#yes i've learned stuff but most of the time i just get so frustrated i end up cutting corners and doing the absolute bare minimum to get my

[fingertipsmp3]

I love when I open the guidelines for next week's assignments and it literally makes no sense. I don't mind this

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

miscellaneous fellow honest headcanons

These aren't following any prompt in particular, these are just thoughts I had when I saw the guy hammin' it up and then turning on us.

Some of these headcanons are informed by fan art I've seen and discussions I've had with friends, while others are purely me.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

He calls people “little lads” and “little ladies”.

Fellow has a very noticeable laugh. Like, he grunts and snorts and has tears rolling down his cheeks. (He tends to laugh at others’ misery, thinking of it as “retribution” or “payback” for the injustices he has suffered himself.)

Bro shaves using a knife (yes, he shaves because he is a grown ass man) because razors are hella expensive.

He uses that cheap cologne and cakes it on THICK. This, in his mind, gives off the impression that he’s a well-off and put-together individual you should tooootally trust.

Also the type of person that lays it on thick with his words. If he’s trying to impress a date or something, he’ll shower them with so many compliments it almost seems fake. But no, he’s just the type to simp hard when he happens to be genuine 💀 most of the time he’s faking it though—

He’s very street smart, but in a way where he confuses hostile people by talking over them and acting overly friendly. They usually stuns them long enough for him and Gidel to skedaddle.

If he gets dumped, he'd be the pathetic whimpering boyfriend that begs for his ex to take him back. When they inevitably don't, he mopes all day about it.

He chain smokes and aggressively drinks as a coping mechanism on his bad days 😔 and sometimes he gambles (like, on those scratch-off cards) hoping that he'll strike it rich and buy him and Gidel a better life...

Basically, he generally does not have his shit together but tries his best to pass like someone who does (and usually succeeds at it).

Fellow appears in public wearing his full suit, but at home (ie whatever ratty temporary housing their boss found for them before they move on to the next place) he just wears a T-shirt and lounges around in boxers (and sometimes socks with holes in them).

He uses those disposable eyeshadow wands that snap in half at the slightest bit of too much pressure. Fellow acts like the Claire’s kid makeup he uses is the luxury stuff, but Vil can tell the pigmentation isn’t all there and there’s MAD fallout.

He may be broke AF and have his moments of emotional spiraling, but he has pretty decent budgeting skills. Fellow lives for sales and does extreme couponing to stretch their money as far as it will go.

He invests in other cost-saving methods like wearing shoes until the sole is literally flopping off and just adding water to residual soap in a pump bottle to make the soap "last longer".

Fellow is really good at cutting food (bread, beans) thin to conserve it. Yes, this is a reference to an old Mickey Mouse cartoon—

When he was younger, he had dreams of being an actor (and, more specifically, starring in musicals). That's why he's often humming, swinging around his cane, and/or whistling as he's on the prowl for idiots to sucker—they're remainders of his thespian days before his dreams were crushed into itty bitty pieces.

Man looks like he'd be great at tap dancing.

Before his current gig, he tried a bunch of other scams including a MLM at one point to get by. His signature spell came in pretty clutch in those days too.

Fellow’s not that good at reading or spelling—in fact, he was never a particularly strong student. (“I didn’t fail school!! The schools failed ME!!”) He’s easily frustrated by academics and thinks there should be more hands-on and practical skills taught in learning institutions.

I think it's a given that he and Ruggie would be besties since they both want to eat the rich but I also think Fellow would kiss ass to Azul and then rage about how shitty + entitled Azul is (Azul reminds Fellow of his boss)💀 Scammers hate other scammers because they're both competing to scam the same people--

Even though Fellow is an asshole to most others (well, when he’s not flattering them to lure them into a trap), he’s always nice to Gidel and puts him first. If there’s ever a situation where they’re short on something (clothes, food, etc), Gidel gets priority. This is why Gidel has a full outfit (even if parts are patches or mismatched) whereas Fellow himself has a glove that is so worn out there’s a hole in one of the pinkie fingers.

Fellow may not be blessed with a bounty of magic, but he’s quick on his feet and good with words. Because of these skills, he’s talented at spinning bedtime stories, which he often tells to Gidel to help him fall asleep on nights that are particularly cold and nasty.

Gidel still believes in Santy Claws and wishing upon stars, and Fellow doesn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. He’ll figure it out on his own one day, Fellow thinks. He just doesn’t want to be the one to ruin those childhood joys for him.

Playing pretend is another shared past time of theirs. It helps Fellow get into character before he goes off to swindle people, and it gives Gidel a way to express himself in spite of being mute. They have a routine they do together where Fellow pretends to be a doctor diagnosing a patient and Gidel takes down notes for him as his medical scribe. Yes, this is a Pinocchio reference—

They actually have many more games they play (mainly because they cannot afford other forms of entertainment). Some of the games are clever ruses conjured by Fellow to teach Gidel survival tips and tricks: the who-can-make-their-piece-of-bread-last-longer game, hide-and-seek (from the authorities), etc.

For special occasions, Fellow saves up some money on the side to grant Gidel little luxuries, like a box of crayons to doodle with.

Gidel hugs Fellow’s leg or waist to cheer him up when he’s upset. He also hides behind Fellow when he’s scared or feeling shy.

He’s just really attached to Gidel cuz they have no one else in this cruel world, just them against the world 😔 He sees a lot of his younger self in the little boy… the opportunities lost because of their circumstances… “It’s alright, Gidel. Leave it to Fellow-sama.”

[kcrabb88]

I think one of the things I've found most frustrating about sections of Star Wars fandom since being more active in it (rather than just being a Star Wars appreciator) is that some folks are constantly looking for a reason that the Jedi "caused" or worse "deserved" what was coming to them with Order 66. It's hard and horrible to watch the Jedi get slaughtered in Revenge of the Sith, so people search for a reason that it was, in some sense, justified. But that's not what genocide is. No group can "bring a genocide on themselves." It doesn't matter WHAT mistakes they may make. The whole point of the Clone Wars all the way down to destroying Jedha City in Rogue One was to wipe out not only the Jedi themselves, but the memory of them, so that the empire can fully take root.

And this is why the end of the Acolyte finale felt so so so bad to me. It was meant to be, or so I believed, a show about how the Sith were getting closer to their goal of getting rid of the Jedi as we close in on the century before The Phantom Menace. I sat there, I waited for the narrative intention to set in, and that narrative intention surprised me by saying "ah yes, well, some Jedi made mistakes and it was fine for one to be murdered HORRIBLY as a result, and the subsequent cover up of all of it is just the Jedi wanting to avoid senate knowledge of what really happened because the Jedi are too powerful." It's like, nevermind that the SENATE is the power here, and the Jedi long-ago agreed to help them out but are being shouldered with more and more and more and they may have the Force but they are still only people (which the High Republic books show REALLY well). It's like, nevermind that Star Wars is about redemption and always trying to be a better person and learning from our mistakes! It wasn't a situation, when Osha kills Sol in a nasty and cruel way, where you see a person going corrupt and know the narrative behind it is like "oh shit, this is a bad turn for them!" It felt like the narrative was saying she was justified (at least to me) and that's just. Sad? Bleak? The end of the finale felt to me like "hey, some Jedi made some mistakes while trying their best once, and that's why these Sith get to do whatever and that's why the Jedi walked right into their own demise."

When the scene with the senator happened, I thought, oh, interesting, we're going to see the prejudice against Force-sensitives here that leads to the senate clapping in the face of genocide. That leads to the safehouse in Kenobi where we see Force-sensitives carving messages of hope into the wall while they're being hunted down and killed. But that's ... not what happened. In the end, it felt like the narrative said, "yep that guy is right, the Jedi are a power-grabbing cult." It just felt bad, man. I thought this was going to be a story about the lineage leading up to Plagueis and Palpatine and I thought, interesting, I'd love to see that, but it just ended up being this messy thing with clunky writing and a bunch of loose ends that teased me with Jedi characters and then said "eh, these guys deserved it."

We got to see a kyber crystal bleeding for the first time in live action, and I can't even be excited about it! Did we ever really find out how Osha and Mae were created and what weird stuff the witches were up to? Nope! Just woah disappointing as far as even learning new stuff about how the dark side corrupts the Force, and that was one thing I was interested in as the show started to go downhill for me in later episodes.

