#SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO ANSWER I WAS BUSY

[thecuriousbeauty]

You're on your period- Harry Styles Blurb

Word count: 1178

Synopsis: Periods really suck. But not so much when you have a sweet boyfriend to take care of you. (FLUFF!)

You felt like you were going to cry as you opened the freezer and saw that you were out of ice cream. You were looking forward to binge eating that ice cream and watching your favorite show when you get back from work. You had a particularly long day, or maybe you just felt like that because of the piercing pain from your period cramps and your hormones being all over the place. 

You shut the door of the freezer with a sigh, dragging yourself to bed. You curled up, clutching your stomach as another bad wave of pain hits you. You forgot to take some pain meds when you were downstairs, and you were just too tired so you just layed there.Your boyfriend, who you now remember, had helped you finish the last of the ice cream when you had a movie night last week wasn’t home yet, so you phoned him.

“Hey baby! You back home?”, Harry answers and you pout, just wanting to crawl into his arms. “Harry..”

“What’s wrong, darling? Are you okay?” He doesn’t like it when your voice isn’t sounding peppy.

“Nooo..”, you draw out, making Harry frown  as he gets in his car, being done with the studio for the day. “Why is that, baby? Anything I can help with?”

“We ran out of ice cream..can you get some for me please?”, you ask softly, making Harry’s heart melt. He loved when you asked him to get things for you, even if it was something small. 

“Of course, love. You aren’t feeling too good, are you?”, he coos, joining the dots as he remembers the date. He keeps track of your periods too. 

“Nuh uh. I’m having a war with my uterus right now.”, you tell him, making him chuckle softly. “I can’t imagine what that’s like. Anything else you need, baby? Stocked up for the week?”

You really have the sweetest boyfriend. “Yeah, I’m good. Just need you.”

“Aw, I’ll be home soon, my love. You get some rest, yeah?”

You hummed, closing your eyes already. “Love you.”

“I love you too. Oh, what flavor did you want?”

“Flavor?”, you smirk, and Harry laughs. “The ice cream flavor, silly.”

___________________________________

Harry didn’t just buy you ice cream. He got you your favorite packet of chips, some chocolate and some other snacks you liked. He kept it all in the kitchen and went upstairs to find you. You had dozed off while waiting for him, and he smiled as he took you in, walking to you quietly. He leaned down, gently brushing his fingers across your forehead, brushing away strands of your hair that fell onto your face. 

He thought not to wake you up and just slide into bed so he could give you a cuddle, but he spotted a stain on your shorts that would leak into the sheets soon. He didn’t mind, but he knew you would, so he gently kisses you awake with some kisses. 

You wake up to his feather soft kisses on your skin, a contrast to your aching stomach. You open your eyes and Harry gives you a smile. “How’re you doing, love?”

“Not good, it hurts.”, you mumble, sighing as he presses a kiss to your temple. “Oh, baby. You wanna take a warm shower, maybe? You’ve uh, got a bit of blood on your shorts.”

Your eyes widened and you quickly looked down to your shorts and around the bed. “Shit..I’m sorry babe, I fell asleep and didn’t realize-”

“-Hey, hey, it’s okay, sweetheart.”, he says, giving you his hand to help you out of bed. Thankfully, the blood hadn’t seeped into your sheets yet. “See, the sheets are fine. If it wasn’t, I’d change them, nothing to be sorry about.”, Harry tells you, and you smile softly, leaning to his side carefully, giving him a side hug. 

“I’ve got you some snacks too. After you’re feeling all fresh, we can cuddle up on the couch with a movie, hm?”

You nod, pressing your lips to his, giving him a kiss. “That sounds good.”

Harry lets you take care of your business and shower. He also got changed and set up all the food with a movie, bringing your fuzzy blanket to the couch. He got your heating pad and your pain meds ready as well.

You slouched over downstairs in one of Harry’s shirts and another pair of your shorts, making him smile at how cute you looked. Your hair was up in a messy bun, and you had no makeup on your face, but to him, you were gorgeous.

He opens his arms, and you fall into them, crawling onto his lap. “How was your day?”

“Good, good. Got some recording done, but I’ll probably do the same part again tomorrow. I missed you.”, he says, pressing a kiss to your cheek, holding you close to him with arm as he leans over to grab the pain meds. “Here, take these, love.”

You swallowed them down with the water he gave you and rested your head on his chest, snuggling up to his warmth. 

While you tell him about your day, he slides the heating pad under your shirt to keep it over your tummy, before adjusting you on his lap and bringing the fuzzy blanket around you. One of his hands slips inside to rub your lower back in firm circles, with just the right amount of pressure, making you feel relaxed. When you told him about your ice cream craving, he immediately grabbed the tub and gave you the spoon so you can start digging in. 

“Thanks for all this, you’re the best.” You kiss him. 

“Only the best for you.”, he says, smiling as he watches you scoop some of the ice cream into your mouth and hum as the cold desert with the luscious chocolate hits just the right spots. “That good, huh?” Harry laughs.

“Yes! Here, I’m willing to share.”, You fed him some too. “Mm, that’s good.”, he agrees. You watch the movie for some time.

“Is the pain going away?”, he asks, pressing kisses to your hair and you smile, kissing his jaw. One of his hands still stayed on your back, and the other was playing with your hair. “Mhmm. You make it better.”

“I’m glad.” He smiles, stroking his thumb over your cheek. “Hate to see my baby in pain.” You blush, looking up at your handsome boyfriend. “I really like you, you know?”

He scoffs out a laugh, pinching your cheek. “You really like me? Give that ice cream back.” He moves his hand to your side, his fingertips dancing over your skin as he looks at with a glint in his eyes. He adores you. 

You giggle, going to grab his hand as it threatens to tickle you. “Correction! I really love you.”

“Hm, you better.” Harry nudges his nose against your cheek, pulling you impossibly closer to him. You laugh, and he takes your chin, giving you a kiss. “Cause I really love you too.”

_______________________________________________

Taglist:-- @livypops12352568 @harrydeary, @harryswifee, @harrysbxtchh, @gracelovesethan, @kiwitsayedsugar, @angeldavis777 (Lemme know if you wanna be added to the taglist!)

[mossy-paws]

Phigting headcanon ask!

What do think are the phighters fav drink? :D

YES YES YWA YES YES!!!! I LOVE ASKS LIKE THESE LETS GOOOOOOO!!!! IM SO SORRU IT TOOK SO LONG FOR ME TO GET TO THIS BUT!! LET ME JUST COMPILE ALL OF THEM REALLY QUICK!

Sword, ice water with lemon. I actually headcanon he’s allergic to caffeine (because anything with caffeine will make birds very sick)

Rocket, sprite or blue Fanta

Subspace can’t drink due to his rot, he probably eats electrolyte packages lmfao

Medkit is addicted to black coffee

shuriken loves green tea/matcha

vinestaff likes sakura tea or cherry ramune

Icedagger likes söderblandning and Julmust especially

Scythe likes vinegar, straight vinegar. (And sometimes a key lime martini on the side)

Broker, once more, likes whatever is illegal.

