#these give me life

[ksfnmoments]

okay SO i’ve been working on this list for a couple days since i’m finally revisiting my high school au thing. I have four different friend groups (GHOST, Drifters, E.G.O, SHADOW/A.L.T.E.R) and I’m gonna do different posts because I’m still touching up on mainly the last two. Here we will start, of course, with the GHOST Squad:

Seniors (12)

Midas Orville

Height: 5’11

Grades: A/A+

Favorite Class(es): AP Statistics, Business and Marketing

Extra-Curriculars:

Student Council: Student Body Co-President

Jazz Band: Alto Sax

Freshman Mentor (was bitter that Jules didn’t end up in his orientation group)

Extra:

Blazers over hoodie combo>>>

Probably richer than you

Pettiness x100

Brutus Alekhin

Height: 6’4

Grades: B/B+

Favorite Class(es): Government, Weights Training

Extra-Curriculars:

Varsity Football

Student Council: Student Body Treasurer

Extra:

Only does SC because Midas wanted him to (has to have someone always on his side)

Always up to date on everything: school dates, event, even simple gossip. You’ll never know unless you happen to ask

Prefers to stay in the background but always willing to help out

Juniors (11)

Martina Ortiz (TNTina)

Height: 5’2

Grades: C-/C

Favorite Class(es): Physics

Extra-Curriculars:

Wrestling

Choir: Alto

Extra:

Really smart (especially math and science) but could care less about school so she slacks off

Sleep deprived half the time (totally not because she plays video games all night, yeah)

Understands Spanish but has trouble speaking it coherently; she will, however, teach you all the swears and insults

Maya Styles (little on the nose i know)

Height: 5’6

Grades: B+/A-

Favorite Class(es): World History

Extra-Curriculars:

Orchestra: Cello

JROTC

Extra:

Tea>Coffee, drinks it every day before school

Ultimate peacemaker and preventer of death; will not let anyone walk away unless it’s on good terms, and constantly has to make sure these mfs (*cough* Tina) don’t die

Wardrobe is definitely larger than yours but she prefers the camo and earthy colors (mostly green and beige)

Maxwell O’Malley (Meowscles)

Height: 6’0

Grades: C/C+

Favorite Class(es): Weight Training/Any PE Class

Extra-Curriculars:

Basketball, wrestling, and track

Choir: Bass

Extra:

Loves cats (practically idolizes his own)

Sends you memes and useless facts at 2am

Everyone’s older brother (even if you’re older than him)

Freshmen (9)

Skye Newman-Cortez

Height: 5’3

Grades: B/B+

Favorite Class(es): Art, Photography

Extra-Curriculars:

Esports (probably Super Smash Bros.)

Volleyball

Yearbook Photographer (Kinda)

She’s not officially on yearbook staff but she’ll slide Ocean (who is) pictures she takes at events on her camera and some will end up in the yearbook.

Extra:

Lives off of hot chocolate, all year round

Tries to be friends with everyone (40% success rate)

Never any space in her backpack because where there’s no school-related supplies, there’s snacks or some sort of arts supplies

General Group Headcanons

(Some are repeated from the previous post)

Tina joined choir freshman year but was very self-conscious about it, so she forced Meowscles (his human name is Maxwell because it starts with M and i’m uncreative) to join with her. Turns out he’s a really good bass and he LOVES being on the stage, so he forces her into all these duets to get her to loosen up.

Skye and Tina practically live at each other’s houses. They’re always at one or the other after school and have sleepovers every weekend, where they watch movies and play video games all day/night. To each other, Tina is the cool junior and Skye is the cool freshman

Despite being one of the peacemakers/death preventers (the other being Brutus), Tina and Max have gotten very good at convincing Maya to join them on their not-so-very-safe shenanigans

Brutus, Max, and Maya have specific days they go to the gym together after school.

Brutus is always the one to drive, mostly because he’s the safest and quietest option. Maya doesn’t drive, Tina would be 20mph above the speed limit, Max turns the ride into a karaoke session (where he sings off-key on purpose), and Midas simply likes being a rider.

[fanficwriter284]

Why is this literally the guys

"HAHA WHAT MAKES THIS EVEN FUNNIER IS THAT WE'VE DONE THIS SHIT BEFORE"

"Yeah wild times"

".....It was a scary ride"

"It is a miracle we are still alive"

[sopuu]

animation of jimmy getting owned in real life

bonus gif of him celebrating i made for funsies :] oh the oblivious bliss...

[stil-lindigo]

lead balloon (the tumblr post that saved me)

if this comic resonated with you, it would mean the world to me if you donated to this palestinian family's escape fund.

--

no creative notes because this isn't that kind of comic.

I know I don’t owe any of you anything but I still felt compelled to write about my long term absence. And I feel far enough away from the dangerous spot I was in to be able to make this comic. I have a therapist now, and she agreed that making this could be a very cathartic gesture, and the start of properly leaving these thoughts behind me. I am still, at seemingly random times, blindsided by fleeting desires to kill myself. They’re always passing urges, but it’s disarming, and uncomfortable. I worry sometimes that my brain’s spent so long thinking only about suicide that it’s forgotten how to think about anything else. Like, now that I've opened that door for myself, I'll never be able to fully shut it again. But I’m trying my best to encourage my mind in other directions. We'll see how that goes.

