#its also not as bad as it looks.... mostly

[catboybiologist]

So.

Re: tumblr bans of transfemmes.

Let's ignore PhotoMatt for a moment. Manbaby tech CEO doubling down on a stupid decision and making himself look like more of an ass doing so is not a new phenomena.

Tumblr has consistently said, in both public statements and leaked internal communication, that they're essentially running a skeleton crew.

They keep saying that they don't have the resources to moderate, manually review posts, have any kind of appeal process, or anything. So, as people have widely received communications about, they seemed to have automated a significant portion of the moderation to operate solely on the quantity of reports (probably with a basic filter, eg quantity of reports regarding a certain post, within a certain timeframe) to automatically ban or shadowban accounts.

And so, they wipe their hands, both to the users, the public, and their own consciousness, and go about their automated operations.

All of this is likely true. Tumblr, at this point, is essentially abandonware internally, a kind of weird vanity project/dumpster ground for server infrastructure for Automattic. Likely, they don't want the bad press of "shutting down" fully. Or maybe the trickle of revenue they get here just barely exceeds operating costs, so why not keep it around?

Whatever is the case, the bans are a result of an automated process working in the background. I'm giving them some benefit of the doubt here, of course, we can't know anything for certain- but it seems like the individual bans are not based on any specific, manual action.

And that doesn't fucking excuse anything.

Because at some point, multiple people sat down at tumblr, and decided how to cut costs.

And they decided that the bare minimum of report abuse prevention was one of the first things on the chopping block.

Before the boops. Before GUI reconfigures.

They decided to cut something that is necessary to manage online communities.

They decided to cut something that ensures any targeted group will have any kind of community online.

And then, after all of that, the only manual intervention is doubling down on the shitty decisions that the automated systems make, and plucking reasons out of their ass for why they were the right decisions all along.

It's pure silicon valley brain. Blame the computer often and always. Use it to shield the active decisions you made when designing the computer that way. Treat it as a fact of life as opposed to something they actively made decisions for.

Is tumblr staff hitting the banhammer on each transfemme one by one? No.

Is tumblr staff deliberately crafting a system that allows TERFs and other conservative bigots to get rid of the "undesirables" for them? Yup. But they sure as hell are trying to not say the quiet part out loud. If they can always point the finger somewhere else, to the advertisers, to the automated systems, to the TERFs, then they can always have juuusssttt enough plausible deniability.

But being the "queerest place on the internet" requires concious acknowledgement that queer people will be targets of harassment, and you will have to protect against that.

Side note, this is why I do try to keep my blog at least somewhat SFW. Its one of the main reasons why I choose not to reblog all of the posts I'm tagged in- if the post is overtly NSFW, I've probably seen it, appreciated it, and consciously decided my level of interaction with it mostly based on how "tumblr friendly" it is. Is that bowing down to them? A little. It's also my choice. I value the community I have here. The pushes that y'all have given me gave me the strength to transition, and honestly gives me a lot of motivation to research HRT biology as much as I can, among many other things.

Yeah, I post pictures that are clearly meant to be found attractive in ways that are generally not socially acceptable , but never actual NSFW. I would like to think that I'm pretty safe from bans, but hey. Who knows. I don't want to lose my follower base, and the community around it.

And yeah, I'm gonna annoyingly remind you of the other places to find me, make sure to check my pin. If you don't know where to go, just find me on reddit and go from there, I'll post about it if anything happens.

[arinmoss]

cropped wip of a trans dude im sketching. gonna try to finish it soon :3

[max1461]

Seems like one of the discourse topics at present is "how good is the US economy actually right now, what does that question even mean and how should we measure it, are traditional metrics doing a good job, and how does all this bear on more narrowly political questions like the upcoming election?" And people with different inclinations are staking out different positions and meta-positions, for instance there seems to be a consensus far-left opinion, and a consensus technocratic liberal position, and a consensus right-wing opinion (although in my circles I mostly see debate between the first two), and what not. And I can often look at a post and have a sense not only of what object level point it's making, but also what meta-points it's making or at least engaged with, what concessions it's making to what opponents in order to bolster its main conclusion, etc. etc.

This is always how the discourse is, but in this particular instance I'm enjoying it instead of hating it because I don't really have any pre-existing view on this, "ideologically" I'm not in a position where any particular conclusion has any bearing on me or my understanding of the world, so I just get to sit back and look at all the graphs everyone is posting and go "hmm yes, wonderful graph" and sometimes they link to the source and now I have a new batch of data I can look at if I'm ever curious about anything relating to the US economy, which advances my long-term project of understanding what the fuck the economy is because I don't really get it, and it's all very gratifying. Until then you can record the official max1461ist position as "the economy should be good instead of bad", count that as a campaign promise and please don't ask me to be on any of the economic advisory committees.

[ezvlli]

I was kinda thinking about the future of Tommy. We can be sure that the character will come back for S8. Tommy was supposed to be there for only 4 episodes and that he already has been there for more.

As for now, Tommy has been seen in 7x03, 7x04, 7x05, 7x6 and 7x9 and he also was in the Finale.

For one, Lou and Oliver did an interview together and we can assume it's not the only one. You don't ask your actor to do a 5 minute interview in which they barely talk about the show (also I think that the host made the interview awkward and both Lou and Oliver were picking a bad vibe.) Also, this interview was done late this season. Tommy came back in 7x03 and kissed Buck in 7x04. Yes, both Lou and Oliver did interviews but none of them were together and it wasn't on set. As for now, the Access Hollywood interview was the second interview that Oliver did on set, the first one being the Zach show. The rest were by zoom or other facecams ways. As for Lou, it's the only interview that was recorded. Everytime he did an interview, it was for an article and we never had the audio.

