#this wouldnt be so much of an issue if we didnt have work in the morning

[aroacettorney]

do not let caseys sunshiness distract you from the fact that she is just as much emotionally constipated as ludger.

[n0bluev]

@fushiglow hmm….wonder who i’d draw this for all of a sudden and why… 🤔🤔

[termagax]

re: "good girl" i think they say it once randomly as a joke and its just one of those things that gets him wayyy more than they expected it would. so now its their secret weapon and they use it very sparingly and every single time he gets super embarrassed about it but it works ill tell you what.

[arielluva]

drawing my time traveler character bc she was the only good thing to come out of my concept art/3d modeling class (i learned nothing about character design or 3d modeling and this character was the only assignment actually about character design that we did (i did my senior project on character design and learned way more about it than a whole semester long class that was supposed to teach me it))

im also going insane trying to track down the shoes i used for inspiration for hers but alas i cant find them

[stupidnaturals]

.

[southislandwren]

i should file workers comp (round 3 babey) for my knees they are a DISASTER right now. no i've never gone to the doctor for my knees previously why do u ask. definitely no fraud going on here. give me compensation pwease

[regular-gnome]

HELLO I LOVE YOUR ART AND EVERYTHING YOU DO

btw ,we've seen your future collector,(love him btw)

but what about king ,what happened to that baby in the future ,

did he repopulate the titans ,did go on a bunch of cool magical adventures with collie ,

I NEED TO KNOW RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Soo, King was fine for a while but there is few things

First I think Collie after WaD went back to archive, mostly because I refuse to belive owl family just left a literal child go alone in the void and isolate themseves and knowing Collector doesnt do well with lonlyness they went somewhere, the fact that we see everyone alright few years later during Luzs Kingcenera would mean it didnt go catastrophically bad

The archivists very much, do not like titans or want them around, especially after the whole war. The possiblity of it having been for nothing and letting titans just come back via King is not really a option they would let happen. Collie after learning implications of mortality and what reallly happend to other freinds wouldnt just let them take King so they struck a deal for his life. The archivists will leave him be as long as Collector ensures he is the last titan left in the demon realm. What basically means they dont want him to run into other realms or there being more titans down the line, as long as this is met King is free to have adventures and free to live his life, something that is a happy ending

The issue starts if King does have a kid. We know there is only one parent needed to have a kid so if left alone titans would bounce back thanks to King. So if that happens the deal is broken, King isnt the last titan left and the archivists come back killing. At least killing the young titan, and in the process parent who tried to protect it. That I do not belive would do well for their relationship with Collie who would split afterwards from them. What happens next depends on what will happen with the mortal realms they vist, maybe theyll try settle on diffrent worlds trying to prvent its extincions, maybe theyll establish own lonesome archive. Maybe they'll get fed up with inevitable extincions of worlds that theyll come back to their siblings on own terms. Older and more sticktly work related, with bearly any conversation outside as the overall goal to preserve worlds isnt a bad one, its their methods and approach. If they didnt just go 0 to 100 and kill titans they might have been a useful asset, as their magic deals with life and that would be priceless for worlds that do not do well

Sorry guys, I dont belive in happy endings

[thegreatcaptainusopp]

Do you ever think about water 7 and remember how many fans (way too many fans...) completely misunderstand Usopp's character and feelings towards Merry and reduce it to "he was only attached because Kaya gave them the ship" and forget that we are explicitly told that he sees himself in Merry and also later on we found out he heard Merry say she wanted to take them further, so we KNOW just how much Usopp saw her as another nakama (I know they all did, but he SAW and heard her first) and no wonder he didnt want to just get rid of her, do you ever remember that and want to cry?

Also I get that Usopp said hurtful things, and went against the captain, but if he hadnt Merry wouldnt have been able to save them... I always feel like Zoro was too rough on Usopp but I don't know, maybe I'm misremebering because Usopp haters always use Zoro's speech to say that Usopp was in the wrong or whatever (and it drives me INSANE ooh 😤 makes my blood boil)

I should rewatch Water 7...

Also unrelated but what are Merry's official pronouns?

Oh boy do I ever think about Water 7. I’ve posted about this before but Usopp’s reasons are numerous and just build on top of each other. Not only is it because of Kaya and seeing the Merry as a crew member and seeing himself in the Merry but it also is because of his own trauma and insecurities and abandonment issues. There’s a lot there and it all exploded out in a messy argument and is just…so sad and emotional and I don’t think anyone in universe (including Usopp himself) have still even know parsed out all of that complexity yet.