I am still donating all proceeds from my store to Palestinian causes. So far, I've donated over $15K, not including donations coming from my own pocket or the fundraising streams which jointly raised around $10K. In the time since I made my initial post about where this money would be going, the focus has shifted from aid organisations to directly donating to escape funds.

If you'd like to do the same, you can look at Operation Olive Branch, which hosts hundreds of Palestinian escape funds or donate to Safebow, which has helped facilitate the safe crossing and securing of important medical procedures for over 150 at-risk palestinians since the beginning of the genocide.

[selfhealingmoments]

[laughingcatwrites]

As a reminder that good exists out there, a coworker recently confessed to me that he found out his child is questioning their identity (kid's gender redacted for this post). The kid is keeping it from him, so he can't say anything to them or show that he knows, but he's doing his best to get mentally prepared and educated so that he'll be ready whenever his kid does feel comfortable enough come to him.

For context, this guy is a big, bulky middle aged dude who loves sports and typical outdoor "manly" activities. As his coworker and friend, I know he's a kind and sweet teddy bear of a person, but his kid probably views him as a stern, authoritarian figure, the way most teenagers view their parents. His family lives in a conservative area, so I'm sure between that, their dad's looks and interests, and the fact that their dad is a Figure of Authority, the kid is worried that they won't be accepted.

But you know what? When he found out about his kid, the first thing he did was reach out to his closest queer friend and ask for resources for parents of questioning children. His biggest fears are that his kid will be bullied or discriminated against and won't feel comfortable enough to be themself. His second action was to find himself a mentor in another parent who went the same situation (kid coming out in a conservative town). The other person is preparing him for some of the struggles his kid may face and the fights he may need to take on as a parent to make sure his kid is safe and treated well.

Something I want to emphasize for people focused on language as the primary method of allyship is that when we spoke, he used some outdated terms and thoughts about gender and sexuality. That does not make him bad. These were the terms and thinking used about questioning teenagers when he was growing up and he never needed to learn more current ones. But now that he does have that need, he's throwing himself in head first because that's his kid and he's darn well going to make sure that his kid feels welcomed and has a safe place to be themselves even if they never come out to him.

[avarkriss]

listen. listen to me so carefully right now. (if you're in the eclipse path/planning on viewing). please don't stare directly at the sun tomorrow. i am begging you - do not stare at it. if you got eclipse glasses off of amazon/other, please put them on in your house and make sure you can't see anything; if you can still see like regular sun glasses, they are not safe for eclipse viewing, you will burn your retinas, and we cannot fix that. eclipse glasses should be iso/ce certified, and aas (american astronomical society) approved. please make smart choices and protect your eyes. please.

[lilislegacy]

Percy at ease

Percy calm, but a little on edge

Percy when mildly angry

Friendly reminder that Percy jackson - our beloved silly adorable seaweed brain - is absolutely terrifying. When he’s angry, when he’s scared, when he’s on edge - he’s not warm and fuzzy.

No other character gets that reaction from people. Jason (the sweetie) is perceived as calm and in control, nico (our favorite self-outcasted outcast) is perceived as solemn and creepy, reyna (girlboss queen slay) is perceived as confident and assertive, and annabeth (our girl) is perceived as fierce, clever, and formidable. They are all intimidating to an extent.

But not like Percy. No. Becasue even when he’s at ease, he’s described as wild and disobedient. And when he’s not at ease, even if just little bit, he’s perceived as powerful, dangerous, and scary. Someone who NOBODY wants to mess with. Nobody even questions his power. One look from him has literal gangs running the other way. One look from him has Leo so scared that he’s literally shaking, and feeling the same innate fright and alarm that he does when jason summons an ear-piercing, earth-shaking, deadly bolt of lighting.

like… HELLO??? can we all just sit on that for a moment?? good lord

One angry look from percy has people thinking one thing: Run.

Percy is, canonically, the character that people find the most frightening and intimidating.

And unless he’s in a good mood - which you better hope he is - the reality is that most of us would be completely terrified of him if we met him.

[winnie-daze]

Locked out

[hinamie]

9 / 266

[bluesngolds]

unstoppable force meets immovable object

[forgetful-nerd]

The real reason we’ll never get another Turtles Forever is because if these three met then they would absolutely destroy everything in their paths.

Also they’d verbally eradicate any villain’s self esteem in like 10 seconds.

[erebus0dora]

i am a simple person

i like when things are mirrored

i often think back to the actual acceptance & quiet one 500+ y.o. might be truly longing for

[catmask]

with that said there are characters that a fat maybe not canonically but they are spiritually. to me. they may not be drawn that way but i know whats true. ive seen it like a sort of prophet

[galaghiel]

Both Jack and Maddie stared at him, speechless. Silence blanketed the lab, everything but Danny’s strangled crying, his hand pressed over the muzzle as if to hide it. No- to hold it still, to still the dozen wicked barbs that were digging into his tongue, probably ripping it with each sob.

a little sketch of @liketolaugh-writes amazing one-shot fanfic that you can read here

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.