me, busy? oh not really, just staring lovingly at the drawing my girlfriend made of us for valentines day while i handmake a card with a poem i wrote about her

Hey<3

I hope you're having a lovely day like you♡

I have a lil request which is OM brothers accidentally hitting MC maybe in the face or smth.

Thank you in advance ☺

a/n: considering the daily chaos that ensues at the HoL, I could see a lot of accidents happening. plus, they're demons—maybe they forget their own strength, y'know?

➤ when accidents happen | the demon brothers

1.1k words | sfw | hurt/comfort | gn!reader

Lucifer makes a grab for someone—probably Mammon or Satan—who ducks behind you at the last moment, causing his hand to swipe across your cheek or forehead instead. You rub the sore spot and start sputtering angrily at them, glaring back and forth between Lucifer's bewildered expression and the guilty face of the sibling he was reaching for. Their little fight is momentarily forgotten when they both comfort you and make sure you're okay. Lucifer feels the most guilt and over the next few days, you catch him staring at your face like he's trying to make absolutely sure you're not injured or holding a grudge against him. He eventually remembers how this whole situation started, and his sibling's delayed punishment is much more severe because you were caught in the crossfire.

Mammon nearly crashes into you in his rush to escape Lucifer or Levi's wrath. You have no idea what the shouting down the hall is about—maybe he spent too much money at the casino again or maybe he broke something valuable. All you know is that you're heading to the library and minding your own business when Mammon comes tearing around the corner at lightning-fast speed. It's comical how quickly his expression morphs from surprise to horror when he realizes you're in his path. He grazes your side even though he changes direction to avoid hitting you head-on. He loses his balance and the momentum sends him crashing to the floor. Whoever was chasing him catches up to him and there's gonna be hell to pay, but Mammon managed to avoid seriously hurting you and that's all he really cares about.

Levi shifts into his demon form when he's cuddled with you in his tub but he doesn't always realize it. You wake up most mornings with his tail wrapped around part of you: your arm, your waist, one of your legs. When Levi gets excited, his tail thumps against the porcelain. (You can't help but think about an excited dog wagging his tail, but you keep that comparison to yourself.) You usually fall asleep curled around each other, but sometimes his tail flails around enough that it wakes you up. Tonight his tail flicks roughly against the tip of your nose, and your eyes water from surprise and the initial burst of pain. You're fine again within a couple minutes, but that doesn't stop Levi from apologizing profusely and he nearly sobs with embarrassment over the whole thing.

Satan has better control over his frustration and rage now than when you first met him, but he still needs some sort of outlet when he feels overwhelmed. He usually storms off to his room and deals with it privately. You've offered him the solution of screaming into a pillow, but it's not soothing for him like it can be for you. He often destroys something instead—ripping a book to shreds (and regretting it later) or throwing something against the wall. Whatever's in his hand becomes collateral damage. If he forgets you're in his room too, it can be dangerous. He's never thrown something at you, but poor aim and bad luck means that whatever he sends flying against the wall can ricochet into pieces and hit you after. It's like a bucket of cold water dumping over his head when your little noise of surprise catches his attention, and he fusses over you endlessly while he makes sure you're not really hurt. He doesn't think it's funny when you grin and remind him that you're still in better shape than his now-destroyed coffee mug is.

Asmo rarely hurts you even by accident, and usually it's in silly moments of clumsy excitement. Today he painted his nails with a new nail art technique he hasn't tried before. You both lean down at the same time to admire his work and his forehead smacks into yours. You're both a little stunned and your eyes water from the shock rather than actual pain. He breaks out into giggles when you whine his name and try to blame him even though it's really no one's fault. Asmo accepts responsibility anyway and he apologizes profusely, but he hesitates to hug you when his nails are still wet and tacky with polish. He opens his arms wide so you can wrap your arms around his chest instead. He peppers your head with kisses and promises to make it up to you as soon as his nails are dry.

Usually Beel polishes off all the leftovers at dinner. Some nights you want extra helpings too, and it's like a mad dash to help yourself before Beel does. Tonight you both reach for the dish of hellfire scalloped potatoes at the same time. Your fingers grab the side of the dish first, but his fingers squeeze around yours immediately after. His grip is tight—too tight—and you wince from the pressure of his fingers digging into your hand and the uncomfortable heat of the ceramic dish against your palm. Mammon grabs his fork and stabs Beel's hand with it on your behalf. Beel looks so guilty when he pulls his arm away and insists that you can have the rest. His stomach growls in protest, but you know it was an accident and you're not really hurt. After you shake the stiffness from your fingers, you scoop some of the food onto his plate before helping yourself to the rest. Later on, he offers to take you out for ice cream as an apology.

When Belphie sleeps, he has some cursory awareness of what's going on around him but he tries to block it out. He's not easy to move around, either—his body is like dead weight, heavy and awkward and unyielding. When you nap together, he usually falls asleep and doesn't move around too much. You might scoot away when his body next to yours causes you to overheat, but he tends to stay exactly how he is. It's days when he has active dreams or bad nightmares that things can get a little awkward. He might wrap an arm around you suddenly and it's nearly impossible to wiggle free, and sometimes his tail makes an appearance and drapes over you when he feels particularly clingy. Sometimes your arm ends up pinched against the mattress after he rolls on top of you in his sleep. He'll wake up when he realizes it's you trying to get his attention, but his apologies for nearly crushing you don't sound very sincere. Once he's lifted himself off you, he lets you get repositioned first then he cuddles up beside you again. As he drifts off to sleep, he grumbles under his breath about how it couldn't have been that bad.

Hey, I noticed you have not said anything in a while are you okay?

Yes!! I had a minor Identity crisis because when i started this comic I was both homeschooled and in a very verryyyyyy bad household situation. I left that situation and like-- I was overwhelmed. I started public school after basically being isolated my whole life. Like i seriously had like 5 friends and I only saw 2 regularly (like once a week)

So I got really overwhelmed and stopped feeling artsy at all. Because frankly I was burnt out. I started productive therapy and am trying to like give myself time and stuff-- be a better person and focus more on the people around me and growing and stuff.

It's really weird coming out of a situation like that and wanting to draw because art was all I was, it was my outlet, and it allowed me to be entirely happy in that dimension of my life. But I had to re-learn my relationship with art because that was still an odd connection to like, entire escapism.

I know I want to continue the comic eventually but for the time being, I'm still just working on myself and my AP art stuff. It's difficult lol. Cus being homeschooled (if i wanna call it that because honestly I was not educated properly until recently. Or vaccinated. I had to get vaccinated in full at 17. yeah.) and then going to public school. It's entirely different. How i spend my time is a lot more valuable now.

I'm very thankful for the people I met through fnaf though, a lot of yall got me through a very tough time in my life and supported me without knowing it. I love this comic and this section of the community. Yall are the bomb 💖

I definitely don't owe an explanation but I felt that I wanted to give one. Because I kinda have mostly disappeared off the face of tumblr for the past year or so-- which might have been a cause for concern for some of my friends.