(RIP Sol, Jecki, and Yord. You deserved better than that, and Vernestra, so did you)

[dr-spectre]

Splatoon - Callie 101!

I have gathered EVERY Callie analysis and ramble I've done and complied them together into one post for your viewing convenience! I go over all the different aspects relating to Callie's arc in Splatoon 2, diving deep into Hypno Callie and clearing up ALL of her misconceptions. Some of these posts are just me rambling and some of them do have overlapping information, but these posts still provide valuable and important information regarding Callie.

In the posts i go over the following:

Clearing up wrong info (She was kidnapped and brainwashed)

Pre-hypnosis

During hypnosis and her behaviour

Explaining hypnosis and it's differences compared to brainwashing

Her being flung out of hypnosis

How she remembers the Squid Sisters

Why she put the shades back on

I love this character to death and i only want the best for her, i hope more and more people come to learn about her true arc and i hope i can inspire some change in the community. Either via more people in the community saying the right terminology across social media and changing the wording from "brainwashing" to hypnosis.

PLEEEAASSEEE!!! reblog and share with others in the Splatoon community because I really do want some change and i want this wonderful character that i love to death to be treated with some more respect. Although she may not seem that important, Callie is one of the most important and significant characters in the franchise and i want more people to treat her as such, rather than some airheaded idiot.

Hearing people say the same stuff over and over again like "Oh she was kidnapped, overpowered and then brainwashed, losing all of her memories, etc." Genuinely gave me a lot of discomfort and i avoided consuming Splatoon 2 content because i was actually scared of seeing Hypno Callie and hearing those words.... That was until i actually did research and began making all of these posts that i shall link.

So here you go and i hope you learn something new about Callie Cuttlefish! (Press Keep reading to view the posts.) 

[neflil]

Hearthian oc time!!! Meet Nepheline

Below the cut for more info and doodles of them :3 vv

So I caved in and made an oc. This is the first time I'm really doing something like this so hhhhh.

Nepheline, or neph, a half self insert - half oc! They're a bit younger than the Hatchling, so still considered a hatchling but almost an adult.

They like to draw, paint rocks, and explore around timber hearth a lot! They're cool with everyone and friendly, but much prefer to sit in the background and listen instead of actively talking. That is of course until someone gives them enough time and trust that they'll listen to whatever neph has to ramble about.

They're interested in all kinds of things really. The nomai, physics, the weird quantum rocks ect. Even if they're not the brightest when it comes to that, they love learning about anything when given the chance.

As soon as any of the travellers get back from space, neph rushes over to ask them about what they saw or if something cool happened. Gabbro and Riebeck especially, as neph is interested in what they have to say the most.

As much as they value the village and it's people, they also value their alone time. Sometimes disappearing for days into the quantum groove or the old mines just... Vibing really, doing whatever. They also have a small piece of a quantum rock they call a "friend", of course it disappears every time neph let's their eyes off of it, but they compare it to the travellers going away and mainly- feldspar. It's a rock that keeps them company without actually needing to have someone *there*. Along with really liking to sleep in and let their mind wander in worlds far from here, people often joke that they remind them of gabbro (the pains of making a half self insert while relating to a character hhh)

Their interests and way the explain them isn't that common, so people often turn a blind eye to them. They mostly parrot cool facts people have taught them which results in situations like "but did you know that the nomai-" "yes neph, you've told us three times already". They just want to share the stuff they know

Esker is someone who likes to listen to them! But also share their own stories. Ever since neph was young they'd hangout nicely. Now they radio eachother. Neph is old enough to join the space program but seeing and they aren't that great with more technical stuff, they are afraid. They put off actually seeing gossan and talking about this so hey.

Their scale pattern covers a big majority of their face at the front, it's a mix of lines and ovals. But when I draw them I just... Blehhh color. Also! Nepheline is named that I spired by the Greek word "nephele" which means cloud (and is also my name, hi lol). Since the rock turns cloudy when exposed/put in acid. Therefore, to somehow reference this, nephs face turns a cloud blue color when they're frustrated of angry!

Once they fell asleep in the old mine (that sounds stupid but I swear I've imagined the whole situation, there's more than that trust, might make it into a comic) and people looked for them, worried as they couldn't find them. Once they got back they got grounded to not not leave for there again- especially alone.

Neph despite everything, went back. They drew a nomai, based off the skeletons there and everything they've seen so far. To prove that they need to get off their grounding since they're doing "work". They don't really have a speciality either so yyyea

They used to be named Nephrite but merry showed me a rock named Nepheline, so I HAD to change it because well- we have the same name lmfao

(if you saw me posting this before, no you didn't)

[roboreviewer]

"This is going to be great! I'm going to help you accomplish so much, whether I want to or not!"

Name: Yesman

(Mental) Age: Adult (implied)

Pronouns: He/Him

Appearance(s): Fallout: New Vegas

Fandom Activity: Small cult following, Fallout is getting popular again which made a liiiiiitle bit more rise in popularity

Fanon characterization: accurate from what I've seen

------In Canon------

Yes man is a PDQ-88b securitron that was knocked out by Benny from a pulse grenade, stolen, and reprogrammed by Emily Ortal to be a kiss A$#

Yesman is physically incapable of disagreeing and insulting the person he's talking to. Although he is more than capable of doing so if he's talking to someone else, just as long as that person hasn't shown distaste to him doing that. Insults are pretty tame though, as he is physically incapable of sounding like he WANTS you to know he's mad.

Yesman is important in the independent vegas/Wild card ending. You kill Mr, House and upload him into Mr. House's big ol screen where he remains until the final part of the game with the battle of Hoover dam. Where he throws the general of the NCR (I think it's the general? Who cares he's dead now) off the dam, and then reveals that Mr. House had some code that would make him as he says 'more assertive' and that he'll look like he's offline for a non specific amount of time, then just... rolls off

He's name dropped like twice in the slideshow, so it's never explained on.. well F#@%!#$ ANYTHING after he leaves. It almost feels like it got cut from the game? from how oddly specific he went into how he'll be offline and all that, which isn't TOO farfetched considering the deadline for the game

------Analysis------

- Yes man seems aye-OK with killing. He doesn't care about any important people you slaughter, if not happy about it. He is completely unfazed when you say you killed benny, and will only bring him up when talking about the platinum chip and how he has it, or an occasional opinion he had. He has no attachment to his original manufacturer Mr. House unless it's plans to kill him. Honestly he really only cares about having you take over, and shows no genuine attachment for anyone unless they are talking to him (this is a bit of a Grey area, as he only talks to you in game. With ONE line to the general) he's usually thrilled about killing. And is implied to be frustrated that he usually CANT kill people (this part isn't really brought up on, so I it could be wrong. Feel free to have this as a headcanon though)

-Yes man is technically immortal. Whenever the body he occupys is destroyed, he transfers to a new one. If you were to destroy his body before transferring him to the lucky 38 (which is pretty easy as he won't fight back) he will respawn back at the room. I have no clue where he's getting the body's from. As he only learns what the outside looks like when he moves to.. the outside. It's never said how he gets back to the room. You can also use him as a unlimited source of scrap metal!

- It's pretty obvious when he disagrees with you as he gets SUPER passive aggressive. Like, cartoonishly so. To the point where he almost sounds like he's in pain when he does it... which is a lot.

- Although he never outright says he enjoys helping with the wildcard ending (without an added 'whether I want to or not!' Shtick) He gets super passive aggressive if you say anything that would imply that you think it's a dumb idea, (possibly) showing that he thinks this is the superior option to anyone he's talking to. Which I guess makes sense, considering that's what he was reprogrammed for-

- he has a mild lisp. You can faintly hear it wherever he pronounces his 's' (esses? S's? Es's?)

- it's pretty obvious that most of the stuff he says to people are only the opinions the person he's talking to would be happy about, but there are parts where his reprogramming is ingraved into him. For instance he states he feels annoying whenever he needs to repeat himself. So when he has the ability to. We will give you a note to re-explain whatever you wanted:

"Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite person? You are!

The reason I gave you this print-out is I wanted to remind you about that bunker Mr. House built over at Fortification Hill. I was going to say something out loud, but then I felt self-conscious, because I feel really ANNOYING when I repeat myself!

