#characters with adhd rarely get to be smart or cool

[thewitchqueen281]

i do hope next season we get to see cuphead be competent in some regard. idk i always hate it when energetic reckless characters (with heavy adhd coding are potrayed as stupid and thaf high energy and humor are things you have ti grow out of.

#cuphead #basically i dont like how characters with adhd traits are potrayed by people #characters with adhd rarely get to be smart or cool #this is a problem with a ton of shows actually #hilariously i think cups and casions does a better potrayal of a character with adhd then the show #adhd thots

[unstableplague]

LOVING your scout thoughts. Tell me more im sitting and listening and kicking my legs back and forth and giggling like I'm on the phone

BRO SHDHSGSHfaHWGSGS FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

Okay okAY I have like so many headcanons for Jeremy Scout and like my own interpretation of the other scout I couLD GO ON FOR DAYS

Anyway!!! Dynamics!! ‘M gonna talk about that and just,,, stuff about scout I like and headcanon,,,

- scout is a lot smarter than people give him credit for and I will fist fight anyone about that. he is smart intelligence wise and emotional wise.

- I see a lot of scout having ADHD; which I believe 100%, but I do believe he is also autistic. I don’t see a lot of people bringing up that idea, but as a person with autism, he just gives off the vibe.

- also scout slurs his words together because he talks too fast. everything he does is fast. so sometimes he needs to be reminded to slow down a little.

- I love love love the idea of scout and pyro being bffs, and not like the same way scout is bffs with sniper. I mean like in the sense they kinda get each other without really getting each other. They’re both underestimated and perceived as less than their worth (both being babied and seen as dumber than they are at times)

- they are both childish but not children! they can color together and make comics together and scout will collect rare plushies to trade with pyro because they cAN HAVE INTERESTS THAT ARE DEEMED CHILDISH WITHOUT BEING CHILDREN

- and I don’t care what anyone says!! pyro and scout hold hands and scout does not mind because it helps pyro keep themself grounded!!!

- pyro and scout will go to one another if the other can’t sleep and they’ll just watch crappy movies and giggle and half the time they don’t even talk they just enjoy each others presence

- scout and sniper are the friends that one talks and one listens. they are best friends in the sense I think scout treats sniper like how he treats his brothers

- scout will just gangle himself around this jungle gym of a man because it is fun and there is a primal urge to climb anything tall. sniper is desensitized to it and will just let scout do whatever.

- like sniper is the friend that scout feels comfortable enough to let out all his stims and stuff around. he could just doodle on sniper, fiddle with his fingers, yank his hair, touch his face, bite his hand, and sniper will just allow it because he knows scout doesn’t even really think about doing it, it just happens. he won’t tell scout to lower his voice or slow down, he just lets him go wild, y’know?

- scout and soldier are two of my most favorite characters and they are both so so loving and I need more people to realize this!!!!!!

- I saw this headcanon (I forget by who) that scout got his dog tags from soldier and it is like my favorite things.

- scout and soldier, I don’t see their relationship as brotherly but more like closer than friends, they have a kinship that can’t be explained by words. like they’re good friends where it’s almost brotherly almost mentor-y, but it’s not.

- I think scout looks up to Soldier while also thinking he’s an utter buffoon. Like he thinks Solly is so cool and so amazing but he’d never say that, cause Solly is insane and oblivious to a degree. Despite this, both Solly and scout are so emotional in their own ways and I think that’s something they have in common. They’re both intelligent but not in ways that is conventional.

- also of course they both beat each other up but I think it’s more of like just a thing they do. Solly going after scout i could see as a form of “cuteness aggression”, in the sense that he cares about this silly guy so much he doesn’t know how to handle it.

- I think Soldier just picks up scout in a fireman carry just because he can and then scout tries and fails and Soldier just keeps encouraging him

- I don’t care what anyone says; Soldier is scout’s number one supporter even if he sounds aggressive in his positivity

- “KEEP IT UP MAGGOT!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU!! LETS GO TWINKLE TOES!! ONE TWO ONE TWO!!”

- I could go on about these two for days they are such goobers

- MEDIC AND SCOUT IS JUST A SILLY DYNAMIC AND I LOVE IT

- they’re both silly guys and both have weird fascinations with pain. the guy who wants to explore it in a sense of science and the guy who doesn’t think twice about it before charging headfirst into it. they’re besties.

- “medic finds scout annoying” “scout finds medic scary” NO!!! THEY’RE BESTIES. medic adores scout since he’s the one constantly volunteering to be first for the experiments!! heavy is the first volunteer? NO ITS SCOUT!! Scout volunteers for all the experiments!! Helpful and just for fun ones!! and he’s in perfect shape and age, so why wouldn’t medic deem him as the perfect test subject???

- both medic and scout have a flare for dramatics and absolutely adore rambling. you cannot tell me they wouldn’t talk all the time. scout will pace around the lab as medic does work and just ramble about his day, his thoughts, any ideas for experiments he has that he thinks Doc could pull off.

- I can see both scout and medic as the type of people who just cannot sit or stand still for more than a few minutes. Medic can handle it better, but even he gets restless being still.

- I love both the interpretations that medic loves touch and the interpretation that he hates touch. I see it more as medic adores touch in the sense that he must be the one to initiate it or on certain days he feels more touch adverse. With this in mind I believe that scout is very similar in the sense he loves touch but also can really hate it other times. So I like to imagine that they just y’know poke at one another :)

- I like the idea of them being bros that acknowledge their equal desire for comfort from touch but also the occasional adversity of it. So I think they’d do like platonic cuddling and stuff just because

I WILL DO THE OTHERS AND THEIR DYNAMICS WITH SCOUT IN THE NEZT POST BUT I MUST EAT

#tf2 #team fortress two #scout tf2

[spectruminterests]

“The Lives in Time of Katherine Kaye”

A silly story about my silly OCs! (But there is also Drama and Angst!) I’m posting this in case anyone has heard something about my soulless mad scientist and her chaos-gremlin younger self and wants to know more, or just for anyone who may happen to be interested lol.

This is kinda a draft/summary of the story so far and as such, it’s a mess, but it’s still very long so I’ve put it under a readmore! (TW for (fictional/fantastical) medical stuff, medical procedures without consent, self-harm, internalized ableism of the anti-neurodivergent variety, identity confusion, and child harm/endangerment)

Some characters and a little worldbuilding, before the story gets started:

Beastfolk/Auracai (a weird fantasy race I made up that’s kind of like elves crossed with catpeople):

Beastfolk age at about half the rate of humans and look like normal humans, but with semi-retractable claws, thin catlike tails, red eyes, and sharpened canines.

“Beastfolk” is what humans call them, referencing their “animal” traits. They call themselves Auracai (this is both singular and plural)

They’re originally from another dimension that contacts the human world (the main story’s world) only occasionally - essentially rare but not unheard of immigrants in this world. 

Sometimes people end up in the wrong world by accident, without a way to get home, as travel between worlds is more “randomly/accidentally slipping through the cracks” than intentional, reliable travel.

Beastfolk can sense souls when in direct contact with someone, humans can’t. 

Katherine Kaye (the main character/characters)

2 versions of her in the story, the emotionless mad scientist adult and the adolescent little chaos gremlin

Auracai/Beastfolk

Has Autism + ADHD + Anxiety

has a much older brother, Theodore, who’s been taking care of them since they ended up in the human world together

KT (the adolescent chaos gremlin version of Katherine)

28 (equivalent of 14)

Mischievous streak

A prankster

Really intense emotions, prone to overreacting

Senior in high school because of weird aging

Amateur singer/songwriter/musician and this is a major part of her personality

goes by KT because “it’s like ‘Katie,’ but cooler!”

Both a STEM nerd and an artist

Dreams of having an impact on the world, both of changing things for the better and of being cool and famous

Self-perception swings with her moods: often confident to the point of arrogance or overconfidence, but during a breakdown she’s full of self-loathing and shame.

Wants to travel, explore, and live a somewhat adventurous life; an ordinary office job would never satisfy her. Boring AF and a total waste of her potential.

Pigtails/twin tails

Likes to act cute to get what she wants

Dr. Kaye (the soulless mad scientist/adult version of Katherine)

Removed her own soul (heart/emotions/creativity/etc.) in an experimental process, which she tested on herself in a frustrated attempt to prove herself and to stop having such intense mood swings + be more productive and “better” without her emotional overreactions.

Ended up getting stuck in the past because she was researching interdimensional travel in an attempt to find a reliable way to get back and forth between the human world and the Auracai world (in this story time travel creates a new timeline/slightly different reality)

creepy ever-present smile (this was a form of masking and a coping mechanism, and remains a habit)

egotistical and doesn’t really realize the extent of it: she thinks that without a soul she’s become perfectly logical and efficient and immune to emotional biases. (This is revealed to be untrue when she has to reevaluate the idea that her current “emotionless” state is an improvement.)

now has really limited emotional range and is coldly logical most of the time

still has a few common emotional states though: excited/passionate/enthusiastic about her work, frustrated/annoyed/exasperated with people who are “not smart enough to see her vision” or “keep getting in the way,” amused at others’ incompetence or at messing with people, and a state of discomfort/guilt/concern about what she’s lost and what things have come to that is usually easily repressed and ignored, triggered by reminders of who she used to be

Really any emotion she feels is almost always mild enough to easily ignore.

Started promoting her soul-removal procedure as a “therapy” for anxiety, depression, various other mood disorders and emotional issues, and autism-related intense mood swings.

tends to dismiss other people as running on “mere irrational emotion”

Age: ~80s (early 40s) (She basically has a midlife crisis after getting stuck in the past lol)

she doesn’t tend to go by her first name and absolutely refuses to answer to the nickname “KT,” even from Ted.

almost completely lost her creative, playful side. No interest in anything artistic, including the music she used to love. “Fun” is not only unnecessary, but largely impossible for her, and anything involving conveying or coping with emotions? Forget it.

KT’s brother/guardian: Theodore Kaye

Perpetually exhausted, at the end of his rope

Nicknamed Ted, rarely goes by his full name Theodore

~ 50 (equivalent of 25)

Responsible because he has to be

Introverted

Low energy

Autistic (I love giving everyone the ‘tism lol)

Loyal to his sister, has a special connection with the one person who was there for him both before and after getting stuck in a different world

The story so far:

KT sees something about Dr. Kaye in the news and it mentions that she’s Beastfolk, which makes KT think that maybe she and Ted have a relative they didn’t know about. So KT goes on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to contact this person who might just be someone who happens to have the same last name. They meet, and Dr. Kaye explains the time stuff. Ted is looking for help and Dr. Kaye is like “oh yeah should probably do that, younger me will probably be a great collaborator when she’s a little older.” Ted gets the feeling that something is off about Dr. Kaye, but kinda doesn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Clearly, this is his sister, or a version of her anyway, and although KT is a prankster, she’s a good kid. It’d totally be fine to trust her with… herself. Right? Right?

Time passes, Dr. Kaye recommends KT books, KT gets increasingly curious about Dr. Kaye’s weirder habits. She plays pranks on her, thinking her future self will laugh. She’d laugh. Dr. Kaye pretends to be amused the first time, then doesn’t react at all. She doesn’t react to a lot of things, actually, seeming to have no interest in much of anything, not caring about the things KT has liked her entire life. Something must have happened to her in the future that she refuses to discuss in order to create this weird disconnect, right? 

Meanwhile this entire time Dr. Kaye has just been… watching KT be herself, which causes her a slight, odd feeling of discomfort that she can’t seem to explain. 

Beastfolk, unlike humans, can sense someone’s soul when in direct contact with them. Dr. Kaye is careful to avoid touching people and not make it weird, a habit she formed before getting stuck in the past in order to avoid making other Beastfolk uncomfortable with her soullessness, and has become more important now that she’s stuck in the past and is attempting to hide her lack of a soul.  She also usually locks her bedroom door at night, but one night the door is accidentally left unlocked, and KT notices and tries to play a prank by putting a fake bug in Dr. Kaye’s bed while she’s asleep. She touched Dr. Kaye by accident  - she didn’t really mean to violate her boundaries, but she made the necessary contact and what she sensed was terrifying. 

KT: *screams*

Kaye: *wakes up confused* what the hell are you doing???

KT: *too scared to react*

Kaye: I forgot to lock the door, didn’t I? And now you’re in my room staring at me like a deer in headlights. Just what do you think you’re doing?!? 

KT: I, uh, it was just a prank, I didn’t mean to wake you up, you- your soul…

Kaye: *finds the fake bug* you touched me, didn’t you, as you were messing around trying to plant this ridiculous plastic bug for me to find in the morning… and I suppose I should explain things now that the cat is out of the bag, shouldn’t I? 

She explains to KT about removing her soul and KT is horrified, but even more fascinated. She wants to know more, even though she also wants to run very fast in the opposite direction, and her other self is happy to explain.

KT: *holding Dr. Kaye’s hand, still fascinated by the strange emptiness inside of her* Does… does it hurt? Not having a soul, I mean…

Dr. Kaye: It doesn’t hurt anymore… but it did, at first. I won’t lie to you, removing it was… an extremely painful process. Of course, in most cases it’s done under anesthesia… though I obviously didn’t have that option. After the procedure, there’s definitely some pain, some lingering soreness, which is rather unresponsive to painkillers, but the worst of it fades naturally fairly quickly, and in a few weeks it’s entirely gone.  There’s also a certain sense of emptiness, afterwards… it feels like something is missing deep inside of you, which I suppose is true, but it’s a feeling I didn’t find it hard to get used to. That empty feeling never truly goes away, but it’s distressing at first mostly because it’s disconcerting, rather than being painful. It’s something I can sense even now, if I’m thinking about it, but I no longer find it bothersome, and I haven’t for a long time. 

KT: That… kinda makes sense? And you said you don’t really feel emotions anymore? 

Dr. Kaye: Yes, and that’s been an immense relief. No more anxiety, no more meltdowns. 

KT: … no more happiness, though? 

Dr. Kaye: I suppose you could say that… but I would say that might simply be the cost of being free of emotional bias. I do find I sometimes experience mild emotion-like states… I’ve found it unpleasant to be interrupted while I’m working, for example… but such experiences are transient and low in intensity, and as such they are easily dismissed. 