Skateboard likes coca cola

slingshot likes milk because cat

boombox likes ginger ale (the bottle is green okay I couldn’t think of anything better)

Banhammer likes his mamas smoothies

Zuka likes those gas station slushies, blue raspberry mixed with Coke is probably his faborite

Hyperlaser likes beer or any sort of alcohol (duh)

Katana likes Baekseju

Valk like champagne

Dom likes red wine, but only the most expensive kinds

Voidstar likes the blood of her victims

Windforce likes protein shakes

Firebrand adores root beer floats, he also likes to make them with Dom and valk! His favorite is probably just with vanilla ice cream

Ghostwalker doesn’t drink but if he would it would be watered down cremated ashes

Illumina likes communion wine and holy water

ghostdeeri can’t drink liquids since it would extinguish her flame lmao

Darkheart likes chemical waste

Venomshank likes French Bloom Le Rosé

Coil likes monster energy drinks

Lord PWNATIOUS only likes the most expensive kinds of alcoholic drinks on the market

traffic likes gutter rain water /afF

okay so that’s all of them! Enjoy these I love getting to talk about stuff like this ;3

[runnning-outof-time]

Tommy & His Girls | Tommy Shelby x Reader

read more of the Girl Dad Mini Series — HERE.

request: yes by anonymous

pairing: Tommy Shelby x fem!Reader

summary: When things get rough, Tommy can most certainly count on the girls in his life to lighten things up.

warnings: drinking, smoking, Tommy being a horsegirl

word count: 2089

a/n: back at it with another girl dad!Tommy fic - I just love using this little family I’ve created (if you couldn’t tell) I hope you like this installment of their story!! p.s…I’m sorry if the ending’s corny…I didn’t know how to, well, end it. Enjoy!! :)

I’D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! YOUR COMMENTS & REBLOGS HELP ME WRITE!

Tommy barely said a word as he entered Arrow House. He handed his things to Frances and made a b-line to his study. Things with the business were rough today...they'd been rough for as far back as Tommy could remember. It seemed like he was the only one in the family pulling the weight and that left him feeling like there was war happening inside his head as he made the drive home.

He pushed his study's door closed behind him as he walked into the room, not even caring if the door had enough velocity to latch or not. He trudged his way to his desk after pouring himself a generous glass of whiskey. Half of it was downed in the first drink; he really wanted the pain in his head to cease.

Setting the glass down, he went through the motions of lighting himself a cigarette. The first, deep drag he took finally made some of the noise quiet down.

It's unclear how long he sat like that: slumped back on his chair with a cigarette burning between his fingers. The next time he came to, however, was when the office door opened slightly.

"Dad?" a small voice came from the opposite side of the room, making Tommy sit up straighter in his seat.

"Yeah," he answered, his voice not quite audible. He cleared his throat before responding louder, "yes?" He focused in on the doorway, seeing his oldest daughter, Thea, standing in it.

The young girl said nothing else as she fully entered the room and made her way right over to his desk. “You didn’t come to my room to say hello,” she stated, a slight frown present on her face.

She stopped in front of his chair as she finished speaking, her arms open to show him that she wanted a hug. The second he opened his, she fell into them.

Tommy let out a sigh as he felt the weight of his eldest daughter against him. “Hello, Thea,” he breathed, a sigh escaping with his words. He couldn’t deny the fact that he felt terrible in that moment. He always made sure to greet Thea when he returned home from work, no matter what type of day he had.

How could he have gotten so frustrated that he forgot one of the most important parts of his day?

Thea was the one to break away from the hug — Tommy could have sat there like that all evening if she allowed it — and step back to look at her father.

He watched her, waiting to see what she’d do next. To his surprise, she made her way over to one of the seats that faced his desk and sat down.

The two stared at each other for a few moments longer. Thea looked as if she was studying her father; like she was taking notes on the entire situation. Tommy was quite confused as to why the ten year old wanted to stick around after greeting him.

Finally, after several moments of silence, he had to ask her just that, “why have you decided to stay, love?”

“I was able to tell that you’re stressed out over work, dad. I don’t want to leave you alone,” she answered him, sounding simultaneously like a ten year old and like a person who was beyond their years.

Tommy took a moment to let her words sink in. Then he couldn’t help but smile as a soft chuckle escaped his lips. The innocence that his daughters held despite the line of work their father was present in was always something that grounded him, no matter what was going on. He knew that he could count on it to bring him back down from that position of power to just being their dad.

“You can keep working,” Thea’s voice broke through his thoughts, making him realize that he had been sitting there, staring at her for some time.

Tommy glanced down at the papers that were scattered across his desk. They were covered with statements that he truly didn’t want to read anymore. Then he looked to one of the photographs that sat proudly on his desk. It was of Thea, Evie, and Juni. They were all hugging onto each other and smiling their biggest smiles. His eyes finally moved to Thea, who was still sitting with a smile on her face.

“I can’t work any longer,” he said to her then as he stood from his chair, “let’s go and see what your sisters are doing,” he suggested, his statement making Thea rise from her seat as well.

Tommy and Thea found Evie and Juni playing in the front room.

“Dad’s home!” Thea exclaimed, making the two younger girls quickly turn around.

“Dad!” they both cheered in unison, smiles lighting up their faces.

Tommy smiled as they rushed over to hug him. He could slowly feel the stress leaving his body. “Hello, girls,” he greeted them, rubbing both of their backs as they held onto him tightly.

“Come play, dad!” Juni exclaimed as she pulled away from him to go back to the toys they had strewn about on the floor.

“Have you ladies finished your homework?” he asked the older two before making his decision.

“Course I have,” Evie answered in a matter-of-fact tone, “it was too easy.”

“Mine’s finished as well,” Thea answered with a smile.

“Good,” Tommy nodded, smiling at his girls.

“Let’s play!” Juni shrieked from where she was standing by the toys. By this time she already had one leg in one of the ‘princess dresses’ that the girls had specially made for them. Tommy smiled as he saw the one she’d chosen - it was one that Thea had been given when she was little.

“What game?” Tommy asked, watching as his other girls followed suit and grabbed the things they needed from their toy chest.

“Princesses, of course,” Evie answered like it was common sense….well, in this Shelby household it kind of was. Tommy chuckled at that thought.

“Thea’s the queen!” Juni shouted excitedly.

“She’s always the queen though!” Evie protested, a frown on her face as her hands dropped to her hips.

“I’m the queen because I’m the oldest,” Thea calmly explained to her disgruntled sister, “it’s just one of my jobs as the oldest sibling. You and Juni are princesses because you’re my younger sisters, and you’ll get to be queen once I’m older.”

Tommy couldn’t help but smile as he listened to her explanation. She was truly wise beyond her years, and she handled everything with such grace.

“Fine,” Evie huffed, deciding to accept the decision even though she sounded a little disappointed.

“What’s my part in this?” Tommy asked the three once their conversation had ended.

“The part you always are, dad,” Evie was the one to answer.

“Got it,” Tommy nodded, surpressing a groan as he lowered himself to the floor. I��m getting too old for this, he thought to himself, but he didn’t dare let that feeling show. He’d never turn down the opportunity to play with his girls.

(Y/N) was finally finished with discussing all of the changes that were to be made with the grounds and house keepers. A lot went into preparing Arrow House as one season rolled into the next. Despite the magnitude of the task and all of the moving parts that were involved, (Y/N) would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy overseeing these changes.

Now, however, she was more than ready to get back to her family.

She was able to hear them before she saw them. The giggles of her girls and one of Tommy’s unmistakable impressions. She laughed to herself just hearing it.

The sight she was met with in the front room brought the widest smile to her face. “What’s going on in here?” she made her presence known with a question.

“Mum!” came as a chorus of yells from the three girls as they forgot what they were doing to run and greet her.

