#makes me so happy he got into art and different mediums at this age

[emperornero]

my little brother is genuinely such a good creative artist he makes sculpture art projects out of bottles and foil and stuff like that and paints so much and tries different techniques for them i really hope making art is still a hobby for him when hes older and he doesnt give up on it because once he learns actual basics like color theory anatomy perspective etc i wholeheartedly believe he would be a good painter who sometimes also does experimental sculptures

[stuckybingo]

Stucky Bingo Round-Up #21 (February 27th - March 4th)

Don’t forget to fill out the submission form to be a part of the round-ups and to get your bingo badges!

Stucky Bingo February 2023 Round Robin by Dogsled, Sivan325, Purpleicedteas, Girl_Back_There, buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Square filled: AU: Sports, Free Square, Accidental Kiss, Writing Format: Interview Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Winter Olympics, Olympics AU, Team Russia, Team USA, Ice Skating Summary: When Russian figure skater Bucky Barnes defects, he can only skate for the Team USA if he skates with a partner. What he and Steve Rogers find together on the ice is golden. Format: Round Robin

TIME by rookthorne Square filled: I5 - Time Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: gifset, light violence/blood, angst Summary: There is nothing straight about these two. Format: Gifs

Who Was He? by singthebeginningofmoana Square filled: I3 - Identity Porn Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Kidnapping Major tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Not Canon Compliant, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes Summary: Alternate universe where during the highway fight scene before Steve learns that the Winter Soldier is Bucky, Bucky snaps out of the programming and kidnaps Steve, running away and taking him to safety. Format: Short oneshot (300 - 1000 words)

i got the fire (but you're holding the fuse) by hanitrash Square filled: G2 - kink: underage Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: Underage, Daddy Kink, Large Age Gap, Power Imbalance, Public Sex Major tags: Sex Worker Bucky Barnes, Sugar Daddy Steve Rogers, Sex Club, Teenage Bucky Barnes, Angst with a happy ending, Summary: Steve has held his position as a board member of the club for several years now, and has seen hundreds of boys come and go. There's no reason why this night should be any different from previous events, why he can't just have one of the older, experienced boys and be done with it and go home. There's no reason why the new kid in the lineup should catch his eye the way he does. No reason why James should turn Steve's world upside down the way he does. All Steve knows is, from the moment James first calls him Daddy, he'll move heaven and earth to makes James his. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

Don’t want no other shade of blue but you by rya_204 Square filled: G5 - mirrors Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply, sick steve rogers Major tags: AU, pre serum steve, h/c Summary: That was his greatest fear. To become a reflection of a lonely, grumpy man and inside himself, invisible to the others, the memory of Steve. Format: Short oneshot (300 - 1000 words)

My Heart Skips A Beat When I’m With You by Navya Square filled: I2 - Art Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Valentine's Day, Topping From The Bottom, Butt Plug, Enthusiastic Sex, Steve Is A Little Shit Summary: ""I had plans, Rogers. A romantic candle lit dinner, your favorite rom com on the TV while we snuggle and then I was going to let you enjoy your Valentine's Day present nice and slow. But you sent that monstrosity-"" Bucky pointed to the scattered bits of the card still on the floor, ""and derailed it all. So now there's gonna be a change in plans."" Bucky walked closer and Steve backed up until his knees hit the edge of the couch. With a surprised exhale of breath, Steve sat down and had to look up as Bucky hovered in a slightly menacing manner. Heart thumping wildly, Steve gulped before he could find his voice. ""So what did you have in mind, Buck?"" Wrapping his vibranium fingers carefully around Steve’s throat, Bucky gave a gentle squeeze. Steve felt all the blood in his head rush straight to his dick. Bucky leaned and whispered so low that Steve was instantly grateful for his super soldier hearing. ""You're going to fuck me right here, right now. I'm going to ride you so hard that you better start praying the serum can keep up."" (Or: Steve has terrible taste in gifts and has to suffer in delicious agony.) Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

Of Cats and Cat Naps by SomeSortofItalianRoast Square filled: B4 - AU: Animal Shelter Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Cat Cafés, Writer Bucky Barnes Summary: Bucky thinks it's time for a new cat, so he and Steve head to a cat café run by a friend of of Darcy's. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

just for tonight by Galks Square filled: G1 - AU: zombies Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, blood and gore Major tags: Amputee Bucky Barnes, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Barnes Siblings, Light Dom/Sub Summary: When Natasha and her group go radio silent on their way to Indianapolis, Sam and Steve decide to go looking for them. After searching for days, they stumble across a walled in community about thirty miles out of the city. The leaders of the community allow them in to spend the night, eat and recharge, before they head back out. But after spending the night with one of the leaders, Steve isn't so sure he wants to leave after all. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

Tell Me I Can Have It All by hanitrash Square filled: Adopted square - Scars Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Mentioned Past Suicide Attempts Major tags: Wakanda Stucky, Getting Back Together, Stubborn Steve Rogers, Recovering Bucky Barnes Summary: Steve is tired of Bucky trying to push him away after he comes out of cryo in Wakanda. Rehashing the same argument brings up some new information that Bucky can't ignore, and makes him second-guess his decision to keep Steve at arm's length. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

From Distance to Closeness by Andrea1717 Square filled: G5 - Long Distance Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Cheating Major tags: Alternative Universe - Modern Setting, Getting back together, Fluff and Angst Summary: Two years after their breakup Bucky and Steve meet again by surprise and want to figure out if there is room for a second chance. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

a league of our own by Galks Square filled: I3 - beard Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, past sports injury Major tags: kid fic, modern au, baseball au, slow burn Summary: Steve's sixteen-year-old son's one and only dream is to play in the Major League. He thinks he has a shot when the team get a new coach, retired MLB legend and Steve's high school crush, Bucky Barnes. Steve hasn't thought of the man in many years, but seeing him brings back many memories that push Steve to reach out to an old friend and maybe make new ones on the way. What happens when Steve gets to know Bucky properly? What happens when they open up about their darkest secrets and deepest fears? There's really only one thing that can happen. Format: Part of a multichapter fic

[wromwood]

I posted 5,254 times in 2022

148 posts created (3%)

5,106 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@peepabell

@chiropteracupola

@vimbry

@penny-anna

@modmad

I tagged 3,893 of my posts in 2022

Only 26% of my posts had no tags

#hehe - 1,091 posts

#tiktok - 301 posts

#doctor who - 300 posts

#fanart - 260 posts

#comics - 201 posts

#cats - 141 posts

#music - 124 posts

#second doctor - 113 posts

#pokemon - 108 posts

#garfield - 101 posts

Longest Tag: 135 characters

#a happy little rectangle who has a furry boyfriend shows that one child will almost certainly come out as some kind of gay inthe future

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Me: Well. I’ve survived the first season of Made In Abyss. It was definitely.... a lot. It certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone that one time. But I’m used to horror. I’m even used to gore. The season one finale was sad and creepy, but honestly more in line with what I can handle. I’m invested enough to keep pushing through. Right?

Me approximately 37 minutes into Dawn of the Deep Soul: oh noOOOOOOOO

57 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

#4

So, I’m rewatching the old movie adaptation of West Side Story since I watched the new one in theaters yesterday. Despite having seen this movie YEARS ago, I just realized that the social worker who tries to get everyone to dance with different people at the gym dance is played by JOHN ASTIN. Gomez Addams himself!

He just looks like this.

This is like seeing my dad shave his mustache off: vaguely distressing in a way that I know isn’t a big deal, but still feels wrong.

57 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

#3

Today, I attended my university’s Acts of Storytelling Class, and I asked my classmates (who are all mostly my age and very familiar with the Internet) if they were following the Goncharov stuff on Tumblr. While a couple of them knew what I meant, most were still unaware. I briefly explained what Goncharov was, and how it grew from its origins as a knockoff shoe label to a whole fictional movie made through the unrequested creative efforts of a whole social media platform. “Isn’t it interesting?” I asked. “Isn’t it cool?”

I was surprised to hear a collective response of sighs and scoffs.

“Please explain how this is interesting,” said my teacher.

“I don’t know how some people find the time to make stuff like this,” said one of my classmates.

“Yeah, of all the things they could be doing,” said another.

I immediately responded by saying that the people making Goncharov content aren’t all flippantly devoting “valuable free time” to something that previously didn’t exist. They’re participating in a group act of creation, making a story out of nothing. People are making high quality gif and photosets, movie posters and VHS/DVD box art. There are named characters and debates about if the two lesbian characters are good representation or not, or if that even matters. Just today, I heard music that someone composed from the “soundtrack.” This was all made relatively unprompted, just for the love of creation, and all from a knockoff shoe label.

“You’ve got to wonder what else is going on in a person’s life if they’re making music for a movie that doesn’t exist,” replied one of my classmates.

I didn’t reply after this. I didn’t know how. I was too baffled by how my classmates, in a class devoted to the Acts of Storytelling, could look down on this miraculous and fun act of storytelling that was happening as we spoke, just a few clicks and keyboard taps away. How they could all dismiss this as a waste of time.

Aside from the fact that Tumblr has a multitude of people and published authors (or their equivalents in other mediums) usually work alone, how is this any different from reading or watching a story that someone poured their heart into, a story created out of random wisps of inspiration, and saying “How could someone find the time to make this?” with an equal amount of disdain?

83 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#2

Today, during a University event, I was speaking with a few people about the Discworld series. The Color of Magic was brought up, and someone said that they never really got into Rincewind until the later books, and even then, he wasn’t one of their favorite characters.

I am very proud of how I decided to dress that day, because I was able to respond with

“Noooo, I love Rincewind! He’s on my shirt!”

(brushes aside jean jacket to show my Rincewind shirt that I bought off Redbubble)

“And my socks!”

(pulls up pants leg to show off my Rincewind-themed socks, which are actual Discworld merch)

Like. I may be getting a bit too excited about it, but I love that for a second, I felt like one of those cartoon gags where a character says they aren’t super into something, and then it cuts to another character who is dressed head to toe in that thing’s merch/apparel.

85 notes - Posted September 28, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Seeing Dan recognize and DO SOMETHING about the (now canon!) feelings that Yaz has for the Doctor made me imagine his reaction to meeting Two and Jamie.

Like, imagine Dan having a word alone with his Doctor after Two and Jamie leave the room, practically climbing onto each other as they talk about what to do next.

Dan: ohhh, so Yaz wasn't the first person to fall for you.

13: I.... I don't know what you mean! You jump to conclusions very easily, Dan.

Dan: You don't need to worry about me judging you, Doctor, he's a handsome man for sure. You could've had a far worse boyfriend.

13: We.... never really put labels on things, you know, we just appreciated each others'-

Dan: Bodies?

13: DAN

Dan: You were at LEAST making out.

13: You! You are... grounded! You are TARDIS grounded!

Dan: All right, confine me to the magical time machine with an infinite amount of rooms. I’ll surely die of boredom.

107 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[taikk0]

Happy 4th Anniversary RotTMNT!!!

( P.S. JUST REALIZED I FORGOT TO CHANGE LEOS HAT FROM 5 TO 4 BECAUSE I CANT DO MATH IM SO SORRY LETS JUST PRETEND HE EITHER CANT DO MATH EITHER AND GOT THE WRONG NUMBER OR HE STOLE THAT HAT FROM A 5 OLDS BIRTHDAY PARTY AT ALBEARTOS)

ANYWAYS!

Thank You RotTMNT For Merely Existing! Gushy Ramble Under The Cut!

Can’t believe its been 4 years since these turtles graced my TV screen at the ripe age of 11. 

Coming across Rise for the first time felt magical. I've never seen anything like it before, or at least, not on an animated series on TV. The quality of the animation, the art style, the new cast voicing the turtles I grew up with, the new interpretation, sure it was different but it was just the coolest thing ever to me at the time.

I didn't have access to the internet or social media at the time, so my love for this show was pure and unconditional.

Rise completely changed my view on what animation as a medium could do, especially for a serial TV show. It inspired me to keep working harder, both in terms of its writing style and its visual presentation. Sure I wasn't very good at it, but it set an example for me. Especially at the time when I was so engrossed in wanting to make my own animated TV series with my own original characters.

Outside of inspiration, it was also a source of comfort. The turtles felt like my friends, and their adventures were always so entertaining that I imagined myself being there alongside them. I knew that they were always there when I was having a bad day, I'd just turn on the TV, hope Rise was on, and let all my problems fade away.

As a queer and neurodivergent kid who always felt isolated and out of place, The turtles helped me feel less alone. I knew they wouldn't judge me for being weird or different because they were weird and different in their own ways too.

Sure you could point out the fact that it was because they were mutated turtles to be the weird trait, but to me, it felt more about what was on the inside.

The world will see mutants first, and beings with thoughts and feelings second.

Yet even after society shuns you, endangering you for what you are,

You will find joy and solace with your kin.

Blood-related or not.

Mutant or Human.

"あなたは一人じゃない"

I’m 15 now and even after all these years, my love for this show hasn’t budged a single bit.

Thank You RotTMNT, For Everything.

[freshabogados]

Michelangelo's Matthew

Pairing: Matt Murdock x gn!reader

Tags: fluff, mentions of sex, explicit description of Matt's body, scars, stretch marks, my extreme admiration for our Devil-boy, lengthy (I got carried away).

Shoutout to @dropsofprecipitation for this amazing header! I love your Matt-art so much xx

a/n: I dedicate this piece to anyone and everyone who comes across this post. Bodies are complex. They come in different sizes, shapes, colours, textures, patterns and what not. Everyone is battling with something or the other in their bodies and the least we can do as humans is to not shame someone for how they look. We're made to dislike the way we look from a young age and often limit our beauty to what's on the surface. Every body is beautiful. Every skin is beautiful. Hair or no hair, you are beautiful. Tattoos, piercings, henna, hair colour, scars, and make-up add character to your canvas. You're a magnificent being and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You matter. You are worthy of all the love in the world 💗

Matt was seated on his couch with nothing but his black briefs on. One of his arms rested on the back of his couch while the other lazily took its seat on his thick thighs. He leaned his head back on his right shoulder. His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he breathed. A peaceful smile graced his lips as he listened to your pencil scratch against your sketchpad, with his eyes closed.