Dr. Kaye then explains her plans to republish her discoveries in this timeline and promote her soul-removal procedure as a “therapy” for a variety of emotional problems, as she did in her own time. KT, understandably, freaks out further. 

Meanwhile Ted starts realizing that something is deeply wrong with Dr. Kaye and wants his sister back. Eventually Dr. Kaye decides her kid self needs her “treatment” a little early because she keeps “being difficult,” as well as wanting to spare her younger self the suffering of having to live with her emotional overreactions. She tries to figure out the best way to present this to KT so she’ll agree to undergo the procedure willingly, but also prepares to do it by force if necessary, convinced that she knows what’s best for them. KT asks Dr. Kaye about her regrets, which with everything makes the repressed issues come back to the forefront. As she tries to say she regrets nothing and to ask KT to follow in her footsteps, these words somehow seem like a lie. KT is horrified, but her screaming and freaking out just solidifies in Dr. Kaye’s mind that she’s overreacting. She lets KT wear out her panic until she breaks down in despairing tears and states that if KT doesn’t stop resisting, she will force her. 

“KT, listen to me. I’m you. I know what’s best for us. This is for your own good. Now, you can be good and listen to reason, or you can keep fighting and I will have to forcibly sedate you. Either way, when you wake up you won’t have to be sad and scared like this ever again. The pain you might feel now will be nothing compared to all the suffering I’m sparing you.” “W… will… I’m never going play pranks or sing or play music or draw or play pretend ever again will I… but I guess I have to grow up and give that stupid stuff up anyway… I… I have to grow up faster like you and stop that nonsense…”

Dr. Kaye realizes in that moment that she hasn’t done a single creative thing, hasn’t hummed a tune, doodled in the margins of a notebook, made up stories to fall asleep to, anything, since the day she cut out her soul. Is that worthless, or is that something she’s subconsciously missed for a very long time? She remembers that cutting out her own soul was originally an act of desperation and self-hate. She reconsiders everything.

 Meanwhile KT is escaping. She runs home to Ted and cries in his arms. Dr. Kaye realizes that she doesn’t actually want KT to end up like her, and tries to apologize for everything, but is pushed away by Ted. Not wanting to waste this chance to tell her past self what she wishes she’d known, she disappears, but begins to write a diary/memoir of all the regrets she’d never let herself “waste time” dwelling on and all the useful life things she knows from experience that were hard or impossible to find in books. She leaves it for KT one day, around the time of KT’s high school graduation, and KT reads it and tries to find her again. Despite Ted’s deep distrust of Dr. Kaye, they reconnect, originally through email because Ted understandably doesn’t want Dr. Kaye anywhere near his sister. KT really wants to apprentice under Dr. Kaye, as working and training under an experienced mentor is common practice for young people in the Auracai world, and she argues with Ted about it. 

“I thought you really wanted to go to a human university? Wasn’t that your big dream?” “Well kinda, but that was before I met Dr. Kaye! She’d be the perfect mentor because she’s doing so many things and they’re all the things I’m interested in!!!” “Are you completely forgetting that she tried to take your soul?!?? As far as I’m concerned, she’s unstable and dangerous.” “Okay yeah maybe she’s a little unstable but she wouldn’t be dangerous at all to me, she didn’t take my soul because she actually listens to me, remember?” “Katherine. Stop for a moment and listen to yourself. I can’t believe this is a conversation we even need to have.” “I’m trying to listen to myself, that’s kinda the whole point! ;) Someone keeps saying it’s a bad idea!” (KT doesn’t consider herself and Dr. Kaye to be fully one and the same the way Dr. Kaye does, but the joke was far too good for KT to pass up.) “You know what I meant, and it did not involve the potential future you that’s a soulless lunatic!” 

Dr. Kaye starts asking KT for advice on moral and emotional matters, and KT feels needed. Ted begins to relax a little, though he still really doesn’t trust her. Dr. Kaye invites KT to join her on some kind of research trip, and KT sneaks away to do so against Ted’s orders. He is livid with her… but it is a little reassuring that she’s quite unharmed and had a good time. Eventually Ted’s attitude of “I am not letting you walk to your death” softens into “I’m not sure if I can stop you, and it’s really on you if you get hurt after I tried to stop you, but please text me every night with an update on your latest song or art project or whatever or just something about your day, something that’s you, so I know you’re okay.” So KT gets her apprenticeship, and the Katherines end up forming a sort of symbiotic relationship, with Dr. Kaye acting as a mentor, guardian, and voice of reason to KT, and KT acting as Dr. Kaye’s heart and soul and conscience. Dr. Kaye is still soulless but is starting to come to terms with it now… not exactly “okay” but no longer ignoring that there was a loss and more willing to listen to others or at least to her kid self. Although she also likes to say that if she regained her former emotional range now, she’d probably have a heart attack… especially when KT is causing trouble.

#tltkk #my oc #ocs #katlyn post #tw self harm #tw ableism #tw internalized ableism #tw medical #tw mental health #identity confusion #tw mental illness #katlyn writes nonsense

[pankomako]

For the OC ask game:

2, 4, 5, 12, 16, 20, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32, 43, 49, 50

You can just answer some if all of them are too much.

2: of my boardwalk ocs, parker for sure is my favorite. he's the one i project onto lol. i also really love vertigo, rowdy and cassidy, and i think of gang's bay, screwball, juicebox and hot-rod might be my favorites. i also really like scott but i dont do much w him as of now

4: a character i rarely talk about? well i sure havent talked about boardwalk as much recently, so like of those calla is a deep cut for sure. she's DJ's best friend and too nice for her own good. i also imagine her hanging out a lot with korva and nero who are two cat-devil monster siblings. i GOTTA talk more about boardwalk here jeez

5 i already answered so i'll just skip it lol

12: oh crap another person's oc? it's been like a million years since i've talked to my artist friends so like uhhhhhh not sure?? but i did really like caspi from campyvillain's Plainview. funny shark :)

16: best oc at bio? hmmm probably gemini from boardwalk bc he's like. smart guy. but of gang's bay... i actually wanna say screwball. i really had to think about that one but i see him as knowing a lot about local wildlife so he probably does know a thing or two about biology. obviously of ALL the gangs bay characters it'd be sharky but i dont consider him an oc bc he's just me.

20: oc that sings! well i do kinda want the boardwalk characters to form a band, and DJ would likely be the lead singer. her voice in general is pretty feminine sounding but with a tomboyish bite to match her appearance and personality, but idk what she'd sound like singing lol. as for favorite music, not sure of any specific songs but she definitely likes more rock/alternative and like a few old-ish pop songs. probably plenty of 80s/90s stuff too. she's also a literal DJ and her music taste is pretty prominent in the stuff she plays. she also for sure knows how to play electric guitar and gets crazy with it.

24: if i could meet one of my ocs? like of course i'd go with parker. i put a lot of me and a lot of the traits i enjoy in him. i'd talk to him about our struggles and then probably play video games with him. putting aside all the angst i think we'd be besties

25: oc that most closely resembles me? well vertigo is probably the closest because he also functions as one of my personas, so most of his appearance aside he's just me but perpetually tired and with cool powers. like i could say sharky too but again like. he is JUST me as an adult in an ideal world so i dont consider him an oc. although of my non-personas, i'd yet again have to say parker. brown hair, brown eyes, parents that suck, lover of sharks, ADHD energy, generally kinda weird, especially about guys. big difference though is that he's bi while i'm not. nor am i a 5'10" cis guy like him lol

28: most DANGEROUS? probably vertigo. i mean just look at all the scars rowdy has. his fault for picking a fight with vertigo though. like vertigo's generally pretty docile but he's very likely to win in a fight with the powers he has. other than him you don't wanna mess with hot-rod or ding. they both hit the gym and know how to fight. although you're FAR more likely to rile up hot-rod, but why would you even want to when he could probably crush your spine just by squeezing you too tightly. oh yeah also bubbles can kick ass

29: which of my ocs would investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone? probably DJ. maybe screwball too but idk how likely he'd be to just not tell anyone

30: secret plushie collection? parker. like cmon. bubbles too. maybe cassidy. amelia has a huge collection but she hasnt even considered hiding it (just like me lol)

32: ooooh horror game protag. ive never played a horror game so idk for sure. parker and cassidy would both be the type of guy to check every single little thing and also be terrified out of their minds (screwball and juicebox too (ok maybe juicebox wouldnt interact with *every*thing)). august and ding would both have a "no big deal lol" attitude and then proceed to be proven wrong. DJ, rowdy, hot-rod and bubbles would all try to keep composure but it's also pretty clear that they're scared. vertigo doesn't find it all that scary. so who's the most suitable? no idea like what should i even be looking for here

43: my type? loser men. aka like a large majority of my characters. also dudes with long hair. i've also been partial to chubby guys as of late. cassidy is all 3 of those

49: most likely to enjoy memes? each of my oc worlds takes place in the modern era so they all at least know OF memes. but the characters that probably get a kick out of them the most would be DJ and parker, juicebox and amelia, and probably cassidy. maybe fenton and charlotte idk

50: it's getting late at the time of writing this so i'll keep it to smth brief: boardwalk of beasts and vertigo's oc world both have canon ships, but gang's bay is pretty much free game for shipping. really the only rules are no problematic ships and to respect canon sexualities (sharky is mlm, bubbles is a lesbian, milkshake is aroace), and be extra careful if you wanted to ship shipwreck with anyone, for obvious reasons. but im down for pretty much anything. you have my full permission to ship sharky with any of the guys, bc frankly i'd be dtf with any of em. also i think ship names will be super fun with the gang nicknames. like screwbox for example. fun! also bubbles and hot-rod did date during college so im ok with depictions of that too but not like actively shipping gang-era them if that makes sense.

tysm for the ask!

#gangs bay #boardwalk of beasts #vertigo tag still in progress

[shifuto]

I'm never drinking coffee again look what it made me dooooooo 😭 what if I were to analyze the characters I tend to ship myself with? How would that go?

it's mostly men because mostly the stuff I get into has men in it LMAO and also because I'm gay as fuck dude let's fucking go

stoic guy who is twice my size (he's a fucking sweetheart)

shy/smart guy who makes me want to torture him

the rare girl for femdom reasons

Astral

psychopaths and/or sadistic guys (usually light haired)

sometimes suicidal guys with trauma (usually dark haired)

I think the stoic big guy stuff comes from daddy issues and also because it's fun to top/dom bigger dudes :3

shy dudes tend to irritate me tremendously (even worse for smart types). It's nice to imagine them coming undone by fucking them up (how I'm fucking them up? I'll leave it up to you :3)

sadistic girls are literally the coolest thing ever HELLO you want to see me submissive and begging? Get the ladies to peg me

Astral

the psychos are probably my favorite types! They're usually what get me hooked on something. I'd love to undergo permanent physical and emotional damage by their hands 🥺🥺🥺 and then they can even kill me after? How cool is that omgggg

"he's just like meeee" <- me fucking my clones. No seriously, the dark hair really does it. Something about being deeply disturbed and tormented by The Horrors that is very hot

Q&A

"Why do you self-ship? That's so cringe" sounds like a You problem :3c

"How can you be a gay man and want a girl to peg you?"

"Do you like people like this in real life?" do I? Does it look like I do? 👀

"Are you a psychopath?! Is this autism? [Other diagnosis?]" surprisingly, I do not have personality disorders, autism or adhd. I'm just weird ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

"Why Astral?"

#dude i really need a meme tag #also #horror #i guess #and also #shif writes

[nho-jungle]

this is my addition to the hermitcraft propaganda. this is focused at dsmp fans bc i am one. 

hermitcraft is a long running smp that started in 2012. it runs in seasons, with each season lasting around a year, often just over. they are currently on season 8, and started fairly recently. 

the players on hermitcraft tend to change each season, but i have compiled a list of who i think you might enjoy, based off of your favourite dsmp member!

(feel free to add ur own suggestions too!)

IF YOU LIKE... TOMMYINNIT- 

MumboJumbo: have you got ADHD? do you love how tommyinnit says Things and other people get confused? well then MumboJumbo is the hermit for you! he's absolutely absurd. a spoon. he's also over 6ft tall and built like a brick shit house. insane. this man is an enigma. he's also a cinematographer. who even is this guy. (he also does cool redstone builds and always sounds surprised when they work even tho he's been doing this since 2012.)

BdoubleO100: a rabid chihuahua in the body of a human. truly follows that feral energy that makes up tommyinnit. mans built an entire mountain last season and he's doing it again! crazy! he's also the king of sleep. night is a rare phenomenon on hermitcraft, since bdubs starts clicking his bed at the barest hint of sunset. gotta shweep!

Grian: the stereotypical pick. he's the prankster man, everyone seems to think he's pretty childish and he often has the younger brother role even though he's not the youngest on the server. has started/been majorly involved in two wars. had an alter ego called poultry man who would fly around dropping eggs and spawning chickens everywhere.

RANBOO-

Rendog: lore man lore man!!!! he has a bunch of fun and interesting characters and he puts a lot of thought into his episodes, from his builds to his mc skin, to make sure everything comes together perfectly. I don't watch his hermitcraft stuff but I've seen him via other hermit's povs and he rlly does pick a role and throw himself into it. it's amazing.

PHILZA-

EthosLab: do you like anime kinnies? do you like old gods of minecraft? well let me introduce you to ethoslab! i want to study him in a lab. he causes problems on purposes. he builds super random redstone things. he messes with noteblocks. he was head of shennanigans. his minecraft skin is kakashi hatake from naruto. there was a block named after him in the 2013 april fools update (the EthoSlab). who is this man. i think he also has the longest running minecraft lets play. what the heck.

Grian: bird man. good at flying. chaotic bitch. idk some of the vibes are there.

SAPNAP-

Tangotek: crazy redstone man. builds crazy minigames. idk there aren't actually many similarities here other than they're both often associated with fire in fanworks despite not actually having that much to do with it.

FUNDY-

EthosLab: aforementioned anime kinnie. crazy redstone. idk. Zedaph: in season 7 he built a cave of contraptions which contained these amazing redstone machines that found the most complicated and convoluted ways to perform regular tasks, just for the hell of it. what a guy! Iskall85: they're friends :3. that is all. (actually they both just have very similar Vibes. I have no other way to describe it. it's just Vibes).