Also, Lou does cameo, and if you have a problem with the price I don't think it's his fault I think he put them at the lowest he can but the site up the prices because of the demands. Simple economy lesson, the more there will be demands the less the offer will meet the demands and so in order to change that the price changes. More on the cameo part, Lou has changed the way he does cameo. When he used to talk about Tommy, he would talk freely about him, his cameo would be pretty straightforward and he even made a backstory for Tommy, which I love because as someone who likes to do some deep dives on a character's psyche, the backstory explains a ton. But recently, his demeanor changed. He did a cameo in which he was more vague and kept looking to the sides as if there was something or someone reminding him to "behave".

Another thing, Lou was added in a video the cast did for Instagram. A video that had everyone, minus Peter and Angela, might be exempt from social media because Angela is less active than the rest and Peter is non-existent (Thank you Kenny for giving us proof that Peter is still alive with your Tiktok or Instagram posts). Also, Tim had posted a BTS that was just a frame of Tommy and that could mean something.

But I also want to talk about something, the contract. When Tommy came back, Lou said that he was only there for 4 episodes. And that might be right, at the time. Upon seeing the reaction about Tommy and maybe seeing how well the producers seem to like Lou, his contract for S7 has been extended for two more episodes, including the finale. It doesn't make sense for someone like Lou who keeps talking about how good he feels on the 9-1-1 set to not ask to extend his contract.

But then what would happen in S8? I don't think Lou would or should get promoted to the main cast, regular at least. It doesn't come from some kind of hate for Tommy or Lou, I really like them both, but more in a storytelling point.

The show is a workplace drama meaning that the job is not only important but also kind of its own character. 9-1-1 also focuses on three jobs instead of one as other shows, like The Rookie, Station 19, Grey's Anatomy for instance, tend to do. On 9-1-1 we mostly focus on the 118, LAFD but also on the 911 operator and the LAPD. The show is mostly focused on the 118. Having Tommy as main would shake things up, it would add another station to focus on or have drastically more calls that will need air support but we would also need to introduce other characters from Harbor and I think the show would be too stacked. The only way to properly focus on Harbor would be to maybe have a spin-off focus on them with either Tommy as main character or as regular. Having Tommy a main on his show would cut down on his timescreen on 9-1-1 and thus impact the Buck/Tommy relationship; we saw that happen with Carina/Maya on Station 19/Grey's for instance.

Also if you're one of these people that think that the cast hates Lou. Oliver has only said nice things about him in interviews, Tracie has told that Lou was lovely when she went on live on the 9-1-1 Instagram page and Kenneth has been good friends with Lou since he was in S2. And if you think that Oliver hates Lou because he doesn't follow him on Instagram that would mean that Oliver also hates Tracie and Anirudh because he doesn't follow either of them. On Instagram, Oliver follows only the main cast of 9-1-1 and he seems to use his Instagram as more of a professional account. His posts are mostly show related, contrary to his stories in which he shares mostly his dogs.

Now as the main cast the easier way for them to add a character in the main cast would have them to either work at the 118, the LAPD, or the Dispatch center. It would be less likely to have someone work for the LAPD, the focus is more on Athena and she said multiple times that she hates working with someone. The Dispatch center could work better and we could up certain characters, like Linda or Josh, as main. That would work better. They are already existing characters that the public loves. We need more of them. The last case would have someone from the 118. They could either introduce someone new or push Ravi to main. Which would seem less likely. Anirudh seems to be the busiest actor in the show. I think he also got cast in another show and is also doing other shows outside of 9-1-1. He also seems to keep time to travel outside of work. You go King. Ravi as main would be possible, but it would also shake a lot from Anirudh's busy schedule.

Now, another character that fans have been begging for as main character is Karen. That would be trickier. If we follow my logic, you are free to disagree but be nice! Karen is neither from LAPD, Dispatch or the 118. She's Hen's wife and a rocket scientist. But that doesn't mean we wouldn't see more of her. 9-1-1 always showed us the characters' life outside of work. But since Hen is the only one from the main cast who has no one from her family as main, we saw less from her which is criminal. Maddie is with Chimney and both are main. Same for Bobby and Athena. Eddie and Chris are also part of the main cast, and Gavin seemed to have been pushed a little bit more upfront since he was part of the group promo for the season. As for Buck, for a while he had Taylor who had kinda her own thing and Tommy who also has his own thing.

Buck and Hen are in the same case, they both have their love interests that are not part of the main cast. Buck only Abby back in S1 but it mostly feels like Buck was the love interest since he was nowhere as important as he is now, same for Chimney.

But one thing that we saw in S7 is that Karen can be more important. She was there for when Hen came home after being demoted. Also the Mara storyline felt like it was more of a Karen and Hen than a Hen and Karen storyline and I would love to see more of Karen in S8. Honestly, I feel like she was in more episodes this season than she was in any others.

So now that I shared my thoughts you can share yours. Be nice or you will be blocked. There is too much unnecessary hate in the fandom for any characters and actors. I'm not going to tolerate people's shits.

[spotsandsocks]

WIP Wednesday📚

@tizniz thanks for the tag 💜

The Write Way to Love

Chapter 1 3.8k

Chapter 2 3.8k a little snippet from chapt 2 (whole Chapt on ao3)

Tagging @hoodie-buck @hippolotamus @bi-buckrights @the-likesofus @loserdiaz @thekristen999 @bekkachaos @underwaterninja13 @wildlife4life @wikiangela @elvensorceress @exhuastedpigeon @steadfastsaturnsrings @theplaceyoustillrememberdreaming @rainbow-nerdss @daffi-990 @honestlydarkprincess @actualalligator @eddiebabygirldiaz @shipperqueen6 @diazsdimples @loveyouanyway @lover-of-mine @spaceprincessem @jesuisici33 and anyone else out there 💜

Buck is not a happy man, if he could he’d run. The unpleasant waves of nerves are relentless and the restless pacing back and forth is doing nothing to help calm him, despite that unfortunate fact he remains optimistic that it might start working soon so he keeps doing it anyway. Up and down, back and forth across the room. It’s not working but it’s better than doing nothing.

