#it's not that notable ig while reading it

[dirkxcaliborn]

I'd have to say one of the cutest, novel moments in a romance manga I read recently was when one of the characters noticed the other's behavior and thought it seemed like the other character had feelings for him, but then he told himself off for making assumptions about other people's feelings lol

[myopicry]

Hi hi! It's ya girrrlll

So I read your rant (delightful BTW, I'm a nosey hater at heart lol) and am here to ramble too! :3

Firstly though, I'm really sorry for the situation you're in and hope it gets better. I'm lucky enough to have an accepting family (my parents and sister at the very least) and to have recently moved to western Europe where it's pretty progressive(?) in terms of lgbt stuff (ignore the fascists and right wingers behind me trying to access the governments), but I can imagine how isolating your experiences might feel. Hang in there, there are better things in store, I'm sure!

Now for the rest of your rant, I found that you've raised some interesting points, notably about how amabs can easily take on the lesbian label while some afabs have yet to claim it for themselves due to the homophobia they mightve endured and amabs probably haven't thus far (they probably dealt with transphobia as transfems, which I'm not gonna diminish no matter my views on transgenderism, but they probably haven't really dealt with lesbo/homophobia especially if they're pre-transition). Afterall, lesbian transfems were probably straight guys before, and their orientation is sure as hell not condemned by the wider society.

It kind of reminds me of this one lesbian transgirl ik who I met on a server on discord and formed a group of online friends there which included her. I knew her before she came out/identified as trans and I remember at that time she'd sometimes mention how she'd listen to lewd asmr of girls and such. She also talked about how she wished she was lesbian. So I, being the lesbian debator I am, basically said that that's not a great thing to say (I refrained from saying it sounds fetishy), but she replied with basically saying that I don't understand and that lesbian love or whatever is so "pure" unlike hetero love or something. So guess how I felt when she started identifying as a lesbian trans girl and later found out it's something observable in a portion of the online transbian community (not saying every transbian is like this, but still). (Oh yh she also (sort of?) cheated on her gf so there's that but I don't think it's related.)

I think I feel a similar sentiment as you in the sense that while I can sympathise with some of the struggles transfems may face, I find it irritating at times when people seem to go above and beyond to label/treat them as "the most sapphic and lesbian ever" as you put it, most of the time in an effort to validate their identity and place in the sapphic and wider lgbt community, when they probably never had to face the struggles afab sapphics were faced with since forever and more importantly some say some... Questionable things about their orientation and attraction to women. Not all obviously, but still. Am I making any sense lol?

I definetely don't think transbians have 0 place in the sapphic community, I think it's a complicated matter and there can be some gray areas (I also have grown increasingly distant from the (at least online) lgbt/lesbian community the past year so idrc about most discourse ig), but I kind of wish this was all treated more "normally" if that makes sense and that afab lesbians or sapphic could talk about certain things related to their orientation without constantly being scrutinised to make sure they're including trans folk in everything ever. I also kind of wish we could call out problematic behaviour in trans people without being called transphobic, but I think this applies to specific cases mostly.

Anyway I think I was mostly nonsensical here, apologies, but feel free to reply to whatever you managed to latch onto here lol.

Also, if you ever feel the need to vent and don't feel comfortable airing those issues on tumblr.com for whatever reason, my dms are always open, I check into this hellsite daily <3

~🪼

(wow retroactive preface I go on a long ass ramble about semantics in this I apologize in advance for how many times you might have to read the word "definition" lmao)

hey!! so happy to keep seeing you here around these parts (my inbox, that is) and I'm glad you especially do get some enjoyment out of my far less polished vent posts :p I always feel bad when I post something so singularly interesting to me and me alone because it is just a full on personal blog moment, but to be fair to myself this entire blog is an exercise in actually voicing my own opinions and feelings for the sake of learning to express myself better, and it is nice to know even in the least poignant or least thought out posts, it isn't just fully self-beneficial lmao

I also (of course, as always) appreciated your response! honestly, I admire how level-headed and nuanced you can be with these topics, I myself often feel like I swing wildly from being harsher with my words and trying desperately to be as passive as possible to appease everyone, and I do have to say it is an ongoing challenge for me sometimes to strike that perfect balance between understanding but still standing by my convictions and not solely focused on people pleasing. it's a bit of a weird life, in my private time I do feel like I tend to be highly cynical and sort of an asshole lolol, especially towards other people, but in public I would never dare say any of the things I think because at the end of the day, I do still feel as if preserving friendly atmospheres among peers is paramount to being a productive part of a society. I'm like the opposite of the asshole with a heart of gold trope, in a way. gold with the heart of an asshole lmao

all that to say, I think you make some really astute observations that are still compassionate to trans women who identify as lesbian, while still pointing out the objective faults of their common language and behavior! I really think this (like so many issues whose current is pushed most strongly by the english speaking west) is a matter of semantics for the most part. labels, communities based on labels, and their inherent flaws I guess. because I really have no problem with someone identifying as a trans woman and also having a sexuality surrounding liking women, or if they want to talk about it or even if they want to define it separately than heterosexual attraction. it's their attraction, and I'm not the ceo of how people choose to define their own sexuality (and I wouldn't want to be, that sounds like a headache job lmao). for me, I think the issue really comes with when personal definitions of sexuality are enforced upon others, and when suddenly, highly personal definitions become community-defining ones. the term "sapphic" is such a great example of this weird treatment of labels and their definitions. the term "sapphic" can mean a lot of different things to different people, despite the fact that it is, at its core, a term held together by a single definition. in our society people will ideologically define every single word in a definition differently (ex. what does love mean? what does a woman mean (lol)?) and so even a fairly universal term can be personal based on one's own framework of thinking. BUT the thing is, a lot of transbians/people who identify as queer/tra positive/whatever you want to call the current hegemonic popular opinions of the lgbtq+ have taken to a personal definition of words like lesbian and sapphic, and have decided to supplant the originally fairly universal term and replace it with something that does kind of inadvertently alienate a lot of people who identify with the most "neutral" and non-ideological version of the definition (women who love/are attracted to women). instead, the basic definition has essentially shifted in its meta, though the words stay the same, the meaning is pushed to imply these terms can be understood as "someone who identifies as a woman who loves/are attracted to people who they identify as women" and that's just both too broad and too specific at the same time, excluding those who don't agree with the notion of identifying into what was previously understood as a sex class, and including people who wouldn't have even met the original definitional criteria to begin with. this, in turn, creates a vacuum in meaning, allowing for "aesthetic" to take over as the primary meaning of the term. I think that's where that "weirdness" comes in.

it's hard to find community with people who are coming at the definition of what the community is built on from a completely different direction. when I think of being "sapphic" (other than the brainrotting pop culture/online/algorithmically driven stereotypes) I simply think of being attracted to my same sex, that being female, and that being women. but, I would assume for transfems, they obviously don't have the simple way of just relying on same sex attraction as a definition, because they don't see the world in that way definitionally, and must apply more effort to justify why their attraction to women deserves to distinctively be defined from regular opposite sex attraction. that's where we get the strange insistence on sapphic love being more "pure" or making their entire personality curated towards "sapphic culture". in a way, though on the surface I am still pretty jealous that they get the privilege to express these thoughts and be backed up so strongly by people I know who would care less about me, I do feel bad that they must subconsciously feel the need to "prove" they meet the criteria for these labels because for them, there is no easy, biologically material fitting of the definition. I personally will have never have to care that much about fitting lesbian stereotypes or involving my life in sapphic culture. in fact, I basically can't not be sapphic. it's just the only way my future looks. it's the only way my attraction manifests. people will see me as a lesbian (well, that or a nerdy disheveled teenage boy at first glance lmao) just based on how I don't present in a way that centers men. it's the only way I fall in love.

and yeah, it really would be nice if there was space for a community where we could discuss that reality, openly, in mainstream progressive spaces! but for reasons that would be pretty bleak if we unraveled them, people would much rather play these games of labels and proving your place in them than creating avenues for people to congregate in spaces that actually bring them community and cater to their needs.

as always after these really really tangled word threads I slowly begin to run out of steam so I'll just wrap this up and say you made excellent points dear anon! maybe one day we can all just accept that sometimes definitions should be exclusive in that they exclude people who don't fit them, and not exclusive in the way that they exclude people who do fit them, and that afab women, and especially afab sapphics, deserve the right to preserve spaces for themselves without having to worry about appeasing men or anyone they don't want to!

and wow holy shit this is a whole lot of words trying to pick apart the way words can mean other words sometimes I would not blame anyone if they skim most of it lmao.

tl;dr the meta of labels and their definitions are kinda dumb and I'm maybe more dumb for spending so much time thinking about them

and lastly, thank you for the kind offer of your dm space as an area for venting! perhaps...I will take you up on that offer...it is inevitable I will be struck by another petty urge to vent about people in my life because I continue to work with people who are essentially the most fascinating but headache inducing parts of tumblr and twitter personified and I do still primarily have very "gendery" friends irl! we'll see if I end up having anything interesting to say about it though first, or if I can bear to actually talk to someone online once instead of passively yelling into the digital void!