I think a lot of fan reaction here is victim to the point of view of the narrative. Luffy is our protagonist and the rest of the main characters are his crew, and that means certain expectations of loyalty. He’s the boss, which means they have to follow his rules. Which, you know, is fair enough: if you want to stay, you follow the rules that the boss sets. However, I think a lot of what actually goes on here is accepted at face value and not considered further critically. While Usopp’s actions here were wrong from the perspective of the hierarchy established on the crew, as well as from a personal standpoint because of some of the things that were said, they were also right from another point of view. Usopp’s argument here was that the Merry was a crew member, as alive as any of the rest of them. And, canonically, he’s fully correct. Luffy’s argument is that the Merry can’t take them further, which is also correct. They were both right, but the communication breakdown also means they were both wrong. And Usopp got most of the blowback because of narrative perspective, and because of the fact that he is not the captain and therefore is not going to receive the same loyalty in decisions that Luffy does.

Zoro is a character that is very much a vehicle for this narrative perspective: he is a strong believer in the ship hierarchy and believes that following it to the letter is not only the morally right thing to do, but also is the only way they will survive the journey to come. Is he right? The narrative certainly seems to direct us to that. But at the end of the day it’s just a certain perspective on how things work. Usopp here went against the loyalty that Zoro holds so dearly (and to Luffy in particular) and therefore Zoro felt it was his duty to set them (and him especially) straight. But again, this is very much from the perspective I mentioned above.

I think examining it further, like I said, shows that both Usopp and Luffy were right, but went wrong in how they communicated how each felt. Luffy may be the boss, and his word may be law in the ship, but I think as the boss he has the added responsibility to deescalate and manage his crew, and communicate to them his expectations clearly. Usopp failed here to control his insecurities and succumbed to them. Luffy here failed in his capacity as a leader in communication and deescalation, especially since he most certainly does not want to be an iron fist type leader. However, I don’t think that element of Luffy’s failure is discussed enough in and out of universe, which is also why I always say that I wish the crew challenged him and his decisions more.

With regards to Merry’s pronouns, I think she/her? I’m unsure though, if anyone can confirm that.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

WIBTA for asking out my manager?

Hi there. Trust me this is a WIBTA and not just dating advice.

So I (35F) am basically working at my dream workplace. I cant say what exactly, because I know people follow this account there, but suffice to say its in a desirable industry with a lot of passionate folks, and while its a big (~150 people) place, there's an atmosphere of kindness and joy I've never seen anywhere else. I know a lot of you probably hate me for this, but I am truly aware how rare a workplace this is, and I am grateful. I dont take it for granted. Sometimes the work itself truly sucks, and the pay is outright atrocious, but when your coworkers have your back, it makes all the difference. They accept me even tho I'm trans, and when I've been sick or injured they make sure I'm taken care of. I feel like they are a family of sorts, and I've been working there for over a year now.

Anyways, this wonderful place is held up by a lot of wonderful people, but one in particular is my manager (30F). When I first got hired, I noticed she was cute, but more importantly she was welcoming and accepting. I set aside those feelings, of course, because its a workplace, but they havent gone away.

But lately, this all started to change. We now spend a lot of talking! We have lots of common interests, and there have been nights when both of us will stay for HOURS while the other works, just to chat about whatever! We even text a bit, even about not-work things. Sharing fandom stuff, whatever. The more and more we talked, the more I fell for her. I could hear her go on for days, even if its something I dont care about. Hell, she could read the dictionary and I'd be sitting there grinning because I get to hear her talk. I've got it bad! And then, a few weeks ago, she even brings up how she's given up on dating...but before I could ask more or say anything really, a coworker interrupted and the moment passed.

And here I am, weeks later, smitten like crazy. And I'd say "oh she obviously likes me, she sticks around for you, shares stuff with you" but she's like this with everyone. She's a bit airheaded honestly about it, I mostly find it endearing, but she could absolutely just be doing it because she talks like that to everyone. She's bisexual, and very pro-trans, so I dont think that would be an issue in any way.

But here's where the WIBTA part comes: I have told a couple other coworkers, and they brought up not only that its a dangerous move to date a manager, but also that it could hurt the workplace itself. I mean, this is a place where so many people get to have a joyful opportunity at life, and as I've said this is tremendously rare...what if I take up too much of this manager's time, and she cant be there for other workers? What if this manager gets fired for dating an underling, and gets replaced by someone awful? There's a whole lot of what-if's floating through my mind.

And then I start thinking, if I ask her out, wouldnt that be putting her in an awkward position? I mean if she doesnt like me, and has to turn me down, she still has to work with me, and I her. I can compartmentalize that, but...she might have more trouble. Is it selfish of me to even try, when I could just let well enough be? And on top of that, what did she mean by "giving up on dating"? It didnt sound like she was aromantic, just that she decided it wont happen, but maybe its just going to be a problem if I ask her out. It feels like the stakes of even asking her out are so high. So I keep chatting with her in hopes that I'll catch a lead, but...idk.