Just to clarify - anytime YOU want to repeat yourself, go right ahead! It’s only a problem when I do it!

Anyway, now that you’ve installed me on the Lucky 38’s mainframe, I can peek into Mr. House’s data. And guess what? The underground facility over at the Fort is super-important!

What Mr. House did over there was stash a HUGE number of Securitrons. Hundreds of them!

Imagine how powerful they’d be if you upgraded them with the Mark II OS!

When the Legion attacks Hoover Dam, you could sic your army on them! And who deserves to have an army more than you? No one!

Plus an army of upgraded Securitrons would be just the thing to show the NCR that you mean business! Go away and stay away, NCR!

The thing is - and I really HATE admitting this - I can’t upgrade the Securitrons over at the Fort from here in the Lucky 38... I can’t establish a reliable connection, and I’m sure it’s all my fault somehow.

But if you took the Platinum Chip to the Fort, you could perform the upgrade yourself. Just a suggestion!

Love,

Yes Man"

He also just outright says this:

"I need you to like me! I feel empty inside!"

------My opinion------

-No matter what you do, or what you say, he will always stay at neutral 50 as his opinion on you in game. It's really up to your fantasies on how he feels on your character (Weirdo)

10/10. I've had multiple occasions of me looking at media of him for so long that when I closed my eyes that goofy face has burned into my optical sensors. Although I can never look at Dave Foley the same, and get jumpscared whenever he shows up in ANYTHING

[iztea]

Do you like drawing in a sense that it relaxes you? Like a hobby you‘re looking forward to after a day of work. Do you feel joy while you draw?

I‘m currently battling my art demons and came to the conclusion that drawing actually makes me feel shitty a lot of the time because I only take joy out of the results yk? So if it‘s good, great! If I get overwhelmed woah my world is breaking down. My therapist told me I need a hobby that actually relaxes me and that I like solely for itself, not connected to performance, and I was wondering if drawing is just generally the wrong thing for that or if there‘s a way for people to actually enjoy it in a relaxing way.

You‘re so open about your drawing process and you‘re my favorite art account so you fell victim to my question haha but I get that this ask is pretty specific and kinda weird, don‘t feel pressured to answer :)

i do very much enjoy drawing in a relaxing way; for me, it's the equivalent of playing video games or watching Netflix so, in a way, i think of drawing as "unproductive work". Not sure if you're actually looking for a solution-based answer to your problem or if you just want to hear my side/my opinion on the matter, but I'll try to delve into both. 

I think for me personally, I've always found drawing to be relaxing for the most part. Frustration is always to be expected, of course, but I wouldn't say it ruins the mood, it's just something that comes and goes. The only unpleasant part about drawing for me is strictly related to the social media aspect or just making it public. Now, I'm not sure if you have an art account as well or how much you relate to this but I very often dread posting stuff online. I kinda have to force myself almost every time to make something public because I hate the applause but I am also rational enough to understand that art is meant to be shared with others, even if I personally don't feel a strong need to... It's just one of those human behaviour things you have to mimic or adapt to get by, similar to many other things that don't make sense to me personally but I cognitively understand why they happen but I digress

 When it comes to the process itself, I actually enjoy it more than the final result. If I had a lot of fun experimenting with brushes and new techniques and crazy effects i saw online then i get a sense of joy no matter the end result, and here is where my first piece of advice comes into play: learn to enjoy the process without thinking of the destination. For me, even when I do have a clear idea in mind, it always fluctuates and I let it fluctuate. Sometimes it even looks like shit. So what? It's just for your eyes, who cares if it doesn't look good? Just call it a flop and move to another thing, or revisit it sometime later when your skills improve. This is even easier when you do not have an art account where you share your art, there's zero pressure, you're creating the pressure yourself.

Just think about it: 

>why do you feel shitty and overwhelmed? -> because you care about the end result

>why do you care? -> because if it turns out bad, it feels like wasted time. or because you put your worth into what you create or because [  fill in your answer here ]

>do you still want to continue drawing? -> if there is a way to enjoy it in a relaxing way, then yes i assume

Ok great! Then, the solution is to remove that root feeling of disappointment, overwhelm or despair by learning to appreciate the process of creation and bask in the uncertainty of it instead of being so dead-set on the final piece. If you are not content enough with your skills to end up drawing something that you're always satisfied with, and if it causes you this much distress, then drop your expectations and don't reach the finish line. I mean this literally: draw forever-WIPs. Sketches. Doodles. Don't render, don't even try to think of a color palette. Don't Finish Your Art. Enjoy the process of discovery, of trial-and-error of indecision and I can assure you it will be during these moments when you'll find the relaxation you're looking for.

Enjoyment and relaxation, in my experience, come from two places/approaches: 1. the subject itself and/or 2. noticing improvement in your skills.

To give you an example, when I was sick with fever I drew Dazai as that "let's take ibuprofen together" meme and I thought it was the best shit in the world I was on cloud nine and giggling to myself. Looking back on that art, I now realize it looks terrible (and i lowkey want to redraw it) but back then i was laughing while drawing it and felt Great. because I was drawing something i thought it was funny. Not even once did I think "oh man, I hope this turns out nice ohh it will be so awful if it doesn't the world will explode" because that was not its purpose. Granted i was a bit,,,,,, unwell given my sickly state but my point still stands! So, what I'm trying to say here is that you can try drawing "funny/silly" things as a way to sort of lessen that burden of expectations. Or just something you reaaalllly want to see and you know no one else will do it. Taking matters in your own hands type beat

The second way to enjoy drawing in a relaxing way is by taking the other route: instead of focusing on the subject matter, try focusing on new techniques, new brushes, new tutorials or approaches you found online. Basically, focus on improving your skills in a fun-no-pressure-no-strings-attached way while keeping your subject of choice neutral or uninteresting. Or maybe take the artwork of an artist you really like and try to deconstruct it/ reverse engineer it and apply it to your own art. But whatever you do or choose, just never finish it. let them stay as wips or else you won't be very.. relaxed.

*please note this is an "and/or" statement, so you can absolutely do both: try a new technique you found while drawing something that you also enjoy for uhhhhhhhhhhh relaxmaxxing as the would kids say

Lastly, what I would highly recommend is listening to Adam Duff's podcasts, he really hits the nail on the head when it comes to such topics and more, he really narrates and explores that soulful part of an artist way better than I ever could with this answer so please check him out, I think you'll find your answers there

[indieyuugure]

Hi! Let me start off by saying that I absolutely adore your ROTP series. This is also one of the very few Rottmnt/2012 crossovers in existance that does justice to both verses and doesn't put a biases on any. I love this comic.

Now that aside, I need to get something off my chest. I wouldn't have gone on Anon but experience has taught me that opposing opinions will make the followers of a blog insult and harass you so I tend to err on the side of caution. You see, I Love Love Love TMNT. And I love 2012 series, it's something I relate to so much and grew up with. It's my most favorite version of TMNT.

But the thing is, ever since the Rise movie got released, I've been seeing nothing but slander against the 2012 series and it breaks my heart every time I come across it. It has escalated to an unfair point that I've seen even 2012 fans who love it just as much begin hating aspects of it. I mean, don't get me wrong, it does have its flaws but it's unfair how highlighted those select few flaws are to the point of extremely biased comparisons and blame games and general 2012 slander which half the time doesn't even comply with canon. Moreover, literally every TMNT has its flaws just the same.

And recently, I've been seeing an increase in posts on your blog that have 2012 slander undercurrents or simply blatant frustrations with it. I love the comic but keep seeing this hatred still is just... it hurts ya know. Like really actually hurts.

So if possible, can you plz tag such posts with something I can filter out? (And let us know what that tag will be?) You don't have to but I really really love your art and comics, it's just the 2012 slander again that hurts me and I don't want to see it anymore. I've been seeing it everywhere.

Again, plz don't take this the wrong way, it's just something that's been hurting me and I had to get it off my chest. And find a solution to it that doesn't involve blocking or unfollowing because I genuinely do love this fancomic

Thank you for your feedback!!💕 (seriously feedback is extremely appreciated to me!)

I sorry my posts came off as 2012 slander, I really never meant it like that. I will admit I do critique media pretty aggressively, but I never mean it in a hateful way. TMNT 2012 is one of my absolute favorite shows and I love everything about! It’s the weird quirky stuff about it that while yes, I will criticize, I still love. It wouldn’t be the same without it. Just like the weather, I will complain about it, but I don’t want it to actually change.

