#but i've seen some fanart. and i have questions

[confused-robot-cat]

That Strange Eye

So with the release of The Book of Bill and the Rock-a-Bye Billy nursery rhyme, along with the nature of Bill's homeworld and parents, people seem to have assumed that what's weird about Bill's eye is that he only has one.

We never actually see what Bill's parents looked like, just that they were coloured triangles, so their number of eyes is questionable. I've seen them drawn with two and three but never one, but that's fanart. We don't know what their faces really look like. What we do know is that Bill was the only person in Euclydia to be able to look up at the stars.

Euclydia is often compared to Flatland, which is fair, seeing as it is presented as a two dimensional world of shapes. So I think we can assume that Euclydia is a world without depth. So things can only move up and down, and left and right. When perceiving Bill, everyone in Euclydia can easily tell that he is a triangle like his parents. They would easily sense he has three side even though all they could ever possibly see of him is a line segment, assuming they can see at all.

This is where things get weird. Or, weirder. In a world without depth, it would be impossible for the inhabitants to face each other. They wouldn't know what their faces look like. They wouldn't know that Bill has an eye or a bowtie. There is no forwards and backwards, they cannot pass in front of or behind Bill to see his face. To everyone in Euclydia, everyone else is a line segment. They can only tell what colour they are, and feel each other to count the sides. So how does anyone know what eyes even are?

That aside - let's assume they can see each other's faces - Bill isn't flat. Not only is Bill not flat, his eye is round.

A flat eye cannot move much, especially in a world without depth. Euclydians would only be able to see whatever they're facing. However, if we look at Bill's model sheet and his mugshot from The Book of Bill...

Bill isn't flat!

Bill has some depth, and his eye is round.

Now, in a flat world, Bill would still be perceived as a triangle by those around him.

However, with a round eye, Bill can see into the third dimension. He can look in directions others of his kind cannot.

Bill's eye isn't weird because he only has the one.

Bill's eye is weird because it's three dimensional.

It's Bill's eye that allows him to look up, and see the stars.

Now, I could go on about the implications and metaphors of a "world without depth" and a people "without depth" and the fact both Ford and Bill are biological freaks of nature but... I don't feel like it.

Everything you know is a lie, buy NFTs, byyyeeeeeee!

[madraleen]

The Promised Neverland - Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu Vol. 16-20: A “YOU STUCK THE LANDING!” Commentary + Overall Thoughts

-the seven walls are time and space? very interesting.

-smol emma jumping out of the cupboard and screaming RAAAYYY is the epitome of emma.

-jeez, hayato is adorable

-wth, ayshe's and demon's story is heartbreaking

-one thing i have to commend the manga for is structure. it stops the action and moves away to keep the tension- but just so. just for long enough. not too long so that it becomes frustrating or that you've forgotten what's happening.

-julius' comrades as first food offers?! JEEZ!

-hayato is a snitch.

-Iss should ask for emma's family, right? the most important thing to her? i call the being "Iss," yes. i don't know what to do with the lettering

-okay, clearly the reward is an emma sacrifice, but i don't believe for a second that emma will get an unhappy ending so how are we solving this

-oi! OI! NORMAN IS COUGHING UP BLOOD, OI, STOP THAT! i figured he might have been experimented on too, but oi~

-omg ray's so happy to see sonju and mujika

-low-key cathartic that emma calls norman a liar that she can't trust. yes, girl, say it. it's the same thing, always the same story, it goes beyond this manga. the positive traits when someone is your ally become negative traits when they become the opposition, even though the person themselves hasn't changed at all.

-norman's "i'm scared" inner thoughts are heartbreaking

-the part where norman asks ray and emma to help him, heartbreaking

-norman: gives the most honest and vulnerable "i want" speech of his life. ray: got it. the brevity, the simplicity, i love it.

-with all those lil lines on his face, i'm just imagining norman permanently beet red at this point. and i love the idea that extreme determination and single-mindedness can actually be a cry for help. i haven't seen it put so bluntly before, and it's very true.

-now that norman's opened up, he looks like emma and ray's age. it's cool

-OI BITCH LEAVE ZAZIE ALONE!

-SONJU IS THE QUEEN'S BROTHER?!?! PRINCE SONJU?!

-why did they give norman a bow, that boy can't shoot to save his life

-REDEEM YOURSELF, ISABELLA! NOW IS YOUR TIME TO SHINE

-yes, oliver, slay! we love to see it

-damn there's such good moments in these final volumes, i'm starting to worry about s2 of the anime. is any of that there?

-YES ISABELLA YES! YES! she looks so chipper when she explains she'll betray the farm, lol.

-i know i'm obsessed with aot, but at times i legit think the promised neverland is the deliberate antithesis of aot. and i have no problem with that.

-leuvis is also a sibling? did we know that? if so, i forgot.

-ray's scarf is blue?! i imagined it maroon

-ugh, they shot minerva in the back. somehow that feels worse

-SMEE?! SMEE?! SMEE KILLED MINERVA?! NORMAN'S SMEE?! (*in retrospect, norman’s smee is never explored, oof. an oversight)

-ray and norman are having a sweet moment in the panel where everyone's celebrating the end of the farms, it's adorable

-aah okay, not gonna lie, i teared up at emma and phil's reunion

-ray's expression when he says sorry and thanks to phil, they nail it.

-oooh you're killing off isabella? i didn't expect it, but it makes sense.

-yeah, of course they love isabella and isabella loves them. it's not as black and white as ally and enemy.

-don be like, "RAY GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, MOM IS CALLING"

-ray continues to be my favorite and most nuanced character, followed by norman. but ray is number one by far. by far far far

-I CALLED IT, THE REWARD MUST BE EMMA'S FAMILY! i don't know what that means yet, BUT I CALLED IT because the story abides by its logic, love that for it

-lmao imagine how terrified all these children/adults who knew nothing must be, just whooshing out of existence into another world

-AHAHA EMMA'S NOT HERE! NICE! what did she do and how do we save her

-yes, that's a good reward. true to the story. i mean, bad for everyone, but narratively good. amnesiac emma

-emma feeling the void in the space inside of her where her family was, very well-expressed

-ah. final chapter. please stick the landing.

-TWO YEARS! IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS!