Anyways, I am primarily concerned with if it would be a dick move to anyone in my workplace, especially her, but genuinely I am just lost here. I've never dated anyone at a workplace, but like. The dating apps suck, and I dont think I've ever felt this way about anyone before. I've even thought about quitting or finding another workplace to make it an easier decision, but I feel like thats even worse; like it would put pressure on her to date me because I quit for her or something. So how about it? Should I keep my mouth shut, or is love truly worth all risks?

What are these acronyms?

[cupoftaae]

Growing Pains (KTH drabble)

Summary- You and Taehyung discover the struggles of parenthood as you take on the task of raising your 3 month old daughter, Kiyomi.

Warnings- mentions of postpartum struggles and attachment issues

word count- 1.6k

A/N- Hi guys! so after Ladybug got so much love I decided to make a another drabble to continue their storyline, this takes place months after their daughter is born. Hope you enjoy it!

Taehyung woke up to the sounds of crying. He sat up and looked over at his clock, it was 4:32am, and you werent in the bed.

Groaning, he pushed the covers back and began walking down the hall into his daughters room, finding you on the floor with her in your arms.

"Im sorry we woke you, go back to bed" you whisper, noticing the sudden appearance of your husband in the room. "are you guys alright?" he asked, ignoring your previous demand as he walked further in and sat next to you, eyes still sleepy from the abrupt awakening.

You sigh and gently rock the small baby in your arms as she wailed, becoming frustrated yourself. "she wont stop" you exhale, finally looking at taehyung. "maybe shes hungry?" he suggested, moving his hand to wipe away his baby's tears.

"She wont latch...so I dont think she is...I also changed her and put her in a lighter onesie incase she was too hot" you gesture to the new outfit on Kiyomi, of course taehyung smiled at the ladybug printed fabric.

"let me see her" he whispered, gently taking the frail 3 month old out of your arms. "Hi baby, you giving mommy a hard time again?" he kissed all over her face before pulling her against him, her tiny head resting on his shoulder as his hand rubbed her back.

"im so tired" your hands run over the front of your face, knowing you return to work tomorrow afternoon and not only would you be exhausted, you would be missing your baby.

Since Kiyomi was born, youve been home every single day making sure she was taken care of, of course Taehyung has been an excellent help as well, and you probably wouldnt have been able to do this without him, yet at the same time you couldnt express your fears of going back to work after maternity leave....you didnt want to let him down or make him feel like you didnt trust him. It wasnt ever about trust, it was about going hours and hours without being able to make sure your daughter was okay. What happens if she needs mommy? What happens if she starts to cry and he cant differentiate it from a hunger cry, dirty diaper cry, or a tired cry?

"go back to sleep, i'll take care of her" he yawned and stood up, one hand reaching down to help you to your feet.

"I cant sleep" you sigh, walking over to rearrange her crib and the blankets. "cant we just keep her in our room tonight? she can sleep in our bed" you finish.

Taehyung gently rocked her around as he paced the room, the small cries slowing down. "baby I thought we agreed its better for her to be in her own room, she is gonna be too dependant on us.....and why cant you sleep? you just said you were tired-"

"because I have a list of things I need to do Taehyung!" you turn around, "I have to pump because she didnt want to eat, and I need to make sure you have enough milk for tomorrow, plus extra just incase, and then I need to put my work clothes in the washer because I forgot, then dry them, and you know what?" you throw your hands up as you walked over and took your daughter "shes only 3 months old, theres no harm in having her in our bed, who cares! she wont even remember anyways" you scoff and walk out of the room.

You didnt mean to snap on him like that, in fact you felt bad as soon as you left her bedroom. Taehyung is a great dad and an even better husband, but you still found yourself unable to stay calm when the list of things piled on, you didnt know how everything was going to go tomorrow, and you were stressed.

"hey...Im sorry if I said anything to upset you" he whispered as he finally walked into your shared bedroom, his daughter now asleep on the comforter as you sat and tried to pump milk.

sighing, you turn to look at him. "I didnt mean to act like that...you didnt do anything wrong, im just on edge"

He slowly walked over and sat on the bed next to you, careful of the sleeping baby in front of him. "whats going on, sweetheart?"

You didnt respond right away, instead you shrugged and looked down at Kiyomi, feeling those stupid tears resurface to your eyes again. "talk to me angel..." he rubbed your back.

"I dont want to leave her" you spoke in a choked whisper, wiping your cheek quickly. "What do you mean?" he calmly responded.