[foragerknits]

The Queer Politics of Craftivism: Crafting Trans Joy Through Quilting 

Right photo by @transjoyquilt, left by @poppythewitch (posted to @transjoyquilt) on IG

This essay was presented by me at a Queer conference at my University, and discusses queer craftivism in a historical context and contemporary one through the work of the Nortfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt. As a fiber artist, getting to talk with my professors and peers about craftivism was a big honor. It also couldn't be done without the publisher of The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine, Common Threads Press. Living in the US and on a time crunch they sent me a digital copy. All references are at the end of the essay, which I absolutely recommend reading, but I'd totally be willing to post other great resources that didn't make it into the final draft but are great works on queer craftivism.

The Queer Politics of Craftivism: Crafting Trans Joy Through Quilting 

“Craftivism,” a term popularized by activist and writer Betsy Greer, is the intersection of “crafting” and “activism.” Trans and queer activists have adopted the term to craft materials to express queer joy and resilient community in the face of abandonment and oppression by the state. Craftivism, while certainly involving anger, centers joy and love for the self and community. One of the most famous queer craftivist projects is the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt created in 1987 which memorialized thousands of people who died from AIDS and offered a way for the queer community to mourn. In this paper, I want to look at the Norfolk Trans Joy Community quilt to offer a more recent example of craftism that continues the political legacy of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The Norfolk Trans Joy Community quilt was created earlier this year by trans people and allies in Norwich, England to offer trans people community and to highlight trans joy in a society that is continually working to criminalize the trans body.  

Craftivism has existed long before Betsy Greer popularized the name, and its influence reaches outside of queer circles, however one of the most notable works of craftivism is the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. The government response to the AIDS crisis early in the epidemic was incredibly flawed and lacking with Ronald Reagan’s administration staying almost completely silent on AIDS until 1987 their only comments minimizing the scope of the epidemic on the queer community (Oritz 85). Reagan’s administration abandoned queer people to fend for themselves during the AIDS epidemic, needlessly allowing for thousands of people to die. The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, created in 1987, was crafted in protest to the government’s abandonment of queer people and to mourn as a community. The quilt initially consisted of 1,920 squares, each memorializing a person who died of AIDS, made by themselves or those who loved them (“The History of the Quilt”). Cleve Jones, the man who conceived the quilt, hoped that it would serve as a communal form of healing in dealing with the great loss the community was feeling, but also to publicly shame the government for their apathy and failure towards the queer community (“AIDS Memorial Quilt”). People combined their anger towards the governent and love and sadness towards losing someone close to them and channeled it into a quilt showcasing their emotions. Scholar Daniel Fountain writes in their essay “‘Queer Quilts’: A Patchworked History,” “Although the blocks can be exhibited independently of one another, the idea is that each panel – each life– would never be isolated or alone, even in death” (qtd in “The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine” 7).  The AIDS quilt simultaneously allowed queer people to come together as a community and mourn those they had lost, while also spotlighting the fact that the government did not acknowledge the scope of the epidemic.  

The conventional definition of “crafting” is gendered as one that is feminine and therefore “lower.” Art forms of knitting, embroidery, quilting, etc., come to mind over the more “masculine” and therefore more legitimate mediums of writing, painting, etc,. Associations with craft and queerness are tied, that they’re both too feminine and not as legitimate than their more recognized counterparts. Artist Ben Cuevas writes of their personal connection to the link of crafting and queerness stating, “by knitting with my male body, and referencing that in my work, I’m queering gendered constructs of craft,” (qtd in Chaich & Oldham 137). Queer people recognize the connection between the connotations of queerness and craft, and use it to materially render queer and trans experiences, including expressing joy and love for their community.  

Crafting, specifically quilting, is used to express queer joy due to the symbolic nature of quilts, and what the gift of a quilt means. The gift of a quilt tells someone that they love and care for them, that in a literal sense you never want them to be cold and alone. Quilting teacher and writer Thomas Knauer in his essay “The Gift of a Quilt is an Act of Love” writes of the symbolism present in giving quilts, “warmth — once a literal protection against the elements — is also a symbolic means of protection, and our desire to protect is a reflection of the love we feel for another.” People make quilts to express love. Furthermore, the gift of a quilt involves incredible amounts of patience and care. Quilts are not really practical as people in modern life have access to cheaper ready-made blankets, yet people spend weeks and months picking out fabric, and cutting and sewing them for another person to show their love. The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt does this for an entire community of people. Individual squares are sewn together to become an entire quilt of trans people expressing their love for themselves and their community, that they do not want themselves or any trans person to be without joy or community. 

Queer craftivism subverts the idea of quilting as a symbol of cis-heteronormativity, instead making it a symbol of community. In their essay “‘Queer Quilts’: A Patchworked History,” Daniel Fountain writes of gendered associations of quilts, saying, “quilts are still largely associated with milestones in cis-heteronormative culture – birth, marriage, and death – and they are typically passed down through generations of biological family members, usually through matrilineality.” (Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 6). However in queer crafting, instead of marriage and family as the sole climactic moment in a person’s life worthy of a quilt, it is the moment in which a person expresses joy in being trans and queer that is worthy of a quilt. Community becomes family, which is important when many trans folks are shunned by their families and the matrilineal line is broken or strained.  

Trans joy is important now more than ever in a world that is increasingly criminalizing the trans body. The media has increasingly portrayed trans people as predators and dangerous, with CPAC speaker Michael Knowles stating earlier this year that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely,” (qtd in Wade & Reis). Despite the onslaught of cruelty thrown at trans people, craftivism is used a means to express joy and challenge the narratives against them. K, who created a square for the community quilt and was interviewed about it said, “As much as I want to express my anger, trans joy is defiant. It can’t be legislated out of existence, defanged or sold. It doesn’t have one look and it contradicts itself. Its complexity is powerful, trans joy is a protest in itself” (Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 21). Anger is not absent in craftivism, as it is a response to injustice and abandonment of marginalized groups which rightfully sparks outrage, yet joy is present in them as well, which is an important mode of protest against oppression. In other words, joy and anger are not mutually exclusive categories. 

Even when not being portrayed as dangerous, mainstream trans narratives are often filled with the trauma associated with being trans such as the violence inflicted on them, suicide, and survival sex work to name a few. While these are all real issues affecting the trans community, hyperfocusing on these issues in the media creates a false narrative that trans people are joyless, which the Trans Community Quilt hopes to reject. Alex, another person who contributed to the quilt and was interviewed said, “It helps to combat the tragedy of trans lives in lots of mainstream media, even in sympathetic cases.” (The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine 18). Instead of fetishizing trans folks through the lens of traumatic tragedy, the quilt highlights the joy in being transgender. K’s square features a pun which says “Orange you glad trans people exist?” Another square made by a person named Josh is an embroidered rendering of Josh’s chest nine months post top surgery. The quilt rejects the narrative that trans people are dangerous and tragic, but rather spotlighting the joy for self and community in being transgender. The focus on joy is not at the expense of histories of pain or struggle. 

The creation of the Trans Community quilt was largely community focused, with recurring workshops for queer community members to gather and create. Workshops included free materials and instruction for creating the squares in addition to providing a safe community space for community members. Therefore the quilt was truly made by the trans community of Norwich, and even after its creation the quilt will go on to be exhibited at various queer and trans events across England. The conceptors Beau Brannick and Alice Bigsby-Bye write, “The project aims to return ownership of queer collections to their communities and empower people to access, discover, and contribute to the objects that reflect their shared histories” (5). The quilt is also therefore owned by the queer and trans community in addition to being made by and for the community.  