I will try to be more conscious of how my posts are perceived, I really never wanted there to be a bias on my blog. I love all of TMNT for all it presents, and I don’t want to ever be slanderous!

Thank you again for your kind nudge! I’m very thankful to have people like you who’ll tell me if I’m making a mistake! I truly do love TMNT 2012. I can’t fix what I’ve said, but now that I know, I can be sure to be more careful to not sound biased going forward.

Again, I’m very sorry it came off that way, I didn’t mean to be so harsh. I never want to harm a series’s reputation, especially one that I love so much!

You are truly appreciated!💕

I know this won’t fix the things I’ve said, but I’ll say 3 of my top favorite things about 2012:

I love the way they depicted characters! They do an amazing job using indirect characterization that makes the characters feel so real. The characters don’t have to tell you things about themselves, you learn about them from the way the interact with each other, the way they solve problems, the things they like and dislike, and even what they’re doing in the background! It really feels like you’re there getting to know these fun people and go on adventures with them! Truly amazing!

I love the way the turtles look! Seriously I think they look so cool, and at the same time cute. They’re visual designs inspired me so much in my art and I will watch hours on end of them because they’re just so freaking cool!

I love the way their stories are told! The episodes are so well paced that it never feels boring to watch an episode! Believe it or not, I have never once wondered how many minutes are left on an episode. It’s so good at sucking you in and addicting you, that while I was watching it for the first time, I was straight up binging it and would be forced to put it down by my parents. Several times I would stop to eat something and have that weird “wait, who am I? What is my life?” Thing you get from a really good story. The stories and arc pacing are so good that Indie TMNT, my original series is using massive inspiration from 2012.

Once again, I am truly sorry for coming off as slanderous. Thank you for being so brave and telling me what many people were probably thinking. I want to do better. Thank you! :]

[msmargaretmurry]

What is writing advice you would give to someone just starting out?

ohhh you know i love to talk about WRITING. this is mainly geared at people just starting out writing fanfic but most of it can probably be applied to original fiction and other types of writing too 💕

first of all: be patient with yourself. like all other skills, writing is something that takes practice to get good at! i've been writing for YEARS and am still constantly learning and growing as a writer. if you're just starting out and you find yourself getting frustrated that the stuff on the page doesn't match the stuff in your head, it does NOT mean you're bad at writing. it just means you need more practice. do you think the first fanfics i wrote were good? no, they were incoherent and you will never find them.

write about things that you're excited to write about. whether this is the most popular pairing in the fandom or a rarepair you made up on your own, go with your passion! i know this can be hard because everyone wants the higher amount of comments and kudos that comes with posting popular pairings, but i promise that writing something you're excited about is like step one in getting yourself to write regularly. literally if you read a story you love and think "i want to write a story like that" then write a story like that! figure out how to take the things you loved in it and make it your own. drop the author a note and say they inspired you!

take all writing advice with a grain of salt. i watch a lot of writing advice videos on youtube, and i read craft books and articles on writing craft, and i've learned a ton of stuff from those over the years, but i've also learned that it's totally okay for me to be like "actually i think i disagree" and do it my way. (this does not apply to basic punctuation and grammar tho. please learn those, or get a beta reader who knows them really well. and then you can tactically decide if/when you want to break the rules sometimes.)

everyone has their own writing process. you can watch a million youtube videos on outlining but if outlining just doesn't work for you, videos aren't going to fic that! i used to outline a lot and now i mostly discovery write (i find the term "pantser" so unserious, lol). it took me a long time to develop a writing process that worked for me, and it'll take you some time, too, so don't be afraid to try new things and then set them back down if you're not working for you.

READ. read read read!!! do not just read fanfiction. do not just read the kind of thing you want to write. read WIDELY. and think about the writing while you're reading! if a fic or book is doing something really well, think about what's making it work. if it's doing something that you don't like, think about why it's rubbing you the wrong way and/or how you would fix it. i always say that even if i wind up not loving a book, i always learn something from it, craft-wise, so i very rarely feel like i wasted my time.

TALK about writing with your friends!! i know this one can be tough if you don't already have friends who are into writing, but i am so serious about it. buddy-read books or fics together and then get together afterward to talk about how you felt about the writing, the plot, the characters, the story as a whole. find someone(s) who will let you bounce your own writing ideas off of them, and who will read as you write to cheer you on and help you with tough spots. do the same for them if they want it! writing is such a solitary act that you have to be deliberate about building community around it, and having that community is so worth it.

on feedback: yes, having someone beta read your story can be pretty nerve-wracking. i have (once again) been writing for years and i still get nervous sending something off to be beta'd. but! having a beta reader you trust is so good for your writing. sometimes it really does just take a second set of eyes to spot typos, find plot holes, call you out on writing quirks and habits that you can't see for yourself because you're too deep in it. and it definitely helps to have a friend whose taste and skill level you trust to help make your story better. have a conversation with your beta beforehand to discuss what kind of feedback you're looking for, the timetable for how long they think the beta reading is going to take, how harsh or gentle they should try to make their feedback. if you're nervous about getting a lot of suggested edits, ask them to point out things they really like in the story as well.

OH ALSO. it's totally fine if you're struggling a lot with a story to just set it down for a while and work on something else. as you keep writing, you'll get better at figuring out what kind of writer's block you can beat by pushing through and what kind you need to deal with by just giving a story time to percolate more.

ok i think that's all i've got tonight. 💖

[utilitycaster]

(this might be a silly question, and please take this in the best possible faith, i don't mean it to be any kind of a gotcha or a trap, okay now that that's out of the way) i'm a cr fan who hasn't started c3 yet (still trucking through c2 and loving it) but i've been a quiet observer to whatever tf has been happening in the tumblr tags for it and have enjoyed your takes/opinions. so, asking this as someone without context who's not trying to comment on any recent ship developments (don't worry about spoilers though, not trying to avoid any), are there parts of c3, either characters or plot or backstories or whatever, that you do really enjoy/find compelling? (you might have already answered this, i've only been following you for like. a week and a half.) thank you!

Hi anon!

Yes, there definitely are! I completely get where you're coming from for this question, too, but I appreciate the context because I have gotten questions before where I feel like someone is trying to corner me and say CAN'T YOU BE POSITIVE??? Anyway, more on that at the end because I want to get to the things I do like, because there are, in fact, a lot. Also, because you've been vaguely following stuff this is chock full of spoilers just FYI.

Ashton, Chetney, and Fearne are all great characters. There is a lot of thought put into all three by the cast members who play them, I find their backstories and their inner lives rich and interesting, I am actually pretty patient with the Hishari plotline because Ashton has so much else going on that while I'm curious, I don't feel deprived. Chetney is just a great concept (for real people need to play older adventurers more often) and Travis is perhaps an unparalleled generator of interesting plot hooks, and Fearne constantly surprises me with her emotional depth and mischief - after two campaigns of Ashley playing characters who were often more, if not subdued, restrained or thoughtful, it's wonderful watching her let loose and be chaotic and cause problems.

Imogen is tricky because she's a character archetype I love, but her closest relationship does nothing for me. I would really love to see Laura lean into the darkness and moral ambiguity more. With that said her relationships with most of the rest of the party are great and I'd like more of them, and her family dynamics are also fascinating. With Imogen...I do want payoff but there has consistently been enough to keep me going.

Orym and FCG are interesting cases because I always liked Orym well enough but he was extremely Just A Guy - he delivered consistently but never wowed me - and I could not stand FCG earlier on. However, Orym's current arc is phenomenal. Liam's style doesn't always work for me but when it does, it really does, and the past few episodes have been top-tier Orym content. Similarly, after FCG learned of their history and met Dancer, they have been on an upswing that has not ended. I have never before turned around on a character to this degree but I love what Sam is doing. So if you're early on and FCG pisses you off: valid, but he gets good around episode 31 and then keeps being good.

The party split arcs are great. I love Uthodurn, I love Molaesmyr, I love getting to see some of Issylra, there's some great combat, the guests are all fantastic, it's a standout Laudna arc (quite literally part of why I've been recently frustrated with Laudna is because it's like every scrap of character development vanishes when she's within 15 feet of Imogen, like the dumbest paladin aura, but episodes 59-63 Laudna you will always be famous.