“Hello, my darlings,” she greeted them, eagerly accepting their hugs. “What’re you playing in here with dad?”

“Princesses!” Juniper chirped, holding up her wand excitedly.

“Ahh,” (Y/N) nodded in understanding, “and what part is dad playing?”

“He’s the prized horse,” Evie happily answered.

(Y/N) finally looked to her husband. The sight she was met with had her stifling her laughter. Tommy was still down on all fours, and was wearing a rather strained expression as he looked at her through the longer strands of hair that had fallen over his eyes.

“Of course he is,” she finally responded, grinning at him before focusing her attention on the girls. “How about we give him a break now, hmm? Frances has informed me that dinner is ready,” she then suggested.

No pushback was received from any of the girls, who promptly began making their way to the dining room.

(Y/N) looked over at Tommy again. He was now wearing a look of relief, and he matched his eyes with hers again just briefly before he began the process of standing up. (Y/N) couldn’t help but giggle at his predicament, waiting for him to be on his feet again before she started walking to the dining room.

For once, Tommy was actually relieved to have heard that dinner was ready.

After dinner the family decided to go out onto the grounds and enjoy one of the final warm, late fall evenings before winter hit.

Juniper, of course, wanted to go to the stables and check on the horses. Tommy happily took her while the older two stayed back with (Y/N). It wasn’t a surprise, however, when he saw the three cresting the hill to join them in the stables.

Later that night, Tommy was - surprisingly - ready to be in bed at the same time as (Y/N). He helped out with tucking the girls in, wanting to spend as much time with them as he could.

(Y/N) didn’t miss the groan that left his lips as he sat down on his side of the bed. “Not as nimble of a horse as you used to be, huh?” she teasingly commented, biting on her finger to stiffle her giggles when his head snapped to look at her. “Maybe they should put you out to pasture.”

Tommy shot her a look that told her she should watch what she was saying. His look made her giggles escape.

“They’ll still treat you as their prized pony,” she conceded, moving over to where he was so that she could drape her arms over his shoulders. “You know how much they enjoy having you play with them,” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek before she nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck.

Tommy smiled at the sentiment, nodding his head slightly as he brought his hand up to set it against the spot her wrists crossed each other.

“I don’t believe I’ve asked you…” (Y/N) started after a few moments had passed. She lifted her head from his neck before continuing, “how was your day?”

A breath of a laugh left his lips and he closed his eyes for a moment, silently recounting his day’s events and deciphering what he wanted to tell her. “I came home stressed, but the girls were able to put me into a better mood,” he decided not to go too far into details, settling with a short summary.

“They’ve stolen my job then, hmm?” her question wasn’t the sort of response that he was excepting, and it was one that had him turning his head in confusion, hoping that she’d offer more explanation. “It used to be my job to put you into a better mood,” she remarked, the smile she was wearing telling him that she wasn’t being completely serious about this.

“All of you girls put me in a better mood,” he responded in a matter-of-fact tone before adding, “don’t know what I’d do without you.”

And that was the truth. Without those girls, he probably would have still been in his office, droning over the same stack of papers and nursing his umpteenth whiskey.

Without those girls, he probably would have had to deal with another night of keeping his demons at bay as the shovels hit against the walls.

Without his girls, he would most certainly be a completely different man than the one he is today.

MASTERLIST

Tagged: @mystcldydrms @the-anxious-youth @cloudofdisney @look-at-the-soul @elenavampire21

@mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @theshelbyslimited @peakyswritings

@just-a-blackhole @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry

@captivatedbycillianmurphy @yummycastiel @dark-academia-slut @tommystargirl @emotionalcadaver

@stevie75 @lyarr24 @signorellisantichrist @zablife @anotherblinder

@cillmequick @strayrockette @dandelionprints @letal-y-poetica @garrison-girl-08

@insanitybyanothername @depxiety @justrainandcoffee @dragons-are-my-favorite @mrs-bond

@cljordan-imperium @brummiereader @red-riding-wood @everythingelseisextra @little-diable

@thomashelbyswife @shaddixlife @ryecosse @padfootdaredmetoo @novashelby

[secretwhumplair]

Quiet

659 words | No Warrior (sequel to Rearrangement)

Content | Referenced noncon but tbh nothing much of anything

Notes | More talkinggg. I felt we needed another quiet little moment before the next plot point so here we are. Yves is experiencing! A complicated!

Taglist | @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @castielamigos-whump-side-blog​​ @whump-me-all-night-long​​​​ @whumpadump1939​​ @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight​​

@whumpzone​​ @angel-stars​​ @kixngiggles​​ @whumpsy-daisies @yet-another-heathen​​

@rosesareviolentlyread @cupcakes-and-pain​​ @hollowtreesinhollowwoods @pleasancies @much-ado-about-whumping​​

@nine-tailed-whump​​ @whump-em​​​ @itsleighlove​​ @newbornwhumperfly​​​ @tears-and-lilies

@deluxewhump @whump-cravings @wolfeyedwitch @melancholy-in-the-morning @neverthelass

@whumpsday @silent-orchid-lady @everynameistakencarrots

The following days were… quiet. Almost subdued. The increase of daylight was not yet noticeable, but at least what light there was left was clearly not fading further.

Yves felt like he was at sea again, the floor underneath him rolling and uncertain.

He found himself watching Runar more closely, and he felt — or was he imagining it? — that Runar avoided looking at him in a way he never had before. Maybe he had just never really noticed. Maybe he had imagined how much attention he was being given, and only now that he was the one looking at Runar he realized how bloated he had thought his presence in Runar’s mind to be.

But of course, that didn’t add up with anything Runar had said.

They hadn't talked about it again. It seemed Runar was willing to let it sink into oblivion, and Yves would have gone along with it, should have wanted to go along with it. It was like Runar said: nothing changed. Runar never touched him or even looked at him wrong. They had their meals together, they still slept in the same bed. He should have let it go.

Instead Runar’s confession wormed its way through his mind at every hour of the day. Never in his life would he have imagined Runar could feel that way about him. Even when Runar told him, he couldn’t, wouldn’t believe him.

And yet…

»Does it hurt you?«

The words burst out of him over dinner; he interrupted Runar, who was telling him about his day, in the casual way he had always done, a habit formed when Yves himself was too intimidated to speak. He liked listening to Runar tell his little stories. Perhaps that, too, was a habit from the days when any words that weren’t hostile were a comfort.

Runar paused and glanced at him, then looked away.

»Sorry.« Yves lowered his eyes. He hadn’t meant to interrupt Runar. He hadn’t meant to say anything. The familiar fear crept up on him, but it felt dull, almost distant.

»No… what do you mean?«

Yves kept his eyes firmly on the bowl of soup before him; oats and egg and dried mushrooms. »Being — around me. When — you know.«

»I’m perfectly fine not touching you, if that’s…« He glimpsed up at Runar, and found his gaze trailing out the window. »You don’t have to worry.«

»I’m not worried. Not for me, anyway.«

Now Runar turned to him, his eyes briefly widening. Then a soft smile flickered across his lips. »I’m okay. I do like having you around.« Very quietly, as if too himself, he added, »You’re wonderful.«

He should have let that go, too, but instead he felt a blush creep into his face. It was ridiculous.

»Okay,« he muttered.

»Is it?« Yves didn’t know what to answer, so when he remained quiet, Runar pressed on, »Because if you’re uncomfortable-«

»No.« Yves took another spoonful of his soup, hoping that the time he bought himself would let the words come.