 Craftivism has existed for a long time, with a notable queer example being the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, and these kinds of projects have gone onto inspire others such as the Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt. The Trans Joy Quilt centers trans joy and community rather than suffering. This research as well as the work being done by queer and trans craftivists is important because activism that centers joy and resilient community is needed more than ever in a society that is working to criminalize the trans body. 

Works Cited 

“AIDS Memorial Quilt,” Williams College Museum of Art, March 17, 2019, https://artmuseum.williams.edu/aids-memorial-quilt/

Chaich, John & Oldham, Todd, Queer Threads: Crafting Identity & Community, AMMO Books, 2017.  

Knauer, Thomas. “The Gift of a Quilt is an Act of Love,” Hachette Book Group, https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/storey/gift-quilt-act-love/#:~:text=the%20room%20symbolically.-,The%20gift%20of%20a%20quilt%20is%20an%20act%20of%20love,those%20they%20are%20given%20to  

“The History of the Quilt,” National AIDS Memorial, https://www.aidsmemorial.org/quilt-history  

The Norfolk Trans Joy Community Quilt Zine, Common Threads Press, 2023. 

Ortiz, Jacqueline A. (2023) "Silence From the Great Communicator: The Early Years of the AIDS Epidemic Under the Reagan Administration," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 4 (2), 76-99. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol4/iss2/6 

Wade, Peter & Reis, Patrick. “CPAC Speaker Calls for Eradication of ‘Transgenderism’ — and Somehow Claims He’s Not Calling for Elimination of Transgender People.” Rolling Stone, March 6, 2023, https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/cpac-speaker-transgender-people-eradicated-1234690924/  

[irusanw4]

Uhhh pinned time ig? I see it a lot so why not

Yo! Call me IrusanW4, mutuals can call me Iru but please don't if we're not mutuals. I use strictly they/them, and I'm asexual and aromantic. I'm autistic and I love things A Lot when I love them, so... fair warning? Read more has details on me n stuff. Don't wanna clog dashboards or anything :3

I don't have a specific DNI but like. Don't hurt people. Don't have a joke for that just don't hurt people. But! DO interact if you are strange, peculiar, freakish, cringe, or otherwise throw social norms to the wind!

I'm always open to civil good-faith discussions about what I've done wrong!

Things I care about too much for my own good: Death Note, My Hero Academia, Chonny Jash, Dungeon Meshi, Pokemon, Digimon, Slay the Princess, the Stanley Parable, Warriors, Wings of Fire, Risk of Rain, Slay the Spire, Portal, psychology, animals, linguistics, space, my place in the universe, death as something to be studied, and much much more.

While I won't do much acknowledging sex (as in the act) myself due to personal discomfort surrounding the topic, I do support the right of people to have sex and have fun so long as all members consent to it!

Also, I do art and writing! I'm IrusanW4 on ao3 too, so feel free to be nosy! I don't share much art outside of Discord, sadly, but yknow! I'm always open to questions about my writing and art, be it original or fan content!

Social justice:

Abortion needs to be accessible to everyone with a uterus. The death sentence shouldn't exist in any way shape or form. A criminal justice system focused on punishment rather than reform should not exist. Capitalism is by existence a system of oppression and must be replaced. The American education system is thoroughly fucked. The genocide of anyone is inexcusable, no matter their origin, and those who fund the slaughter and/or exploitation of Palestinian, Congolese, or any other people are further beyond immoral than I have words for. All cops are bastards.

Miscellaneous:

Vehement supporter of found family. Indie game lover. Indie music lover. Example of gifted kid to burnout who's somehow still gifted just deeply exhausted pipeline. Cat owner. Lover of music. Noodle enjoyer. Asker of questions. Furry. Therian. Mediocre Pokemon player. Registered member of the Satanic Temple. Believer in improvement as a person as a necessary part of life. Friend hoarder. More always to come.

I'm a bad tagger but here's notable tags:

#blorbo street, where I put all my favorite characters together to interact.

#ouroboros universe, a collection of my writing that's all technically within one continuity. I might add more tags specifying which instance, but so far, it's all lumped together.

#scrunchy friend <3, most of my @therewillbenoromance interactions bc he's scrunchy to me.

#blue friend <3, most of my @nevermeanttoknow or @mapleejay (same person diff blogs) interactions bc. he's blue. yeah that's it

#the whole world au, a cccc x warrior cats crossover au

#summer solstice au, a cccc au where heart dies in apathy

Other blogs: @different-picture-daily and @gimmick-sniffer

[gren-arlio]

I'm alive, don't worry.

Uh, sorry for not posting since...

April 8th.

Excuse is simple: School. Finals are coming up and everyone and their mother is on the grind. So to compensate, I'll make a small post right now, as I'm in the midst of making a bigger one. I gotta study too, you know. But let's get into a quick ramble.

Something that always interested me about older Puyo games and Madou Monogatari as a whole is the constant change in designs that we got, notably Arle and Schezo. (Rulue sometimes as well, and Witch and Satan kinda rarely).

Take Puyo SUN, for example.

A good amount of these designs are pretty well known, from Schezo's white robe, to Satan's blue...clothing, to Arle and Rulue's (who's being blocked off but trust me) clothing. Very notable, yeah?

And then Puyo-N just changes things up a lot.

While some are mostly the same, others changed drastically, most notably Rulue, Satan, Schezo, and Witch. And while I prefer the Puyo-N designs compared to SUN, I do find it funny that the designs changed so much.

(Go hit the read more if you want more designs IG)

I think the one whose design changes the most was Schezo. He could NOT find a consistent fit to rock with for a bit, though different developers, games, time periods, etc go brrrr. It's also an excuse to post some cool stuff because this is my blog and I get to post what I think is cool as fuck. Notably, a lotta late Compile stuff had his armor as black at the very least.

We have his Tower of the Magician design, probably my favorite.

It's just so clean, and the yellow outlines on the armor honestly just seal the deal for me.

Then we have his Madou Saturn design.

I'd show Waku Puyo but quite literally...go through any of my posts and you'd probably find him, you'll be fine. The shoulderpads are funny to look at since they gave to every male with armor, (I'm serious. Lagnus, Satan, and Schezo,) but otherwise the design is good.

Then we have his current design and his Puyo 7 self.

(God's help me I had to save these all on my phone, my storage...)

Besides the fact that Schezo doesn't have his fingerless gloves in his PPT2 artwork, it's the current design we got, and also had for 15th and 20th Anniversary. Puyo 7 basically changed everyone's design once more for the better or worse, so there's that.

But I would be lying if I said the design wasn't cool as hell. And also gives me a reason to tell this one pet peeve.

So we did get a Puyo 7 design for Witch. Granted she was a cameo but we got a design nevertheless. So why wasn't it used alongside the others in Volume 3 of the Drama CD's alongside everyone else?

She's right there. But she's just in her regular outfit. Its such a small thing, but MAN it annoys me so much considering Ecolo got his older design.

But I think that about covers what I wanted to mention RQ. A bigger post is coming soon, trust me. Hope you enjoy the fit check I was basically doing.

Adios.

[chrlotpony]

uhh, reading an old fic I never finished, apparently I hc that sunil smells like warm carrot cake?? it sounds nice but when I describe smells with "warm", it means there's a fleshy undertone to it. so if you pick up sunil after he's been sleeping for 4 hours and sniff him, he'd smell like an off carrot cake. big pro of having a pet, my chihuahua smells like doritos🙏

I actually love smell hcs cuz it gives me an idea on how the characters一 or how I think the characters live which leads to more ideas and such. no surprise, sunil likes things and himself to be kept clean. not as clean as russell but yk, tolerable and nice. takes great care of himself, too. I wouldn't say russell has a notable smell like sunil, he's so clean that he doesn't even have a smell. he's got a faint smell that is just russell... russell smells like his DNA. his house has that unique smell that can't be described, ykwim? and it's not bad either, I guess I would call Russell's faint smell as new furniture. yeah.

since I'm here now, ig I'll just explain the rest of what I think the main 7 smell like.

My mind immediately went to Minka, I think she smells similar to Russell except she has a smell that's actually notable. She smells like if you baked a potato pie using sharpies. "Sugar, spice, and everything nice" ahh monkey. It's not warm either, it's fresh. Like sharpie potato pie with a side of fabreeze. I don't exactly know what this means for Minka. I'd say she's doing fine. Living. Painting.