"Work tomorrow, I dont want to go....I havent been away from her since she was born. Ive had 3 months but im not ready." you take a breath, gathering your thoughts. "I went to the supermarket yesterday to buy dinner by myself, and almost had a panic attack because I realized she wasnt with me"

"my love, its okay to feel like this you know?" he rubbed your back softly, his chest tightening upon hearing your struggles. "sounds like you might be experiencing some separation anxiety,"

"I wanna work from home" you protest, shaking your head. "I cant leave her, and Its not about you not being a good parent- because you are so good, probably better than me" you chuckle lightly, "I just need it for myself....I need to see her. I spent 9 months taking care of her, I knew where she was at all times, and now that shes actually here I get so worried something will happen"

"i know sweetheart, I know" his hand ran through your hair as you spoke, "If you really want to look for a job that allows you to work from home, i'll support you all the way, you know that....but I really think its important to go tomorrow at least, to tell them about whats going on"

You leaned against your husband, glad he was supporting you in such a vulnerable moment. "why cant I just call them tomorrow?" you sniffle

"because I think its good to just go in, the smaller steps you take, even if its just a day, will probably make things easier for you."

"mm....just tomorrow?" you look at him

"Just tomorrow, then you dont ever have to see that place if you dont want to, you can stay home and i'll pamper you both"

You giggled and shook your head, "no, I wanna work....just not outside the house"

"and I support that" he gently lifted your chin so he could kiss you.

You smiled and kissed him back, watching him carefully as you pulled away.

"You are so beautiful, I swear motherhood made you even more attractive than you already were" he grinned

you raised an eyebrow, looking down at yourself before looking at him, "are you kidding me? I have a suction cup attached to my tit right now, and my hair needs to be washed....dont even try to say I look good" you shook your head as you noticed the bottle was full, taking off the pump and pulling your shirt down as you crewed the cap on.

"Ah you dont see yourself how I see you, the fact you go through so much for our baby is what is beautiful to me, and just for the record, you could never shower again and i'd buy all the nose plugs in the world just so I could be near you and call you cute"

"shut uppppp" you whine and lean against the pillow, "thanks though....fatherhood looks good on you"

"now thank you, but we both can tell that its not physically" he laughed and stood, putting his hands on his belly. "sympathy weight" he patted his stomach, making you laugh.

"Hey, I didnt do that to you!" you retort

"Yes! you insisted that I eat with you every time you had a craving, and what did I do?"

"ate with me" you smile

"yeah, except you were eating and it went to the baby" he chuckled, "mine went to my stomach area"

"hey I think dad bods are sexy" you nudge him

he rolled his eyes jokingly and wrapped you in his embrace, both of you looking down at your finally sleeping daughter.

"next kid, you deal with those cravings alone" he teased, hand gently squeezing you closer.

You smiled brightly at his words, you couldnt handle another child right now, especially with your current mental state, but you knew in the next 3 years you would enjoy having a second baby.

"thats not gonna be for a while bubs, relax" you patted his thigh

"what if she gets lonely" he looks at you

"are you serious" you laugh, squishing his face "shes 3 months, plus she has us, and tannie. I promise she will be well entertained until we have another kid"

He huffed and slouched down, making you giggle.

He sat up and grabbed his phone, turning the video on as he began filming his sleeping baby. "I havent recorded anything in a bit, well thats a lie, I recorded her yesterday when I was playing airplane and she ended up puking on me"

Your giggles are heard off camera before he faces it towards you "Oh its funny huh?"

"shh, youre gonna wake her" you quickly cover the camera to hide yourself before he continues to ramble on about your baby. He's been doing this since that day you both found out you were expecting Kiyomi, and it still warms your heart to see a man so in love with his creation of life.

He was your rock, and she was your ladybug, and perhaps you would be okay after all.

[wszczebrzyszynie]

could we learn more about przemek? his design is so cool and he’s always interested me.

(I made a list of specific questions but it’s.. a lot so obviously no pressure to answer them all!)

How has his injury affected his personality?

Why is he in the manor?

Whats his relationship with Mikita like after he realizes he isn’t actually a ghost?

Hows his relationship with his queerness?

What is his and Ryba’s relationship like?

What was growing up like for him?