You had to submit a sketch for your human anatomy class and Matt had happily agreed to be your subject. In fact, he was looking forward to spending this quiet time with you.

He always liked listening to you work on your projects. Peaceful piano music playing in your headphones mixed with the calm and steady sound of your breath and heart was a melodious symphony on its own, hands and clothes messy with the residue of your medium of choice for the day, gaze focused on getting the shapes right, your tongue occasionally peeking out as you concentrated on a particular area. And when you were done with your piece, you’d always describe them in beautiful detail to Matt and let him run his fingers over the canvas. He was your favourite critic and biggest fan who always left uplifting remarks and asked you to grace his home with your drawings.

You looked up from your sketchpad, finally finishing the outline of Matt’s body and moving on to add in the details. You were mesmerised by the beauty oozing out of this man. The billboard outside his apartment painted Matt in shaded of neon pinks and purples, throwing in blues and yellows every so often. It highlighted his contours like a setting sun washing its colours over a mountain. You left out a content sigh, unconsciously, and smiled at the angelic man sitting opposite of you.

Matt’s head perked up as he smiled lazily.

“Enjoying the view, sweetheart?” he asked, eyes still closed.

“Mhmm. You look peaceful and happy.” not one gram of dishonesty in your answer.

Matt was now sitting facing you, his thighs flexing as he moved to sit up. His gaze fell to where you sat, and a teasing smile played on his lips. You bit down on your pencil as you watched his muscles flex under his skin.

Maybe asking him to be almost naked was a mistake.

“I am happy. I have you, don’t I?” Matt didn’t need an answer from you. He was very well aware of the curtain of peace you both draped on each other. Your heart fluttered with love, unable to form words you replied with a low hmm, something only Matt could conceive the whole meaning of. He knew you were watching him, not observing but admiring, just as he was watching you in his own ways.

“Tell me what you see” curiosity peeped out of Matt’s voice.

“Huh?”

“Describe to me what you see” he had an expectant look on his face, head tilting up slightly asking you to follow his request.

“Uhh...well, I can see you. Of course. You're sitting on your couch and-” you were cut off by Matt’s tsk-tsk.

“Tell me what you see. Tell me how you see me in your eyes. Describe me to me”

Matt made such requests often but to describe you to him. This was new. You’ve called him pretty, beautiful, hot, and even dorky. You sometimes told him how soft his lips are, or how much you liked his butt. Or how good he made you feel when he drove you over edge again and again. You felt the shyness creep up your body, you’ve been physically close multiple times, you both memorised each other's bodies like the lyrics to your favourite songs but this felt more intimate.

“Where do you want me to start?” It was a request and you were going to try your best to fulfill it.

“Wherever you want to start, sweetheart. I surrender myself to you.” He knew what he was doing and his cheeky smirk was solid proof.

His words struck you like lightning, sending jolts of pleasure down to your chest. You took a deep breath and mustered some courage.

“Erhm, okay…your hair. It’s fluffy and soft. I like to run my hands through them all day long. They feel like satin slipping through my fingers. I like it when they form those small swirls on your forehead when you comb it back, I like to pull on themand makeyou groan. And, when you come back from kicking ass they stick to your head with sweat…you look cute for someone who’s half dead.”

Matt let out small puffs of laughter and his fingers started drumming on the back of his couch. You continued with a smile, fingers toying with your pencil.

“When you sleep, it’s the cutest! Just messily sticking out in all directions. Truly a view to wake-up to. I love how a few wet strands of hair bounce with the rhythm of every punch you throw at the punching bags in the gym. I like how they take any shape or form I give them while I lather your hair with shampoo. Remember that one time I gave you horns? You looked so pretty!" your cheeks tingled with all the smiling you’ve been doing; pure excitement surrounded your words.

“And then your forehead. I like the drama your forehead lines bring to your face when you're listening intently. And then your nose. Cute little nose that I like to kiss and boop.”

Matt was fully laughing now. You could see the corner of his eyes crinkling as he smiled, full set of teeth on display, a single dimple embellishing his face. You decided to describe the scene in front of you.

“I love how you look right now. Happy, devoid of the worries of the world, enjoying this shenanigan you’re pulling off.” Matt’s features softened.

“I love how your eyes twinkle in the changing colours of the billboard. Your eyes, oh, they change colours like the leaves change every season. Sometimes they look like sun rays catching onto dripping honey, sometimes like the pine trees in an evergreen forest, sometimes like moss around a freshwater stream. Your lips, soft like cushion, enveloping your pearly teeth. When you wear your mask, your lips get all the attention and it gets swollen with all the adrenaline and sometimes because you break them…oof!” a huge sigh escapes your mouth “Your strong jaw is enhanced with your rough stubble and that dimple. Oh that dimple, I get lost in the depths of it every time it decides to make an appearance.”

Matt got off his seat on the couch and walked towards you. You stopped your elucidation and looked at his broad figure making its way to you. He sat down on the carpet; his hands placed comfortably on your legs while his chin rested on your knees. He pushed his head up, urging you to continue. You discarded your sketchpad and pencil onto the coffee table and found your hands kneading his hair.

"When you smile, I feel like I could live in that moment forever. It lights up your face and brightens my day. And your laughter? It could be easily mistaken for a well-orchestrated music band. If there's one sound I want to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be your laughter." your voice wavered with joy.

Matt’s face had a genuine smile plastered on.

"Well, not just your laughter. Your voice is the most beautiful sound to wake up to, too. Coated in grogginess after you wake up from sleep, brimming with excitement when you talk about your favourite moments, dripping with love when you assure me in my worst times, laced with lust when you make love to me, and I know it's weird but I do enjoy the menacing tone The Devil uses to threaten his enemies." you laughed shyly at the last part.

"Is that why you ask me to use my Devil voice in bed, sometimes?" Matt's hands began drawing lazy patterns on your leg as he talked.

"Mmm, maybe? Is that bad?"

"No. It's definitely not bad. I like it, too. I like the little whimpers that escape involuntarily from your lips."

"Phew, that's a relief." you shifted a little to shake away your building arousal as memories flooded your brain.

Matt nudges your hand in his head urging you to continue.

You continued clearing your throat “I like your ears. Your extremely sensitive ears. They help so many people, they hear so much and yet you stay composed. I like how the tip of your ears turn pink when you get shy or angry.” you moved one of our hands and rubbed his ear “It makes you extra cute.”

Matt could feel himself turn into a puddle as you toyed with his earlobes. You moved your hands down his neck, feeling the warmth of his soft skin transfer to your fingers.

“Your neck, a very bitable one I must say. You’re lucky I’m not a dracula.”

Matt’s body vibrated with his soft laughter “I think you are one! You always bite my neck and I have to spend the next day covered in concealer.” amusement riding in his voice.

“Not my fault!" you slapped his shoulder playfully "Anyway, your shoulders. Oh boy. I can write books about them.”

Matt lifted his head from your lap “Books? Plural?”

“Why yes! They are strong and sculpted, and hmmmphh” you squeezed his shoulder trying to convey how you feel about them.

Matt’s giggles echoed through his apartment. He stood from his place on the carpet and scooped you up in his arms, and sat down on the armchair placing you on top of him. Your legs dangled on the side of the chair as you comfortably sat on his lap, one hand splayed on his chest while the other rested on the back of his neck.

Matt placed butterfly kisses on your neck as you adjusted your seat on him.

“Go on” he urged, still not taking his supple lips off your skin.

You traced the outline of his collarbone and tapped your finger on the beauty spots scattered on his skin before you continued.

“The hollow in your neck, the jaguar notch, invites me to bury my face in them every time you hug me. And now, girls, gays and theys, the mighty arms!” you made grand gestures with your hand before hooting and woohoo-ing.

You looked at Matt’s relaxed form. Smiles and laughter dancing on his face. Eyes twinkling with joy.

“What about my arms?” a teasing tone takes over Matt’s voice.

“They’re a sight for sore eyes, truly. The way they flex every time you grasp onto something does things to me.” you traced the outline of his biceps as you resumed “And the way they strain against your shirt. Lords! It pains me to see them struggle under the fabric. I always want to release them from such torture. Your forearms, well, you know how they get me all worked up, especially if you roll up your sleeves. Just thick and beautiful. Splendid.”

You could feel yourself getting hot by the minute and sitting on Matt's lap only made it worse. His strong warm legs under you, his cock growing stiffer from your words. You wanted to prolong this foreplay.

“Did I tell you how much I like your ass? Gorgeous dumpy that I wanna squeeze all day long. And then, your thick thighs. And your massive tiddies. You're a meal, sir.” you shifted on him, squeezing your legs to get some type of friction to ease the growing ache. Matt chuckled, noticing the rise in your body’s temperature. His hands continue drawing lazy circles on your thighs sending waves of tickles.

“Sweetheart, did I tell you how much I like your ass? I want to keep my hands on them at all times, making sure everyone knows you’re mine. Now, what were you saying about my thighs?”

Your cheeks tingled with dilated veins, heat creeped up your body.

“Your...um, thighs. I like it when your slacks hug onto them showing how strong they are and your red suit deserves an award for the beautiful portrayal of such a masterpiece.”

Matt flexed his legs beneath you, his strong muscles grazed the underside of your legs making your squirm.

Tease

You moved your attention to his chest and down his abdomen. Scars scattered on his body like constellations. You traced his scars with your finger before placing a gentle kiss in the valley of his chest. Matt's seductive smile was replaced by a grimace not because you focused on his scars but because he knows that it reminds you of all the times he played hide-and-seek with death.

"Your scars remind me of all the times you could've-" you choked on your words but you chose to be sincere with your feelings "your scars are a testament to the justice you've brought to the people of this city. Each scar has a struggle behind it and they act as a reminder that you’ve conquered your fears…a trophy even."

Matt's eyes were glazed with tears. You kissed the corners of his eyes and wiped an escaped tear. The wrinkles on his face were illuminated by the changing lights.

"Your smile lines, your forehead crinkles, the way the corner of your eyes crinkle when you laugh, your scars, and your stretch marks are proof that you have lived your life. They are time's tattoos, a tribute to your life."

You turned yourself to face Matt properly and kissed the corner of his lips.

"You know…there's this practice in Japanese culture called Kintsugi."

"What's that?" Matt poked in before you could continue.

"Patience Matthew!" you giggled.

"Kintsugi is the art of putting broken pieces of pottery back together with gold. It's built on the idea that our flaws must be embraced. These pottery pieces, Matt! They're so beautiful! The gold that runs between the pieces looks mesmerising! It reminds me of you and your scars." You were unaware of the tears streaming down your face until Matt's gentle hands wiped them away.

"Thankyou" Matt placed a kiss on the top of your head "so much for loving all of me even the parts that hurt you sometimes." he placed another kiss on your temple emphasising his love for you.

His fingers ran over your scars. Some hidden under your clothes, some exposed to him.

"You know this applies to you too, right? Proof that you have lived your life." he repeated your words to you.

"Mhmm, I do. I didn't like them at first…but you taught me to love myself for who I am. Remember what you told me that day? 'Flawed and beautiful, like the moon' I never thought about myself like that."

"I do remember" a full smile on his face. You looked at his smaller scars. Cuts from falling down on the pavement, knuckles bruised from punching the life out of some scum, scrapes from getting punched by some other scum. You frowned, pain coursing through you remembering how he’d flinch when you bandaged his injuries.

"I know that your scars carry a weight. I know that it reminds you that you were meant to be a weapon for war. But you chose to be a medium of justice and if that doesn't tell you how kind and wonderful you are nothing else will. I know you doubt yourself, every night, before you go out as Daredevil but you change someone's life every time you put that mask on. Your suit and your horned mask are a symbol of hope for the innocent."

Matt’s breath hitched. Your words rang through his ears and filled his heart. He wrapped his arms around you, on his lap, and buried his face in your chest, whimpering sobs left his mouth, while you smoothed his hair, peppering kisses on his head.

Matt lifted his head and took your face in his hands, you shifted to sit facing him. He pulled you in for a deep kiss, a kiss that conveyed how much he loved you. No number of words, no amount of money, no amount of time spent with each other, not even the grandest gesture of love could convey what that kiss meant to the both of you. He kissed you like you were his life force, which was true for him. You returned his kiss with the same passion. He was the brightest star in your dark sky.

You pulled back for air, resting your forehead on his. Truth be told, you expected tonight to turn into something hot and steamy but its beauty multiplied tenfold by making you both two emotional penguins exchanging pebbles of admiration.

Matt’s fingers grazed over the stretch marks on your thighs. It was his turn to show you how beautiful you are.

“These stretch marks…do you know how unique they are?”

“Matt, everyone has stretch marks! They’re not really unique” you tittered.

“No. No, they are.” He ran his super-sensitive fingers over your marks “This one is different from this one. Each mark has a different pattern. They may look like lines of various sizes and colours but under your skin they are unique. The veins under them branch in different directions. Some of them are thick, some are thin. Some are more branched than the others. I remember seeing sand ripples in a book long before I lost my sight…your stretch marks remind me of them. Magnificent yet delicate like silk embroidered onto satin.” He reached down and kissed the marks on the sides of your thighs, squeezing you in the process and eliciting a series of giggles from you as beads of tears spilled down your cheeks.

You pulled him up and cradled his face “An angelic face for an angelic man with a devilish persona. I love you, so very much, Matthew Murdock.” You placed gentle kisses all over his face and now, it was his turn to giggle.

“I love you more! My personal rain shower on a sunny day.” Matt’s dimple made you swoon more.