-GHOSTIES SAVING THE DAY AAAHHHH

-ASDJHKSFJK THEY FOUND HER, WHAT A GREAT PANEL, RAY AND NORMAN AND EVERYONE. she must be terrified. they're all strangers.

-my boy ray shines, i love it

-aww norman "thank goodness," what a soft boy. also he's crying, have we ever seen him cry before? he didn't cry for isabella

-the lambda group thriving :'))) they have effective medicine for their side effects :')))

-dang it, norman's speech is giving me the feels

-"why does it feel warm but also painful in my heart?" is literally a summary of the final chapter.

-ah, bb ray is crying now too

-THEY'RE GONNA LIVE TOGETHERRRR, SCREW DESTINY

-mujika looks happy, and sonju looks sonjuish :)

-not sure if the old man knows it, but he's just been adopted by fifty thousand children

-okay, i am so happy. this is a perfect ending. this is just. it's so good. it tooketh and it gaveth and now the mini torettos can all live together. i'm so happy with the ending.

~ ~~ ~~~

-i'm so happy in general that i read the manga. we started off neutrally, then things got rough and i genuinely thought if it might be better to quit, but from around the midpoint and onward it just got better and better. the story is exactly what it promises to be, very true to itself, and it pays off in every aspect.

-ray is my GOAT in this manga. norman is as nuanced as ray, i just vibe with ray the most. but i consider them both good characters. emma, on the other hand, is a very straightforward character, very static, but she works. she is the pillar of the story and she's exactly what she's meant to be. i like that she pushes everyone towards kindness, and when *they* can't be kind, she takes care of the issue herself from a place of kindness so that they won't have to fight from a place of unkindness. it's an interesting approach. and then, i have a soft spot for oliver and hayato for some reason.

-one thing that made me roll my eyes was that in such a huge cast, everything is so unanimous. the norman and vincent incident aside, there's no fights, no real resistance, no dissent. but it's not the kind of story where there would be, where there would be a point to be, so i don't feel like holding that against it. and it tried to give it that aspect too, with emma going against her fam to find Iss and all that.

-everything abides by the logic and tone of the story. and the ending just elevates the whole thing even higher, because it stuck the landing so well imo.

-now on to the anime, to finally hear their voices. i fear for the dreaded s2, and dare i say, i am also a little intrigued.

[qourmet]

re: i won't let you undress corpse trousers re: i'm drunk and i don't like wen ning re: pre-yi city's waiter that got too handsy with wwx "why's this guy looking like i laid a hand on his wife" re: i'm drunk again and i don't like wen ning

[lowpolyotakuconvention]

liquidmantis

Ask me about a character or ship

Liquidmantis The fanart I've seen is always really fucking good and in general I really like them both. Two weirdos bonding over failing biology together. <3 Don't know if I could take them seriously, even though their situation is so dramatic. Question to ppl who read fic: Do you imagine the dialog in their accents? I need to know

Unpopular opinion idk if it's unpopular but I find it funny to ship Mantis with anyone, considering he apparently hates sex and romance. Maybe it doesn't count if it's gay, like reverse no homo...? That could would make sense.

Music I associate with them None, shockingly. Even though they are both extremely soundtrackable. Here's my fav fanart of them, even if it's not ship art.

Do I feel like I could beat them in a fight? Bald + British, absolutely I could.

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

FYI artists and writers: some info regarding tumblr's new "third-party sharing" (aka selling your content to OpenAI and Midjourney)

You may have already seen the post by @staff regarding third-party sharing and how to opt out. You may have also already seen various news articles discussing the matter.

But here's a little further clarity re some questions I had, and you may too. Caveat: Not all of this is on official tumblr pages, so it's possible things may change.

(1) "I heard they already have access to my data and it doesn't really matter if I opt out"

From the 404 article:

A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”

So please, go click that opt-out button.

(2) Some future user: "I've been away from tumblr for months, and I just heard about all this. I didn't opt out before, so does it make a difference anymore?"

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?” Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believe partners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.”

It should make a difference! Go click that button.

(3) "I opted out, but my art posts have been reblogged by so many people, and I don't know if they all opted out. What does that mean for my stuff?"

This answer is actually on the support page for the toggle:

This option will prevent your blog's content, even when reblogged, from being shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models.

And some further clarification by the COO and a product manager:

zingring: A couple people from work have reached out to let me know that yes, it applies to reblogs of "don't scrape" content. If you opt out, your content is opted out, even in reblog form. cyle: yep, for reblogs, we're taking it so far as "if anybody in the reblog trail has opted out, all of the content in that reblog will be opted out", when a reblog could be scraped/shared.

So not only your reblogged posts, but anyone who contributed in a reblog (such as posts where someone has been inspired to draw fanart of the OP) will presumably be protected by your opt-out. (A good reason to opt out even if you yourself are not a creator.)

Furthermore, if you the OP were offline and didn't know about the opt-out, if someone contributed to a reblog and they are opted out, then your original work is also protected. (Which makes it very tempting to contribute "scrapeable content" now whenever I reblog from an abandoned/disused blog...)

(4) "What about deleted blogs? They can't opt out!"

I was told by someone (not official) that he read "deleted blogs are all opted-out by default". However, he didn't recall the source, and I can't find it, so I can't guarantee that info. If I get more details - like if/when tumblr puts up that FAQ as reported in the 404 article - I will add it here as soon as I can.

Edit, tumblr has updated their help page for the option to opt-out of third-party sharing! It now states:

The content which will not be shared with our licensed network of content and research partners, including those that train AI models, includes: • Posts and reblogs of posts from blogs who have enabled the "Prevent third-party sharing" option. • Posts and reblogs of posts from deleted blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from password-protected blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from explicit blogs. • Posts and reblogs of posts from suspended/deactivated blogs. • Private posts. • Drafts. • Messages. • Asks and submissions which have not been publicly posted. • Post+ subscriber-only posts. • Explicit posts.

So no need to worry about your old deleted blogs that still have reblogs floating around. *\o/*

But for your existing blogs, please use the opt out option. And a reminder of how to opt out, under the cut:

The opt-out toggle is in Blog Settings, and please note you need to do it for each one of your blogs / sideblogs.