Zoe... I think she just smells like blanket. A well taken care of blanket, and not one that's sitting in a shelf or cabinet with other blankets for like 3 years, no, like a blanket you washed 2 weeks ago. Obviously she also smells like prefumes and stuff. A Sephora store, even. That is only when she is pampered up, though.

Pepper makes her own scents for herself but it majorly depends on how she's feeling. When she's not, she does have her own smell, and it's not anatomic skunk fart smelly, it's weed and mint cream smelly. If pepper doesn't have a mint smell, that is NOT her, that is a fake, don't go near her. And yeah, I did mention weed but I really mean more like a hemp cream. I do love both smells of weed and mint though, nostalgic scents. But here's the "smelly" part... she also smells a little like an abandoned meat farm. She just has to not be upset for that weed mint smelly smell to happen naturally, or else she is fish bomb stinky.

Vinnie smells, erm... Not the best. Could use deodorant more often, especially before dancing. I'm sorry😭 He doesn't smell sweaty all the time though, ofc. I think he smells like... minions kid perfume and olive oil. That's the smell I think reflects vinnies living habits. Are reptiles even capable of producing their own smells? (yes) Whatever, the gecko has hair. HIS HAIR, actually his hair does smell pretty nice. Coconut oil, maybe? It's not like Vinnie doesn't care about his hygiene, he just needs to work on that more. Mother never taught rahh

I think Pennyling smells the best, actually. She tries hard to smell good. Who'd wanna hug a fuchi panda? :( She learns from Zoe and Pepper about layering and what scents fit her best. Her smell is heavily based on what she puts on, so you'd less likely catch her smelling anything less than nice. So I'd say that she often decides to smell like Christmas-feel milk chocolate. It's a warm, cozy smell. While her natural smell is like leafy citrus. Very earthy.

[frontierpodiatrist]

clavell character analysis

y’know, while i do like clavell, i think a lot of people sort of underestimate his nuance as a character

while yes, his primary trait is being sort of disarmingly naive or seemingly ignorant of things going on, and just being a bit sillay, and he Does care about his students—i see SO much found family art of him and arven, without like...anyone acknowledging that he’s kind of...not great to him actually? in post-game immediately after turo/sada’s death, he just kind of is like “well you still need credits to graduate sorryyyy” and then says, in essence, he’s proud of everyone and “they all have a role to play”...except for arven, who specifically calls him out on it, and then when arven asks if his role’s obvious, the scene just ends

i’ve also seen mention of him looking away when he says to arven he’s sorry for their loss, and i saw someone mention it’s bc he’s about to cry, but personally, i interpret it more as guilt

what i find most interesting is how much of a role he takes w team star, really stepping up to the plate to help them, and yes i do believe he genuinely wants to help and love his students, just that his relationship with arven (due to his relationship with his parents) is a bit...complicated. but my personal feeling is that while he did also want to help team star bc they needed it, he also already felt guilt for unintentionally ignoring arven, and couldn’t withstand not taking action a second time. in a way, he probably wanted to atone and help other students where he failed to help arven

the way he fondly speaks of sada/turo, and how he refers to them as a dear friend, and how he even conformed their old lab space into his own, it definitely reads as “beyond friendship” and more into a romantic leaning, as a lot of ppl hc, but more importantly BECAUSE of this. because he was blinded by rose tinted glasses, and could only ever really see the good in them/his own relationship to them—that he really just...did not notice what was happening with arven, and not purposefully ignored his own plights, much like the old school did with team star

as what’s seemingly established in the game, arven doesn’t really have an already established relationship with clavell like nemona does, or at least not one that’s said, so to me it seems as if they’re no closer than any other characters. i think a more interesting take on it is that clavell was never able to see the damage being done to arven bc he was so caught up in his own longing for the professor, that by the time he noticed anything was up when arven was much older and acting up/being a delinquent by skipping school and stuff like that (which is when he took up the director position), it was almost too late to intervene

there’s also the fact that based on his dialogue at the beginning he knows they were building a time machine and despite this, never took legal action or anything grand to stop them instead just choosing to...walk away, which i think says a lot about his character, and how they were a sort of weak point of is

that being said, i think found family with him and arven is cute, i just think there’s a lot of unresolved emotional turmoil b/w the two of them by the end of the game that i’ve not really seen anyone talk about but that’s just my two cents ✌️ 😌

them talking in postgame IS interesting, i mean arven doesn’t really have anybody else he can ask about them, but it’s notable also how whenever arven says something like “ig building a time machine is more important than taking care of a child” or “i never bothered to know them” (even though they were neglectful) clavell never goes out of his way to correct him. and i feel as if he would, were it anybody else’s child

to clavell, they WERE special and they still are. he isn’t purposefully alienating arven by speaking about them in such a fond way, but he’s still doing it nevertheless. you can fail with one child (arven) and still succeed with others (penny and the rest of team star) and really i'm sympathetic for him that would be an insane situation to be in

[i-got-bad-knees]

Some notable moments from the show (an evening with Bob Odenkirk, guest hosted by David Baddiel) on Monday:

Mike was created because Bob couldn’t shoot a fourth ep due to HIMYM conflicting, he commented that it ended up making a lot more sense because “Saul would never move a body”

Said Saul’s only real “human” (Jimmy) moments in BrBa in his opinion were 1. When he tries to encourage Jesse to go talk to Andrea and Brock rather than waiting in the car, he said “there’s no incentive or benefit for Saul, he won’t make any money and it’s a risk for Jesse to be seen” (imo Jimmy more than Saul speaks to Brock and Andrea anyway) and 2. When he’s telling Walt to just quit while he’s ahead, because “Saul doesn’t care, he doesn’t care if this guy dies or if he’s family dies, why should he?”

Said the Saul hair (“combover on top, mullet in the back”) was his idea after reading the script

His agent apparently told him “please do not say no” to breaking bad and his response was “well I’m gonna” and he turned to us and continued “because that’s how I am, I’m difficult”

The first scene he shot was the Walt and Jesse in the desert scene, he said it was during a sandstorm which didn’t pick up on camera but every time they opened their mouths they were full of sand.

The desert scene with Mike took 14 “gruelling” days to shoot, out in the ABQ desert.

They had a snake wrangler on to clear any areas they were filming in (and obtain a snake if one was needed) but during the desert trek they didn’t come across a single snake in the entire 14 days and the wrangler said it was because it was too hot. For the desert snakes.

His heart attack occurred during the Lalo/mcwexler confrontation scene in the final season, and parts of it are from after his recovery months later. It’s been said a lot, but hearing Bob personally say out loud that he was “out” for 15 minutes and that his training for Nobody saved his life (which he explained how and why in detail) was Wild. I lost my dad due to heart complications, I’m really glad he was able to pull through.

David didn’t know about the heart attack, he was taken aback and stated Bob looked “damn good” and we all applauded

He essentially confirmed that Kim likes Jimmy because she’s also insane. He said it in a very roundabout way (“they’re both damaged, weird loners” and “she hides it better but she was more into it than him at times” lmao) but that was the gist.

Credits Giancarlo Esposito as perhaps the best actor he’s ever worked with and spoke about the wine bar scene for a good 5 minutes. The women behind me whispered “Gus is gay” during this.

Said the first time he met David Cross the man turned up to his home holding a basketball (at around 27 years old) asking if Bob wanted to play. He replied that he’d just made a sandwich.

He’s a huge Monty Python nerd and kept speaking about it at lengths during random intervals. Someone in the audience shouted that he was saying “Python” wrong (because he’s, ya know, American and says it with an American accent) and he attempted to say it “properly”. He could say Python, he could not say Monty. He thought Python was spelt Pythun, though.

He then did the same when David said Ree-ah instead of Ray for Rhea’s name lmao

He said “I might be slow but I’m not stupid” and briefly chanted “slow is not stupid!”