(Sorry for all the questions I just feel like I see Przemek so much and know so little about him!)

the thing about przemo is that hes definitely a character creation-wise* but in universe hes just... a guy? youd think hed be way more interesting with his design and its just not really true. Hes meant to be unremarkable even if everyone is looking at him in the street. At least he clearly looks like the protagonist...

as with all long oc things everythings under the read more

The thing about the accident is that it didnt change him all that much, really, it just made his general being more... difficult. Przemek (as well as his sister) live by the belief that they need to be useful to their community, and without usefulness they are worthless. Combine that with the freshly abolished feudal system (yes the story takes place in 1890s, but feudalism in russian empire, which took the part of poland the story takes place in was only abolished in 1861, and thats in theory? because in practice the further away from big folwarks you got the later abolishment was taken into account. In Przemeks case, he and his 22 year old brother were the first ones to work in a factory without being forced to work in the countryside) and how important working in a factory was for him to help and provide for his family, and you can see how his self esteem got lower. While his knee pain doesnt make factory work impossible, and Przemek is... way too inconsiderate about himself to acknowledge that he never wants to work in any factory ever again (thinks its a sign of weakness), it is harder and his family would prefer having him somewhere close. So, after being recommended by Ruta Andrushko**, Olehs older sister, he was taken in as the gardener. People at the manor dont really... background check. Its a very specific place

His relationship with Mika can be described as Bad and that is mosty Mikitas fault. Wont go into detail today because we will be here forever and this thing is already unreadable to anyone but me. That being said their one cool moment before he realizes he is not a ghost is when he tries to perform a very butchered version of dziady that Ryba (who is, if you dont know, jewish and blisfully unaware about both christian and semi forgotten slavic customs popularised mostly by a 19th century novel. Wasocz is a 50% jewish town after all) helped with. In the end Przemek got scared and just left him a bowl of groats and eggs before the attic door.

His relationship with Ryba on the other hand is definitely nicer and more friendly, and they later become lovers. I think its worth mentioning that Przemek did not like him in the beginning because of the internalised issues Przemek has with himself, but quickly learned that Ryba is too nice for their own good and being mean Feels Bad. Ryba serves the "anchor" role in the story; it is the only character that i wouldnt consider lonely and who worked his way out of the loneliness. hes very community focused and has a not-directly-loneliness-related story arc to go through, so when it comes to the main theme of the story, he is there to help both Przemek and Nika. On the topic of queerness its one of the many traits Przemo cannot bring himself to even acknowledge. hes very good at ignoring things

*what i mean by that is that hes the most messy character in the story despite being one of the main ones. He is my absolute favourite. Hes literally just a guy. I made him when i was 14 and based his design on an idv character and later on an omori character and you can very clearly see who am i talking about. He was silesian coded when the story was taking place in a different dystopian-royalty world very inspired by an anime i feel like no one besides me ever watched called gosick because it was my favourite when i was 12/13. Hes the most beautiful oc of mine. I still dont know what his ethnicity is and its driving me insane. Mostly polish obviously but i think it would be insane if he had balkan or middle eastern heritage. He is the main character. Thank god im never making dns into a comic **this is Olehs family and their surname is probably written differently in the original story and the modern au. Im using the official ukrainian transliteration here even though im guessing their surname would be written the way its read in polish (Andruszko), as i suppose my ukraine-born great grandmothers surname (Zańko) was polonised down the line. this is not an area i made a lot of research in i am just saying things

also by god i feel rusty when talking about history here so im sorry if the terms arent really correct. it is 3am good night

[milfcamilanoceda]

I feel like a lot of "Camila shouldnt have been a nerd, it should have been Manny and Camila should have been the neurotypical one." Criticism fail to take into account the inter generational trauma that exists in POC families especially POC neurodivergent families. Like the criticism boils down to this- "Luz comes across more of a jerk as she wasnt That lonely. Camila would have been more understanding of Luz if she was actually neurodivergent and would not have try and send her to the camp" and i am like no, no she wouldnt have. Neurodivergency in people of colour often goes undiagnosed especially if they are women of colour and especially if they are from older generation. And often times these older folks grow up to believe that the neurodivergent issues that they dealt with was a failure on their part rather than you know, them being neurodivergent. Which is how we get adult parents who say shit like, "Oh everybody has [a very specific symptom of a neurodivergent brain]. You just got to go through it [aka i did not get any support growing up and had to deal with this on my own]."

And this to me fits Camila and Luz. The way i interpret the problem was that it was never that Camila didnt understand Luz, but rather that she did understand her while not understanding herself. She saw her own self in Luz, her own isolation and years dealing with bullying and treated as an outcast but never stopped to examine WHY it happened to her. She didnt want Luz to go through what she went through so she turned to what worked for her, trying to change yourself to fit even if it meant hiding parts of herself. And this is ultimately what caused their relationship to falter. Add Manny's death and them being new in town further resulted in both of them, especially Luz being isolated and outcast, from the town and from each other. And ultimately them coming to an understanding, with Camila admitting her nerdy side to Luz and to herself was what helped their relationship and truly let Luz to discover what she truly want and thus hatching her palisman.