On dashboard, the toggle is at https://www.tumblr.com/settings/blog/blogname [replace "blogname" as applicable] down by Visibility:

For mobile, you need the most recent update of the app. (Android version 33.4.1.100, iOs version 33.4.) Then go to your blog tab (the little person icon), and then the gear icon for Settings, then click Visibility.

Again, if you have a sideblog, go back to the blog tab, switch to it, and go to settings again. Repeat as necessary.

If you do not have access to the newest version of the app for whatever reason, you can also log into tumblr in your mobile browser. Same URL as per desktop above, same location.

Note you do not need to change settings in both desktop and the app, just one is fine.

I hope this helps!

[phantomrose96]

I'm thinking about Tumblr Live again and ruminating on WHY it's such a huge flop and I think I've figured it out: They've completely refused to make it a tumblr feature...

By which I mean (begrudgingly goes to unsnooze Tumblr live) this:

^This is meant with zero insult or derision to the people above, but these are absolutely not Tumblr users.

Every single thumbnail I've ever seen for Tumblr live seems to say "This is for clout!" "This is for a thirst trap!" "This is for influencers!" "This is for Tiktok wannabe stars!" "This is for showing your pretty filtered face and reaping what people on Instagram and Tiktok are desperately chasing!"

I'm remembering that Reddit has (or had) livestreams you could tune into like this. I've tapped into some. Ones I remember offhand include:

a guy just wandering around downtown in his city silently showing people the streets and stuff

a guy streaming his attempt to beat the last level of Celeste

a guy streaming his dog he was petting

And that, that was Reddit. That was undoubtedly just regular Reddit users going "oh stream feature? yeah okay. here's my dog." "here's my video game." "here's my street corner in Prague."

And when I think of all the recent successful Tumblr features, they're all things that correctly tapped into actual Tumblr user interests. Blaze had people go "haha yeah here's my dog." "here's my advertisement for a horse lawyer (lawyer who is a horse)." They let us buy crabs because, fuck it, crabs. The blue checkmarks were funny. Polls turned into the fandom brackets people have desperately wanted to make for a decade+. I'd wager the merch that calls on old Tumblr memes is at least decently successful.

If Tumblr Live wanted the chance to be successful, it should have been angled toward Tumblr users. "Here, you can livestream your cat if you want." "You can livestream yourself working on some fanart and chatting." "You can livestream yourself going bird watching because birds are your hyperfixation and you can identify them all by their song to all your followers who want to tune in for bird facts."

But Tumblr Live has never tried to be that. It ONLY seems like it wants to be a Tiktok-clone, Instagram-clone, clout-chaser baited-hook trying to pull converts over from Tiktok/Insta/etc who are trying to grow their influencer brand, which Tumblr is lethally hostile to.

(And ALL of this is only touching on the concept behind what's happening here. I haven't even touched on the third-party streaming service and questionable data protection.)

Like fine, I guess I get it from a business model of trying to grow your userbase--since catering to your existing userbase doesn't pull in new meat. But this will not work. Because anyone, tumblr-native or not, trying to grow themselves as an influencer will NOT find success here. This place is not a place of honor. No highly esteemed deed is commemorated here. Nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. We will not watch your Shein haul stream.

[jonnywaistcoat]

Hi Jonny, if you don't mind I have a question about the TMA TTRPG! So I noticed that on the player's guide there's this guy, who my friends and I assumed is probably Jon. If it is him, is this a canon design, or more like some of the non-canon stuff that's in the merch?

So, I hope you don't mind if i use this ask to go a bit off on one. I'm not specifically dragging you (I'm actualy glad you asked, as I've thinking about posting on the topic), but all the discussion around the RPG art and how "official" or "canon" it might be is, to my mind, slightly silly.

First up, is it "official" art? I mean, yeah, its art for the officially licenced Magnus Archives RPG. This means Monte Cook Games have commissioned someone to do a beatiful illustration broadly based on some aspect, episode or character from the podcast and it goes in the book. But that's kinda all it means. "Official" is a legal distinction, not an artistic one. The fact that it's in an official product doesn't make it any less one artist's cool interpretation of a character that has only been vaguely described in audio.

Second, is it Jonathan Sims the Archivist? I mean, it's probably based on the idea of him, but it's certainly not set in stone. When we were first discussing art with MCG, we advised that character pictures be more vibes-based and not explicitly tied to specific people (ie. a portrait inspired by Tim wouldn't be captioned "This is Tim" and wouldn't be placed opposite a profile for Tim Stoker, archival assistant.) This was mainly because we wanted the artists to have plenty of freedom to interpret and not feel too tied down by the need to know everything about the podcast. But, to be frank, it was also because we know that there are a few fans out there that are kinda Not Chill about what they've personally decided these characters look like and can get a bit defensive over depictions that differ.

It strikes me as particularly strange to be having this discussion about art that's for a roleplying game book. Something that's explicitly and solely designed to give you the ability to play in your version of the Magnus universe. The idea that this is the thing where we'd for some reason try to immutably establish unchangable appearances for these characters would be pretty funny if some folks weren't taking it so seriously. Similarly ridiculous is the idea we could reasonably have said to MCG "We'd love for you to make a huge beautiful RPG book of our setting... Just make sure you don't depict any of the iconic characters or events from it!"

But... is it "canon"? Now, to my mind, this highlights a real weakness in a lot of fandom thinking around "canon", which is that it generally has no idea what to do with adaptations. All adaptation is interpretation, and relies on taking a work and letting new creatives (and sometimes the same ones) have a different take on it. Are the appearances of the Fellowship of the Ring in the LOTR movies "canon"? How much, if at all, does that matter? Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere was originaly a 90s BBC series made with a budget of 50 pence; is anyone who makes fanart of Mr Croup that doesn't look like the actor Hywel Bennet breaking canon? What about the novel that describes the character differently? Or the officially licenced Neverwhere comic where he looks like neither of them? Which is his "canon appearance"?

Canon is an inherently messy concept, and while it is useful for a creative team trying to keep continuity and consistency within a creative work, for thinking about anything beyond that it tends to be more hinderance than help.

Anyway, all this is to say that the above picture and all the others in the RPG are exactly as canon as every other picture you've ever seen of the Archivist.

[leidensygdom]

The ways in which being asexual feels isolating

I've been pondering whether to post this or not, but I figured out I wanted to explain a bit of this experience.