Apparently hates parody comedy (doesn’t care enough about popular culture. Relatable)

Didn’t expand on it much (because Baddiel hadn’t finished the series before literally interviewing the main actor) but said one of his favourite scenes is the breakup scene, and that he loved when Saul was thrown in the trash, saying “he deserves it”

Told Vince to “beat the shit out of this guy” (JimmySaul) in bcs

Enjoys shooting in difficult locations or circumstances (man likes to suffer for his art ig lmao)

When asked about the piss drinking scene, stated “I refused to drink my own piss, I’m fed up of the taste, so I had the whole crew mix a little of their piss into the bottle so it was a complete mystery” did not explain what was actually in the piss jugs

His wife was just offstage the whole time which was very sweet

Called the Trumps the worst family in America

Didn’t think we have Marmite in the UK. It’s literally British aksjdhekdjf

David Baddiel doesn’t know about Dr Suess. Not relevant to Bob but wth.

Bob said he’s nothing like Saul/Jimmy many times and the central reason he said so is because “Saul needs everybody to like him, Jimmy just wants the respect and admiration of his brother, and I don’t care, I just wanna make myself happy”

His favourite show is BBCs Royle Family

We could submit questions during interval and he answered a couple, one was “do you eat at Cinnabon” to which he replied “no, I had a heart attack” lmao. Baddiel was surprised Cinnabon was a real place.

We all got a free copy of his book (tho apparently he didn’t know?) with our tickets so that’s cool. Will be reading in the next 5-60 months

He got 3 people up on stage to read him questions he’d written and one woman, Claire, was absolutely amazing and actually successfully matched Bob’s stage presence and energy when reading this (hilarious) script he gave her. The others did great too but Claire is the MVP of the evening

Right near the start he said the word cunt. I was thrilled.

[vanessaroades-author]

Let’s look at what happened from June 13th to July 13th. (ARCs, Preorders, Sales, Marketing!)

Note: I’m not talking about costs here and likely won’t ever. However, my author buddy JAL Solski has an awesome write-up on the costs, tax considerations, all sorts of numbers, of publishing their sapphic fantasy duology! I’m also very fond of Ros’s write-up on expectations and goals related to post-publication.

Before you start–some disclaimers on my experience

First, expect very little! These numbers will not impress you and honestly there’s a part of me that’s pretty embarrassed, like I'm advertising that I'm a big dummy who can't write. But all in the name of honesty & transparency!

Something I hear a lot from other new authors is, “Am I doing pretty good? Am I doing really badly? I don’t know.” Well, here’s another batch of numbers to consider!

Deep Roots is currently only available as an eBook & through Kindle Unlimited.

I’m not writing anything trendy. By a long shot. I can throw “queer fantasy” on it but that’s kinda the most I got. (When’s the last time you saw a runaway indie hit that didn’t have a ton of romance?)

I’m not popular on social media (260 IG followers with on average <10% engagement and <200 TikTok followers).

I have so many friends in my corner. Someone should stop you at the gate to the Indie Publishing Amusement Park of Hell and tell you, “Listen, if you want any hope of staying sane, make author friends.” Besides helping you navigate tech questions or giving second opinions on your cover, and, you know, understanding and empathizing with you, your friends will be the ones who comment on your posts, repost them, tell their friends, add you in their newsletter, read, and review. That can mean sales…but that also means having people lift you up and celebrate with you.

Advance Reader Copies

I began posting about ARC sign-ups April 4th, sent the first round of eBooks ~May 5th, and closed applications on June 2nd.

I didn’t use a service like Booksprout or Booksirens, just plain old BookFunnel and email (therefore my reach was entirely reliant on my social media efforts). I was most talkative about it on Instagram. I only posted like once or twice on Tumblr and TikTok, but they went really well for my standards.

Sign-Ups: 51

Reviews/Ratings:

By publication day I had 4 ratings/reviews on Goodreads, 1 on Amazon, and 1 on StoryGraph.

After 31 days I had 6 reviews and 10 ratings on Goodreads. 1 extra rating on StoryGraph; Amazon stayed the same.

Note: I was really lax with my ARC team about when reviews should be sent in. I was clear that I didn’t care if they were pre-publication (partly because well…I read ARCs a lot and I know I can’t always get to things on time, and partly because I didn’t decide a publication day until fairly late in the timeline).

However, from what I’ve seen for other authors, a pretty low return on ARC readers isn’t entirely uncommon? Kind of a kick in the confidence regardless.

Preorders

Total of 7. I don’t remember when I opened preorders, but I believe it was around the same time as the ARC application.

Marketing (sort of) from June 13th to July 13th

I ran a small (kinda last-minute) campaign for extra merch & an extra story for anyone who preordered or purchased during release week. I said that I would re-run this campaign for paperbacks.

These are my Tired Girl numbers:

Instagram: 5 posts specifically about DR. 2 non-DR related.

TikTok: 7 videos specifically about DR, most getting ~300 views, though one broke 1k. (Notably, I didn’t post about the release week extras on TikTok at all.). 2 non-DR related.

Tumblr: One post I would send spinning around the block every once in a while. Definitely lowest priority.

Release Week Sales

eBook: 3

KU: 15 pages read

Release Month Sales

eBook: 4

KU: 594 pages read

Future Plans

*Releases one giant sigh* I’M FREEEEEE

Once the book is written and done, cover made and words edited, there’s only one thing left in your control: marketing. Everything else is up to chance (honestly, marketing is up to chance a lot of the time, too).

But I pretty quickly decided to take it easy on social media. A wave of burn-out that had been chasing me since last summer finally caught up, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that when I saw like no return on investment for my posts or chatter, I was like, “Okay, I’m going to rest, instead of pushing this boulder up this hill, then. I deserve it.”

One plus of having paperbacks come out way after the eBooks? I get release day Part 2! (With fun new props for pics and videos!) I have a good list of video ideas & drafts, but I would always look at them and think, “Wouldn’t this be better to do when the paperbacks are around?” And soon, they will be!

As for blog posts, I want to continue being transparent with things like this. I will (hopefully) catch up on the numbers again near the end of August, as by then I’ll be making the decision to keep Deep Roots in KU for another three months or not.

Until then, lower your expectations! It’ll keep you sane out here. Thanks for reading and hanging out.

[p-redux]

Do you know how or when caitriona met her husband? I’m so fascinated by them and you seem to know a lot about her.

Hi Anon, yes, I know the whole story via my previous Tony family source. I've answered this question MANY times, but I don't mind answering it again. But since I've answered it so many times, I'm just going to direct you to a previous post where I talk about most of my past insider sources. And I'll also copy and paste the specific parts related to Cait and Tony and their backstory. Let me know if you have any questions.

Happy reading! 👇

And here's the insider source info specifically related to Caitriona Balfe and Tony McGill. 👇 ( This is an excerpt from my previous Insider Sources post).

---------------👇

My second major source was my Tony family source. My Tony source is someone from Glasgow who was friends with someone I’d known for a while. My friend put me in contact with her. The Tony source approached me to tell me that she was shocked to find out a relative of hers (later found out it was her brother) had revealed “the lead actress from that new show Outlander is dating Tony McGill.” She was shocked because she and her family have known Tony and his family for years, all of them growing up in and around Glasgow. Her brother went to school with Tony and his brother, Joe. She then told me the whole backstory of Cait and Tony. She wanted me to keep the info to myself, and she had no motivation or intention of making it public. But she finally agreed, after I gave my word that I would protect her identity and I have. 

What she shared with me in late 2014 is that her brother found out their friend, Tony was dating Caitriona Balfe. At the time she said they’d been dating for about 9-10 months, that’s why I always put the start of their relationship around March 2014. She was told that by December 2014, the relationship was “dead serious” between them, and that Cait had spent Christmas 2014 in London with Tony and his dad. And then Tony had flown to Ireland with Cait to spend New Year’s Eve and New Year’s with her family and friends (we’ve all seen the pic and video on Donal Brophy’s IG). My source said that Cait and Tony had been friends for 9 years or so at the time (again, this was told to me in 2014) and had met years ago when Tony rented out a room to one of Cait’s friends. They hooked up briefly back then and then remained friends, until it turned romantic again around March 2014. The source said that she and her family knew Tony and his family from back in the day, and she told me what school Tony went to in Glasgow (something I haven’t and won’t make public). She said that Tony had moved from Glasgow years ago and had been living in London for a while (again, this was told to me in 2014). Also, that he and his brother owned a bar/live music place in London, The Library in Islington (they later opened a second one, The Reading Room, which Cait posted from on IG) and a music production company. And that prior to that, Tony was the band manager for some Scottish bands, most notable, The Fratellis. She described Tony as “fun, clever, and hysterically funny.” 