He didn’t even know what he wanted to say. He didn’t know what he wanted.

He didn’t know why he couldn’t just let it go. It didn’t matter. He was alright, and whether Runar had lied about his feelings or not was his own business.

As the weeks passed, normalcy returned; the weaving, the swords, the stories. So Yves focused on everything, anything else. He went with Runar to trade for food and visit his family, he even started to speak among the weavers, sometimes. When Runar once went to visit Signy, he plucked up his courage and apologized to her and her spouses for having behaved so weirdly at the sweet little moment they shared, an apology they waved off graciously. Her husband was involved in making the sails from all the fabric they were weaving, and they talked about that.

It was almost as if nothing happened.

He quietly hoped Runar felt the same.

[preggomancer]

Mother is really cool!! Is there background as to why it was created?

oh you would not believe how much thought I put into this 

SHORT ANSWER: due to the whole post-apocalypse situation, there was a population crisis and Mother was built as an ethical solution. 

LONG ANSWER: The setting is sort of post-post-apocalypse, where society is getting its legs back under it. (is. That the saying. Anyway) Mother is from the dwindling remains of a civilization which was never huge to begin with, but now has only a few thousand people. At this point, birth control/abortion etc are universally accessible, and in a society where most traditional values were scrapped in favor of survival, not a ton of people want to get pregnant. Because it’s hard and unpleasant and also everyone’s kind of busy with the rebuilding society thing. This meant they were at risk of dying out in a few generations. Because this particular society is run partially by a bunch of AI who think very hard about ethics all the time, they weren’t about to force anyone to have kids against their will. So they all thought extremely hard about what to do, and figured out that the only ethical solution was to create a robot specifically for the purpose of procreation. 

This was itself a whole problem. They have the tech to grow babies whole cloth, but it’s far too difficult and resource-intensive to do on a large scale. They originally considered implanting an AI in a donor corpse, but aside from the challenge of having to find a donor with the right body parts and age who just happened to die in a way that sticking a robo brain in there would fix, that raises a whole slew of ethical problems with autonomy. Does the new host have a right to pilot around this body, where is the line between body and person, etc etc. 

So the solution they set on was to grow one body which would never have a human mind. Which just came down to developing a fetus with almost no brain—just enough for basic physical functions. The body was then run by a dummy program for about a decade, which had no intelligence, but just kept it alive and healthy until it had enough fine motor skills to not be super annoying to live in. They then replaced the dummy program with Mother. 

To the robots, this was a perfect ethical solution which totally negated any concerns about autonomy. Mother's not human, and never was! It has total autonomy, so they can be sure it's acting of its own free will, and it's just programmed so that it'll (most likely) choose to perform its role as surrogate. Of course, a lot of humans still feel weird about it, because we have all these built-in ideas about the human soul and whatnot. I imagine that its a lot like some humans are having this ongoing existential philosophical crisis about the whole thing and the robots just can't comprehend what the issue is.

[insufferablemod]

I just wanted to say that I really love ur art and Dave ask blog and I get so hype when you like my John ask blog stuff ! Thanks for being one cool dude :B

AAAafdsdsff tysm! and thank u 4 the dave,,, i love him hes so small,,,, qwq)/<3<3<<3<3<3<<3<3!!! your ask blog is really cute and i love your colors! theyre so lovely! your john design is also adorable so heres a lil fanart :)c

[trashyshrew]

big admirer of your work! you asked for drawing suggestions–would love to see your take on lawlight snuggled up together relaxing in bed or something! absolutely starved for soft content of these two

[squid-seraph]

What's Sydney's story, and how'd she end up with so many kidneys?

(rubbing my hands evilly...)

Sydney is an octoling from the domes who moved to the splatlands!

She was supposed to join the military along with her sister after finishing up with school, but dropped out of basic training pretty early on due to health issues.

Sydney wasn't interested in any of the other job positions offered to her either, which her mom hated. They argued a lot; Sydney wanted to take her time to figure things out, and her mother seemed to always be in a rush to get her to do something with herself. Work. contribute. This was a very prominent mindset to have for dome octarians, if you weren't working then you weren't being helpful. When Sydney met her partner, Rihya, (affectionately nicknamed Riot by her fellow elites) she basically cut contact with her mother and their relationship has been rocky ever since. But who cares here look at the lesbians

Now I'm going to crush you.

Riot is never seen with Sydney or the kids in current art because she went missing for about 2 and a half years. Search parties were sent in the metro, looking for missing octolings, but it was too late in most cases. All santitized octolings are prohibited from returning to their housing units or moving to the surface until a cure can be found and they are deemed ready to re-enter society. For the first time in years Sydney got to see her partner again, only to be told she's basically a zombie and will probably never return to normal.

 She moved to the splatlands pretty soon after that, home just didn't feel like home anymore. With splatsville becoming pretty popular, a lot of inkfish were looking to move there, and Sydney was hired by a family friend of some housing company and has been working for them as of now.

And to answer the second question.. Completely by chance. Octolings from the domes tend to not have as many as they would on the surface, most of the time just  one or maybe two eggs that are actually going to hatch. Sydney and Riot just got lucky. Or unlucky, depending on who you ask.

[anbaisai]

Unrelated to twst but I absolutely adore your art. Your lines are so crisp omgg, do you have any tips on how to keep them clean? :>>

Thank you!!! I put a lot of effort into my lines because I admire a lot of artists with beautiful linework, so I'm really happy to hear that you think so 🥹

Obviously steady practice & time will naturally help you improve, but here are a few tips that I personally found helpful!

Try being more confident & fast with your brush strokes - I find that the more that I slow down and hesitate, the more wobbly my lines end up being and it doesn't retain the same "crisp" feel (unless I set stabilization to high, but then the brush starts lagging so I tend to leave it on the lower side). Try drawing a line really fast then doing the same thing again slowly and comparing them, and do it with lines of varying lengths since it’s likely more apparent with long lines than shorter ones, but I hope that makes sense!

If you work digitally, one thing that can help with the above is zooming out - it might feel easier to draw a line on a smaller-looking canvas because you move your hand less, vs. dragging a line across a really big canvas.

Use your whole arm, not just your wrist - think of it like changing the tool you use depending on the type of line you need to draw. Smaller, shorter ones are ok to use your wrist for, but you’ll likely have a harder time if it’s a long continuous line, in which case try using your elbow or shoulder to help. It’s a bit hard to explain without you trying it out for yourself, but with enough practice it should become muscle memory.

Play around with brushes & brush settings - Yes, I know artists shouldn’t expect a brush to solve all their problems, but it’s no lie that some brushes feel like utter crap in my hands and nothing I draw looks or feels right, whereas other brushes feel like they were meant to be. My guess is that it just really depends on your habits, like your speed, how much pressure you use, etc., that mesh well with some brushes and less with others. I myself seem to enjoy brushes that have less variation with pen pressure, so it’s worth messing around in your brush settings or downloading new ones just to see if they feel any different to use! It won’t be as influential as just practicing your technique, but it’s an extra little thing that could help you.

I haven’t done much of it myself, but doing targeted practice where you just draw lines over and over (like you're just cross-hatching) has been something lots of people recommend for improving linework & hand steadiness, so you can try doing that when you’re bored e.g. doodling in the margins of your notes, on scrap paper, etc.

