soda

he/him

[octoswan]

[strawbrymuriel]

i love resources like this (especially considering i never took geography lol)

[deikshen]

Shen Yuan, who has been getting tattoos since he was eighteen due to his extra money and little sense of self-preservation. Nothing anime or anything virgin like that: landscapes elaborated like paintings, cherry blossom trees like ink dripping on his skin, a full sleeve of artwork that climb up his shoulder blade and slide down his spine with butterflies and moths, wild flowers, spider lilies, traditional clouds on his ribs; it was painful, but hey, the chronically ill Shen Yuan knows pain, and he's used to it. At least he'll leave a nicely decorated corpse behind when he goes.

So, Shen Yuan transmigrates. Shen Qingqiu has no tattoos, of course; his skin is white and flawless in a way that Shen Qingqiu hasn't seen his own skin in years. It's a little sad, but he sighs and lets it go.

Then one morning, he see a spot on his forearm. It looks like a mole is sprouting there, but more than a mole... It looks like a petal? Shen Qingqiu examines it and sighs, because honestly, he has seen stranger things lately.

So, more petals. The curve of the branches of a cherry tree. Shen Yuan recognizes the outline of his own tattoos on his old body, somehow ridiculous, transmigrating slowly into this body too! What the hell!

He thanks the robes that cover every part of his skin for the first time. Nothing is visible or strange. It's not like anyone would see Shen Qingqiu naked enough to ask questions about it.

Not much has happened and he hasn't even fully unlocked OOC mode when his skin is actually covered with his own tattoos. Oh, poor original goods, wherever he is, he must be rolling over in his metaphorical grave.

Then, that first mission happens, and Shen Qingqiu finds himself awakened in that skinner demon situation... Half-dressed!!!

Oh no!! The tattoos on his collarbone and chest are visible now!!!

Oh, fUCK, LUO BINGHE IS WATCHING HIM-

(Luo Binghe doesn't make any comment on that afterwards. Shen Qingqiu pretends he hasn't been seen and they both ignore the elephant in the room.)

...

(Luo Binghe had never been so horny in his whole life. How could someone as cold and neat as Shizun have so many drawings tattooed on his skin? Would he let Luo Binghe see them all, ever? Did he only have those, did he have more? What drawings were they? What meanings would they have? Would Shizun take needles and ink and put a drawing over Luo Binghe's heart? His Shizun couldn't refuse that, Luo Binghe would say that the only way to make it safe would be with the help of his Shizun... and he couldn't deny that Binghe had tattoos, considering all his own... Whatever his Shizun chose for him would be fine, just for having his Shizun making them on his skin so Luo Binghe could wear them forever...)

[strawbrymuriel]

Airplane Bro!!!! ✈️

I *maaay* have headcannoned a lil close to the sun but um.... it's my art and I can do what I want! :P

I wanted to make him a bit more round-faced than Shen Yuan and accidentally made him beautiful lmaoo. He's so pretty for what

(Constructive criticism appreciated!!)

((Art process stuff under the cut))

[strawbrymuriel]

Thank you Shen Yuan you beautiful man for breaking me free of art block 🙏 Haven't drawn anything in two years, sorry if anything looks kind of janky 😞

Also you can't tell me this nerd wouldn't wear shitty Luo Binghe merch

I'm thinking I'll draw Airplane next hmmmm, squint. Or maybe Mobei-jun.

(I appreciate constructive criticism!!!!)

((Some art process stuff under the cut))

[mikkeneko]

LQG and touch telepathy

I made an offhand reference to this in another thread, but the idea actually stuck with me --

Liu Qingge as a touch telepath. He can read people's thoughts, but only when he's directly touching them.

For whatever combination of reasons and weird education, Liu Qingge is not aware that he has this ability -- or rather, he's not aware that this is an unusual ability to have. From his perspective, it's simply a matter of understanding through fighting! People are honest when fighting in a way that they aren't when just standing around using words, for some fucking reason. When he first meets someone and wants to get to know them better, he will challenge them to a spar, since from his perspective that's the best way to find out what they really think.

(He doesn't associate this with hugging since that's mostly only his mother and sister, who are already pretty honest in their dealings with him; he thinks they just get extra talkative during hugs. Same with doctors lecturing him during treatment; yeah, tell me what you REALLY think, Mu Faya.)

What this means is that when he encounters Shen Yuanqiu for the first time in the Lingxi Caves during his qi deviation, he got a front row seat to SQQ's monologue of surprise and lamentations over his attractiveness, which was very, very, very confusing to him. Because he'd heard Shen Jiu's thoughts plenty of times before, when they'd clashed in the past, and they were very different.