So, I could go on a very long tangent on how being asexual is usually a lonely experience, and how much I've been otherized here and there- Specially in real life. How the same people that claimed to be queer (or allies) had been much weirder about my asexuality than they were about me being bi/pan or whatever.

But I think I wanna talk about how something like that bleeds in every aspect of socializing, even down to something like fandom. I stay away from fandom usually- I like to look at cool fanart and that's about it. I hate discourse, I hate drama, I hate reading people getting worked up because they're treating fanon as canon. But there's one thing I've noticed, over and over, that just sends me off my rails.

And it's how fandom tends to treat asexuality (or aromanticism). So, you get a character in some piece of media that explicitly, unequivocally, states they're either ace, aro, or both. "I do not have interest in a partner", "I don't desire to have sex nor do I enjoy the topic", whatever. And as an ace person, I do appreciate being able to see myself in media- There isn't many chases where something is established that bluntly.

Now, you decide you want to check some fanart for that. Fandoms have this tendency to make absolutely everything about shipping, even when the media they're basing it in does not revolve about that (and it's annoying, because a lot of times people aren't interested in the actual themes- It's all reduced to shipping). Suddenly, you notice people treating the aforementioned character as anything but aro or ace. It's all about shipping. "This person interacted with this other person in a way two friends would, but we gotta make this their entire personality now". Some people may instead go for "well, maybe the character is not having sex, but they're probably an absolute freak about it, studies it extensively, has encyclopedic knowledge about it-"

Now, there's of course sex-favourable aces, and that's completely valid, but it's already straying from what, canonically, the character had mentioned. Asexual or aromantic characters aren't really allowed to exist as themselves. People often see them as a blank slate to fill, to change, to fix. I could talk forever about how people react to real life aces like that. I've had people asking me incredibly invasive questions because they saw my lack of sexual attraction as something broken, something they could fix.

And I hate that! I think I'm allowed to say that I hate that! It's hard and unusual for media to cement an aro/ace character, because they're defined by the lack of interest for something, which is often hard to show. But when it does- No one seems to care. It's all shipping, it's all "well, he's gay in denial", "well, she's probably super repressed". If you took a canonically gay character and made them straight on a fanfic, you'd get angry people. Which is bound to happen when you erase representation that people identify with. But aro/ace characters are NOT even seen as queer, they're not even seen as "representation" by most people. You can erase that bit of it, put some god awful shipping on top, and people will applaud you. And it sucks!

I wish people would see being aro or ace as an identity worth respecting, not an identity that needs overwriting. It feels a bit too close to how people often treat aro/aces irl, and it sucks. It reeks of this sort of exclusionism, where "aro/aces are technically queer but it's queer lite at best, it's less interesting than being gay, and we kinda don't want them near us anyhow". Again, I've had far worse experiences about being ace than I have about not being straight.

Sorry if the post got long, but I hope this experience may at least resonate with other people who have been struggling with this, too. It has always felt just kind of lonely to be ace, and see how little people do even consider it an identity, even when it comes down to something like fandom.

[ungrateful-cyborg-moved]

FFXIV Forum

Fuck it, let's try again.

Some time ago I created a forum that didn't stay lively for very long, unfortunately, but I don't want to give up on it as I think forums offer something that no other tool for online community can offer: an actual community that doesn't rely on everyone acting like their own PR/marketing team.

So here it is, in case anyone's interested:

What does it have to offer?

A place to meet artists and roleplayers from the FFXIV fandom, where you won't be assailed by notifications like a Discord server, that's LGBTQ-friendly and won't ask you to post all the time to remain visible (contrary to social media).

What you'll find:

RP sections for your RP threads, easier to manage than on Tumblr, and without the pressure of being seen online on Discord because you wanted to talk to your friends but aren't in the mood for RP

A place to get help to create your character or write an NPC, if you're feeling insecure and want to try your hand at writing/roleplaying

Galleries for your writing, fanarts, screenshots, irl craft, etc. where you don't have to worry about peak hours to be seen

Forums where you can gush about your own characters and get asked questions: no need to have a big following anymore!

A place where you can discuss the lore and share your meta analysis to your heart content

A place to organize your own in-game event and promote it, once again without needing to build a big enough following for it to be noticed!

Yes, there's a NSFW section (that you have to ask to get access to). Forumactif—the host—is not in favor of this, however, so if Etheirys has enough success I might consider hosting it myself (but I'm not rich so we'll start with the free alternative for now and just keep it on the low XD)

And more!

I am taking suggestions to improve it and I'll gladly help you and answer your questions if you're not familiar with forums (or this sort of forums, anyways).

For those who don't know me or find me intimidating to talk to (I know it has happened) I've been leading communities big and small for about 18 years now, and I've always put a big emphasis on fairness, communication and patience.

(Please reblog so more people can see this!)

[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 (and if I was I couldn't speak for everyone). 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 (most likely 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 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 

[zealfruity]

the AU is AU-ing.

I wanted to do visual comparisons to the characters in my style to see the contrast. I colour picked and double checked the show's model sheets like my life depended on it. Some visual elements are taken from fanart I've seen here and there, because things like Omega with moko kaeue slap.

Main changes beyond just the designs: Hunter's got enhanced senses and that's it (idk whats going on with canon for that), Wrecker's half blind (blurry af vision in his damaged eye and he rarely opens it anyway) and half deaf (his helmet has a built-in hearing aid function because he kept forgetting to put the actual one in), Tech stays pretty consistent, Crosshair's stay in Tantis is set differently in the timeline and involves more specific experimentation, and most importantly: Omega was being trained alongside other clone cadets. She wasn't culled for her vitiligo because she's the first documented clone with a high enough midichlorian count to be noticeable, and Nala Se took an interest in that. She's not a pure copy of Jango, she ages like the other clones (which i forgot to make A Thing here, just imagine she’s 16 instead, I forgor), she's started basic weapons training, and she's got some deep-seated suspicion against natborns and strangers. Her more pacifist "help everybody" side only becomes prominent later on, instead of being something she has from the get-go.