If it turns out I don't continue the comic ever, I'll make sure I tell you or somebody how I'd plan for it to go. So ya'll don't end with never knowing. But for now I still plan to

"will shouldn't use a gun in season five because his father probably taught him how to use one and that could be a bad reminder for him" have you considered that will using what was very likely a Bad experience to save his life in what is undoubtedly an even worse experience could be a good thing? have you considered that him using a skill he was forced to learn to save not only himself but (as is likely more important and meaningful to him) the lives of others could give him a sense of usefulness and safety knowing that he isn't defenseless and can stand his and others' ground if need be? especially considering that's a skill that we've only seen hopper and nancy possess, making it that much more valuable and himself more helpful to the group? after everything in s1 and s2, he's probably felt guilty for having endangered them and dozens of other people multiple times, i don't think it'd be out there for him to feel "happy" that he can finally return the favor and protect them for once (especially after having complained about being babied and treated like a doll).

"will doesn't have and shouldn't have powers because that makes him different and he doesn't want to be different" not only are you wrong lol <3 but how have you not noticed that will's entire thing since the very beginning is that he is different and he knows it and while he does get his heart broken over the fact that this means he faces constant unfairness in life, he still refuses to be any other way? will doesn't conform nor does he ever try to even when others try to force or shame him to. he gets frustrated and upset at being treated differently, yes, but he stays true to himself. to battle that feeling he sometimes gets that tells him he's a mistake, a feeling he gets not from his own otherness but from living in a world that Makes it an otherness and thus isolates him for it, he seeks out that which he loves and enjoys and throws himself wholeheartedly at it. will lives his truth and is willing to suffer the consequences for it. he refuses to live in darkness and let it take a hold of him. he holds on to hope and all that makes him feel better for being different. he holds on to art, to dnd, to video games, to his family and his friends, and everything that brings him joy and reminds him that it's okay to be different. in s1 joyce defends will ("he's missing is what he is") and jonathan tells him he shouldn't like things that other people (namely their homophobic dad) try to force him to like, that he should like what he genuinely likes. in s2 jonathan gives will the freak speech and tells him that no one normal ever accomplished anything and mentions bowie. in s3, he doesn't get a speech, (though joyce does tell him that when he falls in love he won't find it gross [avoiding the word girlfriend and leaving it neutral]) but he does face backlash from someone that IS trying to conform and IS shaming will for not letting go of "childish" things aka his interests, what's important to him, and what he wants. does will back down or shy away in shame? no. instead, he lets mike sit in his shame for having said something that hurtful, and he says "yeah. i guess i did. i really did." clearly this is a conversation about what makes will different aka his sexuality bc he goes and destroys castle byers (the safe place he and his brother built once their homophobic dad left which is a place will can be himself unapologetically) with what is likely a bat that lonnie gave him when trying to get him into baseball. he calls himself stupid and donates his dnd books, but i don't see this as an act of conformity (he tells mike as much, suggesting he'll just use his books + if he was ashamed he wouldn't have painted the party as their dnd characters and given it to him of all people lol). he felt stupid because he thought they'd always be crazy together, that they were of the same mind and heart still, and that they had the same brand of "otherness" if you catch my drift. then in s4 we get jonathan's tender "you're my brother and there is nothing absolutely nothing that will ever change that" which is the most direct anyone has ever been about that which makes will different. and he doesn't shy away from it! he doesn't deny it, because we can see from his confession and how he breaks down that he's desperately been wanting and needing to hear that. he accepts that love and allows himself to be held and seen by someone else, as he has every other time. because will doesn't hate being different, he just hates that he has to live in a world where that's seen as wrong and thus makes him feel like he doesn't belong because of it. but he doesn't change himself. he doesn't feel ashamed of it. he doesn't see it as a flaw in himself or others and he never has. will is different and he knows it and he wouldn't have it any other way.

will's story since the beginning has been about being different and going through awful things, and managing to not only find the light in it but also make it out stronger because of it all. it's always been about using what makes him different as a good thing and as something he uses to save himself and others.

will being good with a gun bought him time with whatever kidnapped him. will knowing how to run and hide kept him alive in the upside down. will acted as a spy while possessed and managed not only to save hopper but also tell them how to finish this. will's experiences and senses helped them figure out what was happening in season three. will's love and loyalty inspires mike and manages to bring him to a better place even if just for a moment in the van, and again he's the one that knows vecna's current state, aaaand had he been in hawkins at the time it likely would've gone a lot better because as dustin said "we need will".

taking something awful and turning it into a good thing and a source of strength is a wonderful trope. it's inspiring and empowering not only for the character but for those that could use that hope and reminder that there's always a silver lining, that life isn't all darkness and shadows and hurt. not only that, but it's something that they've literally always done for will since the very beginning. he is the prime character for that. his entire message has always been that it's okay to be different and that you can find strength and peace in that; that the things that make you different aren't a detriment, they're precisely what make you strong. like... i'm sorry, but have you not been paying attention at all whatsoever this entire time or... :/

Thoughts of Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

Spoilers for Birds of Prey (2023-) #6

So the newest issue of the current Birds of Prey comic has recently come out and I guess since I took the time to make multiple fairly long-ish posts about this run, I should go over my thoughts here.

To sum things up... I thought it okay but also not really too big of a fan by the end of it. I didn't exactly dislike it, but I guess it left me with too many questions and felt a bit too contrived. It was enjoyable enough, but kinda felt like my enjoy-ness of it decreased with each subsequent issue. It wasn't bad, but I guess that's my knee-jerk fresh reaction.

Of course, it still possible that there is more to the story than there is now and that future issues will reveal new information which might clear up some of my issues more, I'll be discussing that as well...

Note again that I am a novice in comics, and Gotham Academy was one of the first I read fully so perhaps I'm biased in that area. But to go over my thoughts for why I kinda feel slightly disappointed in more detail...

What was the point of Meridian?

Warning of future doom, apparently. So as it turns out, the real reason that Barbara wasn't include was because she died eleven times already

(the fact that this was far from Meridian's first attempt was foreshadowed last issue with her noting where the last battle "always is"). So someone is out to get the Birds of Prey, and they're possibly using Future Maps time travel tech to do it.

While this does somewhat answer the question of why Barbara was specifically excluded; still doesn't explain the secrecy.

Like, all these visions of Barbara dying have her in her Batgirl outfit, so couldn't she just have been informed she'd die and asked to oversee the mission as Oracle? Or does that also somehow lead to her death?

Being kept in the loop would also presumably have greatly helped avoid awkward feelings like this. And from what I know of Barbara, her tactical mind is probably more valuable than her martial art skills. But I guess whatever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP would've found a way to get to Babs anyway? (also on a side note; Barbara getting hurt by not being included was at least one thing I kinda predicted. My other, more thougt-out predictions though... well I'll get to those in a bit)

It also confirms that Dinah indeed did not apparently get any explanation for why she had to exclude Barbara until after the mission was complete and.... that feels weird?