SCHLATT-

Cubfan135: (specifically season 6). evil capitalist man (/lh). ran a big corporation with scar. they made profit from a war. idk i dont watch cub, thats all i could think of. GoodTimesWithScar: evil capitalist man with cub in season 6. in season 7 he got voted mayor and then started charging the shops to allow them to be accessed from the road. there was also a big "war" over mycelium. fun times. he's actually a very genuine and sweet guy. also his cat jellie is in the game bc he won a competition or smthin. idk man he loves his cat so much. you know what builds belong to scar bc there's just jelies everywhere.

TECHNOBLADE-

FalseSymmetry: okay listen the mcc teams are being announced as I'm typing this so my brain started thinkin mcc and basically they're both well known for being good at pvp. i dont watch false but i know she has a tumblr so i'd trust her with a knife.

Grian: thinkin mcc again. they teamed for mcc pride. you can go watch that if u want to get grians Vibes while still having a dsmp member present for some familiarity. idk.

NIHACHU-

GeminiTay: a lot of ppl say they like niki's streams bc of the comforting vibes and general chill atmosphere, and I think gem matches that pretty well. cy once said she sounds like fluttershy and tbh i sorta agree. shes an awesome builder and insanely smart and even though she's new this season im already incredibly attatched to her.

TUBBO-

Zedaph: aforementioned cave of contraptions rlly fits tubbo's vibe. i think he's going the mad scientist route this season too. Docm77: another mad scientist. already early on he made this super weird lighting farm thing? i dont even know but i've seen the clip and its MAD. even if you dont watch hermitcraft you should check out that individual clip.

FOOLISH-

literally any of them bc i genuinely belive wholeheartedly that foolish would fit perfectly on hermitcraft if he could manage not to swear. (altho maybe cub bc last season he build a giant pyramid.)

#mcyt #dsmp #hermitcraft #hermitcraft propaganda

[chiafett-moved]

Using all the clones from ur high school au, what kind of civ clothing do you think they'd wear?

Okay okay okay I took some time and went to TOWN on this one so clone clothes below the cut

Fox:

First and foremost, Fox has his own pinterest board. There’s not much in the way of clothes there, but yeah. 

Lots of red and black

Hoodies and jeans. Jeans and hoodies. Hoodies and Jeans

If you saw the shape of my body No You Didn’t 😁

Someone help him

Always dressed as though it’s approximately 20C. Sort of like a comic character who wears variations of the same outfit.

For someone who hates being perceived, he does wear some tight clothes

Overall, sort of unintentionally punk/emo and tired

Lip, tongue, and ear piercings

Hunter:

Also has two pinterest boards (butch AU and normal)

Cottagecore farmer. Lots of neutral tones and loose, soft fabrics

Loves knit things

Very picky about texture and fit. If it’s tight, it gets donated

Wears things until they fall apart. This does not take long

Soft, waterproof, ankle-high hiking boots that he wears everywhere

L a y e r s 

Constantly putting his hair up or taking it down

Very concerned with taking care of his curls (and for good reason; they’re gorgeous)

Farmer’s tan n freckles

Tech:

Business casual some days, absolute trash others. There is no rhyme or reason. 

If Hunter’s all about consistency, Tech is the opposite (autism vs ADHD in a nutshell lmfao)

Pockets are a must

He has a messenger bag a la Spencer Reid 

Big ol’ glasses with a thick enough lens that you can see behind him if you look at the right angle

Converse

Has these awful graphic tees from the time he went to Goodwill with Hunter

Wrecker:

Big comfy sweaters like those ones they sell at Old Navy

Walking hug with steel-toed boots

He has trouble finding XXL Tall clothes that aren’t Barbecue Dad™ so he takes what he can get 

Rips the knees of pants first

Rips the tags out of everything

Cannot match colors to save his life and hasn’t yet figured out the Hunter tactic of just owning neutral things

He has a lot of fun hats

Carhartt short sleeve shirts and jeans with sharpie and paint on them

If he can’t move in it, he doesn’t want it

Big fan of open short-sleeve button downs over tees

Constantly asking Tech to hold things for him (they get lost in the Bottomless Messenger Bag)

Crosshair:

Typical teenage boy with a side of edgy

You know those joggers with the puffy knees or the cargo pockets? Big wearer of those

Sneaker Snob

Once he dressed up for a school event and he looked so good but pretended not to notice

Big City Gay energy

Constantly has a pack of cigarettes on him, so he’s got to have a pocket for them. He’s got to have a pocket, right? I just can’t see it from here. There must be a pocket because otherwise where is he getting those he’s pulling them out of nowhere send reinforcements—

Steals Hunter’s worn-out, oversized flannels but he’s a tall bitch so they’re pretty normal on him. How is he making them look so edgy?

Dogma:

Wears the same outfit a concerning amount. Like, you don’t notice anything and then all the sudden he’s been wearing the same thing for two weeks. Doesn’t smell bad or anything, though, so ?????

Always put together, but in that way that’s kind of fraying around the edges

I don’t really know how to describe his clothes beyond a sort of vibe? Idk

He’s a really skinny guy and he loves clothes with angular shapes and hard edges, so he kind of looks like a stick figure with really cool geometric designs

He tries to look sort of formal and aloof, but it doesn’t work

His Manic Art Kid vibe is visible from space, though

He looks cute but in a freshman kind of way. Like, “aww, look at him!”

But also radiates the kind of energy that makes people highly concerned

Many ear piercings and one eyebrow piercing

Tall gangly and intimidating

Always carrying his backpack

Tup:

Basically Dogma but with softer edges and rounder shapes

The Ridiculously Well-Adjusted Art Kid

Always has paint somewhere

Looks like a mess but makes it work

Messy buns

Big fan of overalls and colorful shirts

Likes long sleeves

Converse out the ass, but in a ton of different colors

Big sweaters

People forget he’s tall and Stronk because the way he dresses makes him look small (oversized things do that)

Got his ears pierced when Dogma got his third helix, but let them close

Stacked bracelets

Echo:

Somehow soft punk meets varsity kid? He makes it work

Khaki pants but cool 

Open zip-up hoodies and comfy, well-fitting tee shirts

Sneakers only, unless he has to be fancy

Sometimes wears fingerless gloves and refuses to explain why

Undercut

No I lied sometimes he wears stompy boots just because they’re at odds with the rest of his aesthetic

Basically big calm comfy vibes without looking sloppy or informal

Will wear button downs as normal shirts with jeans

Likes to do the graphic tee over thermal shirt thing

Joggers

SKATER BOY. That’s the word I was thinking of. Soft skater boy (he and Fives both skate)

Fives:

Band tees and jeans 

Not a fan of shorts. Has anyone ever seen his legs?

Constantly has this big-ass set of headphones around his neck

Beanies

Also a graphic tee and thermal shirt layerer

Rarely not wearing jeans

Sometimes wears pajamas to school specifically to piss off teachers

Snapbacks

Paints his nails a variety of colors, but mostly black. Somehow the polish is always chipped

Big wearer of Vans, actually is a skater

Tears through the elbows of his jeans jackets falling 

Cody:

Gay smart kid. Debate team captain. Soccer captain. Looks better than you. Looks better than the teachers. Could kill you. 

He wears a lot of half-zips and khakis, but makes it look less nerdy than usual

Sports paraphernalia helps. Hard to look nerdy when the zip-up you’re wearing is from wrestling Nationals

When he wears tee-shirts, they’re always tight? Does he buy them a size small on purpose? (yes, yes he does)

Collector of those really nice zip-up hoodies with the geometric designs that make them look really nice and neat

Actually wears sunglasses when it’s sunny

Has never been seen in a hat

Neyo:

Oh god oh fuck DIY punk? He’s oh god he’s

Neyo my dear that sweatshirt is falling apart

Neyo is. Troubled and in a Bad home. His clothing choices reflect this. 

He does not want to touch or be touched and he wants to look cool doing it

Stoner kid but Spiky

And also he doesn’t actually smoke

Wears combat boots that look like they’ve seen blood

Skinny jeans bc he’s edgy and cool

Patch pants/vest

Also has a pinterest board

Bacara:

Bland depressed kid. Jeans and dark hoodies

Seriously he’s just trying to vibe. He wants to be comfy and he doesn’t want to draw a ton of attention

Black converse

Constantly has a farmer’s tan

Not a fan of short sleeves

Thinks Neyo looks ridiculous

Has never been dress coded in his life 

Seriously Bacara’s idea of spicing up an outfit is wearing like. A polo. 

#anon #ask tag #bacara #neyo #tech #wrecker #echo #fives #hunter #crosshair #cody #dogma #tup #fox #star wars #my headcanons #mikey's headcanons #high school au

[quitethepirategal]

An Analysis in Threes

❥ TAGGED BY: @emcads​ like 30 years ago ❥ TAGGING: @riidcr​ @starsailingcaptain​ @covencrown​ @hookd​ @all-fleshed-out​ @evermxre​ @motherofredemption​ @bup1957​ @conquistadoradelmar​ @seaprofound​ @tcthinecwnself​ @withinycu​ @windguided​ @daevilhorns​ @concordia-cum-sinistro​ and YOU and I spent like 8 hours on this so pLEASE READ IT PLEASE I AM BEGGING I NEED VALIDATION I’M-

     repost don’t reblog. yall dont have to type this much.

MUSE: Captain Red Handed Jessica

Three Strengths:

     Her adaptability and resourcefulness.  Is she brave, yes.  Is she lucky, also yes.   But over all, she can roll with the cards she’s been dealt in a way that many would call inhumanly clever.  Her intelligence, her perception, and her charisma are all different ingredients of this indomitable characteristic of hers.  She can see the value in just about anything and anyone, can pick up on clues and tangents few others can follow, and can remember seemingly endless details, tho unfortunately not on command.  But even then, her patchy memory seems to contribute to this adaptability as well, as it usually allows for detachment.  If she can find resources everywhere, it means she can survive everywhere. There have been countless times where the wheel of fortune has suddenly turned on her and she’d lost near everything and her response was more or less Damn, ok I need food water and shelter lets go.  No food?  Grow food.  No water?  Ask someone if they have water.  No shelter?  Sleep outside.  No money?  Steal money.  Can’t hear anymore?  Cool I can use loud weapons.  Crashed on an island?  My island now.  Shot?  Free bullet.  She knows when to push, she knows when to quit, and sometimes she knows when to gamble based on her ability ( what a man can do and what he can’t do and all that ).  Strong she may be, she knows its foolish to rely on strength.  Survival of the fittest actually rarely means survival of the strongest. ( edit; this is the theme for the entirety of her character. I will say it 50,000 times. I am very sorry ).  And as a student of philosophy and biology, she understands that phrase better than most. Leading to our next point.

     Her understanding.  As I stated, her charisma is something unmatched, and is a key element in all three of her strengths.  This charisma might not exist as prominently were it not for her ability to understand.  She has limited ( I’ll get back to that ) but deep running empathy and while not terribly observant all the time, she is always perceptive.  Not only that, but she’s personally known abuse, hardship, and uncertainty, and understands that hate or anger can be rooted in similar pain.  She was schooled lightly in both Christian and Buddhist values before diving heavily into democratic philosophy, meaning she believes all being experience suffering and therefore kindness is a powerful sign of strength, but also that suffering while free and equal is better than comfort in oppression.  And between her sweet words and beautiful face, she can get most people to open up in ways they themselves my not have expected.  Being very good with people means she can learn from them, gain something from them, lead them, and/or use them.  But Jessica isn’t a manipulator in truth; her intentions are almost always kind or healthy ones.  She absolutely uses people from time to time but not EVER without them consenting to or being made aware of such because again, unlike a manipulative person, she understands that can ruin a relationship and therefore ruin a resource.  What it makes for is an excellent leader, a beloved captain, and a trusted ally at most and an excellent conversationalist at the least.      But her understanding isn’t just social, oh no.  It’s academic as well.  Armed only with his little library and the lessons of his own teachers, Jessica’s foster father tirelessly smithed her into a not just a girl who knew a lot of things, but a truly intelligent, thinking mind. He’d die before learning he’d succeeded tenfold.  Jessica isn’t one to just except things as they are, facts or otherwise.  She usually needs to prove it, experiment, see things from a new angle.  Debates with her are fun!  She has no issue admitting she’s wrong or confessing she’s never thought of it that way, and is actually wrong a lot of the time.  It doesn’t bruise her ego, it excites her.  It means there’s more to learn.  And her ability to constantly understand new concepts paired with her ability to overwhelmingly understand people combine to make for a very powerful core idea of hers:  We are fittest to survive because we all fit together.  Our humanity, our empathy, our community are our strengths because they keep us united, which keeps us the fittest.  No one is independent, no man is an island.  People are power. And thus her final strength is just that.

     Her power.  While she and I still firmly state that strength isn’t everything don’t be disillusioned; its very goddamn important.  And it’s something Jessica has plenty of.  She is durable and clever because of her rocky early childhood, she is quick and versatile from her youth in a pirate port, she is physically strong and mighty from her years training in martial arts, and she’s an absolute crackshot after years of diligent practice with her trusty pistols.  Her true strength may lie in her brains and in her allies yes, but even without them, Red Jessica is a powerhouse of a warrior.  She can end fights extremely quickly or run from them without a prayer of catching her ( no shame in the later, both skills keep you alive ).  And it may be in bad taste to say, but ever since loosing most of her hearing, Jess swears up and down it’s made her vision better, her reaction time faster, and her quick thinking even quicker.  Yes of course she’s slowed down with age, but a bullet shoots at the same speed no matter how old you are.  And you best hope she didn’t bring her firecrackers, because while sudden loud noises will absolutely temporarily discombobulate or debilitate an opponent with healthy hearing, it’ll hardly effect her at all and suddenly, you’re a sitting duck.  You see those thighs?  You see those calves?  She can crush PINEAPPLES with them!  People have seen her do it!  Do you know how many micro-fractures broke and rebuilt those hands?  Thousands!  She can crush a trachea like a fucking beer can!  She can kick you to death!  One ill placed curb stomp and you are DECEASED.  Sometimes she’ll just psyche you out because she KNOWS you know she can kill your stupid ass!       But while her strength, mental and physical, have always been there, her power is relatively new.  As stated before, people are power.  Not knowledge, not money, not strength.  People.  She’s a fearsome warrior but she’d be useless if outnumbered.  Shes a very successful pirate, but she’d never make it out of port without a crew on her ship.  She found a gorgeous island, but it’d still be wild without those who built it’s piers and buildings.  She manages orchards and tends to them and harvests them herself, but she would loose all of her crop without the helping hands of her employed farmers.  And like I mentioned, she deeply understands this.  Freedom is not independence or vice versa.  Did you make the clothes on your back or the fabric that made those clothes?  Did you write the books you read to make you smarter or teach you that skill?  Did you plant the seed years ago that grew that orange you’re eating?  No, of course not.  Jessica didn’t either.  Another human did.  We all need each other to fill the holes in our lives that we can’t fill ourselves.  Humans are puzzle pieces in that way, there is no bigger picture or prayer for survival on our own.  And because of this, we can do anything we as a community, as a SPECIES work together to achieve.  There is no knowledge if there’s no one to learn from, there is no money if a society don’t give it value, your money is worthless if those you’re paying decide to rise against you, your role as leader only exists at the consent of those you lead, and your strength won’t save you from a sinking ship.  People are, and always will be, power.       And as someone who is exceptionally strong and exceedingly smart, Jessica has slotted herself in the humanity puzzle thusly: The strong exist to protect the weak, the smart exist to educate, and the lucky exist so the unlucky may be given aid.  And it is with this fairness and compassion that she has won the trust of so many.  She has a great many friends and allies even outside of those in her crew or on her island.  And she can make many more with ease.  That kind of power is not a power to be trifled with, even if she can kick your ass six ways to Saturday without it. 