A lot of these changes have come about from working out the rewrite I'm thinking of while rewatching the show in its entirety for the first time in a while. I have word documents around for this thing. I'd be happy to answer your questions in the ask box if you've got them :))

[downtofragglerock]

So Godzilla, being film franchise that dates back to the 20th century, understandably lacks a large female cast, I wanted to see how many female kaiju the series actually has, but while thinking this over an interesting thought occurred

Japanese, as a language, has some differences regarding pronouns compared to English, and a lot of Kaiju get referred to in much more gender neutral language in original Japanese than they do in English, this has resulted in some interesting fan interpretations over the years regarding the genders of kaiju, and you bet I'm going to catalogue the ones I've encountered

Starting off, the explicitly canon female kaiju of the Godzilla cast:

Mothra

Biollante

Zilla (I think the movie tried to deny it, but the cartoon confirmed it, although final wars zilla is another question)

Megaguirus

Monsterverse actually brings a number of explicitly female kaiju into the fold including:

The female Muto from 2k14

Barb, the other female Muto

Scylla

Tiamat

Na Kika (formerly Kraken)

Shimo

Phosphera

Some of the other unseen titans from King of the Monsters might also be ladies, but given as they are still unseen, that's just blind speculation

Now we get to the interesting part, the fan interpretations

Manda, Kumonga, and Destoroyah all being female is a pretty common and old fan interpretation, I know from firsthand experience that it at least dates back to the 2000s, but it could even be older

Baragon by comparison is far more recent, and I know for a fact this interpretation can be sourced primarily to the fact that in GMK, Baragon's performer was Rie Ota, and a behind the scenes clip of her doing the roars in the suit made waves around the fandom and even outside it in the 2010s

Hedorah is another more recent one, but interestingly enough I've also seen enby, bigender, and genderfluid interpretations of Hedorah as well. I guess there's something about the smog monster that screams gender to fans

Titanosaurus is again a newer interpretation, but fascinatingly a even newer idea has popped up in the past couple years that Titanosaurus is the kaiju equivalent of a femboy twink

Rodan being female is a very interesting case, both in origin and mainly due to the fact it only really applies to the Showa continuity and various fan continuities that desire. Basically the origin of this is that in the original 1956 film Rodan, there are two Rodans, a mating pair. At the end they both fall into Mt. Aso. When Rodan reemerges from Mt. Aso in Ghidorah the Three-Headed Monster, there's only one. There's been speculation for years as to the origin of this Rodan, but for the longest time it was either assumed to be the male or somehow the child of the pair from the original movie. But in 2010s a new idea rose to greater prominence: What if the Rodan that survived and subsequently appeared in the rest of the Showa films was the female of the pair?

Battra is an uncommon interpretation, but I have observed it

@lydiathespiderqueen did some fanart of a female version of Toho's Frankenstein, as well as the Gargantuas, and it's really good

and @thesilkenlair did a compelling analysis of Spacegodzilla being female due to possessing physical characteristics of Biollante, as well as their behavior in the movie lining up disturbingly well with a phenomenon in nature where an animal will kill or try to kill the extant children of a prospective mate so undivided attention can be given to it and any potential offspring it may have

And that's all I've encountered, please do tell if I've missed some

[coldgoldlazarus]

I firmly believe in a Futch Samus

But I think something that might help the discussion is that her presentation, and how she is presented, are two different questions. And this is where most of her official depictions (and to an ever greater extent, the deluge of so, so much Zero Suit fanart) fall short.

Especially when she's coming out of her powersut at the end of the games, is something that bugs me. Show her hair messy and matted as fuck from that helmet. If she is in fact wearing eyeliner like that one post suggested, it should be kinda smudged and leaky by this point. Give us defined abs, not just because she should be portrayed as way more muscular in general anyway, (though that definitely does apply too) but because she's just run five consecutive marathons and fought at least one new space horror and is dehydrated as fuck. (On that note, in more casual scenes like the ZM endcards, show her with a little healthy pudge instead, let her be properly watered!) If she's fresh out of the Zero Suit, she'd probably even have some leg hair.

And just in general? Again, muscles for sure, I think this is one thing everyone is in agreement on. (Her Zero Suit model in Dread is definitely an appreciated step in the right direction.) Scars, too, especially in depictions chronologically placed after Corruption, where we know for sure that the Phazon had some severe effects. (Though other scars in addition would be interesting and evocative.) The extent of her mutations is something I do like being more up for interpretation, and there's been some fantastic different takes out there, but I do feel like at the bare minimum there should be at least something indicating her Chozo and later Metroid influences, even if it's subtle. (I like to go for a prominent beaklike nose for the former.) Age is another debatable one given the ambiguity of the timeline, but some kind of indication there might go a long way.

Samus can be feminine, Samus can be hot, but she shouldn't be Conventionally Attractive Supermodel style hot, with an hourglass waist and unblemished features. And honestly, with her usual portrayals thus far, the choice of presentation kinda fades into the background noise of Default Sexy Woman™, whereas it could be a lot more good and characterful if they paired it with a stronger character design, if she's buff and scarred and still chooses to pretty up afterward. And they could stand to even go further on that front, too, I've seen some great redesigns where she has more ornamentation and jewelry like the Chozo.

She shouldn't be supermodel hot; she should be the kind of hot that comes from and speaks to her power and experience.

[signanothername]

Hiiii! First, I just want to say I love your art so much, honestly, it's the best fanart of these characters I've seen!

But I have a question, because I was just looking at your art of Nightmare and Killer. And whenever you draw them together, they’re often really touchy with each other??.

I’m not sure how to phrase it right, but for example, Nightmare seems to touch Killer’s face a lot or wrap a tentacle around him. And Killer also sometimes just holds him or in that one piece of art, rests his head on Nightmare’s head. It just shocked me a little because I would think Nightmare doesn't like people touching him or vice versa.

Am I overthinking this or something? But yeah love you art bye!!