Should toh have had explored Luz's loneliness and isolation better? Absolutely! Did Camila try her best especially as a single mother? Yes! Has Camila contributed to said loneliness and isolation? Also yes! Camila to me is the opposite of Eda. Where Eda was the neurodivergent kid who grew up fighting the system to be herself, Camila was the neurodivergent kid who grew up to accept the system thus rejecting herself. Which was why Luz flourished much more and felt more accepted under Eda's tutelege than she did with Camila, and i wish this is the angle toh explored more.

And look i dont want to begrudge anyone who feels the other way and doesnt agree with me. They have the right to their own interpretation which are based on their own valid experiences. But i prefer this interpretation a lot more to theirs.

[dailyblorboposting]

IM BACK GANG!! been working on this for a few days and didnt wanna post it during the strike

@ectobio made some sprites the other day of if jade and rose's god tier outfits matched their colors schemes, and then @gay-frog-search-history asked about the beta kids.... so voila! my personal designs for the characters in their Color-matched God Tiers

and their regular god tiers below the cut :3 (also I did switch Jade from Mind to Life, because the Mind colors fit Jane a bit better, hope that's ok)

im really happy with how these turned out

also june egbert wins forever

have some thoughts on these:

Jade as Witch of Life is pretty fine I think... No Space Player basically guarantees a failed game but we dont worry about the actual mechanics of the game this is just for funsies. besides, life should be able to find a frog anyways, frogs are living!

Rose Seer of Rage is actually so interesting to me. Light relates to her motifs a lot, but I can brute force some rage symbolism relatively easily. She is very angry inside, her whole "destroying her session" showed that... inch resting...

Jane Maid of Mind mightve kept a lot of the dramatic pre-retcon shit from happening- she'd be "meant" to keep her friends minds taken care of, she probably couldve prevented lots of relationship issues with this. But Brain Ghost Dirk likely wouldnt exist lol.

Dirk Prince of Light is very similar to Eridan Prince of Hope. And i got confused in the comments of the og post leave me alone theyre both yellow. But still, Light is basically Fortune. Lack of Fortune? Too Much Fortune? VERY fun to think about!!!

Roxy Rogue of Heart! That's Nepeta's! Her role in the group already fits a Heart player well (though maybe a Blood player better) but she would gain a lot more individuality and agency that I think she could benefit from as a character. Void players have it rough :pensive:

Jake Page of Doom is pretty based actually. Page is one of the most powerful classes iirc and Hope and Doom are opposites so, functionally he'd be very similar. Again, Brain Ghost Dirk wouldn't exist but maybe there'd be a doomed timeline Dirk to take his place...

Anyway that's all! Normal daily posting begins again btw!!

[lullabyshark]

gender in the mars house

this isnt very long & is mostly haphazard and off the cuff but i had to put down some of my thoughts as a nonbinary person on the way gender is portrayed in this book. spoilers obviously

i know as a long-time fan of miss pulley to not take the things she puts in her work at face value. obviously, i think thats true for basically anything not written for children, and even many things that are written for children. something else has to be going on, right? i found myself constantly thinking "whats the catch?"

it feels strange for the love interest to say literal terf rhetoric and imply that bioessentialism is part of the world building. because on one hand this is the love interest, a person that comes across as a charming, awkward nerd in the majority of the text, and theyre saying something completely hideous. not necessarily what they personally believe, but a truth about why things are the way they are on mars.

and because then i look at all these people who were assigned they/them at birth and wonder if any of them ever feel gender euphoria. if you are gender neutral because society says so and you were genetically modified, is there any joy in it? is there any real freedom in it? what about binary trans people? what about people like myself who use neopronouns? is this just neo-cisgenderism? this society is much less widespread gender equality and more of a rigid absence of diversity. otherwise wouldnt we see more genders instead of less?

most of the time everything is very normal. i know so many people who use they/them that it feels very comfortable and homey to see it used so much. but sometimes it feels off. its definitely a cis persons imagining of gender neutrality. because when you create a world where the reason these people are "nonbinary" is bioessentialism and not because they genuinely feel that way, it feels like the gender neutrality is... bad? wrong? misguided?

it makes me feel crazy. on mars gender is no more bc men historically have power over women and kill their wives? women are the victims of biology so now everyone is assigned they/them at birth? it leaves a very odd taste in my mouth. gale only ever addresses it once after this, admitting that actually abolishing gender didnt stop anyone getting killed, it was changing marriage law that did. so where does that leave us

i love a morally gray pulley love interest--if mori was real i would forgive him for all the murders then bat my eyelashes and say anything you want beautiful LMAO. but i think that mystery, when we're dealing with something like systematic oppression, thats a very different thing. i was waiting the whole book for them to say that it was a lie and gender was abolished for a different reason, or that they only said that for the optics.

i wonder what other trans & nb ppl think about it. is there something im not getting? do you like this mono-gender mars? do you think im completely off the mark? if anyone actually reads this i genuinely want to know 😭

natasha i love your work queen but theres a lot in this book that fails to convey what i think you were trying to convey. obv this is just one issue, there are plenty of others that i dont feel nearly as equipped to discuss, in this and her other books. and while i will always enjoy her prose and try to go in w good faith, certainly no one is infallible.