The Tony source came into the picture after I had my Twitter account up, where I was posting insider info given by my first source. I had already posted that Sam and Cait weren’t dating. This second source is the one that filled in the missing puzzle piece I didn’t know was missing and told me she knew WHO Cait was dating. I would have NEVER known the name Tony McGill associated with Cait if not for this source. He was on no one’s radar. And he wasn’t on social media. This source told me details only an insider would know. And I also had her full identity, so I knew she was legit as well. Then ‘lo and behold Tony started showing up places with Cait. There is NO way I would have known about Tony without this inside family source. No way. Of course after my source told me about him, I did look him up online and there was hardly any information about him. Never in a million years would I have linked Tony McGill with Cait on my own. And I mentioned Tony McGill way before he started showing up places with Cait. How could it be that I said sources told me Tony McGill is dating Cait, and then a man identified as Tony McGill is seen out and about with Cait? The only way I knew about Tony is because the source told me. 

Back in the day, when Cait and Tony weren’t yet living together yet, people wondered how they made their relationship work given the sometimes long distances? Well, when they first started dating around March 2014, Cait was filming Outlander Season 1, so Tony would go to Glasgow or Cait would go to London on weekends. Then when Season 1 wrapped and Cait went back to L.A. (where she had been living) in late Sept. 2014, Tony went to L.A. to visit her in October 2014 (both their birthdays are in October, Cait Oct. 4 and Tony Oct. 12, Libra/Libra bond!). The Fratellis were also in L.A. Oct. 2014 and Tony helped them out with some business stuff. Then, as I’ve already stated, Cait and Tony spent time together Dec. 2014 and January 2015 for the holidays. Then Valentine’s Feb. 2015, Cait flew to London for the opening of Tony’s 2nd bar, The Reading Room. She posted a pic on IG. Then in April 2015, Tony flew to NY to join Cait for the premiere of the second half of Season 1. Eyewitness sources saw him sitting with Cait’s friends at the screening and then with Cait and her friends inside the after party. There was one PUBLIC pic on Twitter of Cait, Tony and Sam. And I and others have been shown private pics of Tony there. Many of us have seen them but we couldn’t make them public because they show the location where they were taken, thus identifying the source who took them, and she would get in trouble with her boss. After that, in May 2015, Cait went back to Glasgow to begin shooting OL Season 2, and this time, she brought her cat, Eddie with her. Per more than one source, Tony pretty much lived in Glasgow after that with Cait. One person who went to Tony’s bars in Glasgow and then reached out to me, said that she had asked about Tony and was told “he doesn’t come around much anymore because he moved back to Scotland.” They then moved into their new place in Glasgow, moved out of that one and they moved to a new place in Glasgow, and also have a place in London. Some say they also bought a place in the English countryside. And they are obviously now married (since 2019) and they had their first son. THAT’s how Tony and Cait made it work.

My Tony source also parted ways with me, also due to fear of being found out. She didn’t formally break up with me, the way the original industry source did, she simply ghosted me. But I also see her pop up on Twitter or IG sometimes and get all wistful. Oh well...

-------------

So, Anon, that's the Tony and Cait backstory straight from someone who knows Tony and his family. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by! ❤️

[growling]

I like reading about your dog fellas they seem silly ! Quick question why are they named after authors is there like. A lore relevant reason. Are they reincarnated authors with shonen powers or smth ?

Not really like, relevant to the lore of the anime itself but the author they are named after and their writing styles/works do influence the character's personality and background. Just paying homage to them I guess, more of like a meta thing than in-universe

Aside from the characters itself, the abilities/powers they have are named/based off of the author they're also based off of, for ex. bsd Akutagawa's ability name is called "Rashoumon" which is also one of the most notable works of rl Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, bsd Dazai's ability is called "No longer human" which is also the name of rl Dazai Osamu's most popular work etc etc. (often the ability's function is based off of said work or multiple of the author's works as well, sometimes it's more abstract or just kinda random it depends ig) Aside from just abilities there's also details such as Tanizaki's sister/girlfriend being named after a titular character from rl Tanizaki's novel, or the characters Dazai/Odasaki/Ango being friends in the anime while the authors they're based off of were also somewhat of a trio too

[gamerbearmira]

DA

I've been thinking about Mirabel's room, and thought I'd finally give a description, feel free to draw.

Mirabel not having a gift doesn't make her room any less magical, it has a main room and two side rooms. The main room is bright and colorful, illuminated with colorful crystal butterflies hanging from the ceiling, she has a canopy bed on the far side facing the door, her dresser and vanity off to the left side side, and a lounge area/reading nook off to the right, there's a large window above the headboard of the bed to pour in natural light and wake her up in the morning (she's an early bird), there's another window that looks out towards the village and Casita's entrance, (perfect place to bark at the mailman), Milagro's dog bed is at the foot of Mirabel's bed. The side rooms are on the left and right sides of the room, the side room on the right is her study/workspace where she keeps all her sewing supplies and other creative projects, with a large desk in the center where she keeps her sewing machine. The side room on the left is an open space that simulates the outside in a similar way to Antonio's room, it has a small pond of fresh water, a few cushioned benches, and a small apple tree (fun fact, dogs can eat apples) but mostly it has things for dogs to play with and open space for them to run around, it's essentially a tiny dog park.

OK so. I couldn't really get the actual room BUT I GOT A LAYOUT ❗❗❗ I ain't no architect but I tried to follow what you said best I could

(/^▽^)/

1 and 7 are tapestries (there's more but I didn't draw them. 2 is stuff animals that hang in the corner of the art room, though there's possible another in the main room as well. 3 would be drawings, mainly in the work room, ranging from childhood to current. 4 is photos, there's more, but I only did one 🥸 5 is the butterflies--there are more colors but I got lazy <\\3 and 6 is just the candle burners on the walls in the room. (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎)

Also??? The open space is larger than pictured (if I sized it down it would ruin the quality), and it has the high ceiling by far.

If you can't read my handwriting that is entirely understandable. I was just labeling stuff tbh. For the work room??? There's candles for more consistent light while she works, while the butterflies are in the main room. I imagine the open space simulates day/afternoon/evening cycles but I could be wrong. I'm not sure 👽

There's a lot more stuff I didn't put, but this is really just for reference on where the most notable stuff is, ig. BUT PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT ANY SPECIFIC STUFF❗❗ I wanna make it as accurate as I can, especially for when I draw it from a human stand point ٩(•̤̀ᵕ•̤́๑)ᵒᵏᵎᵎᵎᵎ

ANYWAY I HOPE. THIS WORKS. I will be drawing the actual rooms, from a human stand point. But. Those might take me a hot minute because y'all girl ain't the best at that 💀💀hence why this is in birds eye.

RAHHHHH 🦅🦅🦅

[b-theshittywriter]

🐝🐝Time to start on the characters, ig.

Incase you haven't seen my previous posts:

Here's where I built a theocracy (not so well, but I tried)

And here's where I built the magic system

I cannot tell you enough how many extra things I want to add to the Magic System that would break it and stop all chances for the characters to be smart.

So I ain't doing that.

Anyway let's start building a few characters before I lose motivation.

P.S. I'm getting the character template from dabblewriter.com. Have fun.

Let's start with one that's been on my mind for a while.

✨🦈Shark Boi🦈✨

A prince to the Shark Kingdom, and mimic.

My overall idea is that he can mimic parts from all species of sharks. So guess who's gonna have to learn about sharks... yay...

Anyway, character creation time, I'll leave my explanations after each part.

And if this is too long for you, there's a TL;DR at the end.

Demographics

Name: Galo

Age: 21

Sex/Gender: Male

Ethnicity: European

Occupation: Prince

Socioeconomic status: Prince

Education: Yes

Other notes: shark boi

The name Galo is just the middle of Megalodon.

And he's 21 because why not?

European bc Megalodon remains can be found there as well as me being aware that kingdoms came from there, as well as this world being based on our own.

He's a prince, don't think they have occupations, and ofc he's getting an education, he's a prince.

I'm skipping Physical Appearance, it's too long.

History

Birth date: March 14th

Place of birth: Shark Kingdom

Key family members: Meg (Queen, Shark Mimic); Don (King); Lemon (Sister (Middle Child), mimic); Bask (Brother (youngest), tamer), Thodian (Grandparent, Shark Chosen)

Notable events/milestones: Defeated his mother in a fight to practice his mimicry at 15.