You don’t know how long you both sat there embraced in each other's kindness and you both didn’t care about the back pain that will manifest tomorrow as long as you could hear each other's heartbeat flushed with pure innocent love.

Thankyou for taking the time to read my Matt-thots <3

Tag List: @matt-erialgirl @shedaresthedevil @star-spangled-man @mindidjarin @e-dubbc11 @sobachka-korol @1800-fight-me @alrighty-matty @mattmurdockspainkink @elgrandeavocados @minxsblog @mattmurdocksdumpy @dropsofprecipitation @lovelywebber @phoebe-danvers

[stickytrigger69]

Oh! May I request Tfp Optimus just getting some soft, romantic loving please? Just some cherishing the old archivist turned prime 🙏🥺

TFP Optimus Prime x GN Cybertronian Reader

This is some fluffthat gets low- key sad at the end but it's supposed to be cute or whatever.

Reader is referred to as bot instead of mech or femme.

Readers frame type is unspecified.

(o/c) = optic color.

Stabilizers are legs.

Optimus remembers stuff he found in the archives.

Sorry it took forever, I hope you like it :)

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

"Tell me about pre-golden age art again, please?", Optimus chuckles, "Alright," he tries to think about a piece he hasn't told you about before. You're sitting in between his legs, your back resting on his chest. He is sitting against a large boulder, apple blossom petals fall all around the two of you. You're sitting on a hill not too far away from an orchard, the red fruit is just starting to grow and the small buds break the petals from the trees. He can recall so many of the pieces he's seen in the archives, paintings and drawings, sculptures and memorial statues, old photos of scenery or the stars or of beautiful models, their frame types are outdated but gorgeous nonetheless. He hadn't, however, had the pleasure of touching these works with his servos and only knew them from pictures stored on datapads and the rare handwritten documents with hard copied photos of said pieces. He thought long and hard, but he knew he could sit there quiet for hours and you would wait patiently, if he really wanted, he knew he could make you wait for days.

He smiled and let out a deep exvent, his engine rumbling against you, 'that's the one', he thought as he shuffled a bit to get a little more comfortable. "There is a gorgeous painting, scenery, with one subject, the colors were beautiful and blended together perfectly. The medium used was an off world paint, aliens had traded with the artist, their planet and race be kept secret and the artist could take the materials from their home back to Cybertron to make their vibrant paints.", you laid your helm against his chest and faced westward, waiting for the sun to start setting. You could sit with him for days, hell, years, listening to him talk about things stored in the archives. He's told you about old wars, alien races that had come and gone, music, art, the different frame types that evolved over the centuries; you missed Cybertron and his memories were as close as you could get, yours were colorful but stale. "The subject in the painting was humanoid, it was by itself, the mood was solemn and bittersweet. Their skin was a blue with hints of green and purples, they wore long flowing fabrics and stared longingly into the horizon but their face wasn't visible. And the color of the sky was a Grey swirled with powdery pinks and yellows.", you could picture it in your processor. You closed your optics when he had started describing the background; he was looking at you, he always watched your face if he could when he told you these things. You made funny faces sometimes, you showed a lot of emotion when he retold accounts of grief or happiness, you had beamed when he first told you about how Cybertron got it's very first taste of "radical expressionism".

His servos wrapped around your chest as he continued describing the painting, feeling the vibrations and warmth your engine was exuding. He continued to watch your faceplate, you smiled and then expressed surprise when he talked about the shapes of the clouds, he would definitely remember every twitch of the corners of your optics and slight curve of your derma. "The grass they sat upon was red, a dark and angry crimson.", he looked in the direction your helm was facing, the sun would be setting soon and the sky would change colors. Your servos moved up and took hold of one of his, fiddling with the digits, bending and curling them. His legs tightened around your hips, the bottom sides of his pedes connecting to cradle your stabilizers, like a carrier would do for their sparkling. His optics widened a bit as they closed in on one of the petals, "look.", he said as he caught one in his empty servo, your optics snapped open to look at whatever he wanted to show you. "What?", he held his servo open with the petal in his palm, you stared at it with wide optics, analyzing it as closely as possible, "the pink color of the petals are the color of the sky in that painting.", your face lit up, your fans closed so you wouldn't blow the petal from his servo if you exvented. Your helm tilted to the side just a bit as you took mental images of the soft petal, Optimus looked from the petal to your face again, always so curious.

His spark swelled, he lived for moments like this, he loved showing you the wonders of earth, the insects and other animals and the plant life, you loved the plant life the most. Yet, you hardly left the base, opting to stay and help Ratchet instead of going out and doing recon with one of the others. He chuckled at the thought, but he knew you didn't want to go out mostly because the desert reminded you of the oceans of rust, oh how you detested it. You turned your helm in his direction and optics looking into his own, "that's really the same color as in the painting?", you were running your fans again, you always held your invents in when you were curious about something. He nodded and you turned your attention back to the petal before it blew away in the gentle breeze, your followed it and noticed the sky starting turning orange and dark blue. With a content smile you leaned back against Optimus and continued to play with his digits, "it must have been beautiful, keep going please.", he put his other servo back to it's place on your chest. He continued on about the painting until the sky went dark and the stars began to shine, the moon was nearly full, just a couple more days.

Nights with the full moon were his favorites because your paint job would practically glow in the pale blue light, the stars didn't shine a whole lot on those nights, but he already has one in his clutches, he has no need for the ones freezing in the vacuum of space. You felt the same way about him too, he knew it, felt it, even though you hadn't spark bonded he could feel the love you felt for him eminate from your chamber. You had gotten up on your knees and moved out from between his legs to stand and stretch and so he could readjust himself, he kept talking about the painting the whole time. When he was finally comfortable you walked back over to him and sat yourself on his thighs, chest to chest, face to face. Your knees were bent, calves flat to the ground and resting against the sides of his stabilizers as your arms wrapped around his waist, you caught his gaze and held it as he finished describing the artwork. I love you's passed between you, jumping back and forth without having to say a word, the glowing of blue and (o/c) optics reflecting off one another's frames. Optimus' servos moved swiftly up your back as he pulled you in for a tight hug, you buried your face in his neck for a moment and then lifted your helm to rest your chin on his shoulder as you returned his hug, "thank you.", you spoke softly and he hummed in response.

The both of you had your optics closed as your frames melted together, engines purring and arms slowly tightening. Optimus felt like if he let go, you would dissappear and he would fall endlessly into a void of indescribable loneliness. It reminded him of an old poem, or what was left of it, it was handwritten and was torn to pieces. The remaining words, while scattered and seemingly meaningless, still made an impression on Optimus when he was younger so he put the words together in the way which he interpreted it.

My spark,

Though well fed,

Still hungers,

For the loving gaze reserved only for me.

Yearns for the sweet nectar that drips from your

silver glossa, the golden fruit that is your words,

nourishing and addictive,

Oh how one could starve if not in your presence.

The light of the universe will die when the glow of

Your optics no longer light my berth.

I will go deaf when the sounds of your engine cease,

For my love for you is heavier than the universe,

Than Primus himself.

Time will stop,

And I will sit,

Alone,

Until I am nothing but a pile of rust,

If you were to leave my side and join the pool

Of souls in the allspark.

You will wait for me,

Won't you my dear?

So that when I finally get there myself,

We can start life anew,

Together again.

- Anonymous

It's fitting, the Prime would surely lose himself if you were to leave his side. He's told this poem to you several times before, each time your optics well up with coolant. The first time you heard it was when he confessed his feelings to you, you nearly sobbed as you held him tight, babbling away, saying you felt the same way about him. That your life would become void of light if he were to die, though it made him sad to think about either of you joining the allspark before the other, he felt a comfort knowing that he really meant that much to you. That he is needed, and very much loved. He squeezes you as tight as he knows he can before he hurts you with a large smile on his face, relishing in the warmth of your frame in the cool breeze. He loves the way you love him, gentle and passionate, it makes him feel like he's back on Cybertron before everything went awry, when he could still indulge in the beauty of what was; at least now, he doesn't have to look backwards in time but just a few pede steps in front of him for the love and comfort he so desperately needs in times like these.

[honeyy-fics]

𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐈𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐰𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚 𝐏𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬 𝐎𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ » SYNOPSIS ; You work at a study café, until you see a student to be about your age. He come in almost everyday. Studying, painting art, sketching in sketchbook and at some point—He even try’s to get to know you. Could this be a blossoming relationship? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#Pairings : Albedo x GN! Reader. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━WARNINGS : None. :) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━700+ WORDS ^^

—Albedo.

You’ve just so happened to see a male with ashy-blond hair as a regular on late nights. It’s always worth it to see those teal eyes scan the sketch book with its dark brown cover after he’s finished his artwork.

You may have caught some feelings for the guy, but how could you not? He’s everything you could’ve asked for. Though you doubt he’d be into you. You’re just some worker whose good at making someone’s selection of drink.

Who are you kidding… there’s no way he’d ever like you. Not in a million years, he’s just there to get work done.

You sigh as you wonder off into your own little world dreaming about someday having enough courage to talk to him personally. Not just for an order, but maybe more.

A sad smile makes its way to your face as you hear the door open to the shop. You glance your eye over to the clock on the cream-coloured wall.

‘9 P.M? It’s probably him then.’

You fix your posture and tighten the bow on your apron before walking over to the cashier.

He likes Vanilla Iced Coffee with 2 extra pumps of Vanilla. You stand at the cashier with a smile on your face as you see him walk through the door.

He walks up with his usual backpack and pulls out his wallet.

Maybe… maybe this is your chance to make an impression on him.

“Oh! Um, you don’t have to pay today. It’s on me.” You say with a smile, already knowing that what you just said probably came off as cheesy. It was only you working on the night shifts, so only you and him for now.

“Oh—are you sure? I can still pay.” He said, feeling slightly guilty for not paying.

“No, really! It’s okay. Thank you for coming in all the time. Is it the same order this time?” You ask before grabbing his usual medium cup.

“Ah, you know me so well… Thank you.” He said before slowly putting his wallet back and setting backpack down in one of the booths and returning to the cashier, leaning down on the counter and his hand curled slightly into a fist with the bottom of his palm supporting his cheek.

“So uh… how’s your night going.” He said while looking off at the pastries that were in the glass containment for show.

You remember that this is your first time having a normal, no… real conversation with him.

“Actually, it’s going quite smoothly. Not very customers have come by tonight and the soft white snow falling from the sky is always wonderful to look at. With the tall street lights making it even more visible, it’s alluring enough to catch the eye of anyone. It’s always so… peaceful.” You say while putting the ice into his normal sized clear cup.

But it was true, the fluffy white snow outside the large glass windows was a lovely sight to behold.

You’ve always loved using fancy words in sentences to add the effect that you might be smart, considering all the stupid things to do.

“What about you?” You asked glancing at him for a split moment to see his real eyes staring at you.

“It’s been… interesting. My car almost slipped off the road on the way here because of black ice.” He said while a distasteful look made its way onto his features.

You finished off his drink with the last two pumps of vanilla, stirred it, grabbed a clear lid put it on and grabbed a straw—handing it to the blonde.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you okay?” You ask as you slide it over to him over the counter before leaning down and placing your elbows on the said counter.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for asking.” He said before taking his hand off his pale cheek and unwrapping the straw to place it in the hole of the lid.

A comfortable silence when by for a few moments before he asked you a question.

“I… I never got your name.” He said.

You were taken aback slightly but smiled warmly.

“Y/N. My name is Y/N.” You said with a soft and happy voice.

“My names is Albedo. We should talk more often.” He said before a small smile appeared on his face.

And you were sure—no. POSITIVE you both had a rosy hue on your cheeks right now, but you knew you had talked to the one who might change your life forever now.

[HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY! Thank you for reading my crappy fic :,) I really hope you enjoyed it! I’ll make a part two and more for different characters if requested ^^ thanks! (It’s literally 1 in the morning. 😭). Love your dear author, Honey.]. © honeyy-fics. 2021

[to-be-a-dreamer]

Alrighty so I finished all the fic titles that people sent asks about (I might go ahead and talk about the last two just cause they're also very fun) so now I have an excuse to talk about tattoo artist Charlie from the "Against Fate's Design" one! I don't know why that's the part of this AU that I decided to fixate on, but it is and y'all just have to deal with it. (Plus a little bit about the actual main characters and the general plotline, just cause I’m so nice like that <3)

First thing's first, I changed it so Charlie doesn't own the tattoo parlor, he just works there. I would love it for him to be the owner, but after a bit of research, I don't think it's very likely that he would have his own shop at his age. (I don't know how old he is, he's just young)

Charlie has loved drawing since he was a little kid and kept up the hobby all throughout middle and high school. He never really considered turning it into a career, but eventually decided to major in studio arts after one semester of majoring in English and hating it. (He loves reading and writing but he prefers to leave that as a hobby)

He and Jack went to the same college and had a lot of classes together. Charlie wasn't quite sure what he was going to end up doing, so he tried a bunch of different art mediums while Jack focused on painting.

Once he got his degree, he still wasn't completely sure what he wanted to do, but he had a good portfolio and he'd purposely taken a lot of different classes, so he had basic experience in most major art mediums. (I know very little about being a professional artist so if anything is inaccurate, blame Google for lying to me)

He sent his portfolio off to a lot of different places and ends up with an apprenticeship in a tattoo parlor. (I kinda want to write Charlie's backstory so I'll leave it at that for now) It's not at all what he thought he'd be doing with his life, but within a few months, he can't imagine doing anything else.

His first few tattoos are small, just little symbols and flowers and such in easy-to-cover places that aren't perfect, but the clients seem happy with them. His mentor claims he wouldn't have been able to tell they were done by an apprentice if he didn't already know.