He glances at the door, hoping it might open soon. Maddie left him a while ago to go check on the preparations for the meet and greet and from the moment the door shut behind her his anxiety has been building. 

It’s not exactly the first time he’s felt like this, he’s fully aware of what he needs to do to help himself but he can’t exactly go exercise right now which is his usual go to when the anxiety and self doubt get this bad. He’d tried listening to a podcast and when that hadn’t distracted him he’d moved onto a word game on his phone. That was also unhelpful so now he’s pacing. 

Despite his efforts the feeling keeps getting worse, he tries adding his breathing techniques as well but his stomach continues to do its nauseating flips. 

Casting a slightly desperate look towards the door Buck hopes harder that Maddie will be back soon, she’s just so good at calming him down, has been ever since he was a kid. It doesn’t help that he knows it’s stupid getting worked up like this, you’d like to think he’d have grown out of it by now, that his recent successes would have made his anxiety better but if anything he just worries more.

He worries that people will suddenly see through him, realise he’s got no talent, that everyone will hate his next book or his new characters. That he’ll be blasted on-line for the way he ends the story or for a careless comment he made once upon a time, or for supporting this cause or not supporting that one. It’s exhausting but mostly he worries that everything he’s worked so hard for will suddenly vanish overnight if he makes just one mistake one day and then, well then he’ll really be the failure his parents always thought he was.

[probably-not-a-rocketscientist]

Bored

You're bored of Bucky talking about his love life. Luckily, your favorite bombardier swoops in to save the day.

Warnings: Historical inaccuracies (its good for the plot)

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: Just a short Hambone fic I came up with at work! Inspired by Bored by Laufey.

You had been listening, for what felt like hours, to Bucky’s rants about Lil and Dye’s relationship. At first, you felt sorry for him. You spotted him across the dance hall, his usual cheery self now sulking and sad. Helen and Tatty had filled you in on what happened with Bucky and Lil, claiming he had been like this for days now. You questioned the validity of their information, but they assured you that they'd overheard some of the pilots talk about it earlier. You decided to be a good friend to Bucky and, against Helen and Tatty’s advice, walked over to where he was sitting to ask him how he was feeling. 

So now, instead of dancing and enjoying your night, you were stuck here. You could’ve left, but some part of you would have felt guilty for leaving him to deal with his heartache by himself. Even Buck, who was used to Bucky’s erratic behaviors, steered clear of him tonight. 

Hambone saw that you were sitting with Buck, listening to whatever he was rambling on about. In fact, he saw you the moment you walked in, instantly taking his attention away from the conversation he was having with Douglass and Blakley to focus on you instead. Your usual grease stained coveralls were replaced with a blue dress and topped with a bright cherry lip. It wasn't that he didn't like your usual attire. Seeing you in your ground crew uniform was the best part of his day. But the sight of you in that dress was enough to make his heart skip a beat.

His infatuation for you started from the moment he arrived at Thorpe Abbotts. After the quite unfortunate landing of their plane, you and the rest of the ground crew jumped into action, making sure that the plane wouldn’t blow up after landing. After stabilizing everything and loading it up to be fixed, you had gone to check up on him. The fact that you went to him, out of everyone else on the plane, was the greatest welcome he could've received, and it only solidified your friendship with him.

The two of you grew closer after that encounter. You're the last person he sees on the ground before every mission and the first when he lands. He claims that you're his ‘good luck charm’ and that he always gets back safely when you're there. He also shares his bad jokes with you (you swear that they’re actually funny, he doesn’t believe you) and anecdotes about his life before the war. 

You tell him about growing up in the city, a stark contrast to his Midwestern upbringing. He learns that after the war, you plan on finishing your degree just like him, and he can't help but picture life together with you stateside. 

His thoughts were interrupted by Douglass, who noticed his lack of attention and he followed his gaze to you, earning him a thump on the shoulder. 

“Go talk to her,” Douglass encouraged. 

“She’s busy with Bucky,” Hambone argued. He did want to talk to you, tell you how pretty you looked tonight and chat with you until the sun came up, but some part of his brain stopped him from doing so and filled him up with nervousness instead.

“No she’s not, she’s clearly bored out of her mind,” Blakely added. And he was right. Even from across the room, it was clear that you were looking for any chance to escape the mostly one-sided conversation.

“I talk to her everyday, she probably doesn’t even want to see me.”

“If you don’t go over there right now, I will. And I’ll tell her that you talk about her for hours and even that one time you‒”

“Ok, ok I’ll go,” Hambone pleads, quickly standing up from his seat before his friends embarrass him even more. 

He looks over to you once again. You still have the same unamused expression on your face, occasionally nodding to signal that you were still listening to whatever Bucky was still rambling about. Taking a deep breath, he makes his way over to you. 

“Excuse me, Major. But the Lieutenant here promised me a dance tonight and I plan on taking her up on that offer.”

You were confused. You don’t remember Hambone asking you to dance earlier, and you knew he preferred to socialize at parties instead. Then, you realized what he was doing and looked over to Bucky, hoping he would let you be excused and more importantly, put you out of your misery.

When Bucky shooed you off and told you to enjoy the rest of your night, you jumped out of your chair with a little too much excitement and took Hambone’s hand as he led you out onto the dancefloor. 

After finding a spot, you placed your hands on his shoulders. Hambone, wanting to be respectful, rested his hands a little too far above your waist. You smiled at how sweet this gesture was. 