Like I said, I'm a novice on comics (although I am now definitely adding more Birds of Prey stuff to my to-read list) so I'm not the biggest expert on these characters. Nevertheless it feels that Black Canary here would've agreed to attack Wonder Woman and her people while excluding Oracle all on the word of a time traveller she's likely never met before (and in the present is a teenager who she's likely never met before either) without even demanding a damn good explanation first.

I guess it was more dramatic from a story perspective for Meridian to reveal this stuff now and set up the next arc. But it still just feels contrived to me. Maybe I'm overlooking/overthinking something though?

Meridian's Motives

So I've gone over a theory before that Meridian was in fact evil and possibly even connected to Megaera. That theory was not confirmed, or overly supported, by this. And it does seem like Meridian is probably on the up-and-up.

Perhaps I'm a tad biased/sunk-cost fallacy right now since I spent a decent amount of time on the theory of Meridian being evil, but still worth noting that this mission ended up Megaera possessing Sin, albeit with Sin in control (and presumably actually in control because Megaera said Sin was in control while Sin used the lasso on her).

There's still quite a few similarities between Meridian and Megaera which are a bit difficult to overlook (you can check out the link I placed above where i went into more detail into that).

Its worth noting as well that Meridian mentioned that whichever evil time traveller is targeting the BoP, they're using her technology most likely. An interesting detail, and one which raises q

Could it be Meridian is hiding something still? All the information we know about the future and her motives comes from her after all.

Or could it be she's being controlled without her knowledge? Or a second Meridian is up and about?

Perhaps it seems like I'm still focusing a disproportionate amount on Meridian, but she still remains the driving force behind all this issues of the narrative which have somewhat hurt my enjoyment and given me questions.

And to repeat what I've said before. Meridian seems like a strange direction for the character of Maps Mizoguchi.

As I've alluded to before, I'm probably quite biased in this area because I've read Gotham Academy years ago before I really got into comics like I have recently and it was one of the first runs I've finished and stuff.

Maps is a character who wants to be Robin. And that's the path which she seems to have been developed upon during her fairly recent return.

Given how still early she is in her storyline of becoming Robin (or some other kind of vigilante) it just still feels like a strange choice for Maps Mizoguchi of all people to show up as a time traveling hero with a persona and skillset which seems in stark contrast to her every prior appearance.

Meridian does not appear to be a martial artist, Maps doesn't appear to be a tech genius. Magic would seem like a more likely 'superpower' than super-tech for Maps considering the more supernatural focus of Gotham Academy.

Maps has been established with a preference for swords while Meridian is only shown fighting using a fancy taser.

Am I thinking too deeply into it? Probably, yes.

But still feels like an overall strange decision to introduce Future Maps in such a manner. Especially when Present Maps has only returned to semi-focus in recent years and still hasn't really developed too much in her own current goals (such as being Robin).

So taking a character who's still in need of a bit more focus and development and then giving them a future persona which is at contrast to their current development chain? Seems odd.

Also at first i just assumed Meridian comes from a post-apocalyptic future which would be retconned out of the timeline by this arc. But Meridian's comments about how she doesn't take time travel lightly and is trying to right the timeline suggests she does not in fact come from a post-apocalyptic timeline.

So does that mean Maps is destined to become Meriden?

Again, this is probably my bias due to Gotham Academy nostalgia. But I'm not sure if I'm too much of a fan of this direction for her.

Especially, as I keep noting, Present Maps has only barely gotten started on working on becoming Robin (or any-kind of vigilante); but Meridian seems to suggest Maps is going to drop her current direction and go in a completely different direction at some point in the future.

Well those of my thoughts I guess. I suppose I'll see how things develop from here.

While I did find the Birds of Prey quite well-drawn so far and fairly enjoyable. All this thoughts I've gone over and the general feeling this arc was a tad contrived has all somewhat mitigated my enjoyment.

So you guys know i (try to) post daily doodles, and i have said before that i draw for about 2-3 hrs every night. BUT that also means i dont post about like 80-90% of the drawings i do each night. Today though, i've been thinking about A*I and my own relationship with drawing, and how utterly baffled i am that anyone would want to use it to like...draw for them..and how the concept that *tell a computer what art to do so i dont have to do it* is alien to me. So here's ALL the drawings i did tonight. The bottom one is the last one i did and the one i would normally post. And i want to talk about A*I without talking about good or bad end product. Because i dont care if im making the shittiest art in the universe - i still wouldn't use A*I. Not even as a ‘tool’.

If you've been around here for a while you know i have a love/hate relationship with my art. I write too, but writing doesnt make me so frustrated and angry that i want to throw my computer out a second story window. HOWEVER. There is a huge caveat to that anger.

It happens after.

You could look at it a little like hockey. Every game is fresh, right? I mean god knows the US made an entire movie about how every game is a new game and the odds could always fall in your favor no matter how stacked against you. So every drawing i go into it excited - like LOOK at that reference material, its gorgeous. The gesture is beautiful, the post is interesting, there is something about it that is just begging to be drawn. But then say you hit intermission in the hockey game and the opposing team scored a few points. And i step back and look at the drawing and realize i started to go wrong somewhere along the way. But its too late now, you gotta commit and keep going. And you do but somehow the final score is STILL 6 to 0 and thats when i want to flush all my art down the toilet and never look at it again. But its okay because the next drawing is going to start with a blank canvas and who cares what happened last time.

Ok maybe a bad example.

The product is never really what drives me to draw - i mean, sure i do like it a heck of a lot better when i have something /anything/ that i can post to show that im sticking with my everyday doodle. But its not a requirement to doodling. The process of drawing is always fun. Its when i come out of it and look at the stupid thing that im like ‘well fuck i fucked that one up again didnt i’, and THEN i get annoyed lol.

I dont sit there consumed with frustration over ‘gee i dont know what to draw’. This is never an issue. I HAVE TOO MUCH TO DRAW. Sometimes i avoid certain gifs/photos because in the back of my mind im like ‘yeah no, i havent leveled up that far yet, i cant do that justice’. But i dont want to admit the sheer number of images of geno alone i have saved. I think my biggest reference folder is still aoki and that has over two thousand screenshots - i dont think anyone will ever surpass that LOL. I have a never ending supply of practice art to be done.

The frustration comes when i have an image in my head and i want to get it down on paper so-to-speak (computer whatever). So - when im NOT using reference (or at least not an exact one) and am making an ‘illustration’ (ish). But again, the process isn't the issue. I like the act of drawing, i like the image in my head slowly taking shape, i like how vividly i can see it. Yall know how obsessed i am with personality - that's not just part of the drawing, that IS the drawing. And each deicision in the illustration is defined by the personality/character.

A computer can't fucking do this.

Could i maybe tell a computer ‘draw geno in the shower’. Sure. And it probably could. And if i didnt care about the process - if all i wanted was a very good drawing of geno in the shower....that probably would be fine. Maybe great even. Maybe it would be the best damn drawing of geno in the shower ever. And then i'd feel like shit because a machine is producing art that is more valuable to other people than mine ever will be. But holy fucking shit that ruins the entire POINT of drawing???? Why would you do that?