I have no idea who Charlie's mentor is. Maybe Denton? That could be fun, but I don't really see Denton as a tattoo artist so I'm not sure. Pffft, what if it's Mr. Jacobi? That's kinda funny, we'll go with that for now, might change it later, idk

Anyways, the parlor Charlie works at does both tattoos and piercings. We'll say there are four tattoo artists and one piercer. (They all basically just shared the job of receptionist until Race was hired) It's a small town, but they have a good reputation and get clients from all over the county.

They do a combination of walk-in and custom tattoos. Since Charlie's the newest, he mostly ends up doing walk-ins, but he's starting to work on customs, which he finds really exciting. He's the least busy out of the four artists, so he also gets to do some pre-drawn designs for walk-ins, and a lot of the tattoos he does are still his own original work.

The parlor itself looks a bit run-down on the outside, but the interior is very clean, bright, and welcoming. The walls are painted light blue and they're absolutely covered with concept designs and pictures of finished tattoos. They all have colored frames and there are other fun decorations, so it's very bright and colorful. A lot of parents bring kids there to get their ears pierced, so any scary or NSFW designs are kept in the back and only shown to clients who ask. (it's also just a courtesy to their other clients who might not want to see that kind of stuff) All of their stations are in the same room, but they can close curtains around them if the client or the artist wants privacy. Jacobi has a zero-tolerance policy for tattoos containing hate speech of any kind, and the artists are allowed to refuse to do any tattoo that makes them uncomfortable, even if it seems silly. There's usually at least one artist in the shop that can do what the client wants, so it's never been a huge problem.

Charlie does a lot of different design styles, but he especially loves flowers, animals, and geometric patterns. He also likes doing color tattoos or anything that allows him to have creative freedom. When he has the opportunity to try a different art style or a different technique, he takes it without question.

As for his own tattoos, I think he probably got a couple of small ones in college, and then some bigger ones over the past few years working in the tattoo parlor. He and Jack got their first tattoos together in a really stereotypical "nineteen-year-olds living on their own for the first time and getting matching tattoos" kind of way. They probably got something basic on their ankles, like Jack got a sun and Charlie got a moon. A few years later, Charlie got a Harry Potter lightning bolt on his wrist but eventually got it covered up with a watercolor pride design. His last college tattoo is the lyric "celebrate yourself triumphantly" from Kinky Boots which he has in pretty cursive along his left collarbone. (that one hurt the most, but he kind of likes that, it's almost... fitting)

His first tattoo out of college was technically the lightning bolt cover-up, but besides that, he designed this really cool geometric flower design that went on the back of his calf. It's colored as well, and it was one of his first designs that got turned into an actual tattoo. If he were to try the same design at the time of the story, it would probably be a lot better, but he doesn't have any plans to try and "fix" it.

Charlie has spina bafidia, a congenital disorder that means he was born with a gap in his backbone that left a section of his spinal cord exposed. He can walk pretty well with just crutches, but he sometimes wears leg braces for extra support and occasionally uses a wheelchair. He's had a couple of surgeries to treat it and he definitely has some kind of tattoo around the surgery scars. Maybe it's like a tree or a flowering vine? Something like that I think. He doesn't cover it up, he incorporates the scar tissue into the tattoo itself and turns it into a work of art.

Finally, he has two cats, a calico named Elle and a tuxedo named Snoopy. He has tattoos of each of them on either shoulder blade. They're kind of cartoonish, but still really pretty. Elle is playing with a blue butterfly and Snoopy is crouched down looking at a little yellow flower (imagine those yellow dandelions that grow up between the cracks in sidewalks with tufts of grass)

At the time that the story takes place, he's working with Jacobi to design a half-sleeve for his forearm, which will be his biggest tattoo yet. It's going to be an outline of a bunch of flowers and butterflies because he has a part-time job at a daycare and wants to let the little kids color it in with markers. They already draw on him as it is, cause they think his real tattoos are cool, and some of the kids want to be like him and "be a tattoo artist".

He originally started working at the daycare because an apprenticeship doesn't actually make him any money, but he just couldn't bear to quit, even when he started making enough money from tattooing. He only works weekends, but the kids all know him and he enjoys it a lot. If for whatever reason, the tattoo artist thing doesn't end up working out, his backup plan is to go back to school for an elementary education degree.

He and Jack kept in touch a lot after college, especially since Charlie's work is pretty close to the city, so Jack makes the 1-hour drive pretty often. When Race gets hurt, he isn't able to come in person as much, but he talks to Charlie on the phone nearly every day. He doesn't ask about the job for Race, Charlie just hates to see his friend so upset and stressed all the time. He knows Jacobi was thinking about hiring a receptionist anyways, and when he explains the situation, his boss is more than willing to help out.

It's very obvious that Race is struggling with his whole situation and Charlie does his best to help the kid out without being suffocating. He knows what it's like to be coddled and underestimated, so he's comfortable with letting Race be more independent than the rest of his family and friends do. That also means that when Charlie tells Race he's pushing himself too far, Race is way more likely to actually listen without a fight.

The two of them make fast friends and he's probably the main reason Race isn't completely miserable at the tattoo parlor. Charlie doubts that Race will ever be an actual tattoo artist. Maybe he could do some small, simple designs, but he doesn't have the passion or the drive that you need in order to be a tattoo artist as a career. Unless he has a big attitude change, he'll most likely stay as a receptionist, but Charlie is still teaching him a bit about design and the basics and such. If nothing else, it's probably good for him to know how to talk with clients about the procedures.

He's spoken to Spot a bit, but Spot always comes super early in the morning and Charlie tends to stay late at night, so they usually miss each other. It's a pretty small town, so they know each other in the same way that everyone knows each other, but they're not much more than friendly acquaintances at the beginning of the story. (When Race starts working at the parlor tho... Charlie suddenly starts seeing a lot more of the handsome florist from next door... It's probably nothing.)

In the actual story, Charlie isn't technically a main character. In television series terms, he's probably going to be a reoccurring character. I think the story would switch between Spot and Race's POVs like Sorry, Wrong Number, so we would mostly see him through Race's perspective. Race has met Charlie a few times, but with his dancing career, they just never had the time to properly become friends. Race likes him, but he just knows that Charlie is gonna spy on him for Jack, so he's reluctant to fully open up to him at first.

Charlie is not spying on him for Jack, the most he does is promise Jack that he won't let Race push himself too far. Once Race figures that out, he and Charlie get along great. Charlie is kind and comforting but also sarcastic and funny in a way that compliments Race's own sense of humor really well.

I'm not gonna lie, I don't have a very detailed plot outline, so I don't really know exactly how their relationship progresses, but they end up being good friends by the end and Race is really appreciative of everything Charlie does for him.

I have put way more thought into him than is necessary and you would probably never learn half of this in the actual story, but my brain decided to develop this character first out of all characters, so here we are.

Tag List: @races-stupid-cigar

[manifestoonmoralmanlove]

What will be in my bag? Pre-ordered Manga. Straight and Lez edition.

Here’s a list of English-released manga I’ve currently got on pre-order, and manga series I ordered before but won’t be continuing with the series.

As a note: Some of these titles have been released but I have not received them yet due to a issues with covid backlog effected how things are released.  I personally find that if you pre-order it tends to get you manga quicker.  It seems there is more pressure to keep up with the new release schedule than chip away at the backlog.

I’m starting with the stuff I’ve already read some of and confirmed enjoyment, then stuff I’m shooting in the dark for, and finally series I have tried recently and have discontinued.

Heteros

My Androgynous Boyfriend

Story & Art by: Tamekou      Publisher: Seven Seas

It is rare for straight shit to end up in my library but My Androgynous boyfriend is an exception that will surprise no-one since it’s pretty queer adjacent.  This story is mostly a couple being lovey-dovey between jokes about sexuality and gender but (so far) isn’t problematic at all.  The female lead is quite enjoyable as she’s well-balanced and has agency throughout. There’s even ace representation! It’s very low-stakes, wholesome, and sweet so far. (Volume 3 is set to release in November.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

Yuri/Lesbian

Even Though We’re Adults

Story & Art by: Takako Shimura  Publisher: Seven Seas

Takako is also the creator of Sweet Blue Flowers and Wandering son.  I have dipped by toe in to both those series.  I overall find their writing kinda meandering and tepid (might just be me) but technically pretty solid.  I am hopeful for this series since it features adults....if the title didn’t make it obvious.  I was intrigued by the one character being married but the man finding out about the affair quickly and reacting more realistically and interestingly than the average male love interest in a Yuri.  I also found myself relating at bit to Akari’s angst about being unlucky with relationships with women.  I also do enjoy the artwork! This one is the most likely of my followed series to be dropped at some point. (Volume 2 of this manga was set to release in June this year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

For more click the jump!

Kase-san and Yamada

Story & Art by: Hiromi Takashima  Publisher: Seven Seas

This is a series I keep going back to.  While it is the very typical low-stakes bubbly, cutesy School age Yuri...it is a very good version of that.  Just warm bubble bath vibes. (Volume 7 is set to release in February of next year.  I think it was originally supposed to be released this May but was bumped back.)

My Excitement Level: The gentle about to sink into a bubble bath variety

NOW ONTO THE SERIES I HAVEN’T READ BUT I’M TAKING A CHANCE ON!

Adachi and Shimaura

Art: Moke Yuzuhara Story: Hitoma Iruma  Publisher: Yen Press

This, as I understand it, is a slow-burn romance about two delinquent girls.  I have heard good things about the novel and the anime series!  However I prefer manga to novels and don’t have a funimation account so I went to snag it in manga form. (Volume 1 was set to release in February this year and 2 in September)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

The Girl I want is so handsome!

Story & Art by:Yuama     Publisher: Seven Seas

The premise is a young lady has a crush on a handsome older girl who’s oblivious to her advances.  When she tries to confess she instead gets roped into being the club manager of the basketball team that her crush is a part of.  So it feels like it may end up cycling through 2 jokes and be so deep in the stereotypical manga bullshit you can easily-predict its beats volumes in advance. HOWEVER that is also a premise that is similar to Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun which is legitimately a hilarious series. Also I fucking love butch/stud/masc-presenting women/AFAB people.  So I’m willing to risk “The same Anime bullshit” for good jokes and a cute lezzy romance with a beautiful butch.  (Volume 1 is set to release of December of this year.)

My Excitement Level: Pretty nervous actually.  I hope it works out!

Monologue Woven for You

Story & Art by: Syu Yasaka     Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gives up on a career in theater gets tangled in a relationship with a woman passionately pursuing theater.  Since it is set between college age women, and appears to be about more personal and mature themes I am interested. (Volume 1 I BELIEVE is supposed to be released in February of next year.)

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

Mizuno and Chayama (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Yuhta Nishio     Publisher: Yen Press

Two daughters of feuding families meet in secret.  This is by the same author of After Hours.  I read a bit of After Hours and found it fine but boring since it seemed without conflict.  Conflict doesn’t seem to be in short supply with a story like this!  While I enjoy the sugary-sweet high school lesbian romances...those are not in short-supply. So I am always hungry for something darker, meatier, more mature. (Volume 1 is set to release next February) 

My Excitement Level: Cautious Optimism

5 Seconds Before The Witch Falls In Love

Story & Art by:  Zeniko Sumiya     Publisher: Seven Seas

It appears to be a playful fantasy about a Witch and Witch-hunter who’s antagonism turns romantic.  This may end up one note and stupid...but I’m always hear for queer romances set in high-fantasy and I haven’t read a Yuri where rivals turns to lovers. (Volume 1 is set to release next February)  

My Excitement Level: Low-key

Catch These Hands! (No page yet so far as I can tell.)

Story & Art by: Murata     Publisher: Yen Press 

A former delinquent runs into her high school rival.  After losing a fight to her she agrees to her terms...her terms being to go out on a date with her.  I mean the title alone makes me want to pick it up!  It may run afoul of bad anime humor, but I’m hoping with the fact that it’s full of gay adult delinquents that it’ll be a little different.  (Volume 1 is set to release next February)  

My Excitement Level: Medium-key

Series I have discontinued:

I’m in love with the Villainess

Art by: Aonoshimo  Story by:  Inori   Publisher: Seven Seas

A woman gets reborn into her favorite Otome game but she wants to romance the villiain!  I had heard a ton of great things about the novel but I picked up the manga version. (If the novel is totally different I can’t speak to it.)  For me, the writing is ham-handed, the jokes flop 90% of the time, and the fact the lead’s only personality trait seems to be ~obsessed with a bully~ really dampens this title.  Her advances are so aggressive and unwanted I honestly started feeling bad for a spoiled rich bully.  I will say it’s saving grace is the fact that the lead is masochistically into the villainess’ tsundere abusiveness. For me I hate tsundere romances if framed like, “I like you DESPITE your insults.” It is only tolerable if it’s instead, “I like you cause you tell it like it is. I’m a dirty little pig. Please step on this bad little piggy!”

Our Teachers are Dating

Story & Art by: Pikachi Ohi      Publisher: Seven Seas

Well one reason I stopped the series is that cover you see up there.  The sex in this series is fade to black but FOR SOME REASON the 3rd cover has them both butt naked.  But on a less superficial note, the story is about two teachers who start dating.  And while cute at points, I was just underwhelmed.  I think a part of it, is the fact that this behaves like a stereotypical high school romance...and while set in a high school...these are grown ass women not 15 year olds.  So I have less patience with the, “Gosh when will I get to kiss my girlfriend?” bullshit.  I mean, I would hesitate to call it bad...but it’s just not a good version of it’s brand of bullshit.

