Nice Neck BTW

If writing Blue Crash Kit taught me anything, it's that furries are, in general, some of the coolest, friendliest people in the world.

Happy birthday to aros everywhere!! Have a good week :]!!

[ID: Two images of the same drawing of Garfield the cat in front of the aro flag. The top drawing has a thought bubble with the text “romance, big fat hairy deal”. End ID]

We must carry the lost lore into future generations

<3

So one thing I’ve noticed is that people’s DnD characters may vary but there is usually an underlying thread that they all have in common. This thread is typically related to what that person struggles with the most.

For instance, my betrotheds DnD characters: a bitchy warlock we had to bust out of two different pacts, a sassy barbarian, a reformed drow cultist, and a sunshine fighter cleric.

All these characters were wildly different but at their very core struggle was them grappling with their self worth. My betrothed struggles with their worth a great deal and even with different facets showing their characters all have that too.

Mine all tend to contend with different themes of loneliness and acceptance. Surprise, surprise, the little autistic gremlin yearns to have been met with more love and lasting friendships.

So we’re at breakfast. I am meeting a new friend of my betrotheds for the first time. It’s been twenty minutes since I’ve met this man. I say my theory. He laughs. He starts to describe a few of his characters but specifies that he often has healing aspects. He gives a very broad overview of their character arcs.

I ponder for a moment then said, “Would you like to have my assessment?”

He laughed, “Sure!”

“We’ve just met. It’s gonna get real.”

“Bring it on.”

“I think your struggle is that you feel you must offer something of value or service to people to be worthy of their love.”

His jaw dropped. His fork froze midway to his mouth. A potato fell. He stared into space as this sank in. Quietly he said, “Oh.”

so i just ran a study on long-term ttrpg play and emotional resilience with over 100 participants and uh ... checks out!! we really are all out here processing big shit with our blorbos!!!

The bad news: I have fallen headfirst back into my Death Note: The Musical obsession phase.

The good news: if you are a person who has not seen the 2015 Death Note: The Musical productions from Japan and Korea, I can help you out.

Steven Universe got blatantly and unapologetically cancelled by the network because the creators pushed for a lesbian wedding, and instead of going, "oh, fuck, that's incredibly homophobic, we should give Cartoon Network hell for that for the rest of forever, holy shit," everyone collectively decided to blame the crew for "rushing the ending" as if it wasn't completely out of their hands. Fuck's sake.

"Ren why do you even care so much?"

Because I study queer media history as a hobby, am working on an intense project on media censorship, and the way Steven Universe was treated is a fucking textbook example of queer content getting shut down by the powers-that-be.

It was literally censored in reaction to its inclusion of queer content. This isn't a secret and it never has been. Rebecca Sugar has been completely open about how hard they had to fight against homophobia at Cartoon Network. Steven Universe is a case study of anti-queer censorship from a mindset of "think of the children."

Steven Universe is a historically significant piece of queer media, and watching in real-time as it went from "progressive queer show" to "the subject of the most rancid bad-faith discourse I have ever seen" is genuinely alarming to me as a queer media hobby-historian.

[ID: A screenshot of a comment from tumblr user mechfried, saying, "Wait, that isn't working out here, they wouldn't cancel the show for having a gay wedding, but than [sic] give the same creator a movie and a second show to continue that story." End ID.]

"Cancellation" doesn't just mean "immediately ended." Cancellations can include shortenings.

These photos are from the "End of an Era" artbook.

Transcript:

Rebecca Sugar: After the publication of The Answer in 2016, I was pulled into a meeting and asked to explain myself. I had been told to play down this relationship, and now it existed as a book. In every meeting like this, I would defend our stories and our audience of queer youth--they deserve cartoons and picture books, too. I would leave these meetings feeling rattled. I drew this self-portrait the night of The Answer book meeting. [Portrait not included in this photo.]

Transcription:

We decided it would be an inexorable part of the story. And then the back-and-forth started, and no one wanted to say the real concerns, so instead it was, "Will this appeal to our demographic of six-to-eleven-year-old boys?" But Ben 10 had an alien wedding, Powerpuff Girls had a wedding--there was no question that the Cartoon Network audience would definitely watch a wedding. Arguments were made that it was "out of character" for Steven to want a wedding, but we'd covered our bases there with the episode "Open Book" [S1E51], which had already aired ages ago. It's old news that Steven loves weddings. I wouldn't bend on the story, and every time there was a concern about it not being entertaining enough, I would add more: A big musical number! A huge fight! A half-hour special! This thing will be so entertaining it'll blow kids' hair back!

"But if Steven Universe gets a gay wedding, then every show is going to want a gay wedding!" "YES!" I said. "GOOD! WHY NOT???"

Eventually the decision came down from on high: We could have the wedding. I knew that was an extremely difficult call to make, and that we were going to be censored heavily and pulled in many countries because of it. And we didn't know at that time if this would mean the end of the show. It looked as if the writing was on the wall, and we were working toward the end.

I had been told this would be the final pickup for us, and I campaigned for an additional six episodes on the end of the season in order to wrap up the story--this became the Era 3 arc.