I mean, im sure yall can infer the entire point of the act of drawing geno in the shower. He's hot, he's wet. ANYWAY.

In my opinion, a person who wants the end product and doesn't care about the process of getting there....that person is not an artist. That person is someone who enjoys art, and probably thinks they have a lot of good ideas to make into art, but who doesn't feel that pull to make art themselves. They just want to buy art. And they want it cheap. And mindless computers being trained in seconds on the decades of creativity and hard work of art masters is a heck of a lot cheaper than a human.

And the hardest part of all this for me is how worthless this makes me feel - nobody wants you, they want that automatic button. Kinda like my dad that way (haha)

ADELEINE BACKSTORY GO!!!!!!!!! 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Ok so-

Adeleine had… a life back on Shiver Star. She was dumped at a research facility when she was only two years old because her parents wanted cash. She was raised there by scientists and engineers who were just trying to find a way to get humanity off the planet- mostly via replicating the warp portal technology their ancestors used to get there in the first place. Most of the kids who ended up there were used in such tests, or for experimental rockets that uh… didn’t get too far.

Adeleine was lucky though. She, clutching her big blue paint brush, proved she was wayyy too valuable to be used for stuff like that. She could just… paint things that came to life. Nobody understood why or how, but she definitely was doing that. So instead, they were trying to figure out how she could do that and if it could be a way for them to get off of the planet.

But then it started to get too cold… and Adeleine was one of the few people still left that was contractually signed to be used for experimental technology. So this poor little seven year old was given her art things, stuffed up in a tiny shuttle, and sent off to what was assumed to be her demise.

… But it wasn’t. She woke up, days, possibly even weeks later on planet Pop Star. She was sitting around the rubble of the ship, since it seemed to have had a bad crash. She had a brutal gash on her arm, but she couldn’t feel it. She was too… confused. And it only got more confusing when three very not normal figures showed up.

Drawcia, Paintra, and Vividria had been going around the planet looking for things to do art studies of, when they heard a massive crash and immediately went to go investigate. They ended up finding spilled art supplies and metal that might be good for mixed medium stuff and were like “awesome!” until Drawcia went to pick up a canvas, and had it pulled away by a small, scared little girl in heavy winter clothes.

They put two and two together pretty quickly and realized that the girl had been in whatever crashed and blew up there, and then Vividria pointed out how badly injured she looked. So the three of them managed to coax her into coming with them back to where they lived, in a very reclusive, far away part of the planet. Adeleine had nowhere else to go, so they helped her with her things and brought her there to tend to her wounds and hopefully find out what she was and where she came from.

After getting fixed up, Adeleine explained everything she could. Where she came from, who and what she was, and what she remembered of getting to this new place. She also offhandedly mentioned the painting things and having them become real thing like it was totally normal, but to the sisters it is just normal so they happily accepted both that fact and Adeleine. She basically became their fourth sister, although she was more like a niece to Drawcia and Paintra, who she often just called her aunts, and a cousin to Vividria.

She was raised by them, going out and around, getting better at her art and able to control her paintings and when they should and shouldn’t come to life, and eventually allowed to explore by herself when she was 12. That’s when she ended up in Cloudy Park, and fairly shortly after that, down in Quiet Forest, where she was then assimilated into Kirby’s found family friend group.

So yeah, uh, I actually really like this one finally. Adeleine does remember what Shiver Star was like (and is horribly scared of snow now) and is basically related to the other painters! She still definitely visits them. She also tries to invite them to gatherings, but only Vividria goes since she’s one of the Star Allies anyway. Also Adeleine was absolutely overjoyed to see her there and completely forgot about Ribbon’s existence for a few minutes and totally ignored her.

And Drawcia was okay after the whole Canvas Curse thing. She never told Adeleine about it because she didn’t want her to start hating Kirby.

🌟calling all Swifties!🌟

this is important and pertains to you so read up!!!!

my life has been filled with countless memories, emotions, and heartfelt connections thanks to Taylor. from the first time i heard her music to the present day, Taylor's music has been the thread that weaves through the fabric of my life, and has guided me through every trial and tribulation. i am not ashamed of that fact and i am very happy to say i have never felt dissatisfied. i have always felt heard and understood within her music, felt trusted and cared for within her words spoken and written to and about me, and i have always felt entertained with her games and puzzles and clues (note to taylor, this is not your life’s work, do not entertain us if we’re behaving bad! i know how much you love it, but keep that in mind cutie) i can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the impact Taylor has had on my life. her lyrics have been a beacon of light in my darkest times, her music has always been a source of comfort during times of uncertainty. she sings me to sleep every night. literally. through her music, Taylor has not only entertained me but has also taught me valuable lessons about love, resilience, and the power of self-expression. but beyond the music, there's something deeper that has always drawn me to Taylor – her authenticity (duh), her vulnerability, her unwavering commitment to staying true to herself. ib a world where authenticity is often sacrificed for fame and celebrity, Taylor stands as a beacon of hope, a reminder that it's okay to be unapologetically yourself, flaws and all. god i love her for that.

yet, amidst the adoration and admiration, it's crucial for us, as swifties, to remember that Taylor is more than just a celebrity – she's a human being with feelings, desires, and a need for privacy. she's not an exhibit to be put on display for our entertainment. she deserves to have moments of peace and normalcy, away from the prying eyes of the public. including us. think about it: how would you feel if your every move was scrutinized, your every relationship dissected, your every vulnerability exposed for the world to see? it's a heartbreaking thought, isn't it?Taylor has spoken openly about her desire for privacy and her struggles with the constant invasion of her personal life “it feels like it’s more than music at this point”. and yet, even though there are challenges she faces with this, she continues to pour her heart and soul into her music, creating art that resonates with millions around the world.

i know you’re reading this and got to this point and are now thinking “ope well i love taylor, so this does not pertain to me” wrong it pertains to all of us.

posting pap pictures, or commenting on big publishers posts, or commenting on the situation at all publicly is a form of exploitation in my head. we are entertaining and feeding the idea that it is okay for people to stalk and photograph taylor while in private. even saying “i hate the paparazzi for this but omg so cute ilgd” is still encouraging it. trust me, i see those pics too and freak out with excitement but i refuse to comment or post them because that is disrespecting taylor as a human being. she is not an exhibit. don’t you think she wants some privacy with her boyfriend? don’t you think she wants to have a normal life at the zoo with friends alone? don’t you think it’s heartbreaking hearing her speak about these desires so vulnerably? don’t you think it’s wrong to then objectify her in this way? hearing her normal human needs and wants and then blatantly ignoring her and then throwing gas in the flame by posting them? she is a human and she is tired. i see it, her close friends and family probably see it, she loves what she does and she loves us and she is strong and capable of ignoring it, and capable of creating music, shows, and media for us to consume all the while. let's not add to her burdens by objectifying her or invading her privacy, please. let's be the kind of fans who respect her humanity and honor her wishes for privacy. let's show Taylor that we appreciate her not just as a musician but as a person – a person who deserves love, respect, and compassion. Taylor @taylorswift , if you're reading this, know that you are cherished, admired, and supported by countless fans who are eternally grateful for the music and memories you've given us. your strength, resilience, and unwavering commitment to staying true to yourself inspire us every day.

i love you all, but rethink your posts that expose pap pics and reevaluate your feelings and wants towards taylor and her fame. love ya 💖✨ -IZ

"more than friends"

some thoughts, from an aro with a queerplatonic partner and too much time to think.

so i recently entered a queerplatonic relationship. and i love xem so, so much. that's not what this post is about, much. My partner, in specific, i mean. but! i have found myself thinking things that... confuse me. and i wanted to type this out. mostly for myself, but maybe others will find it interesting.