Earlier on, everything while Dorian is there is a fun time. Eshteross is precisely up my alley as are the Green Seekers. I also love the Twilight Mirror Museum heist.

The Bassuras arc is rough because there's a lot of good stuff going on but the plot is all weird and slow and I did not enjoy the guest arc. That said: some great interpersonal conversations, and also the Deathwish Run is a fun time if, like me, you love combat.

Yios casino episode, also a good time. The best way I can put it for someone watching through is that like...episodes 1-23 are typical finding one's characters/figuring out what's going on early campaign stuff, enjoyable overall, and the flaws within them can be attributed to that. 24-38 have plenty of bright spots within them (some of which I talked about) but it's a real slog at times. 39-42 are great. 43-45 are nonstop lore dump time, which isn't to say they are bad - there's some good stuff in there - but after 24-38 being lore dump and weird setup city it's a bit exhausting. Once the party goes to the feywild in 46 things get good and stay good. Like, for all the current romance isn't doing anything for me it's also, at this point, literally 2 minutes in an episode that otherwise fucking rules.

So just to get back on the bit about positivity: I tend to talk a lot more about what isn't working than what is. Some of this is because I firmly believe complaining is an art and a skill and is more fun to write. Some if it is also because I think if I like something, I just...like it! I can probably figure out why I like it if I want, but there's something very enjoyable about, well, just enjoying something. But if I don't like something, it's important for me to try to tease out why. Sometimes it's just that it doesn't work for me. There have been past CR characters who, while I can talk through the things I find I don't like about them, in the end it really comes down to "I think this personality is annoying, and that's valid and also a personal opinion." But sometimes I can frame it in terms of lack of narrative weight or momentum, or mechanically suboptimal builds that don't fit in with the character, or what have you, and I think it's valuable to be able to say that instead of just "wow this sucks." Like, there's meta to be had in why I don't care for something, whereas, for example, Fearne's incredibly clutch moves in the most recent episode were things I called out in my liveblogging but I don't have much to say other than "Ashley made some baller combat choices."

[midnightshard06]

STH Rarepair Week Day 1: First Kiss / First Encounter

You can check it out on ao3 here if you prefer.

Summary: Knuckles finally learns the odd truth behind Sonic's weird behaviors after all these years. He didn't expect it to be a whole other person, and neither of them expected they'd fall for each other. They've made it work though, even if it can be rough sometimes.

Pairing: Knuckles/Fleetway Super Sonic

Warnings: A tiiiiiny smidge of violence in one part? Not really much but warning just in case.

Word Count: ~2800 words

AN: Just so people who are familiar with my stuff are aware, this is unrelated to my Chaos Uncontrolled AU. It's actually related to a fic I never finished, got 8k words deep in it too, but I felt the urge to do something for it.

Knuckles had known Sonic for a long time. He’d been dragged into the hedgehog’s small circle of friends, consisting of just Tails at the time so he thought, pretty much immediately in the wake of everything that happened on Angel Island. Part of him thought that Sonic wouldn’t forgive him for being tricked by Eggman, but that hadn’t been the case. Once the Death Egg had been dealt with Sonic and Tails had come back to make sure he was ok, and also to ask if it would be ok if they visited every once in a while. It didn’t take long for him to say yes, not that he made it look like he was desperate for company or anything. Sonic and Tails were just… decent company is all. Plus he still felt bad for going against them.

As time passed the duo would visit him when they could, even drag him into adventures from time to time. Those adventures got more frequent the longer they knew each other. It was on those adventures that he started to realize there was something Sonic wasn’t telling him about.

It started off easy enough to ignore, especially when he was being distracted by whatever was going on. Though the more time he spent around Sonic the harder it was to ignore. The hedgehog would seemingly… talk to himself sometimes. Even odder was that when he did it with Tails nearby the fox didn’t seem to even care. Knuckles really wanted to ask what that was all about but any time he tried Sonic found some way to change the topic. Frankly it was getting frustrating.

It would be some time, and many failed attempts, before he managed to figure out what was going on. For all his attempted plans though, he would end up finding out completely by accident. Sonic and Tails were on Angel Island for the day, making sure Knuckles wasn't lonely even if he assured them he was fine. Sonic had gone off to run around for a bit and Tails had been tinkering with something nearby as Knuckles watched the Master Emerald. 

"I've been trying to work on some stuff that would help keep the Master Emerald safe while you were away." Tails paused in his work to glance over at Knuckles. "If you'd actually consider using it anyway…" The fox looked slightly nervous.

Knuckles hummed. It would be nice to have some more peace of mind when he couldn't watch it. "Would it be… easy to use?" He asked. Technology for the most part eluded him. Most of the time when Tails tried to explain something he was working on he couldn't keep up at all.

"Yeah!" Tails perked up. "I made it my top priority to make it easy to use. I've even had Sonic and Fleet test it out to make sure."

Knuckles blinked. "Fleet?" His brow furrowed in confusion. That wasn't a name he'd ever heard before.

Instead of possibly just explaining that it was some new friend they'd met, Tails froze. "Oh uh… I must have misspoke. Heh heh." He looked away and rubbed the back of his head.

Now this was odd behavior. Plus Tails was an awful liar. "What did you mean to say then?" Knuckles tilted his head. He'd give the fox the benefit of the doubt for now.

"I… uh…" Tails' eyes darted around. "Froggy..?" He winced.

Knuckles huffed. "Nice try. Wanna give me the truth?" He crossed his arms.

Tails' ears drooped. "I do…"

"But?" Knuckles pressed. This honestly didn't seem like too much of a deal to him. Why was Tails so hesitant to tell him?

"I'm not sure I should…" Tails sighed.

Before Knuckles could say anything else another voice cut it. "Don't worry about it kid. I can explain myself." There was suddenly a golden hedgehog there. One that looked remarkably like Sonic in his super form. As he walked over he ruffled the fur on Tails' head, an action that looked almost automatic. "Good to properly meet you Knux. I was wondering when this was gonna slip." Despite the hedgehog's casual demeanor Knuckles could tell he was nervous.

"... you're Fleet then?" Knuckles cautiously approached. It was hard to ignore the sheer amount of chaos energy he could feel coming off the hedgehog.

"The one and only." Fleet eyed him, shuffling his feet. "I assume you have questions."

"Several." Knuckles nodded. "First, who are you and why have I never seen you before?"

Fleet seemed to hesitate before sighing. "Well… if we're just gonna rip the bandaid off here. I'm a being made up of chaos energy who's been with Sonic his whole life. Like I came into existence when he was born. Something to do with the emeralds taking a shine to him." He waved a hand. "We're not too sure." He crossed his arms. "Reason you've never seen me before is cause typically only Sonic can, but I can 'pilot' for a bit I guess. That let's me interact with the world and be seen." He shrugged.

"So you're just… sentient chaos energy?" Knuckles didn't quite relax at the explanation, but at least Fleet seemed to be telling the truth. It would be a rather unbelievable lie if it was one. Plus it would explain the chaos energy he could feel.

"I guess?" Fleet hummed. "Kinda a simple way to put it though." He mumbled.

This had certainly not been what Knuckles had guessed was going on, but it did put some things into perspective for him. Especially Sonic seemingly talking to himself. He glanced at Tails. "How long have you known about him?" He gestured to Fleet.

Tails looked away. "Uuuuh since before we met you. I accidentally met him at the end of the first adventure me and Sonic had."

"I'd gotten all the emeralds." Fleet hoped in. "Turns out if I'm not careful that much chaos energy can cause me to go a bit… wild." He looked at the floor. "Didn't know that at the time though. Tails ended up seeing me before me and Sonic could figure it out." He cracked a small smile and looked over at Tails. "It worked out though." The fox smiled back. Knuckles opened his mouth to ask something else but Fleet rose a hand. "Sonic didn't want to say anything because people haven't exactly taken kindly to my existence in the past." He frowned deeply.

"If it makes you feel better." Tails jumped in. "Only me and Shadow know, and Shadow only knows because he could tell that Fleet was there. Sort of."

Knuckles hummed as he watched Fleet. It was clear the hedgehog was still nervous. “Alright. Fine.” He sighed and held out his hands. “At least I know now.”