Hope some of these tips help, and have fun lining! ❤️

[panic-flavored]

since you’ve been drawing young robotnik lately I had an idea for the merman au: what if he saw/briefly met a merperson as a kid? I imagine no one would’ve believed him at the time (I could also see the other kids bullying him for “making it up”) which caused him to be stubborn abt it for decades and led to his current-day study of them.

It was a rare day where the kids at Ivo's orphanage were awarded a beach day. No one ever bothered to teach Ivo how to swim, however, so he wasn't planning on getting too close to the water until his towel got taken away by the wind. What he saw that day by the water's edge changed him forever, though, instilling in him a life-long interest in marine biology.

Bonus:

(Be warned I will take ANY OPPORTUNITY to insert the 'forgotten first meeting' trope, no exceptions)

[askchilchuck]

Hello, this is half-dwarf half-half-foot (....quarter-foot?) from before!

I've taken up fishing by Kakha Brud and it's not too bad. Little boring, but better than nothing right? My other option was selling dragon dung, and while I was... morbidly curious what that experience would be like, I figured it wasn't worth the risk of going somewhere shitty (ha).

Good news though! I met a potion brewer who was willing to use changeling mushrooms in one of their experiments! Aaaand I'll be the one to test it! 🌟🌟🌟

(They seem to have either ignored your advice on the mushrooms or forgotten it.)

Seriously, you need to be carful with that kind of stuff! It’s not something you should be playing around with!

Wh- What? When did-

[melancholybat]

What would Balance usually do in wonderworld

Balance does a lot of "behind the scenes" work for Wonderworld.

There's a massive ever expanding library in the depths of Wonderworld that contains books detailing the lives of every human, and it is his job to collect the books of the ones who desperately need their hearts fixed. He studies each individual human that must be brought in and takes notes that he passes off to Balan and Lance.

He is also in charge of creating the worlds and puzzles for each individual's trials. After he studies a certain human, he learns about their personality, their troubles, their aesthetics, etc., and creates a world specifically tailored to them. Balan and Lance also come in to populate the world with bouts, Tim eggs, Negati, and such.

Balance, in general, is the "big boss" and oversees everything in Wonderworld, but Balan and Lance are the ones always in the spot light. Balance hardly sees or interacts with any humans himself as he's always so busy, but occasionally he stops by to check up on everything.

[project-sekai-facts]

Are there any characters in-game that are notably really good/bad cooks? I know that Toya almost poisoned Rui in Never Give Up Cooking but idk about the rest

Also ty for posting all of these cool fun facts daily! They make my day

Yeah so as you said Toya is abysmal at cooking but he does get lessons from KAITO towards the end of Never Give Up Cooking! and is able to make significant improvement to his cupcakes. According to KAMIKOU FESTIVAL!, he's good at preparing and serving candyfloss.

VBS!Miku also cannot cook for shit (a trait she probably inherited from Toya) and is also given lessons by VBS!KAITO. VBS!Len receives lessons too, but I don't recall it being stated that he was a bad cook beforehand. Oh yeah goes without saying but VBS KAITO and MEIKO are good cooks.

Honami is canonically a good cook. She's part of home economics club and cooks meals for Kanade often. In the 2021 Valentine's voicelines it is mentioned that she taught Saki how to make sweets. An can also cook, as well as prepare coffee and tea, because she works at the cafe. It's also mentioned that Kohane can bake in multiple seasonal menu voicelines.

Airi can cook as demonstrated in Operation♡Secret Valentine! and she is also a member of tea ceremony club. She helps Saki and Emu bake cakes and other sweet treats in the aforementioned event.

Honami and Emu also cooked a BBQ in Let's Have the Absolute Best Summer!.

Akito, Shiho, Haruka and Mizuki can all make chocolate, as shown in The Gentleman Thief's Thrilling White Day!?.

The 2023 White Day voicelines mention that Rui has made appliances for baking specific sweets, meaning that he probably has knowledge of how to make these by hand in the first place. Meanwhile the 2022 White Day voicelines reveal that the base forms of Len and KAITO can bake.

It's mentioned that Mafuyu can cook in the Mirage of Lights event story.

Ena's speciality is listed as "picking the best ingredients for cooking" in her official bio, so presumably she can cook.

Actually, all of Leo/need has some cooking proficiency. 4koma #10 reveals that they can all make apple pies.

And finally, Shizuku can cook as well. She also mentions that she can make chocolates in her 2021 Valentine's voiceline.

And for some assumptions

I don't think Kanade can cook. She can make instant foods but I don't know if she can cook actual meals. We do know that the reason she has pot noodles is because it saves her time, so maybe she can cook and just has priorities. She can be seen helping out Honami in her wedding card come to think of it, so she probably can cook.

Idk about Tsukasa and Nene. It's probably mentioned somewhere but I haven't read every card story.

I still don't trust WxS' island cooking.

Someone in the Wonderland SEKAI can cook. that or they have a magic oven/fridge like in cartoons (always a possibility with the Wonderland SEKAI)

p.s no problem! glad to hear that

[sarcasticsciencefictionwriter]

Hii

Teslen - 💘 for the snippets thing please? :))

Hiii! Thank you!

💘 fake relationship / mutual pining / dared to kiss

I'm feeling dared to kiss for some reason, so let's go with that one. (All three would probably end up multi-chapter fic length. 😂)

__

The burn of alcohol warmed Helen's throat and chest as she swallowed it, swallowing a snicker along with it.

The candles cast dancing shadows along the walls and ceiling, lending an atmosphere to their game as they sat in a circle, drinking.

Helen wasn't usually one to partake in drinking games, but when she had happened upon the group, which included Nikola and her old friend of all people.

With the power out and no generators running (again, she blamed Nikola wholeheartedly for that one) there wasn't much in the way of work to do and Helen had stepped into the room out of sheer curiosity for what they might be doing.

They had been involved in a drinking game and Helen had been invited to join them, because apparently Chuck had wandered out, calling it a night and they needed someone else.

Helen had accepted the spot between Nikola and Will graciously enough, satisfied that they weren't using her expensive alcohol, instead whatever someone--Henry, probably--had picked up at a shop.

Then the drinking and game had commenced.

It turned out they were a bastardized version of playing truth or dare, a distinctly adolescent game, but Helen had plenty of truths to share that she didn't mind and she usually came out on top in such a game.

Besides, she wasn't usually invited to join the younger--much younger--generations in this sort of thing and it was something of a novelty.

It wasn't long before she discovered that Nikola had pretty much barged his way into the game and she gave him a look.

He grinned at her and took a sip of his wine as he did.

"Wine can be involved, Helen. Did you honestly expect me to stay away?"

"Coupled with the chance to cause chaos, I don't know why I am surprised." she replied.

Nikola smirked and Helen sipped her own drink, letting her gaze linger on him for a few moments before she looked away.

"You guys aren't supposed to be drinking between rounds." Will teased.

"It's not a very high-stakes game." Nikola said, deliberately taking another sip of his drink. "Considering that the drinking part is a cop out if we don't want to do it."

Helen had a feeling that the dare half of the game had taken a backseat now that she had joined. Judging from the guilty look Henry had had, at least one thing had already happened that she was going to find out later.

That was fine.

Helen knew most of what was gotten up to in her house and she didn't mind when the others had their fun.

She also had a feeling that Nikola had been abusing the truth half of the game with an effort to get the others drink, if the hazy look in Henry, Will, Kate, and Abby's eyes were any indication.

"It's not about stakes, dude." Henry protested. "It's about having fun."