Navigating a cosmos of relationships was a lot for a young person like Steven as he attempted to find the good in everyone and hook that connection that would allow positive change to blossom in the minds of others. His powers were going to be put into the test in so many more ways as the series moved through this slate of episodes, building steam toward an interplanetary conflict.

End transcript.

I will never understand people who don’t care about context.  Rebecca Sugar fought as hard as she could for what we got, and there was a hell of a price to be paid for it, and people shriek about how the show is horrible because it doesn’t do enough.  The same people accuse the writers of Legend of Korra of cynical, intentional queerbaiting because it didn’t do enough.  They’re whinging about how She-Ra didn’t do enough.  Are they already bitching about how The Owl House sucks because IT doesn’t do enough?

And not fucking once have these people stopped to think that Korrasami being confirmed with handholding and a loving gaze was literally as far as things could be pushed at the time, or that Ruby and Sapphire’s wedding could not have happened without that.  She-Ra and The Owl House couldn’t go where they did without Legend of Korra and Steven Universe going where they did first.

You know what that’s called, where things get better one step at a time?  Progress.

bread

—

Thinking about my fic again.

A Legacy of Brambles and Thorns (Ao3)

I really needed to draw Briar again because I have a hard time visualizing her in the context of the story. I know what show-Briar looks like (sassy, people-oriented, generally pretty friendly), but Briar in my fic is incredibly unapproachable and prickly (kinda scary at times), and I wanted to get that across. She always looks angry due to how dark the rings around her eyes are, and she has a lot of scarring which she doesn’t bother to hide.

—

About her:

Briar is not someone you want to be screwing around with. Mess with her, fine, she doesn’t care. But mess with her friends? Be ready to get your happily ever after ass beat.

Because of where she grew up, Briar is very overprotective of things that she cares about. This mostly pertains to people, as she pseudo-adopts them (aware of it or not) and becomes their main protector. Seeing as she basically raised eight little brothers from the time she was seven to when she was sixteen, it’s just natural instinct by now to keep people close. Despite having a decently large group of friends, Briar isn’t venerable very often. When she is, she goes to Ashlynn and only Ashlynn, who takes this honor very seriously.

Messing with Briar is either a very brave or a very supid life choice, as she’s not just willing to beat you up (she doesn’t really discriminate if she or someone else is being threatened), but she also holds grudges like you wouldn’t believe. She’ll remember you, always.

Woot woot, chapter 28 is live! I feel like I need to make an actual cover for this story at some point 🫠 it’s so long now

Marcille and Chucklefuck 🥰

big fan of whenever kara gets to have a big gun that she shoots people with.

finally decided to sit down and watch the incredibles again. there will be no commentary because i’m gonna be too busy watching it

okay i just gotta say

having been married for 3 years now (almost), i really love how bob & helen argue. when i was a kid it just came off to me that everyone in this movie was being super mean for no reason but when you watch it as an adult it’s different. i really appreciate that even when bob is frustrated/angry he basically never lashes out at helen or the kids, his problem is he’s withdrawn and existantialling. i also really appreciate that when they do fight they’re actually more expressing their frustration than attacking each other. it’s only later when things get real that helen (understandably) gets really angry.

also edna’s advice is actually really good, helen’s just melting down over the idea of losing her husband (which is sweet and helps us understand her character) but edna tells her to confront it immediately, hold bob to account by leaning into his concern (all his heroics being forgotten) and reminding him that she’s a super, too. direct action is a blessing in communication.

i love how the movie communicates bob’s competency, like he’s actually handling all the twists and turns of the situation rapidly deteriorating very well, the only thing that throws him off is when his family gets involved. we also see helen’s competency in the plane scene and how she immediately knows something’s up when no one responds on the radio

syndrome is such a fucking good villain, saying ‘i seem to recall you prefer to work alone’ and laughing at him when he believes he’s murdered the guy’s wife and kids???? holy fuck

as previously mentioned bob breaking down and sobbing alone in the containment room shaped my personality

ah the good old days of 2004 when having a voluptuous mom ass was a bad thing. good riddance, we don’t miss you.

also the it’s a neat little parallel to bob’s body image struggles, they really went to great lengths to showcase that these people are equals & soulmates

the kids are really well-written too, they feel very authentically their age and they both have motivations, the writing does a great job of showing how the gravity of the situation sinks in for them and forces them to rise to meet it. dash especially fascinates me in this movie because he’s just the right balance between immature and starting, just starting to get that life is a big deal and stakes are real and you’ve got to care about what you’re doing and try to do the right thing in every situation. the way the kids instinctively protect each other even though all we’ve seen of them so far in the movie is antagonism is just *clenches fist* so good

The Incredibles is incredible on every level

I appreciate the "there will be no commentary because i’m gonna be too busy watching it" followed by 8 of the truest takes on the movie, respect.

The Hugs mod is a source of great joy.

How about some some battlefield romance? Even in the depths of the underground illithid colony? And then some soft, yearning gazes?

I would say that is exactly why people overlook and underestimate Hestia.

Athena holding Achilles back in the agora, first chant

Only day you can reblog this

What good would killing do

When mercy is a skill more of this world could learn to use (c)

I'm in love~