Breath of Flowers

Story & Art by: Caly                       Publisher: Tokyopop

Absolute train-wreck, this is hands down the worst Yuri I have ever bought.  The story is nonsensical and all over the place.  There is a love rival who’s trying to break the two of them up so she can get with Gwyn...but then switches mid-gear to put in a lot of effort to bring them together intentionally...but she also still wants to hook up with Gwyn...it’s very ????????????  The main conflict of Gwyn is hiding their gender so they can play basketball on the boy’s team (not well explained) is built up hugely and resolved with a hand flick.  There is a melodramatic moment where a school nurse says more or less, “GIVE IT UP YOU’LL NEVER BE A BOY!” And it’s like “OH SHIT! The fact that Gwyn is on the basketball team is cause he’s a transboy trying to live life as a boy! Oh gosh it makes so much more sense now!”  But the author seems to not even know that trans people exist cause the story bumbles along as if that scene never happened.  The closest we get is at the end Gwyn is like, “Look I’m learning to do make-up on myself to make you happy lawl!” Which is I GUESS supposed to be, “NO NO DON’T WORRY ALL OF GWYN’S GENDER STUFF WAS JUST THERE TO MAKE THE MAIN CHARACTER SEXUALLY CONFUSED WHEN SHE DISCOVERS GWYN’S TRUE GENDER!  HER TRUE GENDER IS 100% CIS WOMAN CAUSE SHE DID MAKE-UP ONCE! IT’S FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!” Like whaaaaaaaaat?  And it ends on a very random scene which doesn’t really fit in with the rest of the story.  Ugh just very bad do not interact!

A White Rose in Bloom

Story & Art by: Asumiko Nakamura    Publisher: Seven Seas

At an all girls catholic school a young woman falls for a mysterious foreign student.  I grabbed this cause it’s gay and I overall like Asumiko Nakamura’s work (she also does Doukyusei, double mints, and others.)  However I was just not grabbed with this title.  I just felt like I wasn’t getting what was making the MC pants on head obsessed with Steph.  Also the lead’s mother tells her that she’s getting divorced and therefore will no longer have money to pay for the university and she’s framed like a super bad person for this.  Like I get why the MC (a teenager) would think that something like that is THE END OF THE WORLD! But I remember them really framing the mom like a selfish bitch for this...when like...it’s well established that her mom and dad’s relationship has been toxic for YEARS and that they TRIED SO HARD to fix it.  OH WELL!  This might be good but it just didn’t grab me in the 1st volume.

I’ll make a post on the BL titles later! Take care and Stay Rotten!

[grimoireofwritings]

Headcanons: The Magic Knight Captains & Their Art Styles

Just some random idea that came to me today while reminiscing on what the Captains do in their free time. I began to picture how it would play out if each of them were instructed to show us their art skills! Here's what I came up with.

Captain William Vangeance:

This man is not too bad at art! He doesn't put a lot of pressure on himself to make perfect sketches and he has low expectations for himself... So he mainly considers it a hobby set aside for his rare moments of leisure time. Since he's so chill about it, his sketches come out looking nice when he's more relaxed. This is usually the case since he prefers using his bird journal - he likes to bird-watch and put together little drawings of the winged friends he sees while laying all content out in his garden. He's no prodigy but his hand-eye coordination is pretty good and after years of practice his birds and trees turn out pretty impressive. Very embarrassed if asked to show people though.

Credit: Found in a "how to draw" guide.. no name

Captain Nozel Silva:

He prefers appreciating sophisticated art made by others.. and really doesn't care much for making it himself. If he draws anything, it'll usually be rushed - as he knows he's got more important matters to focus on.. Still, he is capable of putting together a sketch every now and again of something simple. Usually plain posable objects. At the end of the day, he's not really a big art freak and even at a nice art museum he gets bored after an hour or so.

Credit: unlisted. Message if you know where it's from!

Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion:

He likes art, a lot! Like William he's no prodigy, but it makes him happy so that's enough for him. He prefers to paint, and his subjects are often women, focusing on anatomy because he enjoys exploring movement / dimension through bodily posing. He likes painting silhouettes that are dancing and often have flowing clothing, or hair. Definitely focuses on the beauty, passion, and artistic self expression side of it. He isn't as open about it because Mereoleonna poked fun at him for it so much and he'd rather not deal with any of that again.. but people who know about it always talk about how he's quite talented.

Credit: Anastassia Orehova

Captain Yami Sukehiro:

He's listed in the manga's assorted questions brigade as the #2 ( Behind Rill) judge of artistic style and taste! He's got an excellent eye for art, and he can be really creative medium wise, but I still feel like he's a bit too lazy to sit down for a long time and really commit to a canvas or sketchbook. He doesn't find it rewarding enough for his attention span.. but he seems to be pretty good at making simplistic, cartoon styles really expressive.

Credit: Olga Shvartsur

Captain Rill Boismortier:

He is ALL about color, vibrancy, and bold presentation! His paintings are always so full of vivid life and brightness, it's clear to see he's a person carrying a wondrous imagination and endless creativity. Everything he's made seems like it's bursting with optimism and excitement, as if the artist couldn't contain himself. He is extremely versatile and can tackle almost any subject, which is super impressive for his age. His one flaw I'd say is that sometimes his paintings, despite being gorgeous technicality wise, can get a little busy or cluttered as he struggles to not get carried away with all the different expressive ideas he comes up with. He's still learning!! ( Bonus headcanon: Rill has a mandatory weekly art class set aside as "training" for the Aqua Deer magic knights.. Everyone attends regardless of their actual interest levels because nobody wants to handle seeing Rill devastated that people didn't show.)

Credit: Svenja Jodicke

Captain Dorothy Unsworth:

Pretty self explanatory? She's a kawaii sailor moon theme anime waifu. All her drawings are magical anime girls... But they only appear in her dreams, so nobody knows she can draw well!!

Credit: source link to deviantart page was a removed account 😭 please lmk if you know the artist

Captain Jack the Ripper:

Nobody wants to talk about Jack's art. He doesn't wanna draw and nobody wants him to draw. Anything he makes is simply a cursed image, no questions asked. He's got the artistic skills of a grade schooler... And even though he can be somewhat creative, the fact that there's always some kind of disturbing / violent undertone incorporated within the picture... It just looks like a demented child's drawing.

Credit: could not find name but it's a canvas displayed in "The Museum of Bad Artwork" labelled as "The Butcher" and tbh that makes it even more terrifying

Captain Charlotte Roselei

She's listed in the top three WORST artists / judges of fine arts in canon... Which is interesting to me, lol. I think she probably stopped trying a long time ago after being teased for how her stuff turns out, lol. She tried drawing or painting and would get frustrated with her inability to create an image she's picturing in her mind.

Credit: could not find name but it's a canvas displayed in "The Museum of Bad Artwork"

Captain Kaiser Granvorka:

I don't know a whole lot about him tbh but I know he is also listed as an excellent artist next to Yami. I think he'd be really into sophisticated art! Kinda like Nozel but far more dedicated and passionate about it. Still-picture images, but he finds a lot of joy in shapes and objects, and messing around with shading.

Credit: unlisted. Message if you know where it's from!

And that is all my friends!! I am still trying to hunt down some art credit for these images, some were on Pinterest or just unlisted altogether. I'm gonna put them down once I come back and edit this post when it's not 3am 😂 plz let me know if y'all can help me out with that. I know there's an online site somewhere that's made for this but I forgot what it's called???

This was a lot of fun to make though. If you disagree or have thoughts, feel free to reblog or come chat in my ask box! Goodnight luvs 🥰

[drwcn]

wangxian au: lan wangji is a music major taking an elective in introduction to anatomical sketching, and wei wuxian is the nude model who, as one student said in the class chat, is “the most perfect human specimen ever created”. Poor Lan Wangji is plagued with lots of inappropriate thoughts. His life gets even harder when he discovers Wei Wuxian has moved into the dorm room across the balcony from him and has a tendency to not close his curtains. 

Gusu is the name of the prestigious semi public-semi private university, mostly known for its Humanities, Arts and Music faculties. The Lan family founded the university and is still part of governing body. The Twin Jades are very understated, but have garnered a substantial fandom in campus, and maybe even extending to other campuses like the business school across town.

Lan Wangji is a sophomore. He lives in dorm even though he and his brother have their own place downtown because LXC thought it’d be a good opportunity for his lil brother to make some friends.

WWX is a talented artist who can't afford art school. He works three jobs to keep himself afloat: barista, art model for the university, and contact wall painter for a reno company. 

WWX doesn't really live in dorm. Technically he's not even a student there. The room he's staying in is Nie Huaisang's (a freshman) who doesn't need that room per say because he's got NMJ's empty apartment while NMJ's frequently off on business trips.

wwx’s old apartment’s landlord sold the apartment to move out of the country, and the new landlord is greedy and jacked up the price, so if NHS hadn’t offered WWX his dorm room, he’d be living in his ratty old second-hand Toyota. 

WWX’s parents died when he was very young, leaving him in the care of the Jiangs but the Jiangs also died in a plane crash not long after. While the Board of Directors of the Jiang's enterprise kept custody of the two heir/heiresses (Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli) they had no reason to keep hold of WWX so poor baby got put through the foster system.

wwx ran away when he was a teen, dropped out of high school and got in with the wrong crowd and went to juvie for a year. He has a tattoo of a bunny on his rib cage which makes LWJ weak. 

what wwx doesn’t know is that jyl and jc has been trying to find him since jyl came of age and wrangled the rights/control of her company from the greedy, greedy paws of the BoD. But his records were all sealed, so they have no clue where he is.

Technically, dormitories do not allow NHS to lend his room out to non-students, so for weeks, WWX paraded around his residence as NHS to make sure NHS doesn’t get into trouble. When Lan Wangji starts coming to hang with WWX, words travel fast. 

NMJ texting LXC: “Our little brothers???? Are banging??????” 

LXC texting Meng Yao: “I heard Wangji has started dating Huaisang, should I interfere? Have not seen it for myself, but I am concerned.” 

Mo Xuanyu (a high school senior and NHS’s best friend): “My dude, why has my brother just texted me about you possibly hooking up with Jade 2, what the fuck??” 

Wen Ning who goes to the same school as Mo Xuanyu and also a part-time barista with WWX says, “Did you know that Lan Zhan guy you keep talking about is dating my friend Mo Xuanyu’s best friend, Nie Huaisang???”   

LWJ knows WWX isn’t NHS bc he knows NHS from before, but he doesn’t bother correcting anyone until at family dinner, his Uncle Lan Qiren says: 

"Wangji, I want you to know that although I didn't initially approve, if you and Huaisang are happy together, than I support you."

LWJ, ".............................................."

Lan Wangji does not know Wei Wuxian is essentially homeless because WWX keeps saying he’s only living at NHS’s dorm because his own apartment flooded

Until NMJ comes back into town unexpectedly forcing NHS back into his dorm and WWX who hates imposing himself on other people goes to live in his car. 

Lan Wangji finds out, and brings Wei Wuxian back to his own dorm. 

In a day, words spread across campus like wild fire.

WWX reunites with the Jiangs when his boss is contracted to paint Jiang Cheng’s new apartment 

Jiang Yanli is devastated that her little brother is essentially homeless. “What do you mean A-Xian doesn’t have a home? What do you mean he can’t afford an education? What do you mean he works three jobs? Are you eating? Why are you so thin???? I -” 

Jiang Cheng cries for three hours straight but will throw hands if anyone dares to bring it up. 

LQR does not approve of WWX. “He has a criminal record!” Then for LQR's 50th birthday, LWJ brings a huge scroll painting of Cloud Recesses (the ancient private scholar academy that Gusu University was founded upon).

LQR: "....this is.....very impressive. Wangji I had no idea your dapple into visual arts was so fruitful. Are you switching majors?" LWJ: "No Uncle. I did not draw this. Wei Ying did."

Wei Wuxian *innocently* “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, you’re so well formed, so symmetrical, so proportional, will you ever consider letting me draw you?”  

Lan Wangji *straight faced* “On one condition.” 

WWX, “name it.” 

LWJ, “Draw me like one of those French boys.” (LXC showed him the movie bc he knew his brother had a romantic side.) 

WWX  *chokes* 

WWX makes the sketch, but instead of a necklace it’s the Lan family wrist tie (a modern version of the head ribbon) that LWJ suggests they use, and it’s looped suggestively around his neck and one of his wrists.

From that point on, WWX starts making other (less salacious) drawings of LWJ, using different medium and different techniques in different settings (acrylic, oil, digital, watercolor and pencil sketches). He binds it into a portfolio, including the original “french” drawing, and names it Every Shade of Blue (Chinese ‘Lan’ = blue). He gifts it to LWJ. 

LWJ is blown away and suggests WWX use this to apply to Gusu and try for the scholarship. After some convincing, WWX agrees. 

But he forgets to remove the nude sketch of LWJ. 

Lan Xichen and other Lan Elders are on the admissions committee.

The ambulance had to be called. 

LWJ and JYL fight for the right to help pay for WWX’s tuition. Neither gets the opportunity, because WWX wins the scholarship.  

[extremelyblackandwhite]

handmaid - 19

PAIRING: mob!sebastian stan x ingenue!reader

WARNINGS: age gap

A/N: hope you enjoy this chapter xxx

NEXT CHAPTER

Y/N was submerged up to her neck up to the bubbles in her bath tube. She wanted to be mad at Gwen, mad that once again she had lost something over her own selfishness but most of her mind was telling her to be forgiving, Gwen could’ve never predicted a blizzard and if she had known she would’ve probably taken one less bag so Y/N could accompany her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t help but feel a ting of sadness as it dawned on her she would probably spend Christmas here. It wasn’t like she didn’t enjoy Sebastian’s presence, she absolutely loved to be around him when he wasn’t putting up a facade for his associates. However, it was different. It wasn’t the same, there were no fireplaces, no big kitchens in flames with every single scent related to winter and Christmas, no playing chess with Mr. Forrest or telling Gwen to wait for present opening. At the same time she was rather nervous to be left alone with Sebastian. That’s just like freeing a child in a candy shop without parent supervision and an unusual amount of money. No restraints and how was she supposed to have any restraints when Gwen wasn’t around to be the constant reminder that being in love with a promised man is wrong?