[spicybylerpolls]

Interesting points from anon who argued for bottom mike there. Thanks for being so generous with your explanation for your preference! 

I found this interesting: i guess my main reasoning for him being a bratty bottom is just how he acts sometimes through the show, his clear distaste for being told what to do and his snappy comebacks.

To me, this indicates that mike very much would not want to be told what to do in the bedroom, and would thus take control. Distaste… so why would he like being told what to do in the bedroom? 

I mean, maybe, as a kink, as a relief, in the way people who engage in d/s culture enjoy the separation from their reality. But that’s also a highly self aware and advanced sexual expression that requires knowledge and courage. Your average virgin does not immediately engage in bdsm culture or even understand its psychology. Most people barely know what they like in the bedroom, let alone the complex dynamics of bdsm and d/s. 

Which leads me to the realisation of how interesting it is to see such common dom/sub conversations around byler sex in this fandom. it speaks to the fact that fandom is very fantasy- and imagination-based rather than just working with what is canon. It's so intriguing, because I personally came to fandom hoping to discuss the show, almost analytically like we were in media class, and found lots of fantasy play and headcanons and stuff, which I hadn't known were a thing. At first it didnt make sense to me... why would you want to celebrate characters/a show but make it completely into something that no longer resembles that show or those characters??

I understand fandom better now, but even so re: sex, I would say that irl, at least 50% of people dont engage in dom/sub dynamics in their sex life at all, or even anything that would be considered kinky or fetish. In fact, one you've removed the percentage of people who don’t have sex at all, a large portion of sexually active people (especially women) don’t engage in even the simplest kind of vanilla sex where they ask for the bare minimum of what they would enjoy, what they want, know what they want - many dont even enjoy sex or know how to orgasm. This doesnt mean their sex is abusive or toxic or they have a history of trauma, but just that they dont feel comfortable or that it’s their place to ask for pleasure. They just do what they think they should do, 'normal sex' (a common historic phrase here was 'lie back and think of england' lmao... basically what royal queens were told to think as their husbands butchered them in the least enjoyable way possible).

(I also always found the scene with Steve’s mean friends in s1, after he and Nancy have sex, uncomfortable because they were clearly taking the mick out of Nancy when imitating her screams, and it highlighted how performative that sexual experience may well have been for Nancy. I mean, if Steve made her cum during her first time? Damn, he’s good. But chances are he didn’t, and nancy’s storyline was partially about performances and status in s1, so her first time w Steve also being performative is a possibility. It makes the barb storyline even sadder too.)

But back to byler. theyre boys so dynamic will be different to a man and woman, but I think dom/sub conversation comes up so much more in gay sex, and is it because people just can’t see gay men as being equals in the bedroom? Even though people have no issue imaging equal sex with a man and woman, despite a similar dynamic of who is penetrating? But two men? Nope, one must be dom or sub, one must be more powerful, even if you’re a power bottom you’re still a power something. Why can’t it be equal? Why do we ALWAYS have to refer to dom and sub? 

I’m not saying that dynamic wouldnt exist for byler at some point, or that it’s no good, but it doesn’t need to be the only frame of reference. Sure, byler don’t always have to have penetrative sex either, but even if they are, will it ever be possible to talk about topping and bottoming without power dynamics being involved? Equal union, joining of bodies, not an inkling of power in sight. In fact, not even using the term ‘topping’ and ‘bottoming’, which may well have origins in physicality, such as the missionary position, but certainly also hold connotations of power. Who’s on top? Who’s bottom? I don’t love the wording tbh, and I wonder what the history of that is in gay culture. 

"Which leads me to the realization of how interesting it is to see such common dom/sub conversations around byler sex in this fandom. it speaks to the fact that fandom is very fantasy- and imagination-based rather than just working with what is canon. It's so intriguing, because I personally came to fandom hoping to discuss the show, almost analytically like we were in media class, and found lots of fantasy play and headcanons and stuff"

This is so interesting to me - it reminds me of that one anon the regular byler poll blog got recently about their confusion as to why people were speculating about things they can't possibly know the answer to. But yeah, you're right that a significant portion of fandom is imagination/headcanon based, and I agree with the anon on the byler polls account who pointed out that this is largely personality-driven, where some are all about this and others are... very much not.