Three Weaknesses:

     She suffers ADHD.  Now before ANY OF Y’ALL SAY ANYTHING, I myself also suffer ADHD.  And yes I do say suffer because well that’s what it causes for Jessica and I, suffering.  Yes, it is ableist language to say ‘suffering from’ rather than ‘has’ or ‘is diagnosed with’ and yes it perpetuates a stigma against us but god DAMN IT in both Jessica’s case and mine, it make life much much harder than it needs to be.  At the end of the day, Red Jessica is a fantasy of mine; I pour myself into her whether I mean to or not.  She’s the adult I wish I was, the person I might be if I had no anxiety, or brainfog, or lived in a world were I didn’t need a credit score or a degree. And even then, I can’t say I know anyone else’s problems better than my own.  So if my character has problems, by sheer osmosis they are going to reflect some of mine.  Both of the characters I write have ADHD because I have ADHD and I couldn’t even begin to know how a non-ADHD mind works to write it properly.  And no, I’m not being dramatic when I say it causes me suffering.  I can’t drive, I can’t hold down a job, I nearly flunked out of school, I still cant read very fast or spell very well, I am constantly overwhelmed by mundane things, I’m a slow learner, I forget very important things or recent things, I forget about things that mean the world to me, I forget about people, I stumble through tasks, I procrastinate hobbies and basic hygiene, and everything I do takes all goddamn day and I can only really do one important thing at a time and in order of importance.  If I have a date at 4pm, I’m dressed and ready at 11am because I’ve gotta do the important thing first or else I will forget to do the important thing.  I started typing this at a little before 5pm.  It’s 7;30.  It’ll probably be 10 o’clock at night by the time I fucking finish ( edit: l m a o its 1am bitch you thought ).  I’m 26 and am just medicated enough to barely function.  So yeah.  Suffering is the word.       Though for Jessica, perhaps suffering is a tad strong of a word.  Her ADHD affects her ability to function in far less debilitating ways ( though whether that’s a result of a less severe diagnosis than me or the result of the society, situations, and responsibilities she functions in and around are far different from mine, who’s to say ).  For her, she has very consuming hyperfixations that can last anywhere between weeks to decades, a spotty memory that is detail and memento oriented,  she’s scatterbrained more often then not but can focus with amazing clarity on her interests or in high adrenaline situations, is is ABYSMALLY bad at math and EXCRUCIATINGLY bad with numbers ( as opposed to me, who is good at numbers but shit at spelling or reading ), she can forget anything no matter how important it is to her or to anyone, she’s bad with names and dates, is COMPLETELY time-blind, has trouble prioritizing, and of course, wile not actually that materialistic, she absolutely has the ol’ magpie instinct.       While her poor memory assists in her adaptability and ability to move on, it also means she forgets things she needed to remember, like when the last time she bathed was and who this person is and what happened between her and someone else or what conversation’s shes had.  Unfortunately this means she’s a very good friend and leader... while you’re around and interacting with her on at least a weekly basis.  It’s almost a lack of object permanence in both a social and very real sense.  If something is not right in front of her, odds are she’s not going to think about it.  And while its something she constantly kicks herself for and actively tries to be better about, it applies to people too.  Face to face is the best way to interact with her; she won’t think to write you and in her modern verse she won’t think to ever call and she’ll text you back in perhaps a few days.  She doesn’t value you any less, I promise.  She’s just either distracted or overwhelmed.  Also, for someone as understanding as her, she is surprisingly self-centered.  Not selfish, self-centered.  She’ll talk about herself more than she should, and will assume people understand that she’s doing so as a form of showing empathy rather than bragging when they may not know this at all.  Actually she accidentally assumes all the time.  It was far worse when her hearing was functional; she’d finish your sentence for you or guess what it was you were going to say ( again, not to talk over, you but to show she understands you and the conversation, tho it usually came of as annoying or patronizing ).  Sometimes she mistakenly assumes you believe or know the same things she does without even realizing it.  Maybe she perceives the right idea off of someone but isn’t observant enough to notice anything past that.  And while she is willing to change her mind about things, she might change her mind a tad too quickly.  She’s an over-sharer and is horrible at keeping any kind of secret.  Romantic relationships tend to fizzle out. Her impulse control is improving but has a VERY long way to go. She’s always chasing something new.       All and all, when you’re a pirate, a librarian, or even a captain, all of these things may be irritating and inconvenient, but are overall manageable in chunks.  ...But as a governor to her island, as a leader of an entire population... oof. In the position of leadership that she’s in, she can’t afford to make too many massive mistakes, and she knows this.  ‘There is no power quite like the power of being underestimated’ is a phase you’ll hear her say a lot but for her, there is a shift in connotation.  If people expect less and you do more that’s a great upper hand in any situation but for her, it was a safety net.  Having ADHD sometimes means going months or years being fine and then eventually you fuck up and everyone around you wonders how in the world you managed to do that.  She has only barely avoided disaster more times than she’d like to admit.  Even with the resourcefulness, the understanding, and the power she wields, she’s finally starting to realize that she’s bit off more than she might be able to chew, with the entire well-beings and livelihoods of others on the line.  And she fears that one day she’ll play her cards wrong and everything she’d built, everything she’s done, will all come crashing down in ruin.

     She is Hard of Hearing.  This one is literally as simple as it sounds: she has moderate and degenerative hearing loss and tinnitus after years of canons, explosions, gunshots, and a definitive, scale tipping attack in her early 30s.  Her ears just don’t work at all like they used to.  The whole world sounds like it would if everything was underwater: she can’t pin point the location of sounds, how far off or close sounds are, and barely registers changes in volume. And it only gets worse the older she gets; one day she won’t hear anything at all.  And while yes, again, it might be very harsh and ableist to say, the truth of the matter that being deaf a “ weakness ” more often than its a strength.       That said, it very well can be a strength.  I’ve already mentioned that trick with the firecrackers and let me tell you it is a DAMN EFFECTIVE TRICK.  Shes around explosions and canons and guns all the time and now she can focus while being around them five times better than she could in the past!  But unfortunately it also means she’s very easy to sneak up on, she sometimes isn’t aware of danger until it’s nearly too late,  no one can get her attention or warn her across any distance, it’s very easy to escape from her, and it’s easy for her to be just... left out of things.  She might hear you talking, but she has little to no idea what you’re saying without sign or lipreading.  Some people don’t have the patience or even just the courtesy to speak slower, or clearer, or repeat themselves a lot.  Though, those last too thinks aren’t weaknesses of hers so much as they are the weakness of others, but they still negatively affect her self esteem and her effectiveness as a leader.       All of this has taught her to pick her battles carefully, and plan around the elements of surprise and discombobulation.  And while communication was tricky at first, it only got easier, and now she can talk to you almost like anyone can, so long as she’s looking you in the face. 

     That damn bleeding heart.  We have established a number of things that should easily add up to an overly empathetic, trusting, fight-the-good-fight, martyr-some, idealistic pushover;  she believes humanity and kindness are strengths, she has taken on the role of leader and then a provider, she has known suffering and tasked herself with ending the suffering of others to the best of her ability,  she lacks the clarity of mind to assume people aren’t just as good or capable as her automatically, she can have poor impulse control at times,  she wants to have relationships, and ( while I never stated this outright yet it can be inferred  ), she believes that being able to see yourself in others is the foundation of humanity and ( as i did say outright ) humanity is what keeps us unified and unity is what makes us fit and strong.  Keeping up?  Good. Here’s the curve ball: How can she whole hardheartedly preach and believe all of this, to the point of it being the foundation of her character, WHILE BEING A VIOLENT THIEVING AND BLOODTHIRSTY PIRATE?!  HOW, MANGO? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!!  Ok, fine, sure, I will. I’m sure about one half of you are looking up from the screen and going “ Oh yeah, wow I totally forgot that bit. “ and the other half got about two and a half paragraphs in before squinting and silently calling bullshit. So let me explain.      In short, she’s a detached hypocrite and is well aware and unashamed of her hypocrisy while far less aware of her detachment. I’ll cover both:  Western culture as a whole seems to be under the impression that hypocrisy, despite context or importance, is automatically bad.  I don’t know where this comes from personally ( my bet is Christianity but I have exactly 0 evidence ) but its a very... flawed idea.  Take the freedom of speech vs racism problem; say you owned a bar where all could speak their mind freely over cold drinks.  Excellent concept without context, right?  Sure. ....Then a die hard racist covered in slurs and symbols walks in and orders- what are you going to do?  The correct answer is to throw him out instantly.  Not let him sit so long as he doesn’t cause trouble, not just ignore him and hope he doesn’t return, you throw him out.  Is it hypocritical?  Yep!  Sure is!  But it is also 100% necessary to protect your other patrons because if you don’t, the racist starts feeling safe and bringing his racist buddies, literally everyone else starts feeling unsafe and starts to hang out elsewhere, and two months later, ta da!  You now own a n*zi bar and there is literally nothing you can do about it. Jessica is in a somewhat similar situation.  You as a pretend bar owner need to make a decision as who to let into your bar and who to throw out for the good of all of your patrons.  Jessica too is faced daily with that decision.  If she want’s to help as many people as possible, the only realistic way she can do that are by protecting those under her leadership... only.  She is surrounded by hateful, angry, sneaky, traitorous, abusive, or otherwise evil people.  Piracy as a profession and poverty in general can do that to a person.  Of course there is a clear difference between those down on their luck and desperate, and the truly cruel and twisted, but unfortunately both types of people yield the same wrongdoings.  It’s absolutely her nature to extend a hand to anyone and everyone but.... she just can’t anymore.  Too many times has her trust been betrayed, too many times has she gotten in peoples business trying to be helpful, only for her to absolutely bite her in the ass.  Too many time the extended hand is bitten and once or twice, she’s actually made things worse.       Now, she will only help someone she loves, someone under her leadership, or someone who seeks her out.  That’s it.  And even then, sometime it manages to bite er in the ass.  But she had to set that hard limit for herself out of necessity, one she does her absolute best to adhere too and... these days she adheres a little too well. That leads us to our next point; what I was alluding to at the beginning of her Understanding essay when I said she has limited but deep running empathy.  That detachment again, courtesy of a very unattached mother and unchecked ADHD. ( It isn’t a strong enough characteristic to even rank as a strength or a weakness but damn if it isn’t an undercurrent to a lot of her motivations and experiences. ) Strangers are fair game that she tries to ignore, but if she even perceives you as a threat, you could be in danger. Like anyone used to violence or perhaps anyone trapped in an us verses them mindset, she can just... flat... turn her empathy off.  Not on command, she’s not a socio or psychopath persay.  But she has become totally numb to the horror of violence via her warrior upbringing that, in her mind, violence can actually be rather fun. Pair that with the fact that she purposely tailored herself to only be empathetic to her allies and boom.  You get a kindhearted killer.  Cops and soldiers in our world do it literally every day.  Actually anyone can do it really, even you if you tried. You don’t have to be evil or even angry to kill or steal or lie... you just have to believe you’re right.

Three Secrets:

     WHAT SECRETS?!  LMAO this bitch is the oversharing queen!! I’ve been typing and pondering her character for literal hours ( its currently 11:16, fuck you adderall ), and I still can not think of a single goddamn secret.  There is nothing about her that at least five random people don’t fucking know about!! The only secrets she has are secrets she knows about other people and even then she is!! literally the worst!! She spills her guts left and right and yet she wants to be a mysterious bitch SO BAD like BABE I love you, you’re precious, but you are a dumbass attention seeking validation chasing adhd CLOWN girl!! Stop telling random people about your hermaphroditism or your dairy allergy or your dead dad or that time you fell asleep in a barrel like that is literally your uber driver Jessica honey come ooooon. I’m skipping this section mom holy fuck.

Three Fears:

     What if she does wrong by everyone who trusts her?  As stated at the end of the ADHD essay, she’s terrified of failing those she leads.  Where it as simple as personal failure, she’d be fine.  Ever if her entire world came crashing down on top of her she’d either die or start back from square one.  Death is a fact of life and her adaptability means she can just dust herself off and move on, so neither her death nor her failures really scare her... But it isn’t just her life and happiness at stake, is it? Not anymore, right?  What started as a leader of a small gang of rebels became a full crew, then a crew became a slew of allies, then those allies built a town and now... now she’s the governor of the Crimson Isle and there are nearly twenty five HUNDRED lives at her mercy.   HER mercy.  One really, really bad mistake could ruin their livelihoods or spark disorder and disloyalty.  And if she died?  Would whoever it is that will take her place be as good to them as she is?  Is she good enough to begin with in the first place? Every day the paperwork gets a little bit thicker, every year there’s a new baby or two.  And the isle has fertile soil sure but will it last?  Are they prepared for a raid or a hurricane?  And if Jessica trusts the wrong people, where her people right to trust her?  ...can I protect them? Can I protect them?! CAN I PROTECT THEM?!