She sighed, lowering her body down til her nose touched the bubbles of the bath tube. Was the universe testing her? Yes, it was. She kissed a promised man and now she doesn’t get to spend Christmas like she normally does. What else is gonna happen? She hoped there was no mistletoe laying around the house. 

     - Miss Y/N? Are you okay? - she heard a light knock on the door followed by Amelia’s voice. Noticing the water had begun to cool down, she stepped off the tub, wrapping herself in one of Sebastian’s monogramed fluffy robes. 

The handmaid creaked the door open, peaking to see the maid holding a folded red jumper and black pair of sweatpants. Being in those soft materials sounded like a good idea. Being surrounded in soft materials was always a sure way to make her a bit happy.

    - I got you some nice and warm clothes and afterwards I can do your hair into something pretty. - Y/N nodded clearly not in the mood to disobey and quickly got dressed up in the freshly washed and dried garments. In no time she was sat in front of her vanity while Amelia brushed her hair and braided it along with a red velvet string. 

    - You know, Miss Y/N, we haven’t had a nice Christmas in this household in ages. Maybe with you here, we can have something nice. - she placed the brush back in the table. - There we go. Don’t you look pretty?

    - Thank you so much, Amelia. - she smiled. - Don’t you want to go home to your family?

    - This is my family. I’ve been taking care of Mr. Stan since he was as tall as a hobbit. However, I don’t think he needs someone to look after him anymore.

Before Y/N could question Amelia over her riddle speaking pattern, she was already rushing her down the stairs. Much to her surprise, the fireplace that wasn’t really a fireplace was on, there was a smell of apples, cinnamon and nutmeg in the air. She looked around wondering where the smell came from and judging by the amount of people in the kitchen along with bodyguards cooking various things, she wondered it came from there. She tried to suppress her smile as she walked barefoot to the kitchen, the little bells on her velvet red string jiggling.

   - It smells lovely. What are you cooking? - she asked Elias, her bodyguard, who had an apron over his suit. 

   - I have no idea, Miss Y/N. Some sort of pudding like thing. - he continued to whisk the dough. - Do you happen to know how to cook a Christmas Pudding?

   - I think you might me missing some brandy. 

   - I would love some brandy. - Elias mumbled.

   - Stop mumbling. When you applied for this job you said you could cook so cook. - Sebastian spoke from further into the kitchen which intrigued Y/N. He barely even stepped into the kitchen unless he needed his beloved coffee as other than that he got his meals in his office. Y/N bite her lip, walking further into the kitchen to find the perfectly polished mob boss struggling with whatever he was doing. - You know, angel, I can hear your bells. 

   - What are you doing? - like a curious child, she took over to his side. 

   - Sugar cookies. 

   - That is not sugar cookie dough. - she pointed at the bowl he was mixing which had a liquid like dough on. - Besides, I thought you said you didn’t cook. 

   - Well ... it is my fiancée’s fault you’re not at home having some sugar cookies so I thought I’d dust off my mother’s recipe ... It’s not working very well, angel. 

   - Yeah, cookie dough shouldn’t be liquid. 

   - The fridge will fix it. - he placed the bowl down, staring at the once straight but now crooked whisk caused by his lack of gentleness when cooking. Sebastian couldn’t cook and that was a fact. The only thing he could sort of make and turn edible was chicken breasts which he had learned during university and even that was somewhat questionable.

   - No, Seb, I don’t think it will. - the nickname escaped her mindlessly and, while she didn’t notice, Sebastian couldn’t help but smirk at how comfortable she had made herself around him. At least comfortable enough to give him a nickname. - Do you have the recipe? I’m sure we can make a new lovely batch. 

  - If you can understand my mother’s handwriting. - he handed her a rather old piece of paper which looked like a child’s tea paper. Y/N held the paper with both hands, chewing on her lip as she read it through. 

  - Alright we need sugar, flour, vanilla extract, butter, and eggs. - she scanned through the sea of ingredients that were standing on the table. - Why ... why are there chocolate chips here?

  - I thought I could put chocolate chips on it. - he rubbed his neck sheepishly and Y/N smiled. - I used to do it with my mum. It’s probably wrong.

  - You know, my nanny always said you bake from the heart. - she handed him an unopened pack of white chocolate chips. - Besides, I think we might make it work if we add it at the end. We start with butter and sugar in the bowl and then we mix it ... with an electrical mixer. 

  - You youngsters and your electronics. - he joked and Y/N rolled her eyes. If Gwen was to be trusted, Sebastian was 14 years older than both her and Gwen making him almost a decade and a half older than the two girls. She creamed the butter with the sugar and added the flour, eggs and vanilla. - Can I turn it on now?

 - Sure, just be caref ... - before she could warn him, he turned the mixer up to his highest speed sending a cloud of flour towards both of them. - ... with the speed. 

She looked at his surprised flour covered face, holding in a laugh as she bopped his nose. He looked so helpless in the kitchen she wondered if his associates knew the best way to get his weakness would be by making him cook. 

    - This is why we start with slow to medium speed. - she turned it off on medium, watching as the flour was incorporated with the flour. - Should I put a scarf on you and you can become the snowman?

     - You’re trying to be funny, angel? - his hand ran down her side, subtly ending on her bum. - Don’t forget who you’re speaking to. 

     - I won’t. - she handed him the glass bowl, successfully occupying his hands with something else. - I hope you know how to roll dough. 

It was nice and she had to admit it. Baking Christmas cookies with the mob boss engaged to her friend was nice and she didn’t know if to feel guilty or to relish on the memories that would probably haunt her at night time or whenever she thought of Gwen. She was stuck in her own conflict until she felt something run down her cheek. 

    - Sebastian ... - she cleaned her cheek, noticing the red icing. - Stop it. 

    - I always thought you were sweet angel but I think you might just taste sweet too now. - Sebastian kissed her cheek making her widen her eyes, looking around if any of the staff had noticed. To her luck, they were much too busy looking at a video on youtube on how to properly cook a turkey. Guess they shouldn’t have given the chef an early holiday. 

   - Stop it, you’re engaged. - she took a step to the right and handed him a bowl where she had placed the chocolate chips on. - Go on, decorate your cookies. 

   - They won’t say anything. - Sebastian observed as Y/N’s pipped some icing onto her cookies making them look like small pieces of art. Surely his cookies were not gonna be displayed. - Besides Gwen isn’t here. 

   - You could look a bit sad that your fiancée isn’t here. - she grabbed the tray of cookies and placed it in the oven, cleaning her hands against her apron. - You don’t need to mean it. 

   - Admit it, you’re also happy she isn’t around. 

   - I am not. We’ve spent Christmas together since we were kids, it’s sorta of odd that she isn’t around. 

   - C’mon, angel. Do you even have a day in your life that’s just for you? Your birthday perhaps?

   - Me and Gwen have the same birthday and besides, I don’t know what I would do with a day just for me. - she could possibly spend the whole day reading but other than that it would sound a bit weird not to have Gwen barging into her bedroom with her issues. - You spend Christmas with family and the ones you love. 

   - Alright, angel, if you say so. 

   - We should go outside. 

   - Outside? - he looked over the window, noticing the soft fresh snow on the ground. It looked way colder than the warmth provided by his heaters inside the house. - Are you sure?

   - We could go to the Rockefeller Centre, see the Christmas tree or even go to the ice rink.

   - You wanna walk all the way there?

   - It’s not that bad. C’mon, it’s gonna be lovely. - her eyes sparkled in a way that didn’t allow anyone with an once of a heart to say no to her. Sighing he just smiled and that wasn’t for her to kiss his cheek and rush out of the kitchen to grab her coat.

She returned in a few seconds in a white faux fur coat which most likely used to belong to Gwen and matching winter hat and gloves. He thought she looked adorable all in white like some sort of snow angel with the robin necklace in gold shinning with the reflection of the Christmas lights. In odd comparison, Sebastian was wearing his traditional signature long black coat, sunglasses with a Burberry scarf. As they stepped outside, she seemed to light up with energy, her hand wrapping around his as they looked at the other house’s outside decoration.

People couldn’t help but smile as they saw the two people contrasted with colours and with expressions. Sebastian himself would’ve gone home but his heart would skip a beat every time her gloved hand touched his pulling him along. In what felt like hours and hours of walking and looking at various lights, they reached the Rockefeller Centre and even Sebastian had to take off his sunglasses to look at the Christmas tree. 

   - Let’s go ice skating. - she grabbed his hand, smiling. - It’ll be fun.

   - No, angel. You can go, I’ll just watch.

   - It’ll be fun besides, I’m sure none of your associates are here to see you ice skating. 

   - Do you ever take no for an answer, angel? 

   - You’re gonna like it. 

   - Alright. - he gave in and walked over to buy the tickets and rent the skates. Mindlessly, she put her skates off and went off onto the rink, turning around to see Sebastian still trying to look as polished and stoic as he could. - What?

  - You can’t be holding onto the rail all the time. - she crossed her arms. - That’s cheating. 

  - I never said I would do the skating part of ice skating. 

  - You could always use this as an excuse to hold my hand. - she skated over to him, extending her hand towards him.

  - I don’t need an excuse to hold your hand, angel. But ... I’ll take your offer. 

tag list: @lilya-petrichor @xoxohannahlee @irespostthingsiwanttoseelater @nikkipea @madisonpillstrom @cevans98 @thelostallycat @sideeffectsofyou @anxiousdreamersworld @captainchrisstan @lookiamtrying @sarge-barnes-sir​​ @stuffforreferences​ @thebadassbitchqueen

[stuckybingo]

Stucky Bingo Round-Up #14 (December 5th - 11th)

Don’t forget to fill out the submission form to be a part of the round-ups and to get your bingo badges!

Twenty Seconds by ribbonsflying Square filled: G1 - Kink: Sexting Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Sexting (sending explicit pics), Lying Major tags: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sexting, Coming Out, Surprises, AU- Pizza Parlor Summary: Bucky lies to his mom about having a boyfriend so when his mom surprises him by coming to New York, Bucky panic and asks Steve to pose as his boyfriend. The only thing is that Bucky barely knows Steve. Steve's just the guy at the pizza parlor that Bucky's teased a few times. He's just as likely to let Bucky crash and burn for a little bit of payback. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

it was always you by grandmacore Square filled: N4 - enemies to lovers Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply, some bare skin/implied nudity Major tags: enemies to lovers, getting together, alternate universe, spies Summary: Steve and Bucky are two rival spies that can't stand each other. Then one day they get stuck on the same shitshow of a mission. Perhaps there is more to the other than they noticed at first sight. Format: Moodboard

A Man After Midnight by dontcallmebree Square filled: G1 - Oral Sex Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Modern AU, Thieves & Conmen, Age Difference, Casual Sex, Casual Relationship Summary: Bucky would never admit it out loud, but he does buy into it all a little—the whole “best thief and forger since ’92” rep Steve’s got ever since Laufeyson got busted and pulled out of the game. (Bucky pays a late night visit to Steve Rogers’ New York residence.) Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

40s stucky date by cutecumber-flower Square filled: N3 - free square Ao3 rating: General audiences Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: stucky Summary: 40s stucky on a date Format: Art

Between Metal and Blood by diamante-chan (diamantesart) Square filled: B2 - Germany Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, Dehumanization, implied torture, blood, injuries, body modifications, non consensual body modifications, hydra related stuff, experimentation, Robotic prosthetics, brainwashing Major tags: Hydra Steve, Captain Hydra, Winter Soldier Bucky, Canon Divergent, Robotic Body Parts Summary: In which HYDRA finds both Bucky and Steve after their falls and brings them to a base in Germany to experiment on them, to make them the perfect hands for HYDRA. They don't know that love, however lost and forgotten it might be, can be more destructive than anything else. Format: Art

what could i have said to raise you from the dead? by inevitablemeow Square filled: N2 - Scars Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic depictions of violence, major character injury, graphic depictions of wound care, near-death Major tags: angst, wound care, hurt very little comfort, bucky barnes needs a hug, eventual happy ending Summary: He’s pushing against the remaining enemies as best he can, forcing them back so he can slip away, get to Steve. He’s almost there, bruised and beaten, when he hears it. A roar of pain. Bucky’s blood runs cold as he spins to the source of the noise, and horror drips through him slow. Steve is twenty yards away, now, and his eyes are wide as he looks down at his side. His hand is pressed to his suit, and red seeps through his fingers. “Steve!” Format: Part of a multichapter fic

shun heaven, pursue hell by call-me-kayyyyy Square filled: G2 - kink: food play Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply, vampire steve, silver fox steve, college student bucky, age difference Major tags: stripiing, panties, vampires, Summary: Silver Fox Vampire!Steve / College Student!Bucky Format: Art

Shun Heaven, Pursue Hell by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Square filled: Adopted square Oct - Snowed In Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, possible dub-con Major tags: Modern AU, Royalty AU, Vampire AU, Babysitter AU, POV Bucky Barnes Summary: Bucky Barnes just wants a little money before the end of the semester, so when his former psychology professor offers him a hefty sum to hang out with his kids, there’s not much of a reason to say no. It only gets complicated when Dr. Rogers suggests Bucky spend the night to avoid the roads during a heavy snowfall. Tired, tipsy, and completely enamored, Bucky’s night is full of kisses, cuddles, and a dream that changes everything. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

Beneath You by dreamsinthewitchouse Square filled: O1 - AU: Vampire Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Vampire Bites, Blood Drinking, Mentions of Death (Because of Vampires) Major tags: Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Southern Gothic, Vampire Slayer Bucky Barnes, Vampire Steve Rogers Summary: It’s one of those moments when Bucky can’t help wondering how exactly did this become his life — last week he sat behind Jackson in linear algebra, tonight he’s waiting for him to literally crawl out of his grave so he can drive a stake through his heart. Never let anyone tell you the friends you make in college are for life. Well — maybe the afterlife. Format: Long oneshot (over 5000 words)

Winter Weddings and Blushing Brides by dontcallmebree Square filled: B5 - AU: Reality TV Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Modern AU, Fluff, Meet-Cute Summary: The screech that assaults Steve’s ears, the moment his third appointment of the day turns around to look in the mirror might just be the worst thing he’s heard all week. He steels himself and plasters on a smile, even as his bride screams a piercing, “Fix it, fix it, fix it!” Oh, boy. (Bridal Consultant Steve Rogers finds himself assisting young bride Rebecca Barnes, who brings with her six sisters and an older brother.) Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

Dressing Up by Trinity Day Square filled: Adopted square - Dressing Up Ao3 rating: Teen Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: n/a Summary: Steve kept his outfit. Bucky gains a new one. Format: Drabble (exactly 100 words)

Uh, Please Come Back by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Square filled: Adopted square - AU: Pornstar Ao3 rating: Mature Warnings: No archive warnings apply Major tags: Modern AU, Porn AU, Actor AU, Actor Bucky Barnes, Actor Steve Rogers Summary: Bucky Barnes loves his job, and he loves the things (and people) he gets to do at his job. That’s true until one unfortunate day that involves a long lunch break, some handcuffs, and none of what he’s expecting. Format: Medium oneshot (1000 - 5000 words)

Quick and Dirty by DarthBloodOrange Square filled: Adopted square - KINK: Clothed Sex Ao3 rating: Explicit Warnings: No archive warnings apply, Sexual Content Major tags: Shrunkyclunks, Assassin Bucky Barnes, Clothed Sex Summary: Steve shares an encounter with his favourite assassin. Format: Drabble (exactly 100 words)

[ikemenshakespeare]

Thank you @fittsythesnail for giving me the inspiration to create this OC for Ikemen vampire! She made this piece for me in loving memory of my dog Bowser who passed away a few months ago, and now he gets to live on as part of the Ikemen Vamp fandom as a girls best friend. 🐶🥺💖

Name: Alba Estelle Rossi

Vampiric Type: N/A (Human)

Height: 5’4

Birthday: April 15th (Same day as Leonardo!)