He really wants to challenge Shen Qingqiu to spar at first opportunity, mostly because he wants to get back into Shen Qingqiu's head to figure out what the hell is going on -- but then Shen Qingqiu gets hit with Without-A-Cure, instead. And then, of all people, Liu Qingge gets picked as the one to clear Shen Qingqiu's meridians...

[strawbrymuriel]

someone write this, i beg

[strawbrymuriel]

"Is there anything so undoing as a daughter?"

Man I love Silco and Vander so much. They're just so interesting to me.

At the beginning of Arcane, Silco cannot understand why Vander would put down the gloves, why Vander would stop fighting for Zaun. He doesn't– can't– understand why Vander would "make peace" with Enforcers, who always treated Zaunites like "filth."

That is, until, Silco has Jinx. And suddenly he can understand.

He puts up with her behaviour, even threatens those who speak up against her (like Sevika), even when it harms the mission. He would have never done this with Deckard (blonde kid), who he beat and punished for going against his orders. He lets Jinx touch him, lets her handle the most vulnerable parts of himself. He lets her hang around in his office.

Zaun's freedom and the punishment of topsiders was everything to Silco. But not anymore. Now his priority is Jinx.

His face when Jayce asks for Jinx? The way he panics? He doesn't want to let his baby go, doesn't want the topsiders to have someone who is so precious to him. Jinx is his baby.

Silco cannot understand Vander at the start, cannot fathom why Vander would give up Zaun's freedom to protect a group of rag tag kids. But Jinx helps him understand, and Silco and Vander share a drink over it. Over being undone by their children.

Sighhhhh, I love Arcane.

(I haven't seen season 2 yet)

[strawbrymuriel]

autism and attachment to inanimate objects

My attachment to inanimate objects is probably my most obvious autistic trait, and I want to tell you about it. Here’s a list of inanimate objects that I’m attached to:

- Bunny towel (with a hood!) 

I love this towel and while I do use other towels, this one is my towel. I’ve had it since I was around four years old, and I’m now 21. It’s a lot more ratty now, but it still fits!

- Stuffed animals

I have multiple stuffed animals that I will likely keep for the rest of my life. The first is a dog that looks like a rottweiler with a broken neck. The stuffing has left his neck from years of hugging, and his fur is matted and scraggly. His name is Rufus. A crocodile who I got from a zoo, named Crocodile. He’s still in really good condition. A teddy bear named Avril, who was named after the girl who got me the gift in second grade. Another teddy bear that lays flat on its stomach, which was another gift from one of my best friends. His name is pancake. I still sleep with all of them.

- Books

I’m not attached to all of my books, but there are some that I will never take off of my bookshelf. This includes: The Throne of Glass series, the Wings of Fire series, any and all books by Lynette Noni, All Quiet on the Western Front, etc.

- How to Train Your Dragon Hoodie

I own a HTTYD hoodie which is definitely too small for me, but I wear it anyway. It doesn’t have the strings anymore, but it’s still in pretty good shape.

Of course, autism is a spectrum, and being attached to inanimate is not required to be autistic. Some autistic people might have an attachment to inanimate objects, some might not.

[strawbrymuriel]

newt scamander and autism

Why Newt Scamander is autistic (from an autistic person):

- Strong aversion to eye contact (either due to it making him uncomfortable, or because it is learnt behaviour from working with his animals, as animals typically see it as a challenge/threat when shown eye contact.)

- Strong sense of justice (does not understand the "backwards laws" in the American wizarding society and his not afraid to state as such directly to someone who works for the American ministry/is an American witch.)

- His special interest is fantastic beasts (he has studied them for his entire life, and life-long special interests are quite common for autistic people. For example, my life-long special interest are dragons.)

- Extreme levels of empathy towards both people and animals (he has shown desperation when faced with animals who may be facing harm, acted as animal's 'mummy' because they have no one else, etc. He also is willing to help people in trouble despite barely knowing them.)

- Terrible skill in social cues (shows willingness to express his opinion where it is deemed inappropriate, is not afraid to show muggles his magic or his animals, etc.)

- Discomfort around new people (was deeply uncomfortable around both Tina and Queenie, especially after he discovered that Queenie could read his mind and potentially learn of his animals. Less around Jacob, likely due to Jacob sharing persona information about himself, such as his want to bake to make people happy, as soon as they met.)

- Difficulty in social situations (Jacob, who would be an allistic in this example, did not understand Newt's way of flirting by calling Tina's eyes that of a salamander. Later, Tina did understand the compliment and he was quite pleased by the fact that she understood.)