"More than friends." The aro community hates this phrase. And for good reason!! We have every right to hate it, given how it's used to push amatonormativity on us and how it devalues platonic relationships.

Similarly, a lot of people refer to/see QPRs as "in-between" romance and friendship. A concept that is both incorrect and trying to once again, push the friendship-romance hierarchy (I don't know the right term for that but you know what I mean. I think? Yknow, the whole romance-is-the-best, friendship-is-less-valuable thing that society loves).

Okay. So why am I making this post? Well, honestly mostly because I'm trying to process my own thoughts and address things that I think are issues with my thinking. But also to maybe offer a perspective. Not a defense of the phrase "more than friends" but a reason as to why it's used.

[again, disclaimer: this is my own personal experience. Not all people in QPRs will feel the same way that I do. In fact, most will not]

So. My partner. I love xem. But I don't romantically love xem. I don't... know. What romantic attraction feels like. I don't know how to differentiate that from sexual attraction. I don't feel either. But I know that I don't... feel like other people do. I don't want to kiss anyone (at least on the lips), I don't want to go on pointless dates, I don't want to have a traditional family.

I... am very quickly realizing I have no clue what normal relationships entail. Um. I do know that I don't want romance, though. I don't know what romantic attraction feels like. But I know that I don't feel it (source: trust me dude (/j)).

And then there's platonic attraction. There is a lot I could talk about regarding how I feel about friendship in general (not /neg, not /pos, just observations and thoughts) but I'm just gonna skip around to the most relevant bits. So. My friends. I care about them, and I want them to be happy, because when they are happy I am happy. Insert other Friend Things here (examples: wanting to be there for them on bad days, putting in the effort to talk to them often, supporting their art/work as best i can, just generally being supportive). That's not the point here. Point is, I've got a pretty good grip on how friendship feels and what it entails.

Now, queerplatonic attraction. The best way I can describe it is somewhere in between. And I know! That that is EVERYTHING that people are pushing against!! That QPRs are NOT just "in between" romance and friendship, that they're a different kind of attraction. But I don't know how else to describe my feelings. I don't know how else to explain it. It's like friendship, but with an extra layer of something. And that's pushing the "more than friends" narrative, right?!? That's just pushing everything that enforces the idea that friendship is less than QPRS which are less than romance.

And... I don't know. I don't know where to go from here. I was hoping that I'd figure things out by writing this, but I'm just... Lost. The feelings I have for my QPP are like a blending of the line between platonic and romantic. And we are still friends!! That's the thing!! We are partners AND friends, and purely by.... I don't know what exactly, but. We are more than just friends. Because we still are friends. We're just also something else. Something deeper. And I don't know how else to put it. But I shouldn't put it this way! It's wrong, right? We aren't "more than friends" because QPRs aren't just "friendship plus," they're something else entirely. And yet. We are friends and also partners and I don't know how else to describe it.

Re-Read: Autocracy, #1-12

Okay, how to respond to Autocracy… I will admit this is one of those books I had never read before. It’s a lot and I’m finding it quite difficult to decide whether I like it or not.

Ramondelli’s art works quite well here, with some shots being atmospheric, and I’ve always liked how he draws winged characters. The darkness and scale of his art suits the tone of the story, as I think this amps up the edge more than the previous instalments, and we see far more places. I also think this book does a more effective job of establishing the scale of the pre-war conflicts, especially recognising just how much of the population is ‘neutral’. The pace also means that there is always movement, without necessarily being frantic - the 12 issues gave this book more room to breathe.

It’s interesting character-wise for Hot Rod/Rodimus, though I’m going to have to keep an eye on how this is integrated going forward. His approach to leadership earlier on in the book, an opposition to ‘big picture’ idealism of the kinds practiced by Megatron and Optimus, is rather interesting - though that seems to drop off towards the end, as he falls in line with Optimus more. Starscream’s growing irritation with Megatron is a sudden jump from Origin, but also makes quite a lot of sense, as this is a fairly self-indulgent version of Megatron.

Some of the continuity issues were there even for me, though, and that’s with a fairly incomplete knowledge of the continuity. The little thing is Springer knocking about pre-war, but I think Roche’s Sins of the Wreckers backstory came later, so that’s not avoidable. No, the big thing is Starscream being a Senate delegate despite the… events of Megatron: Origin, which is very jarring. I think that could have done with a bit more explaining, also just when Starscream got into politics, as I don’t remember that coming up previously? (I’m starting to realise how little concrete backstory I have even for some relatively major characters…). I can probably find in-story reasons to justify it if I reach hard enough, but it would be difficult and I suspect it was just a miscalculation.

Speaking of characters, this book is a mixed bag. You get a lot of characters, but on the other hand if you were hoping for gradual character arcs happening on page, then this is not the story for you. By the time this book gets going both Megatron and Zeta Prime have gone off the deep end and Orion Pax is most of the way there, too. This is particularly bad for Megatron and Zeta in the sense that it cuts short the time they get to be more grounded characters, which could have been narratively valuable. Rodimus’ characterisation is interesting, but I also went back and forth about whether it’s going to add texture as my re-read goes or, or whether this is a characterisation that was largely dropped by later writers. In a way, it felt like I was reading a character who was already at the end of a character arc that we didn’t get to see.

This comic fell off for me towards the end, especially when the Matrix reappeared. I have very mixed feelings about the Matrix in IDW1, which might become a bit of a theme... The book shifted from the rather edgy tone it had earlier to go more optimistic (?), which I found a bit jarring. The jump from early story Orion Pax to Optimus Prime thinking it’s a good idea to line up all of Megatron’s challengers in a tightly-knit column outside the defended walls of Megatron’s new base, seemingly because of the symbolic value of those panels rather than any in-story decision, was weird, not simply because it makes the Autobots look silly, but also because it’s like I could feel the author’s hand trying to pull me towards a more hopeful version of the narrative. 

My feelings are still mixed, but it was certainly interesting. Spotlight: Wheelie comes next, and I think I I remember it being in rhyme?

Rogue Protocol, Chapter 1

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one!)

In which Murderbot accidentally signs up for its actual job.

I have the worst luck with bot-driven transports.(1)

Its first journey was fine, nice and quiet and uninterrupted, but then Art happened, and as much trouble as Art was for MB, it misses it a lot.