Age: 22

Occupation: Hairdresser

Pet: 9 year old male dog named Bo. Alba took her three sisters out to the park one sunny spring afternoon. They’d been out playing when they found a box near the street with a little mutt inside. After denying the puppy for hours, it turned out she’d be the one most in love with him after one short week! (Bowser’s IkemenVamp persona. 🥺🐶)

Appearance: Although one of the hairdressers in town, Alba keeps her hair it’s bored straight look. The length can range from medium/long depending when she can get around to trimming it herself, hair color is a chestnut brown. Light olive colored skin and green/hazel eyes. Thick dark colored eyebrows. Large breasts.

Childhood: Alba’s the oldest of her mothers four daughters, The sister closest to her in age (Olivia) still seven years younger. Alba was the bastard child of an Italian man, her mother a French woman was still only a teenager when she ran off to be with him. Later in life when Alba was 5 years old her father left to start a family with another woman of legitimate status, leaving her mother to move back to Paris with her and eventually start a new family of her own with a simple fisherman. By the time Alba’s last sister (Therese) was born her mother and stepfather had fallen into deep depression and became alcoholics, unable to take care of their newborn or other two kids, fourteen year old Alba took up the responsibilities as a parent and moved out with her sisters. Always doing the young girls hair paid off, eventually she found a passion for hair dressing. Surprisingly after moving out at age fourteen she continued to live a very happy “childhood” taking care of her sisters. Alba values their peace/happiness over everything and is extremely lucky her oldest sister (Olivia) is nurturing and can take care of the young two (Valerie/Therese) and the house while she worked.

Dislikes: cold weather, humidity, animal cruelty, people who take advantage of others, sleeping in the dark, and laziness.

Likes: meeting others who are just as passionate about something as she is, the idea of traveling the world although she hasn’t been able to yet, sleeping in on days off, animals, a good book, bear hugs, the beach, belly laughs, and a nice hot cup of coffee is the cure to almost anything.

Personality: Basically the definition of extrovert, with Alba the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Is true indeed! Looking simple on the outside and being a box of bubbly cheer on the inside! Very opinionated which is arguably one of her worst traits for some, her mouth has gotten her in some trouble but she wouldn’t change that about herself. Alba’s a rollercoaster of emotions and feels all things deeply. If sad, angry, happy, or anything else for that matter you’ll know! Growing up self reliant it’s hard for her to accept help from others, but when finally convinced to take help she’s always appreciative. A very loyal person and would do anything for those who’ve helped her or are good friends.

Relationships

Leonardo (platonic): Met him when she first became a hairdresser. Leonardo would see her in town, just a young girl offering hair services to make money. Going into town to help others was a hobby of his, there was nothing he could do for Alba other then become a regular customer of hers. And so he did. Every few weeks he came to her for a trim. As time went by Leonardo met her younger sisters and came to know the source of her hard work. As years went by Alba began to realize something about Leonardo aswell. Things were ever changing, she’d quickly went from a young teenager to young woman. Leonardo on the other hand hadn’t changed at all, his appearance hadn’t even so much as dulled. “Leonardo…” she’d asked. “Hmm?” He was getting up from his chair, giving her that same smile he always had. “How old are you?” He grinned further, “a man never tells his secrets” she frowned, “you’ve told me that before.” He chuckled. “doesn’t surprise me. Till next time Alba.” He went to walk out the doors of her home, but what she’d said next shocked him. His back stiffening, forcing him to turn back around to face her. “I don’t know what you are, but I know you’re not like regular people. You gave me that same answer when I first met you. Just know, whatever it is I’ll never be scared of you.” He knew she’d never be scared of him, even if she did know what exactly he was, but boy was he afraid of her. Ever changing, getting older while he stayed the same. He feared to be close to another human and loose them, such fleeting creatures although he couldn’t help but be there for them, be there for her. Eventually since she practically found out for herself the secrets of his vampire life, he coaxed Comte into allowing her to come to the mansion to do his hair. In turn she got an entire mansion full of new clients.

Vincent (close friend): After being invited to the mansion by Leonardo to do hair, Alba immediately began making new relationships with the others. Vincent’s kind demeanor made him the easiest person for her to get on with from the very beginning, he also took a lot of interest in her in general. Always looking for new inspiration for his art he would simply watch as she did hair, painting the scene of her. Unlike some of the others he was very open and was easy to trust. After months of her coming in and out there came a time when the three girls had to come with her to the mansion. They’d play outside giving Vincent even more inspiration for painting. “Alba, would it be alright to paint the girls in the field?” They were always doing something interesting leaving him with tons of happy nature scenes to paint.

Theo (possible romance? 😏): At first he was one of the only residents who paid no mind to Alba. Not even bothering to be serviced by her when she came over. It happened more then once where he’d be looking for Vincent and see him in thralled in a painting of her. “Broer, This woman again? What do you find so fascinating about her?” Vincent just claimed to want to paint and it was something different from a regular scene. “Theo, could we show this peice at our next event?” He hesitated. “You should paint another of her for the event, we should hold on to this one.” He’d admire his work of her in the art room from time to time, wondering why he felt an attraction to the piece of a woman he hadn’t even really met. Months began to pass and Vincent would begin to spend lots of time with Alba outside of mansion. They’d go to brunch, little outings at the park, ect. Of course Theo being Theo, he just absolutely needed to know what his little brother was up to. If he knew where they’d be going that day,he’d sneak a peak on his way to the next job. One of the occasions they were out walking Bo, he noticed Theo watching/lingering in the distance and took off his way. Her dog barked and growled like mad and sent Theo falling on his butt, Alba and Vincent came down the road running. “Broer! Are you alright??” A worried vincent helped his brother up. “Im so sorry about that, I’ve never seen him act this way towards anyone before!” Alba grabbed Bo, struggling with him to calm down. Theo spit out, “Tch! Control your little friend hondjie!” A knot appeared between your brow, “excuse me? What did you just call me?” That’s how you two met officially, not to mention the first of many many bickering matches. Although the last the two spoke, Theo showed a new side of himself. “Alba, We’re having a show later this week. Vincent wanted to display one of the paintings he made of you that day.” You simply nodded, “yeah, I’ve heard from Vincent already and gave him permission.” He sighed, “that’s not what I’m asking. I wanted to invite you to go see the display for yourself.” She hesitated a moment. “Well… I was supposed to cook the kids an early dinner that night. I’m not sure-” cutting her off he rushed the words out, “That’s fine, dinners on me and the girls can come. I’m sure Vincent will join us afterwards aswell.” This really caught her by surprise. She’s be lying if she said Theo wasn’t dangerously attractive. His attitude on the other hand… wasn’t something you thought you were fond of. Seeing the pink blush on his cheeks now as he asked to see you on the other hand… now that was something she couldn’t shake. She wanted more of this and couldn’t tell you why.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Andy on Asian Animation or SYAC: The Master Review 2

Let’s talk a bit about anime and Dobson’s work relation with it.

I think we can all agree, that starting from the late 90s and early 2000s on, anime and manga became extremely popular in the western world. Sure, Japanese animation was nothing completely new to us (Speed Racer, Nadia-Secret of Blue Water, Samurai Pizza Cats, Sailor Moon, Kimba and Akira e.g. come to my mind as properties already known in the west before 1995) but it really was around this time that thanks to “mainstream” stuff like Dragon Ball and Pokemon people became aware of how different Japanese animation was from western. Eventually resulting in the really good shit (like Cowboy Bebop, Black Lagoon, Kenshin and Heat Guy J) coming over and enriching nerd culture for more than just a few people who knew of it as an obscurity at that point. Now, if you know anything about Dobson, you likely know that his relationship with anime is rather… complicated to say the least. Or, to let him explain it with his own words…

Dobson essentially likes silly and wacky 90s anime. But later on he hated anime in general, because it got too popular and a bad experience with an anime club in college soured his enjoyment of it. Furthermore, he put the blame on his lackluster art style and storytelling capabilities as seen in the likes of Formera, Patty and Alex ze Pirate, on anime in general, while also claiming that Disney pulling the plug on 2D animation is the result of the “anime inspired” Treasure Planet, meaning anime in a sense deprived him of his chance at working at his dream job and “ruining” western animation.

Which to me has always been ignorant as fuck. For starters, I can understand not liking certain stories or genres, either for objective or subjective reasons. But to hate on an entire nation’s form of entertainment (not just individual shows or genres), depriving yourself of the chance of potentially watching a lot of good stuff while also being rather insulting to these other works and people enjoying them? Especially when the stuff you can supposedly “stomach” has been rather simplistic compared to other things?

 Second, blaming Japan for “poisoning” your art style? What, did the ghost of Osamu Tezuka possess you and FORCE you to put sweatdrops on your characters forehead while also going for the rather simplistic character style of Rumiko Takahashi, as well as emulating the slapstick of the likes as Slayers and Ranma ½?

 Next, if he had emulated them successfully, I say he would have actually managed to tell decent enough stories worth to read online. Not create Uncle Peggy aka “Discount Happosai” or the bland proto-Isekai known as Formera.

I mean, let’s give some context here: There have been people who successfully managed to emulate certain anime and manga aesthetics into western animation and make it work. Otherwise we wouldn’t have gotten the likes of Avatar-The last Airbender, Samurai Jack, the Animatrix, Thundercats 2011, Super Robot Monkey Hyperforce Go, Kim Possible, W.I.T.C.H, Megas XLR and Wakfu. You know, shows that are actually awesome as hell.

Heck, Dobson’s favorite animated show of the last decade, Steven Universe, is heavily inspired by anime aesthetics to the point of being embarrassing.

 But Dobson… well, he emulated anime aesthetics in his work the same way as these crimes against animation did.

Combined with his general shortcomings as a storyteller it is no wonder his initial comics did not do well.

 Lastly, and sorry for digressing here a bit, but if the Wikipedia entry on Treasure Planet is something to go by, there was no real inspiration by anime involved in making this movie.

Supposedly the idea of making an animated Treasure Planet in outer space movie was already pitched by Ron Clements WAY BACK in 1985 but only came to be after Michael Eisner greenlighted stuff in the late 90s. Design wise the movie was supposed to look 70% traditional and 30% sci-fi inspired and people took inspiration for the art style by illustrators associated with the Brandywine School of Illustration. A western style of illustration established in the 19th century, that had a big impact on the illustration styles for many 19th and early 20th century adventure novels and short stories.

What, is anime supposed to be the only form of animation allowed to have sci fi elements or steampunk in it? Fucks sake, The Lion King and Atlantis, which came out one year earlier to Treasure Planet, were likely more inspired by anime. Don’t believe me? Watch Atlantis and then a certain anime by Studio Gainax called “Nadia-Secret of Blue Water”. Or read up on the controversy surrounding the two.

The truth is, it is not entirely clear what caused Disney to shut down 2D feature film animation in the early 2000s. In fact, if anything, most people put the blame on Michael Eisner and a certain change in the publics taste in movies in general, combined with Disney trying to turn almost every movie they had into a franchise via cheap follow up movies on video and DVD.

And even if Disney did not shut down, are we really supposed to believe that a certain guy with fedora would have made it big at Disney to the point Alex ze Pirate would have been made into a feature film?

But Dobson could never quite understand this and instead of “reinventing” himself properly, he would rant about anime and its fans in one form or another…

 And on the peak of his hissy fit create this little art piece he baptized Anime Sux. Alternatively “West vs East”. Or as I like to call it, slap a jap.

Now, the pic was done in 2008 and Dobson claimed sometimes in the last decade, that he no longer holds his old opinions. Unfortunately, by that point he would also more or less use the chance to vent in his webcomic about anime (or rather its fans), which brings us finally back to SYAC.

 While Dobson never outright thematized in more detail WHY he hates anime and manga in SYAC (likely cause if his comic reasoning was even slightly like his reasoning in his blogs, people would have torn him apart like a bag of paper) he did use the format to punch down on anime fans and their preferences.