     Who am I if I’m not interesting?  This is, literally, an entirely subconscious fear.  She’s not at all aware it exists and therefor this entry is short. But between her short time with her very unimpressed mother, her own ADHD, she is constantly hungry for attention without even realizing it.  She must be interesting and intriguing and engaging, and I did mention she wants to also be mysterious.  She wants not so much your input or even your validation - but rather if shes not perceived then.... is she really there? Remember, she is unaware of any of this.  And fortunately she’d never been starved for attention to act out over it in the first place, even when her disinterested mother was alive. Look at her; she’s radiant, she’s beautiful, and she’s 6′4 / 195 cm shredded and covered in cool scars. Without even opening her mouth, without even her colorful clothes, she’s kind of automatically interesting.  So she’s never been so desperate for attention that she acts out because she’s never been without it for very long.  But it’s there. Hungry, aching, silent.  Those years after the M branding were horrible and she could never really explain why.  She still throws parties, organizes festivals, and talks to damn near anyone who will listen.  Look at my art!  Look at my library! Listen to how much I know! Let me tell you how lovely you are! Look at my scares! Look at my hair! Look at me haha, please, please look at me. 

     GHOSTS. NOPE. No. NO. Fuck ALL of that noise. Stay dead, go to hell, eat a dick.  Red Jessica is a scientist and superstitious atheist. As an academic and somewhat bi-cultural woman she simply thinks there are far too many religions with far too much history for any of them to be considered The One True Thing You Must Believe Or ElseTM and she tends to not truly believe anything until she finds some kind of proof.  Shes not afraid of the unknown, shes thrilled by it. She’s not afraid of death or the afterlife, that’s beyond her control. She’s only superstitious because she does believe in and value luck, and also its a bit of a cultural habit. BUT IF SOME SHIT STARTS MOVING ON ITS OWN OR IF SHE SEES SOME BULLSHIT IN THE CORNER OF HER EYE THEN SHE IS OUT OF THERE. OUTIE 5000. She has heard the tales of lost souls from purgatory or the eternally ravenous Pret or dangerous Phi Tai Hong or the tragic and startling Banshees or the creepy Santa Compana and she wouldn’t believe a word of it where it not for one thing.      SHE FUCKING SAW ONE. She’ll never forget it, it was the first and last time she EVER attempted to plunder a tomb all Skyrim style and at first she thought it was one of the crewmean being creepy as shit until she got a good look and he was SEE THROUGH AS SHIT AND SKINNY AS FCUK AND SHE GOT LITERALLY CHASED THE FUCK OUT OF THAT JOINT. She does not CARE that some ghosts are just apparitions she does not CARE that some are friendly and trying to warn her of something if you are MOVING and DEAD at the SAME time get FUCKED. If any of y’all cringe try-hards bring a Ouija board to the party you are getting SENT HOME and BLOCKED. NO CAP.

Three Goals:

   She really only has one left. Listen its... almost 1am and ive been typing since like 5pm i think i covered goals somewhere in here but ive gotta throw in the towel but even then I’m kinda being serious.  Her only remaining goal is to find a suitable heir of some kind.  She wants what she’s built to fall into worthey hands but she could never seem to find a good parter and even when she did she couldn’t sustain a pregnancy ( you’d think that would be a huge deal but it hardly mattered to her oddly ).  So at 50 the option of having kids is out but there’s still plenty of hope for either adoption or a protege.  But then again, she’s so busy these days that she hardly prioritizes it like she wants to.  

                                                                               holy shit i need some water...

#i.... i did it.. its done.. its DONE #...this took my entire saterday #i will literally pay yall actuall dollars to read all of this please... it took so long i dont want it to be for nothing qwq #x; EVER PLAYED CRAZY EIGHTS? { dash games } #x; QUITE THE PIRATE GAL { portrait } #x; WHY AREN'T YOU A CLEVER ONE? { meta }

[galaxina-the-pyro]

For the character list thing either Phineas or Isabella!! If you want of course

You’re making me choose between two of my favoritest characters (sans Doofenshmirtz, but yeah).

You cruel bastard.

I’m gonna choose Phineas because that was the first name on the request - but someone BETTER give me Isabella, or I swear to the heavens...

Favorite Thing About Them: Not many people talk about this, but Phineas is one insane individual considering the crazy things he’s willing to build and blatant disregard of consequences. Sure, he’s nice, and I love him, but I also like how under all that niceness, and there is A LOT, is the capabilities of being a supervillain. He manipulated a grown man into helping him with his parents’ anniversary through song, he and his brother created a quantum vortex that sucked up all of reality just for what I can assume is just because they COULD. And he has a BRILLIANTLY sadistic sense of humor when you really think about it (“In case we capsize, your seat cushions can function as a headstone.”). His brand of optimism, of course, is also a plus for me - though I love Milo, Phineas just feels so much more genuine when he raises the spirits of everyone around him. I feel like in comparison to everyone else his comedy is overshadowed due to how, ironically, subtle he is as a character, but that’s honestly part of the beauty of it. He has the same energy as that one child who’s smiling at a camera while there’s a burning building behind her - I don’t know how that’s even possible when Milo exists, but yeah.

Least Favorite Thing About Them: I kinda sorta really wish that Phineas showed more negative emotions more often - we know he HAS them, and that he’s even shown signs of having bouts of rage or sorrow under the right amount of pressure, but he never really goes beyond that? One of my favorite episodes is “The Klimpaloon Ultimatum”, and that’s mainly because it’s one of the rare non-special episodes, if not the only one, that has him mostly react in ways he normally wouldn’t - what I would GIVE to have a special or something where Mittington Random came back for revenge, I feel like he’s such a fun foil for Phineas especially; aside from 2D-Doofenshmirtz, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Phineas show a character so much disdain.

Favorite Line: “You know what I like about our friends? We say things like "We're gonna douse you with ant pheromones" and they're just like "Okay, whatever". They're so cool!” [Runner up is: “Not yet Ferb.” and “I seem to have misplaced my ant farm.” as well as, “If the molecular-separator doesn’t just disappear when this is over, we should really consider destroying it.” and just...so many other lines. Phineas has such. Good. Lines.]

brOTP: Phineas and the gang - I love them all so very much. But if we’re gonna choose specifics, to me it’s a tie between Ferb and Isabella - Ferb is just a great partner for Phineas and they’re just awesome brothers, and Phineas and Isabella just care so deeply for each other it’s hard not to like them.

OTP: If you follow me, you know my OTP is Phinabella. To me it’s one of the best ships, and is my absolute favorite. It makes me so very happy, and I love it very much, and I will fight anyone who tries to rip it away from me.

nOTP: Phinerb, Phindace, Doophin, Phinerry...just...dear lord, why do they exist?

Random Headcanon: He gets offended whenever you use his nose for some kind of purpose other than when it’s intended for; there ARE exceptions to this rule, such as decorating him like a Christmas Tree. Using Phineas’ nose as a tool (specifically a scythe or a weapon) is a big no-no, however, and it’s probably the easiest way to get him in a bad mood.

Unpopular Opinion: Breaching into headcanon territory but I just CANNOT believe that Phineas is a school-person. I’m not saying he’s stupid, because academic pursuits don’t necessarily make one the smartest person in the room, but like, I see someone like Phineas being a C-student. Like, someone like Phineas who is absolutely in love with Summer just cannot be good at school no matter how smart he is - he seems like someone who’d hate the conformist ways that school is and would either just not pay attention to anything, would outright go against instructions (not out of rebellion but because he just thinks there’s better way to do things - what’s the point of “showing your work”, for example, if you already know the answer?), and would definitely doodle in class. Again, he’s NOT STUPID - far from it. And in the right circumstances, he could probably ace those classes (aside from Grammar, I have a suspicion that he’s not great with Grammar). But my heart tells me that he and school just do not get along and probably never will (I’m totally down with Phineas kicking college in the pants though, @honorable-asshole. AND him having ADHD, because, c’mon, he totally has it at least to a degree)

Song I Associate With Them: “Happy” by Pharrell Williams

Favorite Picture of Them:

#phineas flynn #phineas and ferb #pnf #ask game #character ask

[daddymagnusbane]

LGBTQ+ characters in TMI as Types of Gay™️

Alec: black coffee gay, wears sweaters, constantly rubbing hands together to “keep warm,” communicates through scoffs, aces exam after studying for 2 seconds before class and drinking two Red Bull’s, political science junkie, fidgety fingers

Anna: fashion icon, eyebrow quirks, Long Looks™️, *androgyny*, drinks chamomile tea or hard liquor (there’s no in-between), never eats, aces the exam without studying, gestures when they talk, strangely good at everything they try to do

Matthew: loves dancing, drunk kisses everyone, winkkkkksssss, alcoholic, accessory king, hair always looks good even when it shouldn’t, bad driver, talks about his “fat ass” a lot but is actually skinny, would steal homework answers, secretly smart but comedically stupid, stare-out-the-window-and-think-about-life kinda gay

Helen: cottagecore gardener gay, reusable everything, bad at math but fantastic at history and foreign language, dog person but would love a cat too

Aline: teacher gay, favorite class in hs was English, could do art if they wanted but has no time, lots of iced caramel lattes, cries once every 8 years, *pained expression*, “I’m disappointed in you”, likes baths more than showers but rarely allows themself the luxury, huuuuuuge legging bitch, thinks they are dumb but is actually smart, also a bad driver, gets nails done a lot because it shows “collectiveness”

Magnus: iconic/experienced gay, knows all the secrets, fashion to the MAX, more expensive = better, colorful lipstick, finger snaps, raised eyebrows, covers laughs with coughs, expressive earrings, killer ass, need I say more?, loves kids but acts too cool to show it

Thomas: only out to his closest friends and that one really chill history teacher, often looks skyward like he’s praying even though he’s an atheist, has a huge crush but it will never work because the guy’s straight as an arrow, taps feet a lot, *nervous energy*, really funny when he’s with his friends, good driver, really good at STEM but not super interested, yet another political science king, could be trusted to be the DD or hold your drink at a party, shaves because they hate having body hair, bad posture but gorgeous when you finally notice them

Alastair: loves high-end fashion but pretends not to, *judgemental*, very very strong, fits in with the guys in the locker room but always feels uncomfortable (not because they’re gay, but because the environment just upsets them), loves heavy metal, drinks water and black tea, loves science and foreign language, bad at English, wears eyeliner when his family is out of the house, amazing driver, quick learner

Mark: confused gay, likes learning about social issues but can’t decide on what subset he’s really passionate about, short attention span, loves kids, emotionally intelligent but can’t get above a C+ in any class, *blushes*, whitest teeth you’ve ever seen, all they know is that they want to be in love and have a family when they’re older

Kieran: model gay, flawless eyebrows, bedroom eyes for days, thing for dumb pretty boys, hates school, loves the driving but isn’t very good, rich bitch, loves spending money on their friends, often guilty about how they can’t help more people

Ty: Sherlock gay, smarter than you, hotter than you, sexy and innocent at the same time, best skin ever, loves animals, hates drinking, loves running but gets easily frustrated with competitive sports, hates crowded spaces, hates school not because of the classes but because of the people, reliant on others to interpret their emotions, once you’re friends with them it’s for life, hugger, *fluttery fingers*, sleeps with 700 blankets on, buries pain beneath a lifetime of knowledge like a walled tomb

Kit: reckless gay, whole life can be summarized as a speeding ticket, never eats breakfast but gorges on dinner, their metabolism could run 4 laps around the Pacific in the time yours catches up with last night’s cheese cake, ADHD, foster care kid, gets in fights but shows off black eyes like trophies, loves getting hickies, bites lip, pierced their own ears every couple of years just to spice things up, wears skirts for fun sometimes but not because they actually like look, naturally a really good ice skater for some godforsaken reason, hates sports but then for serotonin, has a really vivid imagination but doesn’t do anything artistic to put it to use, good with kids but doesn’t necessarily search out opportunities to use that ability

#tlh #mortal instruments #shadowhunter chronicles #lgbtq #lgbt #gay books #lgbt characters

[icollectyoursins]

Pesci General Headcanons

Have a character, but no idea? Prompt list here!

Looking for more? Master post here!

WARNINGS: None

Word Count: 840

Okay, this one is kind of basic because… Well his name, but I like to imagine he loves fish. Like. Has 3 tanks in his mess of a room full of colourful boys and gals. He has 1 bright blue betta fish in a 10 gallon. His name is Buble and he will fight anything. He has a few small crabs in a 20. No one knows where he got them or what kind they are, but they seem happy and they’re not getting any bigger so… it’s fine, right? And finally he has a gourami pair in another 20 gallon.

He also loves cats. He actually brought a poor stray home once and hid it in his room until Risotto came by one day, saw the cat, saw Pesci with his leftover food and just sighed. He really didn’t want to tell Pesci he couldn’t keep it, but they couldn’t afford to take care of another animal. Pesci understood, but was deeply heartbroken. He asked Risotto to not tell everyone else because he didn’t want to feel judged and Ris was just too tired to care, so he didn’t.

Proscuitto and Pesci are actually cousins as opposed to brothers, but they were raised by Proscuitto’s mom and dad after Pesci’s weren’t able to take care of him. They’re basically brothers, which is why he calls him ‘bro.’ 

Proscuitto is all about the “gangstar” lifestyle, which is why he never calls Pesci his brother in public or around La Squadra, however he calls him ‘bro’ in private and around their family which is rare, but it still makes both of them feel really nice.

Much like we see in the anime, he’s very skiddish and hesitant when fighting, but he will do it, whatever ‘it’ is. Towards when they were trying to find Trish they needed all hands on deck, so Pesci had to step up to the plate. The whole squad was honestly really impressed with how he handled the train incident (we’re operating by everybody lives, so we’ll say Bucci gang just escapes with no casualties.)

While we’re on the topic of the train episode I don’t think he was a proper member of La Squadra. I think during the whole thing about Sorbet and Gelato he was there at the table as an “introduction” to the lifestyle. They’d all met him before, sure, but he was never a part of their team. It was then that he started to get interested. I think that’s why he has so much to prove to them and himself because they thought he was weak from the getgo. That being said, Risotto tries not to give him the really terrible missions (as per Proscuitto’s request). They’re really just giving him wild goose chases or the ever so important mission of getting their coffee. Sort of like an intern.The train episode was probably his first real mission.