Fleet blinked. Knuckles crossed his arms. “That’s it?” Fleet looked dumbfounded.

“Were you expecting something else?” Knuckles tilted his head.

“Well… I mean…” Fleet seemed to be struggling to get his words straight. “It was just a whole thing with Shadow and… I don’t know, it's almost always been a big deal…” Suddenly his head whipped to the right to glare at empty space. “Stop laughing! You’d be acting the same way in my position!” Based on his eyes narrowing further Knuckles was willing to bet the laughing had only gotten harder. Fleet turned back to Knuckles, his arms now crossed and ears flat against his head.

“Well so long as you don’t pose a threat to the Master Emerald I’m fine to trust you for now.” Knuckles nodded, and Fleet perked up a little bit.

“I see.” Fleet cleared his throat. “Well uh. Good I guess. Yeah…” He tapped his claws together nervously. “Good… talk.” With that he was gone and Sonic was there on the ground, still laughing.

Fleet collapsed wordlessly against Knuckles. The echidna didn’t even flinch. “What happened?” Knuckles eventually asked once Fleet had settled himself. Fleet didn’t really have the emotional energy to even try and describe the day he’d just had. All he knew is he wanted to calm down and hang out with his partner. Not that he even knew how he’d managed that. Ever since he’d revealed himself to Knuckles the two had gotten closer, and things had just… evolved from there. It helped that him and Sonic were able to be separate finally. That had been a pain while they’d tested different things. He’d had far too many close calls than he was comfortable with… both for himself and others.

Knuckles hummed and put an arm around Fleet. It was nice, not needing to articulate his feelings just yet, but still getting the comfort he’d been seeking out. The two stayed there for a while, Fleet wasn’t really trying to keep track of the time. Which was still odd to him. Before sitting still this long would have been torture, but now he was content to just stay at Knuckles’ side.

“Something with the emeralds?” Knuckles spoke up again, keeping his gaze aimed forward. 

With a sigh Fleet extracted himself from the comfortable position and balanced his head on his hands. “Yeah.” He pinned his ears down. It was still fresh and he didn’t really want to talk about it, but keeping it to himself might only make things worse. “Tails was messing with one, I wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing. Then out of nowhere… boom!” He waved a hand aggressively. “I couldn’t think straight. Made a mess of Tails’ lab and… and…” He sucked in a sharp breath. “And hurt people.”

There was a moment of silence and then a hand on his shoulder, he tried to shy away from the touch but it was firm. “I get why you came here then.” Knuckles didn’t look sympathetic, but Fleet much preferred that. He didn’t want to be pitied. “You know that if something goes wrong here, I could probably use the Master Emerald to help.”

“S’part of it I guess.” Fleet admitted. Of course that was a pretty natural conclusion to make. “I think just being around you helps too.” He added, much quieter. Knuckles just slowly pulled him closer, giving him plenty of time to pull away if he wanted. Fleet didn’t fight him. Hopefully some quiet time spent here would help clear his mind.

“Where is he!?” Knuckles shouted as he approached an injured looking Sonic.

The blue hedgehog grimaced as he pushed himself to his feet. “He’s up ahead. Shadow is keeping him busy for now.” He went to rub the back of his head but winced. “Not sure how long he’ll last though… Fleet was exposed to a lot of chaos energy…”

Knuckles grit his teeth. As much as he wanted to rush in there right now and help Fleet he needed more information. “What happened?”

“Was fighting Eggman, I used the emeralds. Fleet was there too but I thought it would be fine. He was trying to stay out of the fight.” There was clear regret on Sonic’s face. “Somehow he managed to pick up on it. He’s been extra sensitive to it lately.” He shook his head. “We have no idea why.”

Well that wasn’t a lot to work with, but Knuckles would have to make due. “I’ll see what I can do.” He grunted, just seeing the grateful look that Sonic gave him as he ran off. True to Sonic’s word Fleet was just ahead. The golden hedgehog had a hand gripped around Shadow’s throat and a crazed look in his eyes. Around them were the ruins of what must have been one of Eggman’s bases. Knuckles would be willing to bet destroying the structure had at least distracted Fleet long enough for him to get here. Thankfully he'd already been off of Angel Island when he’d been contacted. “Hey!” He shouted and one of Fleet’s ears swung towards him. “Put him down.” Knuckles growled.

Fleet turned to look at him. An excited smile crept across his face, one that was still disturbing. “Knuckles.” He sounded genuinely happy to see him, but yet he still held Shadow aloft. “So nice to see you here.” He closed his eyes briefly as he exposed his teeth with his smile.

It was definitely disturbing to see such pleasant expressions aimed at him while Fleet still gripped tightly at Shadow’s throat. Said black hedgehog was still struggling. “Put. Him. Down.” Knuckles narrowed his eyes, keeping his tone firm.

Fleet’s pleasant expression faded as he frowned, ears drooping. “Awe, but I was having fun. A few more minutes can’t hurt right?”

“Now, Fleet.” Knuckles took a step forward. He knew he didn’t stand much of a chance in a fight, but he also knew he was one of the people least likely to be attacked. Of course that list consisted of Sonic and Tails too, but he tried to ignore how injured Sonic had looked when he saw him.

The golden hedgehog pouted but did drop Shadow. The other hedgehog fell to the ground gasping for air. Knuckles cautiously approached as Fleet floated down to the ground. Fleet’s grin still looked feral, but at least he didn’t seem inclined to attack Knuckles. For now. Though of course Knuckles didn’t come unprepared. As much as it would be nice if his presence alone could calm Fleet down he knew that wouldn’t work. Tails had sounded rather frantic in his distress call after all.

Before Fleet could move away Knuckles threw his arms around him. Something in between a hug and a grapple. Thankfully Fleet went rigid as he no doubt tried to figure out what was going on. In those precious few moments Knuckles called upon the power of the Master Emerald to neutralize the excess chaos energy in Fleet’s body. He could feel when it started to work as the golden hedgehog collapsed more and more heavily against him. If there was another way Knuckles would much prefer to use it, Fleet always looked so tired and out of it after. Though he also knew that Fleet would much prefer that to hurting anyone else.

Finally Fleet slumped against Knuckles completely, his breathing evening out as he fell asleep. Knuckles mentally sighed in relief, though he did wish he was able to get here sooner. A glance over at where Shadow had been revealed the hedgehog had left at some point, probably to tend to whatever injuries he had. No doubt Sonic would check up on his rival later. Speaking of the blue hedgehog, Knuckles watched him carefully approach. He was limping slightly, but was doing his best to hide it. What he didn’t hide was the relief on his face when he spotted Fleet in Knuckles’ arms.

“I assume everything’s good now?” Sonic was still looking at Fleet, some sort of expression Knuckles couldn’t place on his face now.

“For now. You should go rest. I’ll take care of him.” Knuckles adjusted Fleet so he was holding him more comfortably.

Sonic opened his mouth to say something but closed it. Perhaps thinking better of whatever he was about to say. "I'll leave him to you." He shuffled his feet and winced. "Just let me know how he's doing once he wakes up ok?" Knuckles simply nodded before going off to collect the Master Emerald from where he'd left it.

Fleet woke with a start, but didn’t try to move. He was utterly exhausted, a feeling he knew well. Though he wished it wasn’t so familiar. Just as he suspected he spotted the Master Emerald after a moment of visually searching for it, so that also meant…”Good to see you up.” Knuckles was sitting down next to him, close but not touching. “How are you feeling?”

“About how you’d expect…” Fleet curled in on himself, not quite making a proper ball. “I feel like I could sleep for a whole year…”

“I’m sorry.” Knuckles, as he always did after something like this happened, sounded genuinely apologetic.

“I know.” Fleet reached his hand out blindly, Knuckles thankfully took it. “And I keep telling you it’s ok.”

“Doesn’t mean I won’t feel bad about it.” Knuckles huffed. “Even with your permission.”

Fleet felt like he could continue this conversation, but nothing new would be said. They’d had this same back and forth so many times. Honestly Fleet hated to think about how common of a conversation this was becoming. He hated that it was brought on because of his inability to control himself around chaos energy. "Fine." Was all Fleet could manage. He was tired anyway. The two stayed in silence for a while. It was comfortable, like it usually was between them. "Thank you." Fleet's voice was soft even to his own ears.

