated dough for croissants, freezer jam, tempered chocolate, etc. When he first started at Akso he'd bring in treats as a way to break the ice with some of the other drs. Now, they beg him to make the birthday cakes when the senior staff birthdays come up and he has time.

Is a terrible dancer. He's totally fine with this and has accepted it. Just don't ask him to dance unless you're also 100% okay with him looking like a fool while you're attached to him.

Holds his liquor very very well. Can absolutely get drunk but it takes a LOT for him to get that drunk and he just doesn't drink to that excess anymore. That was young (HS/pre med) Grey. Almost 30 y.o Grey is too old for that and has work in the morning please spare him.

Has a 10 year old orange tabby cat named Archie (Archibald) that came to Linkon with him from the farm. Archie was too lazy to make it as a farm cat, so Grey took him with him when he left for school and they've been buddies ever since.

Lives for the outdoor life even though he's in a heavily developed city. Takes as many opportunities as he can to camp, fish, hike, walk, run, ANYTHING to get back into nature when he's not at work. Will try and drag his friends and coworkers into it with him sometimes, but other times he prefers it to just be him and Archie on an adventure.

His apartment is very much a modern take on a cozy farmhouse, spacious view style. Grey starts feeling very cooped up in Linkon, so his apt is a high rise with a lot of floor to ceiling windows to at least help him feel less stuffy and give him a wider view of the city.