He picked up the word ‘bro’ from hearing Proscuitto say it when they were younger and thought it was cool because his bro is cool! Maybe bro will like me more if I spoke like this? Honestly, Proscuitto thought it was really sweet, but would never say so to anyone.

He’s very forgetful. Like. ADHD brain kind of forgetful. Sets something down somewhere and then turns around and suddenly it’s gone. Sometimes it’s either Illuso or Formaggio playing a prank.

I think he has ADHD. Can’t explain it, just do.

He really quite observant. People have been hiding things from him for years and he’s gotten good at picking up on what it is. I mean, he instantly noticed that the nail polish on the fingers from the Sorbet and Gelato episode belonged to them and that they wore the same kind.

Besides Proscuitto, he gets along the best with Sorbet and Gelato. They were the nicest to him and tried to show him how to do things here and there.

He’s very book smart and good at retaining weird, seemingly useless facts, but not facts about life. He relies on Prosciutto to take care of them for the most part.

He cannot, for the life of him, figure out how so much rage can fit inside such a small person like Ghiaccio. He’s an anomaly to him.

He loves fantasy novels a lot. Especially the Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones (first book came out in 96, I checked.) It’s a sort of escape for him (like with a lot of people) and it gives him a chance to feel more powerful than he actually is.

That being said, I think he’s written bits of a book. Nothing he would let anyone else read, but he thinks they’re good and he hopes to get them out in the world one day.

He and Proscuitto both have baby pictures of them together on halloween and they will not share them with anyone! But, they are very cute. (Proscuitto dressed up as a prince/princess, no one could really tell and Pesci was a pirate)

#jojo pesci #Pesci #pesci headcanons #these were really fun #I really just projected myself into this one character #I don't even like him that much #pesci prompts #sfw

[silver-kitsuneneko]

Conventions Are NOT Consent

I hate making rants. But because of this shit with Momokun, I have a few things I would like to say. First, I’m not going to bash her or anything, the internet has done that enough and she’s seriously not worth my time but will use her as an example to  talk about why she and people like her are what’s wrong with the convention community. It has become more and more of a problem in the recent years. Whenever you have to have signs all over a con saying something that you any adult SHOULD know is not only sad but troubling. Cosplay is NOT consent and Just because you’re at an anime convention; all social etiquette is still in play! Look I get it, going to a con is a chance for people to be themselves. It’s a de-stressor where you can sit back, relax, geek out with old and new friends and then go back to the grind. Yes, a convention is a space where you can dress up, be weird, or whatever, hell even vendors and artists get into it. What job can you have where you can walk to a person for hours about your favorite TV show and get paid for it! However, there are a few idiots who think “I’m at a convention! This means I can do whatever I want!” Yeah no, just because you’re at an anime convention or event, doesn’t mean you can do whatever, common sense is still in play. And it’s sad that this has to be stated but here are a few things you should not do at a convention

First, Keep You Hands to Yourself! This is a phrase that most of us have learned in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, and by second grade it’s literately drilled into our heads that unless someone says it’s okay, DON’T TOUCH ANYONE! Though there are exceptions to the rule, like spontaneous hugs and things but if you don’t like someone to hug you, PLEASE tell them. Personally, I like getting hugs but some people don’t like being touched at all. We are also taught in school, at home, and early 90s PSAs that we have all no-no areas. For women there’s three no-no area, for men there’s two no-no areas and no one has the right to touch you in YOUR no-no area without consent. So things like groping a woman’s breasts, pinching a man’s butt, or putting something in close contact against or near someone’s private parts without their consent is sexual harassment and violation of that person’s space. Men: if you see a woman in a sexy cosplay, breasts out, ass out, posing and jiggling her breasts, this does NOT give you any right to touch her. If she’s fully clothed and you think she’s attractive and want to talk to her and she’s into you and flirt with you, this does NOT give you the right to touch her. If she’s at a convention or anywhere minding her business, this does NOT give you the right to touch her. If you wouldn’t do it outside of a convention, then don’t do it at a convention. Women: Contrary to popular belief, men are not 24/7 sex addicts. They don’t crave sex and constant stimulation and this should be an excuse to harass them either. If you see a hot guy dressed as a dead ringer of your family anime character, this does NOT give you the right to touch him. If he’s not in cosplay and looks like you average or handsome joe, this does NOT give you the right to touch them. If they are at an anime convention minding their business, this does NOT give you the right to touch them. It’s sad to say but if Momokun was a male cosplayer and doing the things she has done, she would have been blacklisted and jailed by now. But there are other ways people have started to harass others at cons. Also, making a cosplay costs a lot of time and a lot of MONEY. Whether someone gets it custom made, made it themselves, or bought it, money was involved.  What does this mean? This means that if you do touch someone’s prop or cosplay without permission and ruin it, you made that person lose money or have to figure out how to save it. It’s not fair to that person that they want to fix YOUR mistake because you didn’t ask for permission and messed up weeks or months of work.

Do NOT take photos of anyone or anything without consent. Now taking pictures to capture a moment is not anything new. It’s actually a fun pastime.  But with the way cameras have evolved within the last decade, it’s easier than ever before to have take a photo and upload it and share it. This is a good thing but when it’s used to harass and bully, it’s a problem. In the early days of the internet, there was a website dedicated to making fun at bad cosplay. And their definition of “bad” were people who did do the effort but were overweight, underweight or the “wrong” ethnicity to cosplay the character. Now, the many people just randomly go to cons and take photos of people and use for sites and things. Once again not bad but many people do NOT want their pictures taken. Some are camera shy, some people are sensitive to lights, some may not be in their best look, and some cosplayers know that if someone is chasing them down for a picture with them in a revealing outfit, it’s not for a good reason, so in that case “ask before you take!” It became so much of a problem that for awhile, there were incidents were men were ejected from cons and banned because they had cameras and taking lewd photos of female attendees and cosplayers alike. Because of this, security has been amped up became some of these people have been blacklisted from all conventions. Case in point, there was an incident where one of these people slipped through the cracks. I was at the event and the event itself was disorganized from the get go but because someone stole something they had security roaming and this man came out of nowhere, got down on the ground and took a few up skirt shots of a friend of mine. She of course screamed and tried to restrain him but he got away but thankfully because of the previous incident, security was on high alert and he was immediately apprehended. Because of this and many incidents, taking photographs were added to the cosplay is not consent movement. This also extends to artist and vendor wares as well. I have seen and was a victim of people taking photographs without permission. For artists who draw, they know it’s because they don’t want to buy the print so they’ll take a picture instead. For makers, many take pictures just to see how it’s made but in rare cases, to t come back for it later. In any case, it doesn’t to ask before you snap. It’s just common courtesy. Once again, if you wouldn’t do it outside of a convention, don’t do it inside.

A convention is not your personal anime fantasy and use common sense. Many people go to conventions. Once again, fun and de-stressing however, it’s not like you’re living in a real life anime or a protagonist in an anime. So what does this means? Don’t treat anyone like literal shit because you want to be funny or edgy just for one day. Don’t ask or be tsundere because that’s what you identify as. Tsunderes are assholes on anime and they are assholes in reality. Don’t run after someone and assault them because you’re a yandere and that person is with your “senpai”. Don’t go up to people cosplaying as certain characters and attempt to carry them off insult them because they are like this character in this show. Sadly in the Hetalia fandom, there were a lot these instances from the Nazi salute with Germany cosplayers and randomly calling Spain cosplayers pedophiles. Or an incident where a group of cosplayers kidnapped a young child because she was dressed as Chibi America. Don’t insult or roast guests or voice actors because you want to look cool in front of your friends because once again, you look like an asshole. It’s a no win solution for most because if a voice actor or actor have a reputation for being rude or mean to fans it can damage their career. A good example of this would be a recent convention with the actors of Infinity War with a group of disrespectful fangirls. As I said, playfulness or okay but roasting and being a complete jerk is not funny or cool. It’s one of the reasons why actors and actresses or voice actors don’t go to conventions. It’s a miracle that Josh Keaton still tries to connect with his fans after all of the hate and backlash he’s gotten. Also, anime girls are different from girls in real life so don’t think “I saw in a manga where a boy meets a girl and he fondles her and she get aroused and he took her virginity and now she’s his girlfriend because of this so it should work with other girls” or “if I compliment her breasts and she’s nice to me, it’s her right to have sex with me” is something that happens. If you saw it in a manga KEEP it in your head, if you try to replicate anything you saw in a hentai manga or any manga of that nature you are not only the problem but you will get arrested. I added this in because there are some people who thing like this and it’s disgusting.

Finally, do NOT blame your behavior on any mental disorder or condition or upbringing anything really. This is something that I’ve seen before and Momokun is just one of many who have done this.  Having ADHD, depression, anxiety, social anxiety, autism (high functioning), or bipolar disorder is NOT an excuse for inappropriate actions! I have known MANY people who have used excuses like these as an excuse for being assholes or doing something idiotic and it needs to stop. My toxic booth mate often used her upbringing and bipolar disorder as the reason for being asshole, I knew of an incident where a friend’s coworker was acting obnoxious and loud and when called on it they stated “I have autism so I don’t know any better”. I have a few friends who are high function autistic and when I told them the story they even said “yeah no, you don’t scream and act out if you’re high functioning”.  Being “smart” doesn’t give you the right to spout racial slurs or jerking off into cups. Not knowing any better is also not an excuse because you DO know better. If someone is  telling you or giving you a sign of being comfortable, STOP your behavior. Being female, LGBTQ, male, or anything does not give you the right to do anything and don’t use it as a reason why you’re acting in a socially unacceptable way. It’s making yourself and anyone with those conditions, upbringings, and groups look bad and it’s not fair to them!

In conclusion, remember to always have fun at a convention. That’s the sole purpose of a con, fun. As attendees you al can make things easier by reporting any wrong doings, calling someone out when you see something not right, or just following basic social norms. Just use common sense people.

#momokun #anime convention #convention etiquette #anime expo #cosplay community #cosplayers #this needs to stop #this needs to be said #this is serious #she's apart of the problem

[ricresin]

What are some common things people get wrong about adhd in fanfics? Just curious to hear from a person who actually has it

Hi, nonnie. Thanks for asking.

People have made a lot of mistakes with ADHD, but I do blame the media sometimes. Characters with it tend to be the butt of the joke, anybody loud or awkward who makes mistakes, and they never fully go into the whys and hows. There have been a few guides to writing them properly, which I will link at the bottom, but here are the main problems that always make me cringe while reading. And just to start with, this is less so speaking on the predominantly hyperactive-impulsive or the predominantly inattentive, but more on the common combination of the two types, which is what I deal with.

ADHD, as much as any other neurological condition, is not something that ever goes away. And where some mental disorders ebb and flow, get better and get worse, until you grow out of it (if you’re lucky enough) ADHD and it’s symptoms don’t subside. Sometimes medicine does help to control the symptoms, but even then you are susceptible to falling back into them if you don’t focus - which is an ability that the medicine itself gives you. 

Impulsivity/Impulsiveness. People use impulsivity in their writing as a way to further a plot, and then promptly ignore it the rest of the story. But it’s something that is damaging to your every day life. It’s jumping to do something innocuous, even though you’re supposed to be doing something much more important. It’s suddenly acting a certain way or asking a certain question to others because your gut and heart tell you to do it, and missing any social clues that may say you shouldn’t. It admitting things you’re not supposed to admit, or starting sentences that are secrets and not realizing until you’ve already half said them. It’s talking too loudly and too closely, or jumping into the fray of situations whether you are welcome there or not. It’s riding your bike down a hill even though you can’t remember how to use your brakes. It’s breaking things before you realize they are breakable. It’s making facial expressions that you don’t even truly intend to make, and having people get mad at you because every part of your heart is on your sleeve.

Caffeine and Adderall. ADHD is treated through stimulant therapy, because the brain of people with ADHD processes stimulants that activate the nervous system differently than other brains. Caffeine represses adenosine receptors and normalizes dopamine does cool shit. While most people drink caffeine to stay awake, people with ADHD are given a different outcome - an alert ability to focus and handle the unbalance in the brain easier. You don’t need a million things happening at once, you don’t have to constantly be moving. If it wasn’t for the potential kidney disease and migraine headaches it could cause, as well as stunting your growth and stimulating anxiety, it could be used as a treatment. Similarly, the medicines commonly used to treat ADHD, are all stimulants of some sort. Adderall itself is amphetamines in different forms, used to affect the central nervous system. It can be used to treat narcolepsy, it’s so strong, but with me it had a very different effect. It made me calmer, and gave me the ability to focus on the task at hand, finishing one thing at a time rather than bouncing around and letting things fall through the cracks. (Ultimately, I couldn’t handle the side effects.)

RSD. Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is a very common symptom in ADHD. As the name would suggest, people with ADHD are far more likely to perceive being teased, rejected, or criticized, whether that is the truth or not. RSD causes people to expect criticism and rejection, even when the likelihood is small. Even small types of denial are enough to emotionally trigger them into believing they’ve mucked everything up. When these feelings are internalized, they can lead to cycling depression and suicidal ideation. When they are externalized, they come off as anger, which is more so directed at themselves, but comes off as directed towards other people. People who experience RSD will sometimes be suddenly set apart from a social situation that they were just immersed in because it suddenly occurs to them that they are going to mess it up. The symptoms like these morph people with ADHD into people pleasers - they try to see what a person wants and needs, and gives them anything to achieve that, so they can be proud of themselves.This creates a hazardous situation where people with ADHD accidentally surround themselves with takers, and they are the only ones who give. People with ADHD often require a lot of reassurance - not to be confused by praise or attention.

Stimulation. People with ADHD don’t just move spastically or have shots of energy go through their arms and legs. It’s all about stimulation that their brain craves. It’s clicking pens or tapping fingers. It’s using fidget spinners. It’s reaching out to touch bumpy walls, tall fence posts, and soft couches. It’s not controllable. Smart phones are both a hindrance and a savior - I am never bored, always having fifteen accounts on fifteen different platforms, as well as games and messages, but I also have trouble putting down my phone once I have hyper focused on the stimulation it gives me - even when the situation changes and suddenly my attention is needed somewhere else. And on the other hand, my attention is torn between so many accounts, I can rarely keep communication on any of them active. Don’t even get me started on over stimulation - sometimes I’m in a crowded place, and I feel alive and awesome and 100%, and then two seconds later too many things happen at once and my brain comes to a crashing halt and I go flying off the merry-go-round. Not being able to process things goes both ways - small amounts, and large amounts.