Criminal record: Spotless.

Affiliations: Shark Kingdom, idk who else.

Skeletons in the closet: Loves romance novels, but sshhh, don't call him out or he'll get embarrassed.

Other notes: Golden Retriever Boyfriend.

March 14th is Pisces and those are fish. Meg and Don come from Megalodon, Lemon comes from the Lemon Shark, and Bask comes from the Fucking Eldritch Horror of Sharks, the Basking Shark, Thodian's name comes from Acanthodian, who's believed to be the ancestor of the modern day shark.

I couldn't think of any notable events, but I want him to be talented, so he can fight. I was thinking of putting him in a war, but that causes trauma, and I don't want to give my baby any trauma before the story ever.

Also he loves romance novels cause Pride and Prejudice is fucking adorable and so is any period romance or fantasy romance set in some form of medieval era/Victorian.

Psychological Traits

Personality type: Idk yet.

Personality traits: ADHD.

Temperament: Cold and Serious around people, when alone they're always excited.

Introvert/Extrovert: Extrovert

Mannerisms: idk yet.

Educational background: Yes.

Intelligence: Strategic, Academic, Creative.

Self-esteem: Iffy.

Hobbies: Reading, practicing magic, swimming.

Skills/talents: Fighting, Magic, Swimming, Learning.

Loves: Books.

Morals/Virtues: All's fair in war. If you can't do it alone, you're worthless.

Phobias/Fears: Becoming a disappointment.

Angered by: People trying to help him.

Pet peeves: idk yet.

Obsessed with: Romance.

Routines: hah! no * cries in ADHD *

Bad habits: Sometimes eats fish raw.

Desires: ... someone he feels comfortable crying around.

Flaws: ADHD... Imma go into more detail: difficulty with time management, ADHD paralysis, executive dysfunction. Those are the basics, now for more: Already stated, iffy self-esteem, holding himself to the belief that he needs to be able to handle things alone. Also touch-starved.

Quirks: Can smell blood.

Favorite sayings: "GOBLIN DEEZ NU--"... nah I'm joking. I can't think of anything

Disabilities: ... ADHD...

Secrets: Loves Romance novels... and he "wants to feel all that love and emotion, be that attached to the person he's holding."

Regrets: none... for now

Accomplishments: Defeated his mother in a fight at 15.

Memories: ... that's too broad.

Other notes: nada.

The idea of needing to do things alone comes from how some sharks hunt alone, as well as how he can eat raw fish (cooked tastes better though).

The "goblin deez nuts" joke is meant to be a reference to the goblin shark.

As for secrets I couldn't really think of much, but I'm guessing "someday he'll be falling, without caution." idk though.

Pls keep in mind everything is still a rough draft so I can't be certain that I'm sticking with what I make today.

Skipping communication.

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Abilities

Physical strengths: Swordsmanship; swimming; combat; penmanship

Physical weaknesses: the limits of humans and sharks

Intellectual strengths: Quick thinking, strategies, creativity

Intellectual weaknesses: sometimes delay, mental processing, not very observant all the time.

Interpersonal strengths: Decent at convincing others

Interpersonal weaknesses: He can come off as scary.

Physical abilities: that of a human or sharks.

Magical abilities: Replicate parts (or all) of any sharks body.

Physical illnesses/conditions: N/A

Mental illnesses/conditions: ADHD

Other notes: N/A

He's good at convincing others due to lessons in diplomacy.

Okay that's 4 down, how many left? 2

I'm going to skip relationships, I'll work on that another time.

Rn I'm focusing on-

Character Growth (warning: spoilers, if you actually care)

Character archetype: Golden Retriever Boyfriend? no. Cold Prince with a Heart of Gold? no. ✨🦈Shark Boi🦈✨? yes.

Character arc: Learning to accept help, and that his value is not determined by how well he does something.

Core values: I don't have an answer unfortunately.

Internal conflicts: Is he really good enough to inherit the throne? What happens if he fails? idk I can't think of a lot

External conflicts: Ofc a Human Tamer possibly starting a war, he fails to stop them at something, maybe the antagonist persuades his parents to disown him or ruin his name or something. once again this is still in the early stages.

Goals: Obviously to stop the antagonist from killing tons of people... but why? maybe because he feels it's his duty as prince to stop the bad from happening? Maybe since everyone is scared of him, he wants them to trust him to be king?

Motivations: oh... I already answered that.

Epiphanies: ... he's worthy and doesn't need people to tell him?

Significant events/plot points: Thorian dies and he becomes the Shark Chosen?

Other notes: seems okay for now.

___________

Okay quick summary of what we've done so far:

Magic System:

Mimics can copy the abilities of animals

Tamers can control animals

Both are chosen by gods of the animals.

When a chosen dies, the god chooses another.

Society:

The Equestrian Church runs a theocracy

Shark Kingdom

Characters:

MC has no powers

Antagonist is a Human Tamer

Galo is Shark Kingdom prince who acts cold but when he's comfortable being himself (which is often when he's alone) he gives off Golden Retriever Boyfriend vibes, and secretly loves romance novels. He's also super talented... and has self-esteem issues.

That's enough for now, I'll keep working on this another day.

And just so you know ideas are always welcome.

[timothylawrence]

(you don't have to respond) it's been a while since I've been in borderlands fandom (like pre-bl3) and when it came to the story, specifically Rhys, I just breezed past it cuz i was salty he wasn't voiced by the old voice actor lol so like i just didn't pay attention to him.. but anyways what made his arc racist or like what makes him racist coded. i fully agree that all of the games can and do have racist characterization. I just didn't pay as much attention/care to bl3 to think too deeply about it

Hi anon :) thank you for asking this in a respectful manner. (lord knows people tend to just tell me to do unkind things for criticizing a vidya game) Putting most of this under a cut because it's kinda long!

To start, It's kinda poorly worded in the post, but Rhys himself isn't the character who is like. racist i guess. it's more to do with the villain within the arc Kat Jr. He's frankly not a character that can be ignored and if you recall, his whole schtick is like. being a "creep" (<- gb's word, not mine) towards Rhys and borderline stalking him in order to be friends. He goes as far as to constantly call Rhys, destroy Promethea, and most notably, kill the things Rhys loves for his attention/to get him to comply. In a sense, he's just flat out obsessed with Rhys.

So, typical villain stuff ig? Except the thing here is that Katagawa Jr is heavily coded to be Japanese and there is a history with gearbox and their writing of east asian men to be obsessed with white men. The only other notable east asian man in that series is Nakayama, who, if you recall, is also incredibly creepy (again GBs words) and infatuated with, you guessed it, another white guy: Jack.

Now we've got two east asian villains who are obsessed with a white guy. Some could argue it's a bad coincidence but considering all the parallels and other racist tropes found in the series... its kinda hard to believe this wasn't on purpose or the fault of a racist writer. The entire strive of these two east asian men being obsessed with white dudes is just. flat out racist. there's a history of East Asian males being depicted as inferior to white men + a handful of stereotypes that stretch back centuries in the US alone. here's a source on the relationship between east asian and white masculinity/feminization (as well as other things, it's a good read if you'd like to be more informed <- tw for antiblackness, misogynoir, anti-asian racism).

So yeah. It's just... hard to ignore that when I play. there's nothing wrong with not liking the "trivial" things (rhys' va change, the mustache, his last name) but I've been on tumblr fandom for 3 years and... i haven't many, if any, bring attention to the vile racism. It's unfortunately common to see people go as far as to fetishize katagawa further or villanize him even further which is just as uncomfortable as the source material.

[rikasfundingassociates]

[Found Chatlog] The Hacker.

This interview originally took place on January 28th, 2023.

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The phone screen whirs to life to reveal… quite a peculiar place. Darkness creeps at the corners of your vision, and everything in the room is tinted slightly green with the night vision feature of the camera. One by one, some notable features become clear as the camera slowly adjusts to the dim light.

One- a stack of takeout boxes and bags that teeters ever so slightly to the side, but balanced with enough precision to remain standing for… who knows how long.

Two- a cat tree with various tattered felt rats and strings with bells on the end hanging from the ballasts of the fortress, obviously well used.