“Howard, I’m not your little sister. You can put your hands a little lower,” you teased. He still hesitated, so you took his hands in yours and moved them down. His hands feel warm against the fabric of your dress, and it's a feeling so addictive that it only strengthens the not-so-tiny crush you have on him.

“Better?” you asked.

“Better.”

You took this time to take in his appearance. He was wearing his Air Force issued olive suit. His usual floppy hair was brushed back and his mustaches neatly trimmed. Even in the midst of war, dancing at these parties with your favorite bombardier had provided you with a sense of much needed calmness.

The two of you swayed to the slow song the band was playing as you made small talk. You loved hearing the small details that made his day better. Like how his coffee was perfect this morning, or that the mission he went on earlier today was successful. However, he said that the best part of his day was seeing how pretty you looked in your dress and how your smile lit up the room. You had blushed at his last comment, knowing he was generally a flirt, but it had an effect on you every single time. You also filled him in on what happened with Bucky and his unfortunate love life. He laughed when you told him how long you were stuck there for, and you gently swatted him on the shoulder for doing so.

“But really, thanks for the assist. You were my real knight in shining armor earlier. What could I ever do to repay you?” you joked dramatically.

“A kiss should be enough.”

You froze at his answer. You knew it was a joke, but what if he was serious? Was this your chance to finally tell him how you feel?

Hambone, on the other hand, was panicking. A million thoughts had raced through his head. Had he gone too far? What if you never wanted to see him again and he had lost you as a friend, or‒

Before he could think another thought, you took his head in your hands and kissed him. It was a feeling he had imagined many times, but none of those compared to the real thing. He was trying to commit all of it to memory, from the flowery scent of your perfume to the cotton fabric of your dress under his hands. But the thing he loved the most was the way your thumbs gently brushed across his cheeks, attempting to pull him down to deepen the kiss.

When you finally had to separate for air, you searched his face for any signs of disgust or regret. Instead, you were met with that gold-tooth smile that you loved. That smile was dangerous, almost lethal, to the rhythm of your heart, and it made you wonder if he knew he had this effect on you. You then noticed the amount of lipstick that had transferred from your lips to his, making you giggle.

“What’s so funny, sweetheart?” he asked. He was still close to your face, trying to memorize every freckle, and that crinkle in your eyes when you smiled. He noticed that the scar on your right eyebrow was almost fully healed. He was with you during that accident, even talking with you for hours in case you had a concussion and was told not to fall asleep.

You took your thumb and swiped it across his lips. Then, you turned it around to show him the red pigment. He gave you a hum of amusement, satisfied with the result.

“Might as well get a little more.”

This time, he leaned to kiss you. This kiss is more passionate, almost as if it was fueled by months of pining and stolen glances. He pulled you in closer so that your bodies were flush, causing you to gasp into the kiss. He would’ve stayed here forever if he could, with you in his arms and not a single worry plaguing his mind.

You pulled away from him when you heard the sounds of cheering coming from his original table. Douglass and Blakely were still there, now joined by Brady and Crosby. Hambone had no doubt in his mind that they were gossiping about how they wouldn’t have to endure him pining over you every second of the day anymore.

Hambone walked back over with you under his arm and a grin on his face. More cheers came from the men, along with a few ‘congrats’ and ‘about time’s sprinkled in. You attempted to hide your blushing cheeks in Hambone's shoulder, not aware that your mutual feelings for each other were painfully obvious to everyone else.

“Red looks good on you,” Douglass said as he tossed Hambone a napkin to clean himself up. He doesn’t realize just how much of your lipstick is on him until he sees the amount he wipes off. You look at him with a smirk, almost proud of the way you marked his lips with red hue. 

“I bet it does,” he agrees as he looks over to you with love in his eyes.

[adobe-outdesign]

I know you've done the various mr mime forms, but have you reviewed mime jr?

(This is the last Pokemon review request in the inbox right now, so send 'em if you got 'em.

Mr. Mime review is here, G. Mr. Mime review is here, and Mr. Rime Review is here.)

Some people find Mr. Mime to be kind of uncanny, with its nose-less face, long jointed limbs, and slightly too detailed hands, but I've never heard anyone complain about Mime Jr. here. It's mostly because, while based off of Mr. Mime, the design has been simplified greatly, and features like a super cheerful expression make it hard to not find this little guy adorable. Them mimicking people and not being very good at it also doesn't hurt their cuteness factor.

I like how, conceptually, it starts off as a clown and then becomes a mime; kind of similar but still distinct ideas that work well with each other. It also looks really solid visually; the light pink body has great contrast with the dark blue accents, the black eyes pop, and the nose and red ball on the chest compliment each other, as does the ball on it's jester-cap esq hair. It's clown-like enough to pick up on the theme, but done in a nice and subtle way.

I've heard a lot of people say that Mime Jr. doesn't look enough like Mr. Mime, but I honestly don't agree. They share the exact same color palette, similar color distributions (dark hair and legs/feet, light pink faces and arms, dark pink circle accents, etc.) and a lot of the same motifs, like the zig-zag hair and circles. I think the only place where the line looses cohesion a bit is the head, as the two have very different eyes; not inherently a bad thing, but it does make the faces less similar.

Ironically, Mime Jr. arguably fits even better with the Galarian Mr. Mime line, but for opposite reasons; the color palettes are completely different, but more elements of the body shape and face carry through (G. Mr. Mime has a nose, think arms but thicker legs that are completely black, mitten-like hands, and a scalloped pattern to the body; all traits that Mime Jr. shares). Mr. Rime also helps with this, keeping all of the shared attributes and even gaining a stockier body shape in the legs, the round red nose on the stomach, and similar eyes to Mime Jr.