Hello!! Awww thank you smmm!!! <333333

And I’m glad you noticed >:))))

Cause you’re absolutely right, I draw them super touchy with each other

And I do that for different reasons depending on each of the two of them

Killer (especially in stage 2) tends to be a bit touchy and has zero regard for personal space, and that’s cause Stage 2 is usually completely disassociated from the world around him and from his own body, and with his inability to feel emotions there’s nothing to truly ground him and tell him that what’s happening around him is actually happening

So how does Killer deal with his inability to tell what’s real and happening in the present and what’s not? By either pain, or touching anything/anyone, he would touch whoever’s in his vicinity, regardless of who they are

Nightmare is literally his boss and master? Fuck it he needs to tell whether Nightmare’s really there or not, feeling Nightmare’s negative aura isn’t enough

That of course doesn’t mean Killer doesn’t have his own boundaries with touch, it differs from stage to stage, but regardless of which stage he’s in, and despite stage 2’s tendency to touch people, he still keeps his hands to himself most of the time actually

Nightmare on the other hand, is definitely the type of person who doesn’t want to be touched, in fact I mentioned before that Nightmare is autistic af and has an aversion to touch if he isn’t the one to initiate it, it makes his nonexistent skin crawl when he’s touched without permission, he’s fine with touching people if he was the one to do it, but if it’s vise versa and someone else touches him he’d probably be resisting the urge to kill them (he can be semi-fine if he knows it’s coming)

But the thing is with Nightmare is that he’s masking his autism like crazy, so whenever he’s touched by anyone he pretends it doesn’t bother him, there are times in which he tells whoever’s touching him to back off, but only if it reaches extremely uncomfortable levels for him, otherwise he’d just keep it to himself

The only one who Nightmare is ok with their touch most of the time, but he still prefers to at the very least know it’s coming is Dream

So whenever you see Killer touching Nightmare first, believe me when i say Nightmare is resisting the urge to kill him vhhchchvvh

But the thing is, Nightmare is definitely super touchy with Killer, as in, Nightmare initiates the touch most the time actually, why? Cause Nightmare’s a bitch and he uses touch as some sort of fucked up form of control cause he’s a possessive freak

You’d see him holding Killer’s face, having a tentacle around him, etc, as some sort of fucked up message not only to the people around him, but to Killer himself that he’s his little toy, his little perfect killing machine

Nightmare can be a bit dehumanizing towards Killer at times, not thinking of him as a person but rather a machine that’s supposed to do its job whenever he wanted, and he uses touch to condition Killer and sometimes even as a “reminder” of who’s in control in their fucked up relationship

Basically ignoring any boundaries Killer has and invading his space like Killer does, but instead of doing so out of necessity, he does it to send a very direct message that he can do whatever he wishes any time he pleases and Killer wouldn’t be able to stop it

That of course doesn’t mean he only does this fucked up shit with Killer, he also does it with Horror and Murder, just not to the same extent he does with Killer cause they aren’t as “interesting” to him as Killer is, Killer was always his favorite killing machine after all

(You have zero idea how thankful Horror and Murder are for not being as “interesting” chcchchhc)

[satorusugurugurl]

hii may i request a pirate! Nanami x mermaid!f!reader?

Iike in the Disney movie "the little mermaid"? I think id be so cute 🥰

If u do this request, thank u ❤

My Lovely Mermaid

Summary: You're a curious mermaid, Nanami Kento is a book loving pirate, a match made in heaven.

Word Count: 2,738

Pairing: Pirate!Nanami Kento x AFABMermaid!Reader

Warnings: mentions of fire, near drowning, nudity, half-burnt (BUT HEALED) Nanami, fluffy goodness!

A/N: I love mermaid au’s, yes I was that girl at the pool asking if people wanted to play mermaids! 🤣 this was so fun, I loved writing for healed half burnt Nanami, I've seen fanart of him, and golly, so pretty.

You have been obsessed with the surface world for as long as you can remember. Humans were strange creatures and carried many strange items on their ships, from a little metal trident to jewels and round circular things with deep holes. They had papers bound together with netting of some kind, and the papers were littered with strange black smudges—weird but fascinating creatures.

You want to learn all about them, ask them what they use the sharp metal things for. Why do they carry trunks full of flat yellow metal? Every time you found yourself exploring a new shipwreck, more questions arose. You desperately wanted someone to answer all of the questions you had.

The only problem was the fact that humans were terrified of your kind. Whenever you’d breach the surface when a ship would pass, all of them would cover their ears, screaming not to listen to your singing. They were convinced that you would drown them. Such a terrible stereotype; you and your kind in these warm waters had never drowned sailors, or anyone else for that matter. Other mermaids in different waters might do that so that you could understand their concerning caution. If one of them would give you a chance, all your dreams would come true.

Little did you know your wish would

Come true on a beautiful summer night.

You had been lounging on some rocks, staring at the little trident you had found and the shipwreck down below. You ran through your damp hair as your tail flipped in the water, splashing the rock below. You were lost in a trance when shouting could be heard in the distance. You sat up, looking to find a red-orange glow in the distance, the lights consuming a ship as black clouds rose. The humans on board the vessel were screaming, jumping off the edge, climbing into smaller boats, and rowing away from the ship that was collapsing in on itself.

You wondered what sort of treasure you would find inside when a man in a small boat began fighting against two other humans trying to hold him back. “Nanami! Nanami! He's still on board, captain!”

“Haibara, stop!” a man with long black hair shouted, holding the man with short brown hair back.“There’s nothing we can do right now!”

“Kento!”

“We’ll circle.” The moonlight overhead shone on hair as white as the shells you collected. “Maybe he jumped off on the other side.”

The smaller boat began rowing around, calling for this ‘Nanami.’ As they turned, you watched a man run to the ship's edge. He looked down at the water. The beam above him cracked and snapped, and the red glow crept up.

“Look out!” you cried as if he could hear you from as far away. “Hey!” attempted to get his attention a second time as the beam began cracking, falling in his direction. “Look out!!” Leave your mouth as the beam snaps, falling towards the man with the color of sunlight.

The man turns to stare as you scream in horror, covering your mouth just as he manages to dodge it. No relief is found as a rope tangles around him, pulling him off the ship and dragging him under the surface. The second he hits it, you’re diving in after him. Your tail frantically moves against the waters as you search for the man. Amongst the ropes, boards of wood, and jewels, you spot the tangled ropes of the man on the ship's edge. Bubbles rose from his mouth and nose, and his eye twitched as he dragged further down.

You wouldn’t allow the ocean to clean his life. Not today. Gritting your teeth, you swim faster, grabbing his hand and pulling him up out of the dark blue abyss of the water. Untangling him out of the ropes, you swim behind him, hooking both your arms under his, dragging him up to the surface. When you breach the surface, you ensure his head is held above the water as you swim for the shore.