 For example, for someone who has a 4chan story going around of having been rather arrogant towards others in college for not liking Ranma ½, Dobson has THIS little college related comic to show off, where he portrays an aspiring manga artist as a delusional jackass.

Then in this strip titled manga, his manga fan is essentially portrayed as a young woman dressing up like a very stereotypical high school anime girl, who is in the wrong for even just DARING to draw her comics in the direction manga are read.

On one hand, I get Dobson’s point. She could be at risk of alienating a market of readers as she is obviously drawing for a western audience. Then again, if she doesn’t draw a traditional western comic but a manga, why shouldn’t she? I mean, as long as she enjoys it, which I assume she does as she seems genuinely just happy when stating that she likes manga, why not let her? Plus, this comic was drawn in the late 2000s. I think by then most people kinda knew how to read from right to left, so Dobson’s claim she would alienate or confuse people is kinda redundant. If anything I find a) Dobson getting angry at her just very petty (just let her have fun) and b) portraying a western manga fan as someone who would be confused by the sheer idea of reading stuff from right to left is also in itself just really dumb and insulting. What is Dobson trying to imply? That anime fans are so stuck in the way they consume certain media, they can’t act according to “western standards” again?

Then there is this strip where yet another female anime fan is essentially portrayed as the embodiment of how “ignorant” manga fans are of the idea of different art styles...

Which becomes rather laughable once Dobson describes his style as a mixture of European, American and  Japanese. Why? Because he is the one oversimplifying things, rather than the anime fan.

You see while anime and manga of all sorts do share certain aesthetics (like the black and white art style, emphasize on the eyes of characters, the way hair is drawn, recurring tropes within certain genres and so on) style wise (both in art and storytelling) there can be severe differences, depending on the artist alone. Akira Toriyama’s style differentiates significantly from the likes of Eichiro Oda, Rumiko Takahashi, Kentaro Miura, Tezuka, Kaori Yuki and so forth.

The same also goes for many western artists. Herge had a significantly different style from Uderzo and Goscinny. Don Rosa has a different style in which he drew Scrooge McDuck than Carl Barks did. Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee draw mainstream superheroes differently compared to how Jack Kirby, George Perez and others did. Heck, Ethan Van Sciver and Jim Lee were closely associated with Green Lantern in the 2000s and look how they differentiate.

 Which btw is the kind of skill level Dobson would have needed to have, to make it in the mainstream industry

So when Dobson says “I draw in a combination of American, Western and Japanese” all I can think is the following: THAT DOESN’T NARROW IT DOWN! WHAT THE HECK HAVE YOU LEARNT IN COLLEGE ABOUT COMICS? WHICH ARTISTS, WORKS AND STORYTELLERS DO YOU TRY TO EITHER EMULATE OR HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY?

Then there is this little thing…

Where do I even begin? How about the fact that Dobson’s hand in the last panel looks like he has lost a thumb? The fact that the little boy, anime fan or not, is aware of Sae Sawanoguchi, a character from a short lived OVA and anime series from the 90s, which considering his age, I kinda doubt he would be aware off. Unlike Dobson, who got into anime in the 90s and admits in fact within the posts I loaded up earlier, that he had watched the anime in particular, known in the west as Magic User Club.

Then there is the implication by Dobson, that anime is so “corruptive” as a medium, little kids don’t even know the most basic characters in western animation because of it. I expect in a next panel, that all of sudden some 50s PSA guy comes along and lectures me that if I want this kind of thing not to happen at MY convention, I need to teach little kids more about the GOOD western animation, instead of the BAD eastern one. Then there is this rather unflattering portrayal of a shonen ai/shojou ai fangirl…

 Which makes me laugh cause honestly, even some of the worst shonen ai and shojou ai can do better in portraying a “realistic” gay relationship than Patty if you ask me.

Also, as much as I think fangirls can be extremely thirsty (I have read my fair share of extremely stupid yaoi and yuri fanfics) I think that in hindsight Dobson is really not anyone to complain about shipping obsession and sex when he himself has KorraSami, the Ladybug fandom and a certain rat pirate under his floppy belt.

As you can imagine, Dobson would get heat for those comics, considering how he himself has been greatly inspired by anime and manga for his major comics. And while I don’t have any explicit deviantart posts of him reacting to criticism in that regard, I do have this comic which addresses it directly.

 And yeah, if I were schoolgirl number 4, I would just sigh and walk away after telling Dobson that his mistakes and shortcomings are not related to having consumed anime, but rather by what sort of anime (and other stories) he had consumed and the amount of effort he had put in creating his stories instead of emulating just something more popular. Plus, if you really want people to draw more from life, how about drawing more from life yourself down the line? And no, tracing Star Wars movie frames does not count.

Finally, Dobson, considering how very little most people think of your work, I say mission accomplished: People have learnt from your mistakes and know not to be a Dobson.

And at last, there is this comic, which kinda wraps up Dobson’s “vendetta” with anime and manga fans within the pages of SYAC.

By trying to mock anime fans and make them look just as shallow as he is. I at least suppose. Honestly, the message of this comic is rather muddled. On one hand, I would say the strawman accusing Dobson hates anime just because it is popular is very simplified. After all, Dobson has made his reasons for not liking anime clear in a few more details. It’s just that the details in and on themselves in real life are still rather shallow and boil down to a lot of personal bias rather than an objective criticism of actual flaws. Which I think is worth pointing out.

But frankly, what is Dobson trying to say or point out here? That the strawman is not so different or even dumber than him, because he hates Justin Bieber for “shallow” and superficial reasons too?

Okay, this doesn’t quite work as well as Dobson wants. First, the argument Dobson’s strawman makes is in huge parts based on some verified statements Dobson made for not liking anime. Second, he just says a name and that triggers the guy to express his hatred for Bieber. We don’t know why the guy hates Bieber and you could make in fact the case, that he hates him not because he is popular, but because he has a genuine issue with the artist, his work or his behavior as a human being. Third, if you want to make yourself look like the better person Dobson, try to argue with the guy and make solid arguments why you don’t like anime. Instead you just deflect the criticism by changing the subject and then try to make yourself look like the “smarter” person in the room by mocking your critic in the most condescending manner.

Which as I think about it, sounds like your modus operandi on twitter and tumblr.

Weirdly enough, that more or less marks the “end” of Dobson tackling anime fans and the beef he has with them within the pages of SYAC. Despite how much Dobson’s negative reputation especially in early years was build around him hating on anime and belittling its fans, he didn’t really do more afterwards in the Dobson focused pages of SYAC. And mind you, those strips were also separated by other strips in-between, focused on Dobson just being at conventions.

Unfortunately for him, the strips didn’t really help in any way to diminish that negative reputation and instead just confirmed for many, that Dobson can’t handle criticism about his flawed opinion on anime. If anything, it just made people think even less of Dobson, as the strips just painted him as someone who would rather portray his critics as strawman he can be “rightfully” annoyed at, instead of fellow humans with slightly different tastes in entertainment, who are still worth listening to.

So, now that we have the anime fan related “annoyances” out of the way, what other sort of silly problems in making webcomics would Dobson cover in his strips and are “relatable” to everyone?

Lets see some of these examples in the next part.

[sapphicmsmarvel]

WM: Work of Art

the spelling errors later in the story are on purpose

It was valentine's day, but you don't get valentine's day off from work.

You worked at a grade school, you taught art class. Wanda got work off from the Avengers, so you asked your boss if your girlfriend could accompany you to work that day. To a valentines day art class with your students (who you love) and your girlfriend (who you're in love with).

"That's sickenly cheesy, go for it." He responded.

So Wanda was helping you today in class.

"I don't know how to handle kids, babe." She said as you got out the construction paper.

"Wanda, you'll be fine, can you please sort these by color and put them on the table up front?" You handed her a pile of white, pink and red paper.

She took the papers without complaint, "what're they even doing today?"

"They are making valentines day cards for their loved ones. Whether that's a crush, parent or teacher. Thankfully, little kids don't sexualize valentines day yet."

"No paints today?" She asked because she saw you getting out markers.

"They're six. Paints are for third graders, second graders get oil pastels and then fourth, fifth and six get all of the above. Including paper mache." You shuddered, "god, I hate paper mache."

"You're an art teacher," she laughed, "you should never hate an art medium."

"Hey, look at you using artist lingo."

She rolled her eyes, "you know I do listen to you most of the time, right?"

"Mhm," you hummed as she leaned in to kiss you.

"OH!" You heard a gasp and pulled away from the measly peck. It was Mrs. Orther. An middle aged woman who constantly scolded you on being out and proud. And saying that having a girlfriend as a woman wasn't as "edgy" as you thought it was. She thought you were a liar.

She's a homophobic hag.

"Do you need something, Esther?" You asked impatiently.

"Randall said that you brought your girlfriend to work, I was just coming to see-" "If I lied about being gay? Yeah, she's real. But you could've just looked at my desk any time and you'd see a picture of us."

Wanda smiled at the mention of you having a photo of the two of you on your desk.

Wanda stuck her hand out, "Wanda, nice to meet you, Esther."

Esther, to her credit, didn't avoid Wanda, "nice to meet you too." Then she looked at you, "no PDA, Y/N. You know the rules." "You should follow them then, everybody knows you're seeing the David." Wanda tried not to laugh at Esthers face, "do you know how many times I've walked in on you two making out? At least I don't lie about who I'm seeing. You're a kindergarten teacher, you shouldn't be lying. Don't you have a song about that?" You questioned, cocking your head to the side.

Esther met her match and walked away with a poisonous smile.

Wanda whistled, "David?"

"The gym teacher, a pervert if you ask me."

She laughed and continued to help you set up.

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

She was panicking, it was obvious, she was pacing around and twiddling her fingers, before you could say anything a knock sounded at the door. It was Mrs. Kale signaling that she was there with her class.

"Breathe, babygirl, breathe." You kissed her cheek and went to the door. You walked out to where they were lined up against the lockers.

"Hi guys!"

They all said their scattered hi's back, you continued, "I have a very special guest with me today, as it is valentines day and many of you ask about her, I brought my girlfriend, Wanda. But she's a bit scared, think you guys can give her a warm welcome?"

A bunch of enthusiastic yes's sounded back to you, you lead them in. You gave them all high fives as always. They went to the rug they usually sat at when you did lessons.

A bunch of loud Hi's! greeted Wanda, she didn't what to do other than smile and wave back.

"You're pretty!" Delilah shouted at her.

She smiled, "thank you, but you're prettier!"

Delilah got all bashful and sat down, you told them what they needed to do and since it was a simple run down (unlike your sometimes 20 minute demonstrations) they got to work in five minutes.

One of your usual students who needed help, Jenny, called you over pretty quickly. Even Wanda got called over because the little boy, Mateo, didn't know who to make a card for.

You were focused on Jenny when you heard, "Where are you from Miss. Wanda?"

You tried not to worry about that question, kids don't understand that stuff and you should've warned her they'd ask about her accent.

"Sokovia," you looked away from Jenny to see a nervous smile across Wanda's face.

"My mommy said that Sokovia got destroyed." Mateo said back.

Wanda nodded, "yes, I escaped."

"Are you sad?"

"Sad?" Wanda cocked her head.

"Yeah, you lost your home, when I had to leave my home I got pretty sad." Mateo said, his Honduran accent thick with emotion.  

"Where are you from?" She asked gently.

"Honduras, we had to leave because...well I'm not sure." He sighed, "I miss my friends."

"Are you sad now?"

"I made new friends!" He smiled, "I miss the old ones but new friends is always fun!"

Wanda nodded in understanding, "To answer your question, I'm sad but I'm happy."

I'm happy because I'm with you, Wanda sent to your head, eavesdropper.

You blushed and looked down, you backed out of that conversation.

The hour passed quite quickly as it always does on Friday's, the class was cleaning up to leave.

As they were leaving, Max walked up to Wanda."Miss. Wanda?"

"Yes?" Wanda kneeled down.

"What's your favorite work of art?"

Wanda glanced back at you, you smiled, encouraging her. She looked back at Max like the two were sharing a secret. "Miss. L/N. She's beautiful."

Max nodded encouragingly, "yeah, I told her that once."

Wanda smiled in response, she thought it was the cutest thing.

Mateo came up with his card, "did you finish?" Wanda asked enthusiastically.

Mateo nodded, "for you." He handed her the card.

Wanda was touched, she could've cried right there. The card read

"Too, Mis Wanda.

Thank you for the talk about our axsents. it made me feel better.

Love, Mateo."

Wanda smiled a watery smile and saw that all the kids had left, "thank you Mateo."

You walked in at that moment, "Mateo, sweetie, your class is waiting for gym."

Mateo nodded at you, looked at Wanda and said, "I hope Ms. L/N brings you back soon!" And then he ran off after giving you another high five.

You shut the door, "baby, you okay?"

She nodded, "yeah." Her voice cracked, "Mateo gave me his card." She gave it to you. You sat down in your chair and scanned it quickly, "what was your talk about accents?" You took her hand.

"He asked me if I ever got made fun of for my accent after coming here, I said yes, I didn't tell him it was by the avengers as a joke though, the kids don't need to know all that. He said he did all the time, and how I could stand it. I just said that it was another thing that made me who I was, and I'm proud of who I am. He just nodded and continued on his card, I thought it went in one ear and out the other." She shrugged.

"I think you're gonna be the person that changed his life." You smiled, loving the fact that you decided to bring her in.

"What?"

"Every kid has a authoritative figure that changed their life for the good, gave them hope in who they were. You're gonna be that person."

Wanda started bawling, you pulled her into your lap, her face was in the crook of your neck. You brushed her hair out as her cries continued. You knew how she viewed herself, as a monster, as someone who didn't deserve love, someone who's killed people, by accident but that didn't matter to her, in her eyes she was a killer.

In her eyes, she was the worst kind of monster.

But you saw different.

She was your favorite work of art.