(A lot of people say there should've been a Galarian Mime Jr. On the one hand, having an ice-type variant with blue instead of pink would've made the cohesion of the line spot-on; but on the other hand, I don't know if there's a ton they would've done with the design beyond just minor visual tweaks. I don't know, if it's between a fairly standard recolor variant that exists for coherency vs. just skipping it all together, I do get why they wouldn't think it was needed. Plus, like I said, the line is incredibly coherent as-is anyway).

Anyway, a really cute and fun pre-evo that feels like it adds something thematically to the line and works really well with both regular and the Galarian Mr. Mime lines. Great stuff.

[webshooterrr9]

Dating Ushijima Wakatoshi as the Club Manager

Headcanons + fic for male!reader

Commission for @crashgrav1ty

w.c: 2k

content warning: none!, fluff, cheesy highschool romance with ushiwaka

Headcanons:

I feel like Ushijima would be a soft dom when dating you, not like in a sexual way, but in a romantic way. He’s just so kind and smart and he would be so gently protective of you. He would pull you closer by the waist if you were walking through a crowded area, not to turn you on, just to make sure he doesn’t lose you. He would 100% be the one to walk on the outside of the sidewalk, he follows the sidewalk rule by heart.

He would also be an incredible listener. Ushijima is a very quiet guy and I don’t think that would change when he’s with you, but if you’re a big talker that’s a good thing. He’d sit there and listen to you yap with a small smile on his face, just admiring the gleam in your eyes when you talk about your little anime crushes and current video games you enjoy. He’s lowkey very oblivious to any fandom culture, but he’d let you chat about the drama all you want.

As far as volleyball goes, he always wants to impress you. Which isn’t hard, given that he’s one of the top three hitters in the nation, but whatever. He’s always giving it his all during practice and at games because he knows you’re watching. I think he took very good care of his health before you started dating, but after you started dating and became the club manager, he was taking any opportunity he could to hydrate and stretch - because he knew that meant that he could be next to you, even if you don’t talk. He loves just holding you after games, silently hugging you close to him and resting his head on top of yours. Ushijima would stay like that forever if he could.

As far as PDA goes, I don’t think he’d be super into it, but not necessarily against it. I think it would mostly be just small displays of affection like hand holding. As a guy who doesn’t say many words, I strongly believe that his love language is physical touch and gifts. Ushijima would leave cute little notes on your desk, sometimes with nothing more than a smiley face and a heart, and he’d share his lunch with you everyday. You’d never be lonely at school, and he’d always help you with homework that you struggle with.

Fic:

Today is the big day! Well, not really. It’s just another practice game against some other school in Miyagi - but still! Even if it’s not a part of an official tournament, you were always excited to see your boyfriend do what he loved most.

Ushijima holds your hand in his as you two walk through the hallways. Your last class, Art History, just ended and now you’re both heading to the locker room to get ready for the game. He doesn’t say much, but you can see in the quick glances he keeps giving you that Ushi is very happy that you’re here with him. You don’t always make it to practice games due to family stuff, so he’s excited to know that you’ll be there to support him - even if he doesn’t do a good job at showing it.

“Hey, Waki?” you say, turning your head up towards his. His ears perk up at the nickname and he turns to look back at you while the two of you walk. “Do you think we’re gonna do good today?”

He pauses for a moment to think. “I assume so. Nobody on the team is injured.” he turns his gaze back to the direction in which you’re walking, but he’s still listening to you. “Why do you ask? Do you think we’re gonna do bad?”

“No, no! That’s not what I’m saying.” you quickly defend, waving your non-held-hand around. “You just seem a little down, that’s all.”

“Down?”

“Yeah. Down as in sad, not as in syndrome.”

“Oh,” he replies in that same monotone voice as usual. “I didn’t realize I appeared that way, my apologies.”

You two enter the locker room, and he lets go of your hand for a brief second to open the door, immediately returning it to its rightful place after you two have entered. “No need to apologize, I just want to make sure you’re okay is all.”

“I’m alright. Don’t worry.”

You both head over to your lockers, which are conveniently next to each other. Your eyes wander to the floor as he changes from his school uniform into his practice clothes. Even though you’ve been dating for a few months now, you’re still shy about changing. Ushijima sees you avoiding his gaze and lets out a small laugh, speeding up the process of putting his new clothes on so that you don’t have to be awkward for any longer.

Once he’s done changing, he puts a hand on your shoulder to signal that it’s okay to look. “Hey.” he says, trying to get your attention. You look up at Ushiwaka, and your cheeks flush when you see him. Maybe it’s the way he’s towering over you, or maybe it’s the quiet confidence he exudes, but something about him is just so appealing to you. Handsome. That’s the only way to describe him. His short hair is neatly styled with hazel eyes softly looking into yours. There’s a gentle smirk on his face, one that would be missed by anyone but you.

“Yeah?” you ask, trying to be nonchalant. I mean yeah, you’re dating, but you still don’t want him to know that you’re crushing on him hard. Is it even possible to crush on your boyfriend? Or is that just love? Love. Woah. Big word. Not yet.

“I was wondering if maybe, after the game, you wanted to go get some taiyaki with me.” he took his hand off of your shoulder, but still maintained the eye contact that made your knees weak with joy.

A smile creeped up on your face. You jump up in excitement. “Duh, of course! I love that stuff!”

He chuckles at your excitement. You were always known to get a bit aggressive when passionate, and he found that cute. The way your face lit up when he mentioned food is a sight Ushijima will never get tired of. Ever.

“Great,” he smiled, putting his hand back in yours. “Let’s get out there then. To the game, I mean.”

You watch intently as your boyfriend and his teammates score point after point in the practice game. There were a few moments where they slipped up, but all in all, the match was a success for the team. You’d always be amazed by just how not tired he seems, even after running and jumping everywhere. You wonder if this guy even has the ability to sweat, or if he’s some sort of superhuman, volleyball machine.