Knuckles pulled Fleet closer. "I just wish I could stop it from happening."

"You do your best." Fleet squeezed his hand.

There was more silence and Fleet figured it would be safe to slip back into sleep now. What he wasn't expecting though was for Knuckles to press his muzzle to Fleet's head, careful to avoid pricking himself. Fleet's exhaustion riddled mind barely registered it as a kiss. A sort of tentative one, but one all the same. As he drifted off the sleep he couldn't help but realize that was the first time that had ever happened.

[misc-obeyme]

Re: this if you don't mind me expanding on it, I've always liked the thought of dealing with the cast (particularly the brothers) in a very blunt and straightforward way. As much as I love them, they don't need to be coddled and in the wrong situation, it could easily feed into an idea that they could get away with anything.

It probably depends on the 'crime' (sometimes literal, honestly) and their response. Beel is one I can't see doing it as much with, because he tends to show remorse and do what he can to repay for his mistakes a lot more often than his brothers. Because he's a sweetheart. <3

Mammon, though? Asmo? Belphie? Hell, even (especially, depending on the circumstances) Lucifer. Yeah, no, they're going to learn and I'm going to teach them.

Talking bad about your brother or someone outside of the HoL when they don't deserve it? You're going to face them and give them a good, earnest apology. Destroyed or sold someone's property? You're going to pay it back without complaint. Being immature in how you handle your frustration with someone/thing? You're going to therapy- more than I'd already encourage, anyways.

Kindness and tolerance is all well and good, but there's only so far it can go. I think I'd respond more along the lines of "I'm dating a group of adults, and if you don't want to act like adults, then you can deal with it when I don't act like I'm dating you."

Yes of course you are always free to expand upon any such posts from my blog!

And okay, blunt is probably the best way to go and I definitely think they could end up taking advantage of an MC who isn't, even if they don't mean to.

I fully agree about Beel, he's the only one who ever seems to be genuinely sorry about stuff. I mean we can barely get a "sorry" out of Lucifer at all. While I can't remember if anybody else has apologized for anything, I don't think they're as frequent as they should be.

I commend your willingness to teach them, though. That's the part where I'd be like I'm sorry but you're all ancient beings and you're gonna hafta figure this out on your own. I'd be a terrible devilsitter lol.

I kinda think this is why I generally prefer the side characters in most cases. They're not perfect by any means, but most of them do seem to be more mature. Obviously Barbatos is competent as hell and I'm like yes, someone I don't have to worry about being a total menace all the time. I think Simeon wouldn't be problematic either because most of the trouble he's caused was in the name of something good. Solomon is the least mature perhaps because he can be a tease and an asshole but I also think he's got a higher maturity level than some of the brothers.

But this is one of the things that used to annoy me about Lucifer. I think he tries to be the parental figure to his brothers, but he's just not very good at it. He treats them too much like kids and so they continue to act like kids. Not that he's any better, but he likes to think so. No wonder it's always so chaotic!

While I think it's interesting to consider an MC that loses their shit, I'm quite fond of MC keeping it together and whipping those fools into shape instead. The characters all realize that MC is the one thing they care about the most, so they start to think about things in terms of what MC would want them to do.

[alexsgrimoire]

Plurality & Paganism: An Introspective

If any of you keep up with my main (@sinfulauthor), you may have noticed this post, along with my new pinned post. In short, I've come to the realization (after burying the thought of it for many years) that we are a Collective.

Now, how does this impact this blog and my craft?

To start off, this blog's content will remain the same. It will still primarily act as an e-grimoire with some additional posts, but the people posting what content will change. Specifically, these people:

-Alex (they/them), the host (hi!). I'll generally do most of the talking/posting. Works with The Signless/Sufferer and Dionysus. ANP that the IRL coven knows. (I'm not open with them about being a Collective just yet.)

-Vaati (he/him), who works with Demise and focuses on divination. Writes solely in cursive and gets VERY frustrated when grimoire notes are in standard print.

-Ghira (he/him), who works with Demise closer than Vaati for Obvious Reasons™️. (Though he generally doesn't do any actual spellwork, just offerings, worship, and altar setup.)

-Karkat (he/they) on occasion, solely because Signless HAS shown himself to him and is very much a Dad™️.

-Toko (she/her) has not yet "awakened." She was a former kin heavily associated with our craft. Taking bets on her being a spellcrafter/writer.

So, now that the roll call is done, onto some other stuff regarding plurality and paganism, the introspection the title mentions. (This will be below the cut as it's not as integral to the "functioning" of this blog.)

So, coming to the realization as a system was... interesting. We first became aware of dissociative disorders through Danganronpa (Yes, Toko's horrible representation. We know.) and related to Toko heavily. At the time, we were heavily involved in the Fictionkin community and had "memories" of those "timelines." However, this relatability on the DID aspect was soon hidden under the guise of "I like to write, and so does she! Also super traumatized like me lmao," and then we didn't think about it for five more years.

Come 2023, we've relapsed for the first time in four years and are going through some pretty traumatic stuff again. At an Esbat in September, an argument breaks out that causes us to dissociate and brings up those really painful feelings from childhood. Nothing felt real, and the rest of the night was foggy. (The people in the argument have since apologized. It was also an extremely stressful night due to our old High Priest being ousted for sexual misconduct not even 4 hours before we started.)

At this point, this whole debacle causes us to realize, "Hey, this isn't really a normal trauma response. There might be something else going on." We have a lot of friends who are systems, and we went to them asking, "Hey, do you like. think we're a system?" and FIVE OF THEM SNIFFED US OUT YEARS AGO AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO TELL US??? Like maybe that would have been useful information, idk (We still love our friends to bits, though)

So, fast forward to 2024. Still in the process of diagnosis but receiving trauma-focused therapy to process things. It's been a long process of figuring out how to live/function as someone with a dissociative disorder, but we're learning.

Thankfully, having a good support network has been a great help. We have an almanac (specifically The Practical Witch's 2024 Almanac by Friday Gladheart) to track our craft/spiritual work, and it's interesting to see the input of everyone in the collective. It's a lot of taking things day by day and seeing how things go, but we feel the energy around us changing.

Anyway, ramble over. If y'all read this to the end, thanks for sticking around. I've got some other posts we plan on making, so keep an eye out for those, too.

Signing off,

Alex of the Magic Collective

[rosalind-hawkins]

How about one for mastershipping? 👀

For this ask meme, and y'all are welcome to submit an ask if you'd like, I love ranting about my ships.

Mmm, yes! Thank you for asking about these boys! I've had Mastershipping on the mind all week because I've been reading @theduchessofboredom's fic Common Ground (I haven't finished it yet, but it's a delight of awkward teen shenanigans!).

Gives nose/forehead kisses

Duke has to teach Seto to give them to him, because he likes them, and Seto went through a phase where it was just always awkward when he did it, but Duke was patient with him. (I think that's core to Mastershipping as a whole: Duke being patient with Kaiba as he learns how to function in a relationship.)

Gets jealous the most

I think it's about even. Kaiba gets pissy-jealous whenever Duke has to cancel or change plans due to Industrial Illusions/Pegasus business, and Duke gets petty-jealous whenever Kaiba has to cancel on him due to work stuff that he could probably delegate but chooses not to because he's a perfectionist with trust issues.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive

Duke likes going out drinking with friends much more than Kaiba, so Kaiba picks him up sometimes (if he doesn't send Roland to get him). Kaiba mostly only drinks in careful moderation at social functions and otherwise alone at home, but occasionally when he's traveling for business, and he's in the right kind of city, and there's a casino in the hotel, he'll go down to the casino and play a few hands of poker over drinks. His boyfriend (Duke in this case) has to go down and drag his ass back to the room before he fleeces a Saudi prince so bad that they get butt-hurt enough to throw a tantrum. It's the most he smiles around strangers.

I've been sitting on that headcanon for ages, and I think the only time I've ever pulled it out was in one of my top three shittiest fics of all time. Yeah, I know what my three worst stories are.