All your other points are super interesting too! What does everyone else think?

[thesrctsoftheuniverse]

so over the weekend (literally two days) i watched 16 of the 18 episodes of season 3....... so here's my thoughts!!!!

i've already professed my love for the characters more than enough but i just need to remind everyone that i am sosososo in love with all these fucking characters, what a truly insanely likeable lineup of different personalities

eddie getting buck to babysit chris so he stops being stuck in a depressive spiral.... genius

the earthquake episodes last season were insane, but the tsunami disaster?????? off the charts. the scenes with buck and chris were fucking beautiful, i love this duo and need more of them NOW. buck cares about that kid so goddamn much. and while tired and injured he saves idk how many more people. the way him and chris are fighting for their lives and then buck is desperately looking for chris all while eddie thinks they're completely safe. eddie was freaking out last season because his son was stuck in a school, but he was calm during this disaster because he was with BUCK. it makes me so emotional. im sosososo glad that i had seen the outcome of chris being found before watching the episode bc idk how people who didnt know that beforehand could handle it. the scene with eddie finding buck with chris' glasses???? im going to start crying. and after all of that for buck being so sure eddie wouldnt trust him anymore only for him to drop off chris again like its nothing?? im going to sob

from what i have read online the lawsuit storyline is a very divisive topic in the fandom. i kind of see both sides. i can see that buck thought his hands were tied and that the only family he had was replacing him. but i know at the same time that it's an overreaction. bobby didnt have any reason to have buck stay on leave for that long when chimney proudly proclaims he went back to work after only a couple of weeks. i understand that bobby cares about buck like a son somewhat, but he was not being fair. buck also shows that he didn't really want to cause as much hurt and friction between them by apologising again and again and not even thinking about accepting the money, going back to the 118 even though he knew they were going to make it difficult for him. it was a tricky situation, but im glad they moved on from it fairly quickly.

the fight club eddie storyline is kind of wild????? also did he ever get any reporcussions from bobby for that??? men will literally do anything but talk about their issues and deal with their feelings. what an insanely gay thing to do.

love eddies conversation with bobby where he starts crying. eddie should cry more often (i say this with love)

lena im in love with you, do you like women?

chris' english teacher is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful

i truly love seeing athena and her family grow and change over time. the relationship between bobby and michael is so important to me. i love them together. and michael's tumor storyline??? heartbreaking.

love albert!

chimney and maddie i love you two soso much you deserve the world, youre so imporant to me. chimney respecting maddies boundaries no matter what.... im gonna cry (A BABY?????????)

the episode of 911 dispatch being taken over might just be one of the best episodes of the series. i especially loved that we got to see characters that other times didnt get as much screentime. LOVE LOVE LOVE JOSH!!!

the athena begins episode is heartbreaking. and beautiful. the closure at the end, with her telling emmet's mother that they made an arrest. how beautiful. really well done. she never gave up on finding that man.

the eddie begins episode is also beautiful. him cutting the fucking rope???? idk how they want me to believe that he swam to safety but whatever..... anyways he loves chris so much and we got to see more of his and shannon's marriage which i loved. to be fair, he was kind of a shitty father and definitely a shitty husband, shannon was clearly not ok and i understand why she left. doesnt make it right, but i understand it. when he gets stuck underground and buck starts losing his mind, screaming, crying, throwing up and bobby gives him /that/ look. oh kill me now. that man was gonna dig by hand .... i love them.

the episode of buck helping that old veteran feel important and not alone at the end of his life? im going to start crying again. buck truly believes that no one will ever love him or choose him or stay with him forever.

michael talking to harry about what being black means when they encounter police was incredibly moving and heartbreaking. but also important. i just love athena's family.

hen hitting that cello girl with the ambulance...... oh i cried so hard, my heart broke for her. karen and her are so amazing together i love them so much, they truly are each other's rock.

i love the buckley siblings. i love the side characters. i love the main characters. i have so many thoughts.

abby....i understand that she had to get away from everything to find herself ok? but she shoudlve just texted or sent a letter to buck just to give him closure and not let him keep haunting her apartment. i dont like them as a couple, this shit has clearly hurt buck deeply and will not be easy for him to get over. she didnt really seem all to apologetic either at the end. i get it but also why did u have to hurt buck by not ever responding and ghosting him????

got so many funny and beautiful scenes this season, it was amazing!!! truly loved every character. it had that gay ass buddie kitchen scene... lol

but anyways....im already done with two episdoes of season 4 so bye