The game was winding down, with the current score being 24-20 to Shiratorizawa. You were happy to cheer your boyfriend on, making sure that his water bottle was always full. After the visiting team got back on their bus to go home, you walked over to Ushiwaka.

“You did it, Waki!!” you beam, bouncing over to him with a spring in your step now that you two can hang out one-on-one. He smiles at you as he grabs his bag and water bottle.

“Ready to go?” he asks, and you nod your head excitedly. The two of you walk out of the school, getting on your bikes and riding down to your nearest Taimu to get those yummy desserts you were promised. By the time you two arrive there, the sun is already starting to set. Ushijima pays for your taiyaki and you both take a seat on a bench out front. You dig into the fish-shaped confectionery eagerly, not wasting a single crumb. Ushiwaka eats with you, although much slower.

You two talk about anything and everything, with most of the words being spoken by you. He watches the way your dark eyes seem to shine in the light of the setting sun, and the way the high points of your skin gleam. The way your smile stretches across your face, and the loud laugh you give when telling him a funny story. All the while, he has his hand on yours, lightly rubbing over your knuckles with his palm.

The pink and orange sky starts to fade into purple, with the cotton candy clouds clearing the way for the moon. You notice the streetlights turn on, and decide to wrap up your outing before your parents get mad at how late you’re staying out. “We should probably head home. I don’t want my parents getting mad at me.”

“Yeah. We wouldn’t want that.”

Ushijima goes to stand up, but you grab his wrist to stop him. “Wait.”

He turns back to look at you, with a quizzical expression on his face. You stand up with him, letting go of his hand for a moment. “Was this a date?” you ask, somewhat timidly.

Your boyfriend takes a moment to think before smiling, and even laughing a bit under his breath. “Of course it was.” he smiles, leaning down to plant a small kiss on your forehead. You blush furiously at the gesture, but try to play it off. “Right. Cool. Thought so.”

He smirks again at your reaction, but says nothing more. The two of you bicycle back to your house, and he walks you all the way up to your front door. When you step inside, your pets are all there to greet you. You wave goodbye to your lover, blowing him a little kiss goodnight - something you cringed at yourself for later. Ushijima waves back, waiting until you’re fully inside before he heads home.

As Ushiwaka returns to his small farmhouse, all he can think about is you. When he sets down his bag, all he thinks about is you. When he returns the animals to their pens, all he thinks about is you. Even as he’s drifting off to sleep, you’re the only thing on his mind.

He just can’t believe how lucky he is to have you. Someone who understands him, someone who supports him unconditionally. He doesn’t need to speak for you to know what he’s thinking, and for that he thanks you. Listening to the crickets outside his bedroom window, all he wonders is if you’re asleep already. Probably not. And honestly, he’s more than happy to be there for you in the morning when you complain about how tired you are. He’s already prepared to pack a lunch for you.

And as Ushijima finally slips into unconsciousness, all he can think about is how much he loves you. It’s cheesy, he knows, but he’s so grateful to be able to experience teenage love with you. And one day, he’ll show you just how much you mean to him.

this was a commission for a friend!

my commissions are not currently open, i only accepted this one because i've known this person for years

in the future, i plan to open commissions for those who want a personalized fic!

the original fic was more detailed to the commissioner's life, but i edited out the private details for security.

hope you enjoyed!

much love to all my supporters mwah

[g-zma]

// random rambling about Guzma and his relationships

I don't even know. I ramble. This has some discussions of child abuse, trauma, and manipulation.

This is very long by the way. Like. Actually though.

Okay to start off with, let's talk about Guzma and Elio.

Elio is what really led to Guzma being able to get help. Without Elio coming and beating the shit out of Guzma every time the guy ran into him, he wouldn't have had the motivation to get better. The big thing is that Guzma didn't really mean to get better in terms of himself, he just wanted to get better at battling. That has more to do with Hala, who I'll talk about in a bit.

So, now that Guzma's in a better place, he's also running into Elio a lot more. The kid lives right next to Iki town, and he's friends with Hau, so he shows up all the time. Not only that, but the kid was there to deal with the UB situation at the same time he was, and though Guzma would never admit it, he has a soft spot for kids.

So he won't say it out loud, but he really does care about Elio. He wants to make sure the kid has a good life.

Now, what about him and Hala?

Hala's been Kahuna for a while. Probably since Guzma was a kid. So while Guzma didn't know him personally, he did know him before the events of the games. And then when the big, powerful Kahuna came around and told him to stop being a baby, and that he would help Guzma become stronger, Guzma agreed. It was a bit begrudgingly at first, but he did agree.

But Hala knew that, in order to become better at battling, Guzma needed to get better in the rest of his life. He had to face his issues.

Guzma had, obviously, a lot of problems, especially after the situation with Lusamine (which I will also discuss). Being possessed by Nihilego reopened a bunch of wounds that had scarred over and pretty much forced them to the front of his mind. And that, amongst other things, freaked him out bad. It brought back memories he had forgotten, things that he'd purposefully ignored. Mostly, things to do with his Father. Guzma's dad was abusive, he did not treat his son well. And the Nihilego made him relive that, all in an instant.

The biggest things Hala has worked on with Guzma so far, though, are his anger issues and alcohol abuse. They've touched on the underlying trauma, but Guzma tends to get very uncooperative, especially with people like Hala, who are older, kind figures towards him. I think I've mentioned before how the anger issues stem from his father's abuse, but not in its own post.

So now we go into a bit of a Guzma and his parents, as well as Alolan society in general.