"Hmm. Well, I'm winning."

Helen rolled her eyes and lowered her glass to her lap, glancing at her old friend, who rolled his eyes back at her.

She held back a smile, wondering how he had gotten involved in the game, but deciding she rather liked the mystery.

As the game progressed, with much laughter and more drinking, especially when Nikola was the one dolling out the truth or dare, she found her gaze drawn back to the vampire beside her more often than they really should have been.

In the dim, flickering light, Helen thought that she could get away with looking at him more than she usually did or usually allowed herself.

The shadows played his features in interesting ways and Nikola caught her looking at him a time or two, smirking at her each time that he did.

Helen did implement a rule on Nikola having to answer more questions than drinking when he didn't want to, because he couldn't get intoxicated like the others.

"Drinking games are supposed to be fair." he protested.

"Drinking games aren't supposed to be played with people who have an unfair advantage."

Helen patted his knee and squeezed it before letting go, pulling her hand back into her lap quickly as Nikola's eyes dropped to where it had been and then back up to her.

"It's not my fault I'm a vampire. It's yours."

"You were a willing participant."

Helen raised her glass again, eyeing Nikola as she did so.

She realized everyone else was watching them and she arched a brow that made them all quickly look away.

"Okay, my turn." Henry said, rubbing his hands against his jeans. "Tesla."

"Yes, Heinrich?"

"Did you really marry a pigeon?"

Helen nearly choked on her drink as she laughed and Nikola spluttered, expression and facial color going through changes in rapid succession.

"What?"

Henry grinned and Helen bit her lip as Nikola glared.

"Answer the question, Nikola. You aren't allowed to drink with this one."

"You know the answer." he snapped at her.

"Ah, but they don't."

"No. I have no clue who started that rumor, but it is completely untrue."

Henry grinned.

Helen could still feel laughter shaking her chest, despite her efforts. Even when the rumor had started, she had found it incredibly amusing, mostly because she had known what Nikola's reaction to it be.

Nikola knocked back what was left in his glass and Helen handed him the bottle that she had nestled beside her before he could ask for it.

He filled the glass absurdly high, making her shake her head. He couldn't get drunk, but Nikola certainly had a flair for the dramatic.

As the game continued on, Helen noticed that Nikola had shifted closer and closer to her. Subtly, but he had certainly moved closer to her than he had been when she had sat down.

Eventually, it was her old friend's turn.

"Truth or dare?" he asked her.

"Dare."

The alcohol was making her feel warm and a little loose and she might as well see what he could come up with.

"Kiss."

He pointed at her and Nikola.

Helen's breath hitched and her heart seemed to stop for a moment as she looked at Nikola.

She was almost afraid of just how much she wanted to do that. Nikola was watching her intently and the others had all gone quiet to see what she would do.

Helen swallowed and took a breath, though that did nothing to calm how hard her heart was beating at the thought of closing the gap between them and pressing her lips against Nikola's.

Instead of giving into that fantasy, Helen raised her glass and drank.

She didn't lower her eyes in time to miss the look in Nikola's eyes, a mixture of hurt and disappointment.

The game didn't last long after that, much to her relief, and they all scattered to bed, Henry insisting that since he couldn't fix the power, Nikola should be the one to fix it again.

In the hallway, Helen faced Nikola, feeling a little more unsteady than she would have liked from the amount of alcohol she had consumed.

"Nikola...."

She had no idea what she was supposed to say. She hadn't meant to hurt him. She wanted to do it, but she was afraid, especially in front of so many other people, even if those people were her family.

He looked at her and she broke off. She couldn't give excuses.

Instead, she reached up and kissed him lightly on the lips.

It didn't last long and it was so light, Helen supposed it barely counted, but she hoped it conveyed what she needed it to, because she wasn't sure what she wanted it to convey.

She was feeling jittery at her own daring, something that hadn't happened in such a long time it made it feel more exhilarating than it probably should have.

Nikola stared at her in surprise, eyes searching her face.

"You're drunk, Helen."

"No." Helen gave him a small smile. "I'm not."

Nikola's eyebrows drew together for a moment and he searched her face again, this time like he was searching for a lie, not an explanation.

Helen let him, because she knew he would find none.

Then she gently rested her hand on his chest.

"Goodnight, Nikola."

She brushed her lips against his cheek this time, tightened her fingers for a moment, then turned and walked away down the hall, leaving Nikola behind to realize just what that kiss had meant.

[pacifistcowboy]

You ever think about how scary an Enerjak Silver would be.

admittedly, i’ve never read archie, but from what i’ve read on his wiki, i can see enerjak is some sorta demigod-spirit that possessed a few echidnas and has practically limitless power? so yeah if silver got possessed by enerjak it would be terrifying. silver’s already powerful as he is, so if he was possessed by this being with god-level strength, psychic abilities, and reality-warping, it’d be all over. he could probably turn the planet to dust with the flick of his wrist. the universe itself would be the thing at risk, the planet would already be gone. enerjak silver would be cool as hell to see. completely undefeatable psychokinetic armoured boy? it’d look so awesome.

anyway since i’ve never read those comics so i couldn’t go too in-depth with this question due to not knowing enough about enerjak, i decided to try design enerjak silver! :]

enerjak’s armour is seemingly inspired by egyptian royalty and armour, and since silver is italian, i decided to base enerjak silver’s armour on roman soldiers! i don’t know if that ended up coming across in the finished design, but i swear the inspiration is there ehfjejfjwjf. i tried to have it so silver’s quills came out the top of his helmet like the crest that some roman soldiers’ helmets had, also i imagine the visor covering his face is moveable, so he can lift it up off his face :]

[electricfied-wolf]

So... you've been reblogging a lot of Starlight Express onto my dash and I feel like it's about time I ask what it's about? What I'm picking up is that it's... humanoid trains?

Whatever it is I must admit it's piqued my curiosity

OHHHH BOY YOU'VE ACTIVATED MY AUTISM CARD I LOVE TO TALK ABOUT STARLIGHT EXPRESS. Ooookay, there's a lot to talk about, especially because a new non-replica production like JUST opened in London. I feel like I'm gonna ramble a lot so we're gonna put it under the cut and I'm just gonna blab until I feel I've explained it well enough. First of all I should note that I am explaining just off the top of my head, if you'd like more info the Starlight Express wiki is run by some very committed folks and as far as I know every word on that wiki is true. Also if you'd like more photos you're gonna have to go there bc GUESS WHO LEARNED THE LIMIT FOR PHOTOS IN A SINGLE TUMBLT POST IS 30? ANYWAY ONTO MY RAMBLE!!!! And be warned, it WILL BE VERY LONG. CLICK AT YOUR OWN RISK.

What is Starlight Express?

Starlight Express (often abbreviated to Stex by the fans) is a musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber (yes the CATS guy) that revolves around a child's toy trains "coming to life" and having a big ol' dramatic race. They've got an underdog, a couple bad guys, train god and romance. Pretty much everything. Most productions are more song filled than dialogue filled. It has its roots in Thomas & Friends and some of the earliest stuff had a Cinderella type of thing going on (not surprising I'm sure), the plot is actually pretty easy to follow once you get used to it. Starlight Express is performed SOLELY on roller skates (not counting lndn24's scooters for the Trax and Control) for the entire duration! And in such heavy costumes too! The show has been performed since 1984 and has absolutely ZERO signs of stopping as the Bochum, Germany production is still being performed and as I stated above, there is now a non-replica production running at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London. And if you don't know what that term (non replica) means, it essentially means they are not using the traditional costumes for the show that John Napier designed and are taking quite a few liberties with a newer plot and characters to make the show something much more unique as compared to its replica counterparts.