The current transport is bot-driven, but it's carrying other passengers. Since MB doesn't want to raise any suspicions, it lists itself on the manifest with a different name from what it used on RaviHyral (Rin, not Eden) but still the occupation "security consultant". The bot transport decided that meant MB was its onboard security contingent for the ride, and now alerts MB when there's a problem. MB, for its part, "was an idiot and started responding" in the first place. It's what it was built to do, but it should have put up more resistance.

At first it was fine, and the people were pacified some when it made a copy of its media collection public and a lot of them spent a lot of time watching. But as the trip wore on, the passengers got into more and more elaborate entanglements. MB spends valuable media-watching time arbitrating instead.(2)

On the last cycle of the trip, everyone is somehow still alive, as MB heads into the mess to break up another fight. However, once it's taken the food utensil(3) being brandished as a weapon from one combatant, everyone in the room starts pointing and yelling about what they thought was happening.

MB, for its part, says it doesn't care.

Everyone shuts up.

MB reiterates they have six hours before docking, and then they can do whatever they want to each other.

The people start clamoring again to tell "Rin" what happened. It erases all memory of the details as soon as it gets out of the room.

They were all annoying and deeply inadequate humans, but I didn’t want to kill them. Okay, maybe a little.

MB has tolerated the human passengers' nonsense, partly because that's what it's used to, and partly because it feels a little bad for them. They've all signed twenty-year contracts on their labour, with a supposed payout at the end. It's a terrible deal, but everyone's aware that it's the best of a list of crap options for them. MB asked one of them, Ayres, if twenty years was measured by planetary standard, or the Corporation Rim Recommended Standard, or some other measure.

He didn’t know, and hadn’t understood why it mattered. Yeah, that was why I was trying not to get attached to any of them.(4)

MB would never have chosen this transport, but it was the only one going to the transit station it needs to get to Milu, a place outside the Corporation Rim. It had caught the first uncrewed transport out of the RaviHyral transit station, and from there, decided to check the feeds. It couldn't find much new, but there was an interview with Dr Mensah, from six cycles before. MB injects some feelings about hoping she and the other Preservation members were still safe,(5) before getting on to the analysis.

The investigation into GrayCris on the survey world was turning up something about a situation on Milu. So, MB decided to go investigate for itself, even though it thinks it knows what it will find. GrayCris wants alien civilization remnants, and the incident as described on Milu isn't quite what happened on the survey planet, but it IS suspicious as heck.

If MB can get Mensah proof of GrayCris's nefarious acts, the investigation might get heated. Maybe it would be enough to get the journalists to forget the rogue SecUnit. Maybe that would let Mensah to go back to Preservation where she'll be safe.(6) And, humans are typically very bad at covering their tracks.

So, MB had chosen at that station to go to the one transit station listed as having transport to Milu. Fortunately, it's also a hub for a number of other destinations, so it's neither suspicious nor a wasted trip either way. But, the one transport to HaveRatton was the one with the passengers.

Once MB is free of the fighting, it hides in its bunk until they're through the wormhole and it can pick up the station's feed. It wants to start looking for transport to Milu, and refresh its media. The latest show it started watching feels a little too close to the events of the survey planet with PresAux, but without a heroic SecUnit to save the humans.(7)

It turns to the transport schedules, but finds nothing to Milu, even in the next thirty cycles. It really wants to hurt GrayCris, and this seems the most promising lead. The Milu facility is listed with a floating population under a hundred people. Floating is good, people coming and going, but under a hundred is bad, because without a reason to be there, MB will face consequences if it's noticed, and everyone there will likely recognize a SecUnit.

MB checks the schedule for private ships, but still no listings… though there are a few ships with no listed destination, and one is just about the right specs to hold supplies for a hundred or so humans for a hundred or so cycles.(8)

The cargo ship had actually been scheduled to leave eighteen cycles ago, but had requested a hold. Six transports of varying sizes and points of origin were arriving on HaveRatton at the same time as my transport. The supply ship might have been waiting for one of those, if it was fulfilling specific cargo orders. It might have been waiting for a repair. To find out more, I’d have to ask in person.

=====

(1) I'm beginning to think I have to agree with it, if you count its luck with Art as "found a good friend, got into SO much trouble with its enabling and encouragement". (2) So rude of them to be humans, amirite? (3) Forks have got to be the greatest weapon of opportunity in existence, don't they? I can't think of forks without thinking of Kit Rocha's Mercenary Librarians, where they're a frequent weapon of choice for someone who will use whatever's to hand to get her point across. (4) Which is understandable. These people have locked themselves into good old modern indentured slavery. Getting emotionally attached means having emotional attachment to people you will never see again who will probably die horrible, painful deaths. (5) FRIENDSHIP! FEELINGS! It misses having humans it's safe to love. (6) The cartwheels MB has to do to justify expressing its love. It's so sweet. Terrifying, but sweet. (7) It's only been a couple of months and the investigation was probably not accurate, so it's not likely that the in-universe show is based on the in-universe events, though obviously if we twist to look at the author, Wells is making the direct comparison on purpose. I just think it's important to keep that sort of context in mind, because the strongest headcanons and theories are built on what you can know to be true, with the exclusion of that you know cannot be true, within the story. (I can highly recommend looking for the Watson and Doyle views of most situations in media, and comparing them. Watson is inside the story, Doyle is writing it, they have access to different information and will come to different conclusions based on it. Both have a lot of merit in evaluating things like "is this show based on MB's life".) (8) I can sense a road we're about to walk down, can't you?

robocalypse probably never: a.i. & art

I used to be a professional graphic designer. I quit for a variety of reasons. Like the time I wanted to teach a couple of my coworkers Photoshop, and my boss said, "Well, if you do that, what will I need you for?" Or the fact that none of my superiors could genuinely tell that my work was any better than what they could whip up in Canva. It absolutely was; but if they couldn't see it, did it matter?

I've thought about this a lot lately with all the A.I. business going on. The whole "will A.I. replace artists/writers/etc" conversation seems to be focused on whether A.I.-generated content can ever be as good as human art. Whether it will ever be, in every perceivable way, equivalent to human art.

I don't think that's the right question, though, and I don't think that's what's really bothering people. It's not what's really bothering me.

When I quit graphic design, I went back to school to study biology and psychology, with vague ideas of maybe switching into computer science and A.I. learning. I presented one paper about affective computing, thought about it a bit more, and decided it wasn't the field for me.

I don't think a computer can ever meaningfully simulate being human; I don't think we'll ever see the kind of truly indistinguishable A.I. everyone always thinks is just around the corner. I'm not worried that an algorithm with a typewriter will ever produce Shakespeare.

What worries me is that, whenever computers do reach their limits of simulated creativity, whatever slapdash approximation of human art they're able to produce will be good enough for most people. That they won't be able to tell any meaningful difference, the same way my boss thought anybody who could work Photoshop could replace me.