Guzma's reputation as an aggressive, violent person started as a defense mechanism. It didn't help against his dad, but he was already being bullied fairly often, and it did help with that. Kids were less likely to pick on the scrappy bug nerd when the scrappy bug nerd would start throwing punches if you looked at him wrong. But, it also backfired a bit. Nobody was willing to get close enough to him to realize that something was wrong. If he came to school with bruises and scrapes, it was automatically assumed that he'd gotten into a fight, that he was the aggressor. And he actively pushed away anyone who tried to get to know him.

He wasn't willing to accept any help that was offered. He was generally scorned by the people around him, and so he simply didn't trust them. This especially came into effect when he started his Island Challenge. He was so proud of himself. He worked so hard, he wanted to be captain. That was the best award he could've ever been given. But then he failed. He couldn't complete it, so he wasn't allowed to be a captain. And his dad was angry with him. And Guzma was scared. He was terrified. But he had his own pokemon now, and a Golisopod can be awful scary when it wants to be. So Guzma's dad got what was coming to him, and Guzma ran the fuck away.

And where did he end up? In a new group. Not Skull- This was a group under the Kahuna before Nanu. Guzma, in a way, got what he wanted. Approval. Of course, not everyone's approval, though. Tapu Bulu ended up rejecting its Kahuna for whatever reason, and striking that group down. Guzma lost the one group of people he had that he'd finally been accepted by. And he was pissed. So, he started Skull. He built his group up again, new. He leaned into the cruel, scary reputation he'd made for himself. And for the most part, they weren't actually that bad. Sure, they stole, they threatened people, but they needed to feed themselves. They were the people who couldn't get jobs, for whatever reason. Who were thrown out of their homes. Who needed someplace to go, but weren't accepted anywhere else. This was the place they were accepted. And that continued for a while, until Guzma got involved with Lusamine.

And that is a whole situation.

Lusamine needed someone who could do her dirty work. She needed someone to take her blame. And she found that in Guzma. He already had a reputation as a thug. So, she started to get in contact with him. She gave him that approval that he sought so desperately. She used his childhood for her own purposes. When he told her about how he failed, she told him that she was proud. When he told her that his mother never did anything to protect him, she told him that she would. She gave him things he needed, money and food and clothes and medicine to provide for his team, and he was so desperate to keep her. I don't think it was necessarily romantic, but he did love her, and she used it entirely for her own advantage. And once she had him solidly stuck in her trap, she started pulling strings. She removed the exits. If he needed a few days, she would threaten him with taking away something, or to step back. And he needed her. So he did what she said. Especially considering that she was a smart woman. She never made it an explicit threat. She kept it strong enough that he would panic, but hidden enough that he wouldn't catch on to what she was doing.

And this really hurt him, especially after the events in Ultra Space. He had been betrayed, and the fact that she never actually cared about him was shoved in his face. And that, combined with Nihilego literally possessing him for a moment, is why he's so freaked out by the idea of something controlling his mind, now. It's happened to him twice, though the how of it was different.

Now, backtracking a little bit. Let's look at Guzma and Kukui (and by extension Burnet).

Kukui and Guzma met about during their island challenges. They started at the same time, and from the same island. Really, the Island Challenge just provided a situation where Guzma couldn't escape Kukui's attempts at friendship. And he really did try! Guzma pushed him away at every turn, but Kukui kept on keeping on. They ended up rivals, somewhat. But, then they both couldn't complete the challenge. This obviously affected Guzma way more than Kukui.

Kukui was sad that he couldn't be a Trial Captain, but he had other things to work for. He put himself into his schooling, became a professor, and travelled! Which is how he met his lovely wife, Burnet. So for a long while, he wasn't in contact with Guzma. Even when he returned to Alola, he never really saw him. Skull, yeah, but not Guzma himself. And he was sad about that, but it was okay.

Then things really started kicking off! He saw Guzma again. And sure, that was exciting, but Guzma was even more against friendship than he had been before. But!! But then Guzma was taken in by Hala, and he couldn't avoid him. And he was a bit more willing to allow Kukui in.

Which leads us to ~about~ present day with those two. Kukui cares about Guzma a lot, and Guzma's working on letting him do that. Because Kukui and Burnet really do want to help him. And he needs it, even if it's hard to admit.

I think that he'd be more willing to open up to Burnet at first, despite not knowing her for nearly as long. Probably because he hadn't known her for as long. She knew her husband has a huge personality, so she was willing to be the balance to that. Just letting Guzma sit and ruminate with her. And he started to appreciate that, a lot.

Both Kukui and Burnet love Guzma, and he loves them, but again, I don't know if it would be necessarily romantic in nature. They have a bit of a qpr going on. More than just friends, but not quite romantic. Kukui and Burnet are absolutely romantic though.

Guzma's relationship with Plumeria is more simple.

She's been there for him through it all, and she's going to keep being there. She's the big sis of Team Skull, and she's not intending to let that go.

As well as his relationship with the other Alola kids.

He's gotten fairly close to them, especially Gladion and Hau. Gladion, because he did work for Skull, and he felt bad for the kid. Hau, because he's basically his unwilling big brother now. He'd never admit it, but he really does enjoy spending time with them. Most of the time, anyways.

That's the main major things I have to say. I hope this was interesting, lmao

[wtfforged]

my campaign hiatus has gone on for too long so to cope ive combined my interests at their maximum potency and had some dnd-strawhats thoughts

thoughts in depth under read more... :)!

this is SO self indulgent. their designs literally did not change. but i am a firm believer that dnd doesnt have to be european high fantasy. and also one piece literally IS fantasy. no changes are necessary to fit into dnd. ive already imagined plenty of campaign/oneshot ideas inspired by one piece. so this was basically just an exercise of trying to replicate their canon abilities in dnd 5e as much as possible without totally homebrewing everything. well. aside from luffy. you just cant take away or change his stretching.