An older version of Rusty and Pearl in the John Napier style (left) VS. Rusty in the style of the London 2024 production standing with ALW (right) _ I specify 2024 London as the show was originally produced in London but also got revised so there's like three London Stex productions I could be talking abt lol, though the costumes have gone through some pretty drastic changes even in the replica productions.

Electra's more recognizable costume (aka the more compact mohawk version of red/blue Electra) used up until the rehaul in 2018, and the one currently used in Bochum's performance of the show (aka used from 2018-now). The same character and both replica, but still different! Over the course of the many years these trains have shared our earth, I'd say that Greaseball and Rusty are amongst the few that haven't changed that massively over the course of the show (again, NOT counting the current non-rep). This show has indeed graced the US and was even performed on Broadway! Unfortunately, us Americans are really really boring apparently because the show (while still wildly successful) did not stick around here in the states. It is still however beloved by many and that is the sole reason why it has stood to be seen for 40 years: people can say the show was made on drugs and that its "weird" all they want, but Starlight Express has a bigger community than you'd think, and it is incredibly well loved by those in the community. We are VERY devoted to our trains. Despite everything though, it has never gotten a pro-shot and the only fully versions available for streaming (...in terms of official audio for official streaming) on places like youtube and spotify are the original 1984 London Cast Recording and "The New Starlight Express", aka the revised London production's album released in 1993. There is also the english and german version's of Bochum Starlight Express' "Ich Bin Ich" otherwise know as "I Am Me", but no other parts of that production have been released for streaming. You can technically stop here and just go on to the wiki and stuff but if you wanna spend like an hour listening to my infodump I AM going to keep going.

The Characters

Before I touch on the story (a much shorter section I assume) I feel it is important to explain the characters, as there are a LOT and they change depending on each production and long story short yes I am nowhere dear done with this post. The characters can be broken up into groups of which I'll introduce them by. I also cannot really do London 24's characters which I wish I could bc I'm dead obsessed w/ it but it literally just opened a little while ago so the only sharable photos of other characters I got are fuzzy and from the megamixes or backstage pics. So unfortunately no cameos from those guys in this post but trust me THE WEMBLEY PARK PRODUCTION IS SO GOOD. Uhm anyways. First I'll mention the Trax/Racing Marshals, no speaking roles and very simple costumes compared to the other trains. They're simply there to wave the flags for the races and perform other tiny tasks to move the show along, as well as doing some very cool stunts that the other performers cannot do due to the absurd weight of the main costumes. They're just as important as everyone else!

The Marshals (Bochum 2016) *note, I'm mainly going to use Bochum photos to show off the costumes because they're just usually better quality The Humans: Usually disembodied voices (with exception from two productions) our only humans are a little kid named Control, and their mom who is simply known as Mom/Control's Mom and also has an even smaller role than her child as she only comes in at the introduction to put Control to bed. Control is OBSESSED with trains which grants us the plot of this musical, over the course of the show they order the trains around and narrate the races, but (up until recently) typically don't play an active role in terms of properly interacting with the trains. They are, as their name suggests, the Control for the trains. In Bochum's performance 2018 and onward Control mentions having a grandmother who is hard of hearing, but to my knowledge said grandma is only brought up in that specific production. The National/Competing Engines: For pretty much every production excluding WP's, the non-main character racing competitors have been international trains from across the world. However their names and some of their designs have been changed over time, and the French engine even switched genders in the 2018 Bochum rehaul. I am excluding the doubles from the tours because this'll take all day if I don't. _______ The French engine- Essentially from the beginning up to 2018, Bobo the TGV. In/after 2018 in Bochum, Coco the Eurostar. Arguably the most changed of the nationals, originally a male character (Bobo) she was changed to be a female and even given a blue color scheme which Bobo usually never had as he was typically seen with orange colors in Bochum.

(Bobo (Bochum) and Coco) _______ The Japanese Engine: Originally Hashamoto (misspelling of Hashimoto but technically that's his official name), later changed to Nintendo in 1992 for all english language productions but still Hashamoto in Germany, and from 2018 onward in Bochum known as Manga. All three are labeled as Shinkansen bullet trains.

(Hashamoto (Bochum), Nintendo, and Manga) _______ The Russian Engine: Turnov the trans siberian express has literally just been Turnov this whole time and really he's hardly changed aside from his costume having to have its chest symbol changed due to obvious reasons. This poor guy has suffered greatly due to political stuff even all the way back in 1987, though I will avoid getting into that here.

Turnov (Bochum 1991), Turnov (Bochum 2018, ft. Manga) _______ The German Engine: Weltschaft originally, later named Ruhrgold, the german engine is the InterCity Express (ICE). Like Turnov he hasn't really gone through many major changes other than the original switch from Weltschaft to Ruhrgold, though the two are presented with very contrasting personalities.

Weltschaft (Bochum 1991, ft. C.B.), Rurhgold (Bochum 2018, ft. Espresso) _______ The Italian Engine: ESPRESSO! He's a fun one, very similar to Bobo in that they're both pretty flamboyant european engines. Not really similar to Coco though. Espresso's a silly fella, flirts with the audience sometimes. His design has also been pretty consistent.

Espresso (Bochum 1988), Espresso (Bochum 2021) _______ The British Engine: Our pathetic failure king <3, aka the engine that literally never races as he usually breaks down before he's meant to race. Like every time it's got to be one of the most consistent plot points across 40 years of showtime. Even through three different transformations this british loco cannot escape it. Originally named City of Milton Keynes, later Prince of Wales upon the opening of the broadway production, and in 2018 hit the stage as Brexit. Yes, you heard me. They named the British national engine Brexit, and no none of us are particularly proud of that but it is how it is. At least he's got some charm!

No images of Milton are available atm, Prince of Wales (Las Vegas, 1993), Brexit (Bochum, 2018) _______ OKAY WE'RE DONE WITH NATIONALS. We can talk about the important ones now.

So next I'll move onto our main trio of engines. Rusty, Greaseball, Electra. Lots of design altercations over the years but no name changes and basically no role changes. However, the most recent production involves a female and wlw Greaseball as well as a canon they/them Electra! We'll go engine by engine, talk about our trademark "old steamer", and then I'll move onto the cars. _______ Greaseball, the world racing champion of Union Pacific: Heavily greaser based with muscles that make coaches and freight cars alike swoon, Greaseball is a black and yellow diesel and one of the antagonists of our plot. He's the world racing champion at the start of the show. Dating Dinah (both at the beginning and by the end despite some issues) the dining car, VERY proud of himself and pretty damn self absorbent in pretty much every production. He is also NOT that nice. He was pretty terrible in the very original plot back in the day BUT DON'T FEAR! They very quickly edited those plot points and made him less terrible and more of just a really pompous jerk. Bochum GB is actually such a goofy guy by the end. His female counterpart in the new production doesn't lack her meanness either! She's just as big of a jerk but also just as big of a softie by the end of the show. Truly, the same in every universe. Being a girl and a lesbian does not destroy her asshole tendencies and I am glad for that. Let gay girls be jerks too!!!