The waves rock against the sandy shore as you drag him to lie on the beach. It's at that moment that you were able to see him truly. His chest slowly rises and falls as he breathes. You brush back strands of his hair, gently running your fingertips over the eyepatch that covers his left eye. The entire left side of his body, from his head down to his hip, is covered in healed scars.

“So pretty.” You whisper, running your hand down my cheek. His head leans into your touch, making your heart flutter fast.

You stay like that, staring at the beautiful man until your tail dries and shifts into your legs. You lie there next to the stranger until the sun begins to rise. It was about that time when he groaned, turning his head to the side before he blinked slowly.

Nanami’s vision was blurry, blinking slowly. He was on warm, damp sand, and his head was pounding. He turned his head to the other side and stared at the knees of someone sitting near him. His eyes trailed up higher, cheeks burning as he stuttered and sat up, finding his knees belonging to a very naked and beautiful woman.

“Oh! You’re awake!” You chirped happily, tilting your head to the side and shifting your hair. “Thank goodness.”

“I’m sorry—I'm just a little confused.”

“Well, you were drowning, and I saved you.”

The man before you slowly nodded, averting his gaze from your direction. “Oh, thank you very much; I would like to thank you properly, but—“ His cheeks flushed pink. “You’re uhm—naked.” You hummed, glancing down at your naked body before shrugging your shoulders.

“Merfolk don’t have the need to wear clothes.”

Nanami has deduced that you weren’t exactly human when he first looked at you. Your ears were shaped differently, almost similar to what he’s seen in books depicting elves with a slight point. Your cheap bones were littered with glittering scales, and you had a starfish pulling some of your hair back. He had heard rumors about mermaids being in the ocean but had never seen them in person.

“Right, well uhm—“ he sighed, rubbing his hand down his face. “Hold on,” You watched as he took his shirt off before handing it to you. “I don’t want to be rude and stare. Even though you’re very beautiful and you have a very stunning body. I want to thank you properly for saving me, so if you don’t mind, could you put this on for a second?”

You took the white fabric from him, examining its sleeves and two openings. You slid it over your bare body the way you had seen him wearing it. The shirt was long on you, covering your torso, and the end rested against the top of your thighs. The sleeves were long, swallowing your hands as you flapped them around curiously.

Nanami finally turned to watch as you cutely moved your arms up and down. He watched as the sleeves of his shirt flapped with you. He grinned, turning to face you, sitting on his knees. You examined him briefly before getting into the same position, sitting on your knees so that you could stare at him.

“Thank you for saving my life.” He bowed his head, which quickly followed suit.

“It was my pleasure.” You went back to examine the shirt closely.

Nanami scoffed, shaking his head as he sat against the glittering sand in the rising sun. “My name is Nanami Kento, what’s yours.” You quickly told him your name, more eager to stare at the different stitching in the fabric you wore. “I would like to repay you for saving my life. I owe you a debt.” For the first time in your entire life, a certain sense of excitement washed over you like the warm summer waves. This was your chance to ask him your questions and get some answers!

“I have lots of questions about you humans.”

“Do you?”

“Mhmm, why do you guys carry mini tridents on all your ships?”

Nanami cocked a blonde brow at you. “Mini-tridents?” You held the finger up in front of him before reaching into the net bag you had made and pulled out the trident.

“These things.”

Nanami reached out with the most gentle smile on his face. “This is called a fork. We use it to eat food.” You allowed him to take this so-called ‘fork’ from you. “Watch.” He reached down, scooping some of the sand onto the fork. “This way, our hands don’t get dirty when we eat. We also use spoons and knives as well. But depending on the food or culture, utensils aren't used.” But you didn’t hear any of that because your eyes were sparkling with all as you watched him take the fork into the sand, picking it up before dumping it down onto the ground.

“Amazing!”

“What else would you like to know?”

“Oh, I have so many questions! Lik—“

“Nanami?!” Both of you turn, watching several men come running down the beach towards you. “Oh my god, Captain, it’s Nanami!!”

“Haibara!” There was a relief in Nanami’s tone, which had you smiling with a heavy heart. He had a life on the short to get back to you; he couldn’t just lie there and answer all of your questions. So you pulled the shirt off and handed it back to him. “Huh?” Looking down into his lap, he found his sweater and glanced up to watch as you walked towards the water, stepping into the crystal blue ocean. “Wait! Where are you going?”

“Home.” You say, slowly sinking deeper into the water, feeling your legs shift back into your tail. “Your friends are here now. They’ll be able to get you home.”

Just before you can dive into the water, there’s a splash behind you, and Nanami grabs your hand to prevent you from leaving. “Answering one of your questions isn’t enough to thank you for saving my life. Could you come back here and meet me every day? I’ll be happy to answer any questions you have.” Your fingers interlace with his.

“I’ll meet you here tomorrow. How about when the sun is highest in the sky?”

“I’ll be here.”

Just like he promised every day when the sun was highest in the sky, you would meet him at the beach where he would be waiting for you. He always brought lunch for both and was more than willing to answer every question you had. You learned all about forks, spoons, and knives. Nanami told you that women like to wear jewels, and the flat yellow coins in their trunks, which you found at the bottom of the ocean, were used as currency to buy things like food or clothes.

When those questions were answered, Nanami began bringing books to the beach for you both to read. You’re so glad he did because You’ve learned all about different things: foods and far-off places. Every day, you would lie on the beach, reading with Nanami. He'd tell you stories of his days with the crew. Sailing the seas and fighting battles, he always did it with a fond but almost sad smile.

He loved his friends and his job defending people from the Pirates, who were horrible humans. Kenjaku and his gang of horrible people had plagued the ocean for so long. They were sinking ships, stealing money, and committing the most heinous of crimes. In the battle leading up to Kenjaku’s defeat, Nanami lost his eye, and half his body was burnt by a pirate named Mahito. At the same time, his voice and eye are full of pain. He claims that it was well worth it because, in the end, they were able to defeat them. Even though he was left with the scars for it.

“I suppose it's still taking me some time to get used to. People tend to stare.” He said as he stroked your hair back. “But, you never once questioned or made comments about it. Why is that? From the mermaid who has millions of questions, I thought that would be something you would be curious about.”