LUFFY: (human monk. drunken master subclass. outlander)

the only plain human of the crew to balance out with the fact that he still has rubber powers. obviously a monk. but drunken master subclass specifically because i think the flavor(not the fact that its about being a drunkard) and abilities both fit him really well. this line in the subclass' flavortext especially fits him: "A drunken master often enjoys playing the fool to bring gladness to the despondent or to demonstrate humility to the arrogant, but when battle is joined, the drunken master can be a maddening, masterful foe."

ZORO: (tiefling fighter. samurai subclass. bounty hunter)

a fighter with the samurai subclass is so very incredibly obvious... but i actually had a lot of fun geeking out while comparing the abilities to what he can do in canon; Fighting Spirit, Rapid Strike, and Strength Before Death especially! tiefling is also pretty on the nose for his demon pirate hunter shtick and asura form, but i thought he'd be really human-passing for a tiefling and theorized about his tail getting cut off at some point or another before joining the strawhats. initially wasnt gonna give him a feat, but i gave sanji a feat so i thought itd be unfair to not give him one as well, so sentinel fits the bill pretty well i think!

NAMI: (tabaxi rogue. arcane trickster subclass. criminal)

cat burglar -> full grown literal humanoid cat. this one is INCREDIBLY self indulgent... i love... cats... theres nothing deeper to this and no other reasoning. i took cat burglar and ran with it. can you tell that i love izutsumi dungeon meshi? rogue for the aforementioned burglar-ing as well, and the arcane trickster subclass for when she picks up climatact! the mage hand will be very useful for her pickpocketing. in the future as she levels up with timeskip, i can totally see her multiclassing into wizard as well! weather wizard!

USOPP: (lightfoot halfling artificer. artillerist subclass. urchin)

I HAD SO MUCH FUN THINKING ABOUT HIS CHARACTER SHEET. halfling's Naturally Stealthy ability lets him hide behind his crewmates since theyre (almost) all bigger than him, so its perfect for hiding behind zoro or sanji all the time. Lucky is also perfect for him, and I think Brave fits pretty well too when he puts on the sogeking mask. artillerist artificer is also very fun! tinkering and making magic items for his crew, and i think Eldritch Canon or Arcane Firearm could both be easily reflavored as kabuto or any of his inventions. for emphasizing his sniper-ness, the spell sniper feat was also necessary. i think hes my favorite of all the concepts. big ears and long nose combo is so cute to me.

SANJI: (half-elf monk. drunken master subclass. guild artisan (cook!))

race was mostly based on vibes i wont lie. squints. and that vinsmoke balogna or whatever too ig. but mostly vibes. along with the idea that i think a dwarf zeff raising him would be really funny and cute. monk is also obvious, and same subclass as luffy for mostly the same reasons. though the flavor fits him much less, i think the abilities still fit him perfectly, and this blurb specifically; "Your martial arts technique mixes combat training with the precision of a dancer." i really wanted to give him a different subclass from luffy, but i dislike all the other monk subclasses a lot and i found none of them fit him as well anyways, so to try and give them SOME differences, i gave him the crusher feat.

CHOPPER: (awakened deer(shifter statblock) cleric. life subclass. hermit)

this ones definitely a mouthful im sorry. awakened deer for obvious reasons, but due to magic instead of devil fruit stuff. when i was struggling with his race, i looked a lot at shifter because of his forms, but it occurred to me that itd be super cool if he could shift between all of the different shifter options instead of being stuck with just one to replicate his rumble balls. something like heavy point/guard point=beasthide, horn point/arm point(?maybe?)=longtooth, walk point/jumping point=swiftstride, and brain point=wildhunt. hed definitely need some kind of nerf though to balance out that homebrew... and cleric for class. duh.

ROBIN: (high elf wizard. order of scribes subclass. criminal)

robin is definitely the one i struggled the most with just because of her class. elf came pretty easily- shes very elegant and i think shed look cute with super long ears- and i landed on high elf instead of wood elf for the int-based abilities. i was really on the fence between sorcerer and wizard for her because i knew shed be a full spellcaster, but i didnt feel that any of the subclasses really fit her. i ended up going with wizard for order of the scribes since it focuses on texts and knowing everything. but also because robin with a flying talking sentient book would be crazy cool. it could also be similar to how she spawns mouths and eyes places to talk to or watch people. my "fuck it, why not. this would be rad. its my house" mindset kicked in with her i will admit. also the One with the Word ability made me cackle out loud when i read it. thats the funniest ability ever. anyways, i cant really think of a way to replicate her powers, but maybe we could just reflavor a bunch of spells to be her limbs or clutch; hold person, maximillian's earthen grasp, or evard's black tentacles. thatd probably work okay, and theres a handful of spells to replicate her ability to spawn eyes or mouths. unrelated, but i imagine nico olvia to be a drow. why? her hair is white. i am a simple man!

[puppyeared]

Odd couple <3

[betweenblackberrybranches]

Part two of that short comic i made for @garbagechocolate s really cool truth virus au

Y/N is angry and hurt but understands the situation and is worried for their friend. Also both Sun and Y/N have anxiety

Sun is having a time, thats for sure

[pcktknife]

no but seriously do u know how much u gotta use a heartline to annoy me...its one of my favorite looks and they are using her to death

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"I think this is the most inhuman; and human, that I've ever felt.." MUCH CAN HAPPEN IN A YEAR. IN FIVE YEARS. A DECADE. imagine how much can happen in a century. just ONE (1). How will you grow? what phases do you find? even in 5 years, you will find patterns.

[harbingersecho]

grif's surgery but just a little more... obvious?

I actually rly rly ADORE frankengrif but I don't have an in-show reason why he'd have extensive long-term allogeneic skingrafts on his face 😔

[skitskatdacat63]

All white fit, hello??