Greaseball (London 1984, ft. Pearl, Dinah, and Ashley), Greaseball (Bochum, 2021, ft. Caboose)

_______ Electra, the engine of the future: QUEEREST PRE-2024 STEX CHARACTER WHOOOO? Despite never having been fully confirmed (at least up until recent) to be any specific non-cishet identity, Electra the electric engine has been an icon for the girls and the gays since day one. With he/him pronouns but a slightly feminine name and physical demeanor, it's clear he was made to represent a less traditional form of gender presentation as he has been played by actresses in the past too, though primarily has been portrayed by male actors. Andrew Lloyd Webber even once referred to Electra's main song, AC/DC, as "transgender electro-pop". Not to mention the casting notice for the 2019 Bochum cast having described Electra as 'gender fluid / androgynous'. Electra has a pack of "components" aka his freight car entourage who follow him around and sing his praises. He is also one of the antagonists, though antagonist is a bit of a strong word as he isn't as hardcore as Greaseball or our villainous railcar. He has more beef with the diesel than our main character as well, stealing his girl and the show at every opportunity. And also aggressively zapping him as often as possible. The only thing they have in common is that they're full of themselves, they want Rusty out of the race, and they want to win. No photos for Electra I gave him his spotlight earlier in this post. Though do remember that the newest version of Electra (got a little sleek helmet instead of hair, super pointy costume, blue and silver colors) is NOT he/him, they are they/them and so is their current main actor! Electra is accompanied by an entourage of "components", aka shiny and fancy freight cars that bend to the engine's every whim. Pre-2018 the components are Wrench the repair truck, Joule the Dynamite Truck, Volta the freezer truck, Krupp the armaments truck, and Purse the money truck. Post-2018 the components are Wrench, Volta, Joule, and Killerwatt the security truck, Krupp and Purse are no longer present. It is also important to note that pre-2018 Volta is portrayed as very feminine meanwhile post-2018 Volta is meant to be much more masculine. No photos for Electra they got photos earlier in this post and I'm trying to save myself from hitting the photo limit. Same for Rusty. _______ Rusty, the steam train: WOOO WOOO! WOOO WOO! Say hello to the titular bitchular that everyone loves. Seriously I've never seen a Rusty hater. Our main character and a timeless gem of the show, he's a pathetic wet cat, he's rusted and falling apart, and he meets god. The perfect man! Rusty obviously has the greatest arc over the entire story, he's our underdog and incredibly charming in all his forms. Overtime some actors have played him up as sassier while others amped up the wet cat energy (Looking at you, Javeen), but no matter how he's played you will feel sorry for him and likely fall in love with him. He's so overconfident at the start but is very quickly brought down by the other engines, fear not though, because he's the main guy!! I'll yap more about his whole thing in the story section. _______ The old steam engine: Had to make the title gender neutral w/ these guys bc GUESS WHO ELSE GOT GIRL'D IN 2018! Poppa, or in terms of Bochum 2018 and onward, Momma, is Rusty's mentor and the only other steam engine in the show. Quite stubborn, preachy in more ways than one, but ultimately good at heart. They're the engine that pushes Rusty to race and encourages Rusty to seek faith in the Starlight Express (Eyyyy title drop!). Most of this engine's role is story related too so I'll save that for then.

Poppa (Bochum, 1997, ft. Rusty), Momma (Bochum, 2018, ft. Dustin) _______ The freight: For the convience of I'm afraid to hit the word count, we're gonna lump the cars into whole sections. Minus one specific member of the freight due to plot significance. Anyway the freight!! Lots of people are big fans of them and I can't blame them. Though they went through a few changes here and there, they're usually a pretty consistent group (once again, minus 2024). From 1984 to 2003 they contained the boxcars aka the Rockies, then productions between 2003 and 2018 included the Hip Hoppers, with the 2018 rehaul marking the return of the Rockies to the show. All productions included Flat-Top the brick truck and Dustin the big hopper, and while Dustin does play a significant role in the show...there's a certain sixth member that plays the greatest role of all the freight. _______ The Red Caboose: Though his Bochum rehaul design spells out "brake van" on his shoulders (even though brake vans aren't cabooses, rant for another day) and he's gone by the Red Caboose for far longer, most know this beloved boy as CB...buuut the version that is widely marked as CB isn't technically CB! That was his original name in regards to the radio codes he used throughout the show- "10-4, smokey bear!" -C.B., 1984 "10-7, gone to heaven!" -Included in the segment after the first run of the final race -but his original name was dropped upon the entry to Broadway, from then on he was just the caboose, and he continues to be so to this day! No matter the production...or at least the ones he's in, he sticks out from the start as one of the guys to keep your eye on. And I'm sure you caught that, that's right, he's not even in every production! Though he is in most of them! His role is another plot heavy one so I'm sure you get the deal by now.

CB (London, 1984), Caboose (Bochum, 2006) _______ The Coaches: The girls, the lasses, the women, etc etc!!! Full of lovely ladies (again, not mentioning 2024's changes) and honestly the true stars of the show in my eyes. In this group is where you'll find our other main character! But would you believe they've also undergone swaps? Originally it was Pearl the observation car/first class carriage, Dinah the dining car, Ashley the smoking car, and Buffy the buffet car, and it remained that way for a long time...but there was an odd period in which Ashley was replaced with a sleeping car named Duvay, though Duvay didn't last very long in the grand scheme of things. Upon the 2018 rehaul, Buffy and Ashley were replaced with Carrie the luggage van and Belle the bar car. Belle actually shares her name with a coach that was present all the way up into the broadway production, though not really used afterwards. Belle the sleeping car was a companion to Poppa and while not part of the main quartet of coaches would usually appear with the other girls for Girls Rolling Stock! Broadway did OG Belle dirty but that's another rant for another day. Again, for simplicity's sake, we'll only individually cover the gals you absolutely gotta know about. _______ Pearl the observation car/first class carriage: Pearl girl!!! Very near and dear to me, our secondary main character and Rusty's love interest. The label for what type of coach she is varies from production to production, all you need to know for certain is she's a super shiny new coach and Rusty is absolutely INFATUED with her...but she's her own coach too, and she's not as quick to settle as he is. She makes it very clear that she wants her choices to be her own and she's not going to let someone else make those choices for her no matter what. She has her own little arc too. While in older productions Pearl is painted as being new but still having an established bond with Rusty, newer ones (aka bochum and london's current shows) paint Pearl as a completely new coach who doesn't know anyone and literally just got here, making her and Rusty's relationship a bit more fleshed out...but we'll discuss that more later!

Pearl (Bochum, 2011), Pearl (Bochum, 2019) _______ Dinah the dining car: HARD to not just ramble about how much I adore her. I am her she is me we are the same person, ESPECIALLY her 2024 variant same taste in women fr. A southern accented (usually) dining car, Dinah is Greaseball's partner with honestly a very inspiring little arc of her own, she's emotional and devoted to her partner but is not to be mistaken as someone who can't stick up for herself, because she makes it crystal clear that she's not someone to be pushed around. She was given even more of a powerful and independent personality in the 2018 rehaul/london revival, but she's always had fight in her from the very beginning!

Dinah (Bochum, 1993), Dinah (Bochum, 2018) AND WHOOPS TOO LONG OF A POST FOR TUMBLR. I'M GONNA HAVE TO PUT THE PLOT IN THE REBLOGS HOLD ON TIGHT. EDIT: I AM GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE A SEPARATE POST NOT A REBLOG BECAUSE TUMBLR WON'T SAVE THE REBLOG AS A DRAFT.