Right now, there are no end of websites pushing A.I. tools to generate blog posts and essays and articles purported to be equivalent to or better than human-written ones. Websites are already full of their output. If you're looking solely at things like that, it can feel like there soon won't be any place for human writing. The same with all the A.I.-generated "art". If everyone's so impressed with the seven-fingered image mashup nonsense these tools crank out, maybe there's no point in humans even bothering to make their own art anymore.

But there are two things I've been thinking about that contradict that.

One: I've touched on this a bit, but all the A.I. generated stuff ranges from amusing nonsense on the high end, down to absolute incoherent garbage. However good it's supposedly going to get any minute now, it's going to have limits. As a friend just pointed out to me, it sure can't fucking physically paint yet. I can definitely see art that is fully outside A.I.'s wheelhouse becoming more valuable because of that. Even with writing, just to take one example, everyone who's paying for it on the internet right now knows that there are a few things A.I. is okay at and a fuckload it's bad at. Even the content farms are saying "do not submit A.I.-generated garbage to us." If you want good writing, you need a human. Humans who can fucking write may end up being more valuable thanks to A.I., not less.

Two: This one's a little less concrete, but I think it should be even more important, because I think there are more important things about art than its monetary value. Even though my ex-boss probably still thinks Canva is better than me, I fucking know better. And there are quite a few other people who know better, too. One time, my workplace did this pop culture event, and I made a flier for it that I knew the target audience would think was cool. And I was right, because not only did it help bring in record numbers of attendees, one girl literally asked me to print her a fresh copy of the flier to keep with her other souvenirs of the event. No one ever fucking did that about a flier a coworker bashed out in five minutes using clipart.

My point is, you cannot make art for the 75% or 90% or 99.99998% of people, as the case may be, who can't tell the difference between it and computer-simulated garbage. You already don't. You don't make it for the people who don't get it; you make it for the ones who do. No matter how much of a content-farmed corporate hellscape the world of professional creativity becomes, you have to ultimately be in it for those rare moments where it connects with somebody. Those are not going away unless the machines replace every single human with a Terminator or whatever the fuck.

So no, I'm not really that worried about A.I. replacing me any more than I'm worried about ignorance and apathy replacing me. The SEO-content-monetisation-engagement drones are more than welcome to keep asking chatbots to generate shitty blog posts for each other to not read. It doesn't have any more to do with me than it ever did.

Machina - Deus ex...: Chapter 3

Location: “Test World” Plaza Characters: Mika, Shuu & Makoto

< In the “Test World”. Plaza modelled after ES’ sky garden. >

Mika: Ngh~ Nghahhhh~

I don’t understand what’s goin’ on at all… Someone’s placed a huge bid on one of my ongoin’ auctions.

Things are a disaster ‘cause of that~ My fans barged into the store and made a mess of things.

If you didn’t take me outta the store in an instant, Mako-kun, I think things would’ve made a turn for the worst.

Makoto: Yeah. You’re right about that… Who would’ve thought there would be people thinking they could get free digital art if they became friends with you?

But I guess that just goes to show how expensive your art is. That’s basically enough money to buy a super fancy car.

Mika: Uuu. Don’t say anymore, Mako-kun!

I did think it would be nice if my art was valuable, but this is still a first for me. It feels like I’m gonna have a heart attack every time I hear about it…

It’s weird that someone like me is gettin’ more recognition than Oshi-san and it makes me wonder if it’s really okay for my art to be even more appreciated than the artists in our art books.

Makoto: Ahaha. Everyone wants to take things step by step, huh.

It’s a bit different, but when “Trickstar” won “SS”...

I pinched my cheek when I was in bed several times because I couldn’t believe it was real.

Mika: Yeah. I know how you feel!

It’s somethin’ to be happy ‘bout but it just feels like a dream, huh.

Makoto: I don’t think things are going to calm down even if you make new art, so it might be a good idea to stop playing in the “Test World” in the meantime.

Mika: Hmm~ I kinda don’t wanna leave the “Test World”.

Makoto: Ahaha, do you like it that much?

But I can’t really recommend you to do that. You’re kinda famous in the “Test World”, Kagehira-kun.

You might be walking about casually outside but it could get pretty difficult the way things are right now.

It’ll be hard to enjoy playing and making things the same way as before.

Mika: Yeah. I know.

…Ah, it’s not like I denyin’ what you’re sayin’, Mako-kun. It’s just that I still have somethin’ I gotta do in this world.

I wanted to use digital art and get Oshi-san to acknowledge me.

Most of the art I’ve made so far used the new technology and I just put things together simple-mindedly. But I made Oshi-san angry by doin’ that.

I wanted to make somethin’ proper – somethin’ that Oshi-san would be satisfied with.

Makoto: Hmm. Judging by the results of the auctions, I don’t think your work is in any way unacceptable.

He must have been in a bad mood. It’s the same for Izumi-san – I don’t know if it’s the jet lag, but he gets pretty on edge sometimes.

Mika: Is that how it works? That would be nice if that was the case, though. Oshi-san seemed pretty angry. It kinda feels like I haven’t really accomplished what I wanted to achieve.

Look, the clouds are just there movin’ slowly in the blue sky, so if you take a closer look, you can easily tell they’re somethin’ someone “made”, right? ♪

But the person who made this didn’t want to make a fake version of it – they were aimin’ to make the real thing.

You wouldn’t be able to do something like that unless you know you can definitely create a world that can replace our current one.

This world is different from real life, but I think it’s an interestin’ world. It’s tryin’ to get closer to our real world and it feels really nice.

I thought it would be good if Oshi-san could also see how interestin’ the pieces of art created in that world are.

Makoto: …Yeah. From the eyes of the current world, they probably think this world is fake, but I also think this “SSVRS” world is even more real than the actual one.

I guess you could say it’s peaceful? It’s calming and it makes me forget about the real world.

Oh, right. If you’d like, shall I purchase another atelier for you?

Mika: What!? Are you sure!?

Right now, “VL$” is super expensive, right~? Spendin’ yer money on that kinda present would be a waste.

Makoto: It’s fine, really. The winter holidays will be over soon. I’ve been thinking about retiring from this test player job.

“Trickstar” does have a lack of funds, so exchanging what “VL$” I have left would be nice, but… having too much would be too much.

Game money is meant to be spent in-game. I wouldn’t feel so hesitant about my in-game money if I spent it that way ♪

Mika: Thanks, Mako-kun ♪ If that’s the case, then my next work–

Shuu: That will be unnecessary, Kagehira.

Mika: ……!? That sounds like Oshi-san…? Where’s it comin’ from!?

Shuu: Look up. I’m here, Kagehira!

Mika: What…? O-Oshi-san’s on some sorta flyin’ machine!? What’s goin’ on!?

Shuu: Kagehira. I’m here to take you back to reality with this Deus Ex Machina.

Mika: What… no…. What happened, Oshi-san?

Shuu: There’s something I need to ask you before I answer your question.

Why did you make such a thing, Kagehira?