“Oh,” you looked up from your book, turning to face Nanami, “I just think you’re beautiful.”

His hand gently cups your cheek, holding it there. “And I think you're beautiful. A beautiful, strong mermaid who saved my life.” The distance between your lips gets smaller and smaller as he inches forward. “You know that you are far too kind?” You lean into his touch, nuzzling against the palm of his hand.

“I couldn't just idly sit by and watch someone die. I honestly believe there was a reason behind my lounging that night, and I'm glad that J was there because I got to meet you. You are so kind and handsome. You never think any of my questions are stupid or ridiculous.”

“Because they’re not. Do you have a curious mind, and I’m happy to feed that.”

Before your lips could touch, you pulled away. “I’m happy being with you,” you whisper, playing with the sleeves of Nanami’s shirt, which he always lets you wear when you lounged on the beach with him. “But uhm, Gojo mentioned that he has another ship lined up for you. That you should be able to get back to work soon.”

Nanami can see the disappointment in your eyes. You knew this day would eventually come. He wouldn’t stay on the beach with you forever, answering your questions and feeding the delicious food he prepared. He’d eventually go back to sailing the seas, and you would go back to exploring shipwrecks soon. This beautiful time together was going to be short-lived. Because how would you make this work?

A mermaid and a pirate being together. Because one saved the other from drowning, was there anything holding him here to be with you? For you both to continue meeting on this secluded beach outside his hometown. No, he had a life to get back to.

“Yeah, about that.” he gently grabbed the back of your head, pulling you close to his face. “I told Gojo that I was going to retire.”

“Retire?”

“Yes, it means I'm no longer going to work.” The way your pupils dilated and sparkled made Nanami’s heart soar. “I've made enough money to last me the rest of my life.”

You press your hands against his bare chest. “What do you plan on doing now?” Your voice is high-pitched as your breathing quickens in anticipation and excitement.

“Oh, the crew said they will help me build a house here on this beach. I plan to fill it with all the books I haven't read yet. Books that my curious mermaid can read. Because her curiosity and awe of the world is something I want to continue to fuel because I have fallen in love with every bit of her beauty, curious mind, and heart.”

“Kento,” you whisper, eyes flooded with liquid.

“May I kiss you? And so selfishly ask you to accept me as yours?” There were no questions to be asked. You closed the distance between you both, slamming your lips against his in a searing kiss. As Nanami hit the soft sand below, his arms wrapped around you, holding you tight against him.

A few years pass, and Gojo tracks down the beach with Suguru and Haibara. They had been kind enough to bring back gifts for you on their latest voyage: books, wine, and exotic fruit. The house you and Nanami had built stood tall, providing shade for you both. You lie in the sand holding each other as your daughter happily places a seashell on the pile of sand she deemed a castle.

“Ahoy there!” Haibara yells, drawing Nanami’s attention from the little wavy blonde girl clapping her hands together. “We brought treats!”

“Uncle Yu!!” Your daughter bolted for the group of men, throwing her arms around Yu’s leg and giggling as she stepped forward. Her hair flowed in the warm summer breeze, revealing her pointed ears. She might be a carbon copy of her father, but at least she got your ears.

Nanami watched from the shade, taking a deep breath before looking at the ocean. An ocean that had left him scarred almost drowned him and brought him to the best thing in his life. You plopped down next to him, stretching your arms above your head before your husband leaned down, kissing you softly. The ocean had brought you together. And he thanked it every morning for his lovely little mermaid wife and beautiful daughter.

Forever Tag List:

@darkstarlight82 @pandoness @nealeart @simp-plague @sugurubabe @chilichopsticks @reap3erslov3

[ave661]

Hi! I’ve got to say I absolutely adore your art it’s impeccable and always leaves me either blushing or crying (I’ve seen the somewhat sadder or dad!character renders you’ve made and I did cry for no reason but I love them either way)

Anyway, I did read your pinned post but I’m not sure if this falls in your ‘okay’ category. Are you comfortable with us using the newer renders that have “Do Not Repost” on them? I use the old ones but lately it’s seems disrespectful if I do use the new ones because I’m not sure you are okay with me using those. Is it alright if I do use the new ones? Obviously I’ll give you credit, as always, but I want your permission first before I do so.

I hope this makes sense. Anyway, have a great day/night!😊

I've been thinking about changing the pinned post for about a month now and I've been postponing the answer to this question for a while to think it over and I came to the conclusion that I don't want my renders to be reposted in any way. Not only new ones, but also older.

If I could go back in time, I would add a huge "do not repost" watermarks from the very beggining on every render. Back then I didn't know how much some of them would blow up and who would use them in what way. I've never been in a fandom as a creator, so I learn something new with every mistake. Maybe I'm too trusting and for a long time I didn't expect that some people would sell fanart they found on the internet. People trace, sell, use without credits, remove my watermarks, edit with AI. Every new info about someone trying to sell them makes me want to give up and I really, really, really don't want that to happen. It's annoying to waste hours reporting thieves. That's why I started adding bigger and uglier watermarks and also posting less renders here and X. However, I'm still very active on Instagram and TikTok because the download option is disabled there which makes me feel more comfortable. I also post stuff on Patreon.

I love seeing my renders used in creative ways and inspiring you to do something, unfortunately every now and then I see them being used in… not so nice ways. Like adding a sw@stik@ to my Konig render, using my Dad series for pedo fics/bots or nsfw stuff that sometimes makes me a bit uncomfortable. But when I read comments that some people thought I MADE THEM because of the watermarks on them, it makes me… ughhhhh.

It really hurts me to say "no" when many of you are respectful, nice and give me credits, but there are also people who don't care and just want to use them for their own profits, not caring that someone spent long time on them.

There's also the problem with Pinterest. Even though I've never posted anything there, I've noticed that sometimes I see my art with all the info and links to my Tumblr blog. Honestly, I don't know how it works, but I don't want anything of mine there. Every time I see them, I report, but like I said, it wastes time that I could be using to create new stuff. So when someone reposts my renders here, it increases the chances of them getting on Pinterest = more stealing in the future.

Sorry I changed my mind on this, but when I saw HT recently selling my Ghost meme on their t-shirts, and then heard that the company that designed it apparently got approval from act!v!s!0n themselves, I was speechless. I guess "I thought they were official" has reached a new level.