Three- an electric keyboard in the corner of the room, dusty with manila folders propped up where sheet music should be.

Four- a desk with two monitors and a high-backed swivel chair (what’s on the monitors is unclear, as they’re too blindingly bright to be picked up by the camera.) It’s facing away from the computer. It’s also occupied! She has picked up on the camera recording her a while ago, curiously following the lens with a catlike quirk to her lips.

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[HACKER]: what's this all about? gonna interview me or something ? :3

peepee

Cat tree…… cats

CATS !!! i luvluvluv cats

ok first of all what your pronouns

oh!!! haven't had to give them out in a while

she/her

i'm going to assume YOUR pronouns are pee/pee

I have question….. is green your favourite colour by chance

oh noooooo how could you tellllll

(yes)

hrmmmmm what was the last piece of media you watched/read/consumed

last not fav? i replayed kirby and the forgotten land recently

. . .

L L L

ur pee pee now

i said so

Favourite kirby character go!!

AHHHH IM ON A TIMER KING DEEDEE

well what is your fav media? i like. old animated movies

just any old movie ??? i have a penchant for those cringy scifi ones with special effects that you can tell aged horribly

as for the question, video game music is my jam :3

what kind of music do you listen to anon

OSTs and a bit of vocaloid mostly

. . .

i can't bear to lose the respect of someone whos pronouns are peepee....

if the world could hear you say one thing, what would you say

deez NUTSSSS

When do we get to see ur assumably there cat hMMMMM :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

i wish i could show you, but a friend is watching over him for me !!!

caught me at a bad time ... 3:

OMG I HAVE A RLLY GOOD ONE ok you remmeber that jesus guy and how he had a body and blood which were bread and wine

omg like the tibble

what would your body and blood be?

my brain hurts.... uhhhhh

ig my headphones and cat??,,

IW ANT TO SEE THE CAT

IM SORRY IM SORRRRYYYY

hold on hold on wait

i can show you a gif that he looks like

What kind of cat is it ….): at least

tabby :3

what do you do for work?

hmmmmm currently ???? im a bit between jobs

i was working at this chinese takeout place, but i had to drop that to work on the app !!! call it a passion project

part time now im delivering pizzas for this parlor down the street

. . .

AHA !!! I FOUND HIM!!!

he’s a bit bigger and more gremliny but that’s the best one i have !!!

what’s the app you’re talking about?

oh !!!! i don’t get to talk about this often yippee

i, the GREAT AND BENEVOLENT PERSON I AM, coded a whole new app for my friends and i to talk to each other !!!

a little debugging here and there, but for the most part it works pretty smoothly and i get to establish my dominion :33

What would you ………sing at Karaoke night?

CA LI FOR NIA GIRLS WE'RE UNFORGETTABLE

DAISY DUKES BIKINIS ON TOP

[ There’s a bit of pounding on the floor, which quiets her down quickly enough. ]

[ Distantly ]

sorryy...

https://tenor.com/view/maxwell-maxwell-spin-spinning-cat-maxwell-spinning-gif-27234188 Opinions on maxwell

i like the cut of his jib

he's committed many crimes

Dumb floor banger party pooper :AUGH:

i don't know what the proble, was !!! im SUCH a good singer

... i won't do it again tho

do you think anyone else will get to use it?

as much as i’d like to open it up to the public, we have a strict closed circle !! only people we trust can join :3

BEEE WHOOO YOUUU AREEEE FOR YOUR PRIIIIIDE

what are you...

one of those gay people ????

Am i

you tell me ...

who was that floor banger party pooper!!

my landlady 3:

apparently there’s ‘nighttime restrictions’ or something

sounds boring to me !!!

ALSO IF THE PUBLIC ISNT ALLOWED TO USE THE APP WHO IS.. who is this inner circle you have

i WISH we were the illuminati

just me and a couple'a buds! childhood friends

do you ever worry that someone could possibly infiltrate what you’ve made? like a leak or something?

someone breaking through MY security system? HA!

i'm a master programmer, so i'd never let that happen on my watch !!

Is that pizza place secretly a government hangout????

... id prefer not to answer this one

agent papa john? someone's caught on

take the shot

DOMINOS ALL THE WAY :rage:

... nobody tell them

i hate to break it to you

they're all in on it...

….even pizza express ): ?

nah

they're cool

Pizzas vs burgers

i’m contractually obligated to give one answer

if i don’t, i’ll be fired on the spot and blacklisted from every pizza place ever :(

… except pizza express

Im gonna go eat a burger out of spite now

TRAITOR

YOU'RE GONNA LEAVE ME HERE, A RANDOM FACELESS PERSON YOU'VE BARELY MET ????

Detective work is real tiring!!

i guess you deserve a break, after busting my super secret pizza agent cover…

… IS WHAT I WOULD SAY IF I WAS ACTUALLY A SUPER SECRET PIZZA AGENT

AHA!!! YOU’VE BEEN PRANKED!! BY THE NEFARIOUS -

[ There’s banging from the floor below again, along with a muffled female voice yelling back up at the hacker. ]

.... oh

guess i gotta go :(

she doesn't like all the yelling... heh

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[HACKER]: i should be getting back to my work anyways !! was nice to have some company for a bit, tho

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The hacker turns back around in her chair, and the rhythmic clicking of keys fills the room once more. With that, the phone screen shuts off.

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Transcript provided by [UNKNOWN].

[khaleesiofalicante]

Helloooo Dani!!!

So. A few days ago we had a freshers party at my college (it was actually a very - not illegal, but definitely not approved by the college party, given to us by our seniors lmao. It wasn't in campus, of course).

And like. Freshers parties have this Rose Ceremony thing alright. Where you're given a red rose and you have to give it to someone you like romantically (of the opposite gender, cause fucking heteronormativity 🙄) and like.

Remember I once told you about this cute boy I liked in class?

Well. I gave him the rose. I gave him the fucking red rose.

It wasn't very grand lmao. I walked upto him all like "hey" and gave him the rose. And he was like. "Thank you". With a little smile, ofc

Which is a perfectly normal response. But then my disaster bisexual ass said "You're welcome" and walked away. 🥲

BUT BUT BUT BUT THEN a couple of hours later, we had this group class photo after which I was walking to the other end of the hall from the stage, when he called me over and he was like. "Hey, sorry I didn't say anything when you gave me the rose earlier. My mind was kinda occupied. By the way, you look great today."

Which like. AJSJSJSJSJSJ????

Most of my girl friends just gave their roses to their guy friends, but the ones who gave it to someone they liked said that the guy either just said "thank you" and left it at that or just. Didn't say anything at all, and gave a little smile. Which like. Makes it even a bigger deal that boi talked to me later and even complimented me???

But nothing much has happened since then :') there were a few moments of weird eye contact (the most notable was yesterday in the dissection hall, when I was going to wash my hands. I was taking off my gloves and talking to my friend about testicles (from a strictly professional and medical view, fyi), and I looked up and he was standing there washing his hands and looking right at me aksjdjdks.) And on Monday he asked me about my physiology marks in a recent test cause we got our papers that day. And nothing much really happened today, I could've talked to him in the metro ig but I was having a sucky day and my overthinking brain was on overdrive and I wasn't very verbose. But then he waved goodbye to me when we got off the train (we get off at the same station) so. Yeah.

At this point I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. Is the ball in his court or mine?? Or is the ball out of the fucking park??

Anyway. Yeah. I just wanted to let you know I actually made a romantic move on someone for once and I ended up spiraling sksksjsksk

Rose Ceremony?????

WHAT IN THE BACHELORETTE HELL IS GOING ON IN YOUR UNI MADAM???

I'm at the part you said welcome and walked away and so far so good tbh (why the fuck am i live blogging this???)

HE SAID YOU LOOK GREAT TODAY. ASJSJSJS INDEED.

Not you just casually mentioning 'dissection hall' and 'testicles' and moving on. okay then. (I'm still watching Dahmer on Netflix FYI)

FUCK THE BALL. DO SOMETHING BEFORE I HIT YOU BOTH ON THE HEAD WITH A BAT.

PS - SO SO SO PROUD OF YOU THO BRO. NICELY DONE.

(i'm reading this while listening to hindi romance songs lmao)

PPS - do you have his number? if so, just randomly send him a song rec or a link to a funny video :) Always a good way to break the ice and establish contact!!!