So, as an adult with ADHD who has had it since the day he was born (I could tell you some stories of how much of a demon child I was...) these are just some of the things I wish people would take into account more when writing characters. But if you want to read more, there are some awesome guides here, here, and here that go into even more detail than my brain can sometimes organize. 

#adhd #cw suicide #mental health #depression #writing guides #stiles stilinski #adhd rsd #rsd #nonnie #text post #fanfiction #fandom #fanfiction writing #attention defecit hyperactivity disorder #add

[solidburnreturned]

by popular demand, here is my oc chatter regarding stuff like relationships n random character traits. its rly long oops but i divided it by character at least lmao,, these are all things that i think id also wanna use if i ever use these characters as humans (which i def will at some point honestly)

- i thinkkkk i want toad and pike to date. toad would come across pike in their lagoon one day while hes wandering around on another wonked exploration and pike is like hey lol :B with their pointy teeth and long ass hair and toad is like :0 he just sits and talks with pike for hours and comes by a few times a week to hang out with them. they fall in LOVE

- fred and lani are def gonna date too. two butches who use he/him pronouns fuck yeah? they have a powerful relationship. mega BDE. power couple. not a lot of pda but alone together theyre both very loving and tender, its a vulnerability thing for both of them. like lani is very cool and can be either stoic or borderline obnoxious while fred is punkish. fred is very head over heels for lani tho 

- mardi n berg.....complicated....i gotta figure out how they actually end up together. berg is a jogger and mardi is a piercer/tattoo artist so that doesnt....make them line up very much in that department. ill think about it more and figure something out. itll probably have something to do with berg’s nose stripes and eye rings

- also side note on mardi......i want his backstory to include a grey period set off by his brother being eaten when they were both young at the troll tree. like he becomes angry and depressed, sorta like branch, his tattoos that he gives himself the only color on his body, until he learns to let go and his colors come back (high key this was inspired by 21 savage, mardi’s voice claim, and the line in his new song A Lot “my brother lost his life and it turned me to a beast”). ill develop this idea further but i just wanted to get it written down

- bismuth.......unsure. they had a crush on pepper and kept trying to ask her out until she came out to them as a lesbian, then they were like :’) but theyre ride or die theyre not gonna be an ass to her because they cant date her. they just care a lot about her. its like icarly

- gazpacho and jupiter CUTE two small trans trolls in That Love. i need to develop them more but. theyre just cute 

- talia is still a little too new for me to develop her......but im thinkin about it...

- kinda same with ernie and olive. they kinda mostly just exist as cute babby characters right now? if anything olive is a trouble maker and ernie is a chatterbox

- clem and thursday also fuckin cute as hell......clem was a nervous wreck asking thursday out but theyve been together like ever since, which is more than a few years. they have a rly cute gentle lovey dovey relationship. thursday is usually hanging around up on her gf’s shoulder giving her kisses on the cheek

- bea and crystal.......adorabl relationship......crystal is another character thats kinda nervous but bea is so chill n confident is helps calm her down. theyre both trans and love the hell out of each other. rly slow n steady relationship, bea is very patient

- pj and marcus!!!! dumb mlm rep relationship. pj is so so gay for marcus he can barely comprehend it. its a dumb ego boost for marcus but hes also very in love with pj, he just expresses it in a weird cocky way idk marcus is a nerd. i need to make more content for them i think about these two way more than it seems

- dwight!! he has a boat. he lives on the boat.....ive thought about maybe pairing him with toad and pike. deciding on his voice claim has been the most difficult thing ever

- kass and current HELL yeah buff gf and tol gf......they spar with swords and wrestle for fun and hang out at the beach a lot. kass fuckin loves the gem on current’s back. i gotta make more content for them 

- celia......i wanna do more with celia. friends with berg probs theyre both sporty. shes just a sweet giant troll who loves mushrooms. i gotta pair her with someone whose palette goes nicely with her pastels 

- carrot and harriet are literally cricket and tilly from big city greens just older. yeehaw siblings. havent thought about relationship stuff with harriet yet.....i think she also needs ANOTHER redesign her colors are just too heavy still. maybe if i can make her colors compliment celia’s that could work as a pairing? hm hm.....carrot tho is dating ford’s oc rye theyre gentle country gays

- rainer. hm. i dont think theyre rly the dating type......theyre just chill with being them. they just wanna swim and be funny

- hammond and andromeda are probs two of my least developed characters.....hammond still needs a redesign. he might be cute to pair with walter, theyre around the same age. andromeda tho i have no idea. she might be a nice pairing with eve? if i ever feel like pairing her with someone...who knows. eve is very carefree and might find andromeda’s energy too intense

- radish i wanna make more content for!! i rly like her a lot....i think shes another troll who isnt interested in dating. shes very focused on being a chef instead. loves her friends a lot!

- mack and pepper 2gether 4ever obvs......they have a relationship that gets richer with age for sure

- im just gonna ramble about mack. i thinkkkkkkk i wanna make her half latina? columbian specifically. she doesnt quite read as white and i didnt make her with the intention of making her white. anyway i love mack a whole lot and should really develop her backstory more. its not rly as like...””tragic”” or whatever as pepper’s i know that but she def has layers. i wanna give her whole family more depth. she has a very complicated relationship with her own feelings and motivations that i need to think about more fully. my powerful femme tho i lov her

- mack’s parents, robin and champagne, i need to like....think about them more. they have kinda a comedic relationship thats sorta inspired by roger rabbit and jessica rabbit. robin is a very caring, gentle troll who’s very smart and cares a lot about his nursing responsibilities in the village. champagne is very relaxed and the “voice of reason” character of the family. she loves a good party and has her party planning down to a science. both are very successful power parents. kickass family

- i already talked about topaz and marney in a separate post but i still love them both so much. big wesbiabs

- pepper....pebber. im gonna talk about her the most obviously gfhjdkrs i wanna talk about her mental health i feel like i think about it a lot but i never write about it explicitly? this is gonna be long oops hgjfksd she has depression and ptsd stemming from the trauma of her crash...im thinking she also has adhd and thats just something shes always had. her depression rly got heavy during her recovery and right after like...she hated being bed/housebound and felt rly powerless to her situation and just let it eat at her until her personality had actually changed considerably. like extroverted wild child rebel to introverted, soft-spoken sulker. this got better with time but she still is pretty introverted, just turned her moodiness into chill energy. 

- she has bad depression habits like letting dishes, old food, laundry, or just stuff pile up in her room until it gets overwhelming and she spends like two days just manically cleaning; or staying in bed for way longer than she should and messing with her hygiene; or eating way more or way less than she should eat in a day. just stuff thats hard to completely break out of when youre recovering. her color is pretty consistently the dark red but if shes having a particularly rough day she might look a little paler, or like a muddy brick color at her worst. thats kinda rare tho

- her ptsd is the thing she hates the most. for a while it made her feel very weak and she’d beat herself up over being traumatized by the crash which was obviously not helpful to her mental state but she was really all over the place during her bodily recovery. its part of the reason why she started working out, she wanted to reclaim some sort of feeling of strength and power that she felt she’d lost completely. she still gets really frustrated with this feeling of loss but she gets a lot of support from loved ones which has helped her not self-blame so much. her ptsd manifests mostly as nightmares/insomnia, chronic headaches/stomachaches, intrusive thoughts and sometimes flashbacks. the nightmares are what rly get to her, she really doesnt get a lot of good sleep and it can get to the point where she just doesnt want to sleep sometimes and she’ll stay awake until she crashes hard

- her scars used to be a big trigger for her ptsd, which is why she has her bangs covering the one on her face and wears long pants (her knee braces are too bulky for pants and would force her to wear shorts which would force her to expose her scars). she just. really really hates them. this is something she struggles with for a majority of her life

- once she and mack start going steady with their dating and start consistently sleeping in the same bed, pepper starts to sleep better. she still has nightmares that wake her up at least weekly, but having mack there to comfort her (whether she wakes mack up accidentally or if mack is already awake) helps a TON with getting her back to sleep soundly. it also just helps her sleep in general to have that comforting, loving presence in her bed snuggled up to her ;w; mack is a big help in general with pepper’s mental health, pushing pepper to make better, healthier choices and get out in the village more and have fun. mack for sure does not “”cure”” pepper of anything but shes a very positive light in pepper’s life that helps her pull thru tough times!

- i love all my goofy trolls so much. its so fun to just chill and blab about them to relax between working on big projects ;o; ty if u cared enough to read this whole thing ur so rad

#writing about my hooligan troll ocs is so relaxing #like im not overly invested its just something fun to think about and thats just very nice #txt #oc #oc rambles #ill tag it as that so i dont lose this #trolls #long post

[curemoonliite]

Premiere Nebula Fun Facts!

I was planning on writing a character profile for Io tonight, but since I’m feeling a little under the weather, I’ll just give you a few Premiere Nebula fun facts about each character. So, here goes!

Valka: Probably my oldest character ever, to the point where she’s almost more of an imaginary friend than a disposable character. Underneath her serious and deeply traumatized mentor-like nature, she has quite the snarky side, and often exchanges quips with her adoptive sister, Io. She was an Ixi (goat-like species) when I first came up with her on Neopets, so sometimes I imagine AUs of her as a satyr or werewolf (since her backstory mirrors a werewolf myth). The nickname Io gives her, Valvi, originally made a ton more sense when she was on Neo, because she married a certain Neopets sports player character with “vi” in his last name, so it was like a J.Lo thing. Now it’s just a play off how many athletes have similar-sounding nicknames AKA I liked the name too much.

Omega: She was originally conceived as an emotionless girl type, which I later repurposed into Koto. The beginnings of her current personality were sparked by me rereading Harry Potter and wanting to create a nervous hero who later becomes strong, like Neville Longbottom. She kinda took the main character position from Valka after that. Outside of sports, she’s great with all sorts of art, especially painting and jewelry-making. Has light brown hair with rainbow tips, which a ton of people think are lame, but she finds them really cool.

Xue: Basically the magical girl mom friend taken to its logical conclusion AKA the sort who uses empathic powers to pester you into fessing up your issues. Annoying at times, but also a great leader who helps Valka out a lot. Loves vintage, lace, and all things cute, while still being the most educated of the group (she’d probably paint her therapy office in wall-to-wall pastels). High physical strength, fairly low magical strength.

Xing: Xue’s sister, who was captured by the Firebrands many years before the story’s beginning. Also likes vintage fashion, but is more into the ‘80s and ‘90s scene than her sister. Was a local singer in the Square before capture, who specialized in disco and rock music. My image of her is based off black disco queens like Donna Summer, and I just know she listened to her stuff a ton as a kid. (She also really likes Motown—she even modeled her hairstyle off Diana Ross.) Basically, someone who seems stuck in the past, but really wants to change the future. High magical strength, weak constitution, gets sick a ton.

Koto: Her race was pretty uncertain after I changed her from a Neopet to a person, but someone I really value and who really values my ideas is Filipina, so I made Koto of that descent to honor her. Clones have fascinated me since I was a child, and a science fiction book I read about them had a clone who could play the piano even though his counterpart couldn’t—so I decided to make Koto learn to play violin in secret. She seems like dumb muscle, but Star Corporations realized the importance of educating her, so she’s quite smart. I often have writing discussions with my boyfriend, and since she hasn’t come in the story much yet, he often calls her “Shego” (since both are mook types with green themes). Since Koto is usually a rule-following type who mostly rebels when her friends are in danger, I jokingly call these situations “Captain America moments.”

Stelle: My favorite character to write tends to switch between her and Valka. Her color scheme (green+silver+black) is probably my favorite. She often switches between a comedic mood and a more depressive mood, which is seriously making me consider giving her ADHD or bipolar. Due to her whole “dark past as a brainwashed assassin” thing, she has “Bucky Barnes moments” to match Koto. (I swear, I didn’t watch any of the Marvel movies until their characters were finalized! It’s just a coincidence, albeit one that might draw Stucky shippers to my story.) Has always been 100% gay in my imaginings of her (it took Koto a little longer).

Io: By far, the most fun character to write. The teen character who curses a ton and secretly has plenty of hidden depths. Will probably be an indie movie director when she grows up. She’s actually the Manufacturer’s daughter, which I love because hero/villain’s daughter relationships are typically romantic rather than sisterly (like her and Valka). Watches a ton of old movies, as well as movies from our era. Would probably love/relate to all the “troubled relationship with father” characters, and I can especially see her liking Gamora and Todoroki in a modern AU. (Despite my lack of father issues, I have similar tastes in that regard.)

Kaine: Originally just a villain to be killed, is now a Chaotic Neutral turned Chaotic Good character. A lot of this change was based on a Precure season in which a chara’s dark clone was killed, which made me realize I really didn’t want this to happen to Kaine. Was also originally a Yandere, but was changed to just a flirty character who falls in love easily (because I’m not huge on that trope anymore). One of the rare sniper-type Actresses I have planned. A 30-something adult who never got out of her goth phase, and whose magical girl form is pure Gothic Lolita. (Hers is one of my faves for this exact reason.)

Phea: The newest Nebula gal—I’ve only had her in my head for a year or so. Most of her concept was based on my love for model-themed magical girls and the (actually useful) celebrity activist trope. Since she has long ombre teal hair and is a plus-size model, the plus-size modeling community on Tumblr gave me a ton of inspiration for her looks. Only goes by her stage name—even I don’t know what her real name is yet! Her Actress name, Nymphea, happens to be both a flower (water lily) and a Pokémon (the Japanese name for Sylveon); the former was intended and the later was a happy accident. She was Valka’s old college roommate, and the two were quite close (Phea personally fantasizes about an “oh my god, they were roommates” scenario with Valka, but hasn’t confessed yet.) Loves photography and dogs—the bigger and fluffier the better! (The “Phea has a huge dog” headcanon is a joke born from the fact that many celebrities have tiny ones—Phea, on the other hand, would have a Saint Bernard and still give her a cutesy celebrity dog name like Rosetta.)