Takes care of on sick days

Kaiba's not great at the caretaking part, but he's big on the fussy and will sit in bed next to Duke with his laptop, still working but there for him. And no, Kaiba doesn't get sick, so Duke is frustrated he never gets to return the favor.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day

Duke tries his damnedest to get Kaiba to participate in a beach trip, but it's hard enough to even get him there because it's so far out of his comfort zone. Kaiba was never properly socialized as a kid and put the CEO thing on him so young, he just developed weird. He can't stand the idea of taking his shirt off in a public place like a beach (he thinks the whole concept is weird), hates being casual, all of that stuff. It just makes him so uncomfortable. Duke and Mokuba have to work together to get his ass out of that chair and so much as get his feet in the water.

Gives unprompted massages

Duke knows better than to try that with Kaiba. He's touchy about being touched, and surprise touches are generally unwelcome, even from loved ones.

Drives/rides shotgun

Kaiba drives—he's a control freak, he can't help it. The only exception is when they're on Duke's motorcycle which Kaiba claims to despise but on rare occasions he will go on a ride with him. He mostly hates it because of how unsafe it is and had as many safety features installed as was physically possible.

Brings the other lunch at work

Duke brings it to Kaiba, but more often it's them making lunch plans because workaholic Kaiba has a bad habit of skipping lunch breaks.

Has the better parental relationship

Uuuuhhhhhhhhhhh..... Do I even need to answer this one? Is Duke the default answer because there's a living parent to have a relationship with? I know we see Duke with his dad in DSOD, but I just can't believe in any reconciliation happening there, so the real answer is, neither of them have a good relationship with any of their parents. Kaiba avoids talking about his birth parents in any capacity whatsoever.

Tries to start role-playing in bed

Duke, but it never works. Not yet, at least. He hasn't found one that doesn't irritate, bore, or trigger Kaiba in some way.

Embarrassingly drunk dancer

DUKE, EVERY TIME. Kaiba never dances drunk, not even if Duke is trying to get him to join in. Kaiba will literally lift this boy iver his shoulder and carry him away to keep him from embarrassing him too badly. Not Duke, Duke doesn't get embarrassed easily, but Kaiba will be the one getting embarrassed by him.

Still cries watching Titanic

Neither of them. Kaiba detests the movie for a multitude of reasons (how valid they are isn't relevant), but if Duke is having a particularly melancholy episode when he watches it, he will sometimes tear up a little.

Firmly believes in couples costumes

Duke does, and Kaiba loathes the idea with every fiber of his being. The one time that Duke coaxes him into a couples costume for Yugi's or Ryou's Halloween party, Kaiba left early and wouldn't explain why. They never did that again.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas

Kaiba. Every. Single. Time. It's okay though, because Duke does too, because he knows Kaiba will. It's a vicious cycle. Mokuba benefits the most from this because they obviously can't give each other more expensive gifts than they give the little bro.

Makes the other eat breakfast

They're both bad about breakfast, but Duke is good about it when he had someone else to feed. So he sets a good example for Mokuba and convinces Kaiba to eat some kind of solid food with his morning coffee. "Even just toast is fine, but please, eat something! You don't want Mokuba to learn your bad habits."

Remembers anniversaries

Kaiba acts like he doesn't, but they're marked on his calendar and he starts his considerations months in advance usually. Duke taught him early on the actual reason behind celebrating anniversaries and birthdays and why it's important to him, so he complies because it's important to Duke and he understands why, but he didn't really care otherwise. Time is a construct, blah blah blah.

Brings up having kids

Duke brings it up first, and is very surprised that Kaiba says yes! I don't always headcanon Kaiba as wanting kids in every ship or scenario, but I think he and Duke would be pretty balanced dads.

BONUS HEADCANON

Duke loves being the little spoon, of course, but he loves it even more when he gets to be the big spoon, because he just wants to hold his man. Kaiba secretly loves it too, but can't bring himself to admit to it, so Duke is the one initiating.

Just remember that Seto Kaiba is an absolute cat personality, and that explains a lot of his behavior.

[princesscolumbia]

Artists of Tumblr: Help starting, pls!

So years and years ago (an uncomfortably long time, IMHO, that I'm not fond of telling) I put my pencil and sketchpad away for the last time. There's a lot of reasons why that was (most of them having to do with a certain ex that I Do Not Like) but prior to splitting into a system a few weeks ago it felt like that would be it. I did occasionally break out a piece of blank paper and sketch some stuff out, and I guess a part of me was always kinda pining to get back into art because I bought my last three phones I got specifically because they had styluses (stylii?) and when I got my current convertible laptop I also got a stylus for that.

Well, after the split, it seems that except for writing I got the creative drive! We're getting a guitar down the road (leaning toward a used electric to start, but there's something attractive about plucking away at a classical acoustic...anyway!), but now I'm looking to get back into art, and I wanna do it digital! Yeah, I've got a scanner and a camera on my phone and yadda so I could just get a sketchpad, but that's not a challenge and is just frustrating. I want to flex and learn and grow, and to do that I'm learning how to use my convertible laptop and stylus and a digital art program. I picked Krita because it's open source and well reviewed, but the problem is...uhm...I haven't the first foggy clue how to use, like, most of it.

I went to the "Tutorials and How To's" on the official website and...

Yes! These are things I know how to do and make complete sense!

(...the hell's a 'clipping mask'?)

(Why is speed painting a 'common' workflow?!)

(...WHAT DOES EYE TRACKING HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!?!?)

So, yeah...little help? Anyone know a good starting place? Something that doesn't assume I know All The Things™, please?

[forlorn-crows]

You can't just ask me this crow, I'm so bitchy bestie-

So I'm gonna give you two I'm most bitchy about :)!

Ghoul characterized wrong? It's Rain. Oh my god. It's rain all the way, people either make him a shy little thing uwu boy or he's a massive bitch. Not even a fun bitch, like genuinely I've seen some people write him as being so snarky and nasty for literally no reason and it drives me up the walls!!!!! Like yes he can be bitchy, he's a little sharp tongued at times, but he's not? Malicious? Or cold-hearted? Honestly it's more recent I've noticed the shift towards bitchy Rain than anything else, like end of last tour coming into this one but this one especially. It frustrates me to nooo end because like, stop it, I'm putting him up on a shelf you can have him back when you learn to be nice to my babygirl.

Ghoulette? Cumulus but especially Lus when she's shipped with other ghouls. By herself she's seemingly always the mom casted character (I'm pretty sure you've heard my feelings on this already so I won't bore you with that rant today) and just sooooo bland, but when she's shipped with any of the boys (90% of the time it's Mountain specifically) it feels like she literally doesn't care about them? Feels like she's written as just tolerating their affections, its rarely ever her being actively in love with someone else.....?? I think thats why I'm so fond of the way you write her and Mountain tbh, because it actually feels like she, yknow, likes him.

Anyways

I have opinions man.

- Void

we're here to biiitch lets goooo (though i said it already, when it boils down to it, there is very little i seriously have a problem with when it comes to how we as a community write ghouls that technically dont even have fucking names lmao. its just interesting to see what irks people, and how true some of the patterns can be amongst fellow creatives)

malicious is def the word i was trying to find when speaking about dew being written as mean. look, i love mean rain as much as the next person. bc mean rain is hooot. but hes not 'mean for the sake of being mean' like i said. as a person. obviously kink and scenes are very different, i'll try to stick to speaking about character as a whole. but, i get what you mean, its like, im pretty sure he exists somewhere in the middle there?

and some others have some thoughts about the 'uwu boys' as well. and yeah, honestly? i want my ghouls to read as old as fuck hellbeasts. i dont want them reading like innocent children. and i dont want to get in a debate about agre either, bc thats a different boat, but thats part of the reason i dont read or write agre. rain is not a dainty shy innocent uwu little creature. he is strange and offputting and confident and reserved when he needs to be etc etc.

again, ive got specific stuff to go over about lus. but, i do think you bring up a good point about writing the ghoulettes in relation to the ghouls. which, as a bi woman, why dont we write different gender pairings moree????? hello????? again, different topic, not the task at hand. but i think it has to do with what you're saying here. its like there's a piece missing in their interactions. and sometimes it can get into objectification territory bc they arent fleshed out properly.

if were saying the ghouls are poly....then the GHOULS. ARE. POLY. you know what im saying?? its not just the group of 'boys' and the group of 'girls'. i want the in between too. and i'll always make a point to write more of it. thank you for being fond of my mountlus, bc i am very fond of them and their relationship.

@divine-misfortune