← Previous Chapter ᠂ ⚘ ˚⊹˚ ⚘ ᠂  Next Chapter →

I like your opinion about the Cyber Dojo, but I still hold somewhat different views.I assume that service in the Elite Guard is voluntary, but we do not know if this was the case during the War with the Decepticons. I can't say for sure for Cybertron, but on Earth, evading the army is a criminal offense in a number of countries. So if we assume that this is the case, then, unfortunately, Prowl can really be considered a criminal at that time.

The rest of the asks say:

"Yoketron doesn't give him much choice, but he gives him an alternative. In fact, he saved him from prison. Oriental martial arts in many ways involve first of all the possession of one's body, and only then various weapons. The body itself is the weapon. The limitation of Prowl in his upgrades suggests that he should learn this philosophy and first of all master his own body, achieving harmony with himself. The weapon is useful and makes the task easier, but what will you do without it?

Even though I'm attracted to how morally ambiguous and dark Autobots are in this universe, I still want to believe that it didn't hurt Cyber Dojo so much. The persecution of those who decided to turn their knowledge into evil is expected and necessary. But I don't think they would pursue those who would just retire and live their lives. Moreover, the war is over.

And what prevented Prowl from trying to leave when Yoketron was not around, except for their verbal agreement? If formally he did not really start training and could not apply knowledge to evil? I think he understood that it was safer for him to stay in the Dojo and be provided with a safe place and food than to hide in corners from the servants of the law. Their first meeting may not have been pleasant, but it was useful.

I really don't like the death scene of Yoketron myself, because he could have done a lot more being alive. But Yoketron could have too firm beliefs about the completion of his life path and using proto-forms to prolong his own life would be an insult to what he believed in. Again, the peculiarities of philosophy.

However, an alternative view is always useful and allows you to look at things from a different angle. So your version is really interesting to me as a potentially dark underside and so far from the best Autobot society. In addition, given that the Allspark was lost, Cybertron had few alternatives other than using such valuable protoforms.

And the alleged reuse of them, even though it looks ambiguous and even creepy from a moral point of view, could be the only alternative not to dangerously reduce the population. Then why did they do this to Prowl? Considering that his team returned the Allspark? Perhaps this was the traditionally preferred burial option for Cyber Ninja? When could it serve as the beginning of a new life? I'm not sure about that, but it's an interesting thought. I apologize for such a big text, but I couldn't pass it by 😅"

This is about this post I appreciate all the time you took into sending me your opinion, but I personally still disagree and think Yoketron was a bad teacher. We see in the show that service in the military used to be mandatory but wasn't after the Great War ended, that's true, but I don't think that makes punishing draft-dodgers by beating them and sending them to the terrible Autobot stockade okay, even if dodging the draft was against the law? And because protoforms were so precious as you say, that's why it bothers me that Yoketron wasted one by intentionally dying a second time. Also, I trained in martial arts (please don't use the term "Oriental" martial arts by the way, Asian people like me consider that offensive—I assume you mean Asian martial arts in this case so just say that) and while it's true that for several years I didn't handle weapons because the weapon is the extension of the body and the body the mind... my sensei never took my shoulders off. It's not like Yoketron was taking away just Prowl's shuriken or something—he removed parts of his frame without consent! The same reason Lockdown is a scary character, right? If Lockdown just took things like Optimus's axe from people, he wouldn't seem quite as evil! It's that he removes people's body parts, which Yoketron did to Prowl, too.

I see a lot of people who wish to write but worry that what they write will be bad. And I see a lot of responses to those worries that fall along the lines of “If you don’t try, you’ll never know, give yourself more credit.” And that’s great! It’s true. You can’t make good art if you’re not making any art.

But I think it’s also okay to say--no matter how harsh it may seem--that it probably will be bad. Writing is a skill you nourish and have to build. If you’re sitting down to write your first novel, it will probably not be a great novel. There’s a lot that goes into writing a novel that you may have zero experience in.

Think of it like lifting weights. You can’t go in to a gym and dead lift your body weight with no preparation. You have to start small. Build up your muscles. Work up a sweat. Get a little achy. You do warmups, you seek advice, you make sure your technique is good.

I’ve spent a good number of years writing, I got my college degree in writing (to be fair it wasn’t creative writing, though I did take many classes in that) a couple of years ago, and I still don’t think that what I write, right now, is good. But I do consider it to be valuable. It’s a learning experience. It’s practice. It’s fun!

If you start writing a bad story now, maybe in a few years you can write an okay story. After that, after more years and more stories, you will be able to write a good story. It’ll come eventually if you want it to and if you work hard enough.

You can’t be afraid of being bad because being bad is inevitable. You just have to embrace it and push through it because you can make it temporary.

But it’s okay. Because if you don’t write a bad story, you will never, ever write a good one.

7, 12, 25 for the mun rp meme!

7. what is one overrated roleplay trend?

Okay but hear me out the ultimate overrated part of tumblr roleplay is not so much a trend as it is . . . threads themselves!! which is partially to say I want to push back on every time we say to ourselves “I need to do this thread; I need to do this draft” because it’s not a job, as we all know but I’m using this to lead into my whole ass belief that

threads can be a wild sometimes in that the trend says “I must reply to this thread because it is in my drafts” but sometimes !! Threads !! Are allowed to end! Or jump to three days later, & I’m really bad about this so it’s something i’m trying to do better about.

A thread that has literally 2 replies each ways is just as valid as something that has 5000 replies

doing oneline threads is just as valuable to the creative process as is actually writing out some polished reply. the rp process can be mixed media!

normalize the mess & the interactions that last 5 seconds that you remember 3 years down the road!

also like on a more real level too lmao i’ve definitely written starters that are basically “character a falls on their face & character b sees them & ohoh here’s a brief conversation about ____!” & if i fell on my face & someone saw me & then we proceeded to try and converse for 3 days about everything in life i’d explode sdfg 

12. do you prefer writing main or minor canon characters?

so I wrote a response to this here, but i want to sorta expand a little on this & talk about something i literally just noticed. i think i don’t care so much about whether a character is a main or minor character so much as i care about what kind of conflicts that character has. i think get more excited by conflicts that show up in the sideplots of characters? & maybe those little sideplots feel exciting to me in that they feel more approachable to me as scenarios that i can write & work with.

very very interesting to consider because obvs it’s not as though main characters are excluded from having those same lil sideplots. either way, we love to see them &

i’ll write whoever i need to explore a whole world with the writers i trust & adore.

25. one thing you’d like new roleplayers to know?

ssdfgfds rp is about blending friends & art. i want new roleplayers & old to hear that tumblr rp is not the healthiest rp environment for some people — & i don’t mean the drama that can arise or toxicity (though that can be a part of it), but sometimes the posts & formatting & blogging format of tumblr takes away from the friends & art. for that reason!!! totally okay to make blogs & test things out & meet people so that you can rp in a place that’s safe for you!!

aka it’s okay to try new things out when rping (new spaces, new dynamics, potential friendships) & then

if it works! cool! if not, people still got you! 

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