#premiere nebula #writing #long post #my post

[fandomsandfeminism]

Rick Riordan's books just keep getting better (and more diverse!) Transcript

Part 1

Part 2

Transcript Below the Cut:

Rick Riordan. So, I've wanted to make a video about Rick Riordan for a while and with  The new Trials of Apollo book just coming out, I’m really hyped about it. So I wanted to talk about why I like his books, or at least some of the things that impress me about them and keep me consistently excited about them.

Rick Riordan, if you don’t know,  is the author of the wildly popular Percy Jackson series, and today I want to talk about his books, especially how his representation of minorities has improved over time.

So, a few quick things: First, I’m not going to talk about ALL of Rick Riordan’s work, especially his ancillary and tie in material like the Demi-God Files or all the cross over stories, mostly because I haven't read all of them.

And second: Spoilers. Just, big old spoilers for basically everything. I’m not going to go into big plot points much, but I will be talking about some of the characters in depth. I’m going to move through his ouvre in roughly chronological order. So, you are warned.

Lastly, this video hinges on the premise that well done, well executed, fully fledged representations of minority characters in children and Young Adult media is good and important.  I’m not really going to argue this point. It is the assumption we are beginning with. Diverse media with diverse characters is  good and important.  

And this point is, weirdly, kind of controversial. In fact, in the vast majority of children and young adult media most of the cast will be white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children or young adults with an unstated or vague religious affiliation. This last bit, about the unstated or vague religious affiliation is one we don’t often think about, but really, having a character with ANY stated religion is really rare. Most will, maybe, practice a sort of secularized Christmas maybe? But that’s about it.

The rationale you’ll hear for this is that this makes books more accessible and thus marketable. I would counter that if you really want your book to appeal to as many different people as possible, wouldn’t you want to have as many different types of characters as possible? But that comes with the assumption that outright bigots wouldn’t refuse a book because one of the secondary characters is in a wheelchair, I guess.

So, yeah. Most children's lit and young adult lit  will be white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children or young adults with an unstated or vague religious affiliation, even if it gets absurdly, massively popular. Popular enough to take risks and work outside the box. I’m looking at you, JK Rowling. Looking at you.

This fact, this lack of diversity, does not bother some people. And we are not going to argue this point in this video. We are beginning with the assertion that this situation is not ideal, and that added quality, well written diversity is a positive. And we are going to look specifically at how Rick Riordan improves in this specific aspect of his writing over time.

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Ok, so, Uncle Rick is a San Antonio , Texas native, and as someone who was also born and raised in central Texas, I love this fact. He went to MY alma mater, UT, and became a middle school teacher. We’re basically the same person.

Now, Percy Jackson isn’t actually his first book series. In the 90s he wrote a detective series set in San Antonio called Big Red Tequila. There’s like 7 books in this series and I have read none of them. I’m sure they’re great though. How could they not be with a name like that?

Our story really begins in 2004-ish. The story goes that he was telling his son Greek myths as bedtime stories, and when he ran out of myths (or at least child friendly myths I assume), he started to make one up. He invented a story about a boy named Percy, a son of Poseidon, who goes on an adventure to return Zeus's missing lightning bolts.  His son told him that he should turn it into a book, his dad had published books before after all. So, Rick did just that. He then took his rough draft to his middle school students and used their feedback to revise.

He then sold this book to Miramax Books for enough money to retire from teaching and focus on writing. God damn. Rick was living the dream here. Life goals.

So, yeah. If you’ve never read the first Percy Jackson books they are...fine. They’re ok, good even. Definitely like, children’s books. But if you like bad puns and greek myths they are fun. I read all 5 in like...one weekend when I was in high school. I personally think the books really pick up in the third one: Titan’s Curse, mostly because we meet my favorite character, Nico. There’s some good world building in that book, and it really feels like Rick had figured out how he wanted to end the series by that point, so the plot feels more focused.  Maybe that’s just me.

So, remember how I said that Children’s lit will tend to be filled with white, straight, cis, able bodied, neurotypical children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation? Well, Percy Jackson and all his friends are...mostly, white, straight, cis, able bodied, children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation who have ADHD and Dyslexia.

Because Rick Riordan’s son has ADHD and Dyslexia, and Rick wanted these heroes to be like him. So, yeah. The diversity isn’t AMAZING here, but the intent to provide representation for minority children was present from the very beginning. And ADHD and Dyslexia are, like, super powers here, proof the children are demi-gods, are side effects of their brains and bodies being ready for amazing quests.  And there’s this great diversity in the characters with ADHD and Dyslexia and how it impacts them. Annabeth is depicted as super smart and studious. You have Percy who has always struggled in school. And so on.

Now, how you feel about this representation of ADHD and Dyslexia will vary. Some people really like it, others think it isn’t very well done or plays into some iffy tropes. I think we can safely say that the intent was very positive, but your milage may vary on the execution.

There’s also a movie adaption of the first 2 books which are…..bad. Logan Lerman was 18 when he played Percy- who should be like...12? And they made Hades the bad guy? And like..Persephone? Is? In? The? Underworld? In? Summer? Which….ugh. Like, they made Grover black, which was a cool choice, an attempt to address the lack of racial diversity it seems.  but still these movies are not good….maybe if you haven't read the books, you’ll like them. I don’t like them. I didn't even watch the second one honestly. .

Alright so we will look at the rest of Rick Riordan’s books in part 2 of this video. I wanted to cut it here to keep it from getting super super long. So I will see you guys over on Part 2 to finish up

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Welcome back to my look at all of Rick Riordan’s books and how they have improved over time. We are going to jump right in where we left off at the end of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Ok, so after Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan started work on the Kane Chronicles. If you haven’t read the Kane Chronicles, I don’t blame you. They are kind of the forgotten half-siblings of the Percy Jackson universe, but you should read them. They are really good, and they feel like a really experimental time for Rick. Not only is this the first time we see him play with a split First Person narrator, where different chapters are from different character’s Point of View, but he also really tackles race in these books.

Carter and Sadie are biracial, and deal with all kinds of race issues- Sadie being white passing and Carter not, the books looks at  how that impacts them and their experiences with others, their family, and their heritage. Plus all the Egyptian shit is really cool.

But even if you skipped this book series (seriously, go back and read them.) you can see this evolution in Rick’s writing in his sequel to Percy Jackson- Heroes of Olympus. These books actually came out at the same time as the Kane Chronicles, with The first Kane Chronicles book coming out in May 2010, then The first Heroes of Olympus book coming out in October 2010, and back and forth. And it’s clear that his new skills in Red Pyramid were influential on Heroes of Olympus.

Not only do we see the return of the Shifting narrator, now a Third Person Limited Point of View that follows different characters in different chapters, but where the first series was overwhelmingly white, these books seem to make a real effort to avoid that. The first two books- The Lost Hero and Son of Neptune take place, more or less concurrent and independent of each other. It’s not until the 3rd book when all the new characters meet up. But in those first 2 books, we get 5 new MAIN characters- Jason, a white boy; Piper, a Native American girl, specifically Cherokee if I remember; Leo, a Mexican American boy; Frank, a Chinese American boy; and Hazel, an African American girl. We also get Reyna, who isn’t a main character at first, but I would argue becomes one in House of Hades, and she is Puerto Rican.

And ALL of these characters and their racial identities are handled really well. Like, they are fully fleshed out and genuine characters. This doesn’t feel like shallow, lazy tokenism. Their heritage plays a part in who they are, but is not the ONLY thing about them. Piper, for example, has a father who refuses to play Native American roles in movies because he wants to avoid being stereotyped or type cast and Piper carries that struggle to connect with her heritage with her. Hazel’s experience as a black girl, and a black girl from the 1930s at that, impacted how she was treated growing up and makes up a big part of her backstory. But they aren’t solely defined by these experiences like shallow stereotypes.

It’s well done ,is that I’m saying

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So at this point, we could say that while Rick had a good grasp on racial diversity and neuro-divergence representation. Most of his characters were still straight, cis, able bodied, children with an unstated or vague religious affiliation. (Seriously, did none of these kids have like..faith in a religion before?)

Now, here is a true, fun fact. On June 30th, 2013, 3 months before the release of House of Hades, I went on Tumblr and wrote an Open Letter to Rick Riordan about how he should really include LGBT+ characters in his books. He had written. Like, 11 children’s books at this point, and despite my headcanons, every character had been portrayed as assumed straight and cis. So I wrote a letter. How much I liked his books, but really, could we have some LGBT+ characters, this IS Greek mythology after all.  I don’t think he ever saw this letter, despite me tweeting it at him.

Among other things in this letter, I go on to list several possibilities for LGBT+ representation in his books, including:  quote: maybe Nico feels an unrequited crush on Percy. A headcanon I had since book 4, Battle of the Labyrinth.

And so, I want my moment, just to say: I. Was. Right. And I told you so.

House of Hades came out in 2013, and well, so did Nico. My favorite character came out of the closet, or, well, was outed and it was heart wrenching. The fandom kind of lost its shit over this. Anyone who had shipped Percy and Nico was throwing a party, homophobes were throwing a fit, it was very emotional. I was gloating a lot.

And let’s be clear- Nico’s sexuality in House of Hades is not...handled the best. It’s better than nothing certainly, and it’s better than Word of God reveals post publication. Rowling. But, by itself, it’s...well...single sad cis gay boy pines over unrequited straight crush hits some stereotypes. None of this is malicious, but it by itself is only so-so representation.

But Rick wasn’t done there, because we still had one more book- Blood of Olympus. Nico gets a super cute boyfriend in the form of Will Solace, and gets some closure with Percy. Now, your mileage may vary with that particular scene. Nico smugly telling Percy he “isn't his type” feels, well, a little out of character and, I dunno, corny. But it’s nice to see Nico get this happy relationship with Will, and I’ll forgive Rick for any stumbles in the exact execution to avert that sad-single-gay trope.

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Ok. So, now at last, we get to the 2 series that are still in publication: Gods of Asgard and Trials of Apollo. These two series are publishing concurrently, and  because the Gods of Asgard started publishing first, let’s talk about it first.

I love Gods of Asgard. Truly. These might be my favorite of Riordan’s books. Part of that might just be that after 10 Greek and Roman books, a focus on Norse is refreshing, but I just love it. I love Magnus, I love the Annabeth cameos, I love Sam. Ok, so, the first Gods of Asgard book: Sword of Summer hits two important notes when it comes to minority representation.

Hearth is deaf and mute and uses sign language. This is the first time we’ve had a main character with a clear disability other than ADHD and Dyslexia. Which is really cool. And The consistent use of sign language throughout is neat.

Our second is Sam. Who is muslim and wears a hijab. Like, truly, how many stories do you know about a hijabi muslim valkyrie girl kicking all the ass.

Book 2, Hammer of Thor…well. Remember when I said Nico is my favorite character? Nico might have to fight Alex Fierro for my heart. Alex Fierro. A trans gender fluid child of Loki. I love Alex. Some people cried SJW Gay-Agenda bullshit over Alex like, being trans and gender fluid and, actually mentioning it more than once, but those people are unhappy assholes and I ignore them. I like Alex. Alex is an interesting, complicated character and I can’t wait for the next book.

Also, am I the only one who thinks Magnus and Alex are being set up for some romance? Just wishful thinking? Feels like romance. I ship it. I’ve been right before.

So ok, so We now have racial diversity, representation of multiple kinds of disabilities, a gay character, a gender fluid trans character, and a muslim character. -

Let’s talk about Trials of Apollo.

These books are really fun. If for no other reason than Apollo might actually be the most loud, entertaining narrator we’ve had yet. He’s funny, he’s an asshole. He’s also very loudly and clearly bisexual. Which, duh. How else would you even write Apollo if you have any understanding of Greek mythology?  It’s mentioned a couple of times in the first book, and then even more in the second, where his prior relationships have plot relevance.

The second book also introduced us to Jo and Emmie, a biracial lesbian couple who used to be hunters of Artemis who are now raising a daughter together.

And this is kind of the joy of really GOOD diverse representation. Like, Apollo has faced hardship because of his relationships, with both men and women, but his sexuality itself isn’t a problem with him. Alex is very secure with who they are, but has clearly faced a lot of transphobia. Nico was very closeted and seemed to have a lot of pain tied up in his sexuality and is only just now healing from that with Will. Jo and Emmie clearly faced issues with their relationship, having to leave the hunters, but have built a new life together. We get this great array of experiences, rather than just one prevailing narrative.

I love it, and we’ve come so far from that first bedtime story about a boy trying to find some stolen lightning bolts. - -

So, what’s in the future for Rick Riordan? Well, he hasn’t announced any new book series for after Gods of Asgard and Trials of Apollo wrap up. However, we do know that he is starting his own Publishing Imprint with Disney Hyperion.  Rick will only work as a curator it seems, focusing on having minority authors write fantasy/mythology based books from their native cultures. There are 3 books signed right now,

Jennifer Cervantes’s Storm Runner, which is about a boy having to save the world from a Mayan Prophesy.

Roshani Chokshi’s Aru Shah and the End of Time, about a 12-year-old Indian-American girl who unwittingly frees a demon intent on awakening the God of Destruction

And Yoon Ha Lee’s Dragon Pearl, about a teenage fox spirit on a space colony.

All of which sound AMAZING and I will preorder as soon as Amazon let’s me.

Look, Rick Riordan is not a perfect person or a perfect writer. Some people take issue with him because he has said some rather insulting things about the small number of people who still worship the greek gods. That he took these stories and was dismissive of the people who still value them religiously. Now, The majority of those comments seem to come from blog posts back in 2006, and he did have a brief apology for offending Hellenists on his facebook back in February. and one would hope that this interest on letting minority authors tell stories from their own culture in the future is evidence that he has learned and grown since then.

And not everyone will like Rick Riordan’s books no matter what. They are for kids. They are corny and have bad puns and sometimes meander or forget about important characters for long stretches of time. Sometimes the ideas he has are better than the execution. It happens.

But when I look at his books as a whole, I see Middle school teacher from San Antonio who started with a fun idea and never stopped growing as an author with a dedication to minority representation in his novels. And I certainly appreciate that, and look forward to more of his work for as long as he decides to produce it.

#rick riordan #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #magnus chase #trials of apollo