- Instability on his feet/crooked posture (some autistic people may be particularly clumsy or have strange posture due to being unaware of their bodies. Newt stands stiffly with one shoulder lifted higher than the other, and his head is often tilted to the side, with his face pointed slightly downwards. This happens a lot when he is uncomfortable but seems to relax around his animals.)

[strawbrymuriel]

Can of Writing Tips - Part One

Part One - Writing a God

Writing from the perspective of a god can be difficult consider we’re not all-powerful and all-mighty. While it might sound daunting, it is much simpler than you think. A god is just like any other character. They have a perspective, world views, likes, dislikes. The only difference is their likes and dislikes are probably much bigger than “this sauce tastes better.”

A god can be whatever you want. They can also be the god of whatever you want. For this post, I’m going to use my own god, Krishna, God of the Forest, as an example. Krishna is a very serious god who does not understand humans well at all. She calls people by their full names, uses big words, etc. But your god can be as silly as you want. The God of Memes. The God of Cake. Your god is your character- make them however you want.

If you god can be whatever you want, how are you supposed to make them “godly?” Think. What do most gods have in common in media you’ve seen? Some of them have incredible powers, some are indestructible. But what most gods have is a sense of mystery. We’re humans. We know nothing about gods, so you are free to make your god as bewildering as you wish. 

There are many ways to make a character confusing. Take Krishna. Krishna’s confusion comes from when she is first introduced. She is introduced as a forest, and written as a forest. I only refer to her as “the forest.” It is not said that she is a god, ever. It is just implied. Your god could do something similar. Or your god could say phrases that make no sense. “The thickness of the cheese equates to the depth of the soul.” I don’t know what that means. You don’t know what that means.

Another great way to write your god is to take in other media. Read things, watch things, listen to things. You can even read the bible. It is always good to consult other media before you write. Everyone learns to read before they learn to write. Use your recourses.

[strawbrymuriel]

Predatory

The Galactic Alliance had really outdone themselves this time. Inviting humans to join the alliance? What were they thinking? Humans were fine-bones, pathetic creatures with no natural defenses. They were like pets.

Many of the species in the alliance had turned up their muzzles and scoffed. What good would humans be? They were so far behind in technological defenses, and all of their medicines only served their species, not any others.

When the human representative (”Uh, I’m Skip. They/them.”) arrived at the table and scurried up one of the tall chairs awkwardly, though surprisingly athletic, and sat at the table, many members of the alliance bared their teeth.

Skip cringed a little bit, but did not whimper and cower like how many presumed. Instead, they sat up straighter and their gaze darkened slightly. Hm. How curious. 

As per tradition, Skip was asked questions about their species. The human answered them with grace, admitting their flaws just as prideful as they admitted the good parts to their race. 

Finally, the head of the table, Okl’ad, opened xer mouth to ask a question. “What predators does your species battle on Earth? What experience do you have in the art of surviving?”

Skip tilted their head slowly, baring their teeth in what the humans called a smile. Many alliance members fought against shivering. “What predators?”

Okl’ad blinked. “You do not mean to say your species has no predators?”

“Oh, we did,” Skip nodded, still with their slightly widened eyes and their creepy twisted grin. Okl’ad shrunk back against xer chair. “In the past. We hunted most of them to extinction with a method we call persistence hunting.”

Whatever persistence hunting was, the alliance did not want to encounter it for themselves. 

______________________________________________________________

When the rebels attacked the Galactic Alliance’s mother ship, no one was prepared. The mother ship was left in ruins, the members on it dead. The secondary leaders had been attacked also, although they were much more prepared after having watched the mother ship get decimated.

The humans had been locked away in the bunker, knowledge of their sad bodies keeping them locked away. It was a good thing, the other species had thought, especially after the rebels had torn through them and left every single one of them inured and unable to fly the ship.

The rebels themselves had been injured in the skirmish. They left the ship safe, assuming that it would not matter if it was a destroyed or kept in one piece. The pilots could not fly, so therefore they would all die.

They had not counted for the humans.

Skip had found a way to leave the bunker, unlocking it and allowing the other humans to leave. There about five of them, just like there was on every ship. They ran down the halls, the doctors and medics dragging their alien friends to the hospital wing.

Skip had sat in the corner of the hospital, eyes cold and calculating as they flicked between the injured party. They sucked in a breath, sitting up straight and walked away. One of their human friends chased after them, stumbling and muttering curses on the way.

Skip went straight for the the pilots station, where they knew they could fly the ship. Their friend, Hari, stood next to them, his buzzing nervous energy resembling the wings of a hummingbird.

“Skip, what are you going to do?” he asked, wringing his hands together. Skip let a nasty smile rise to their face, their eyes focused entirely in front of them. Hari cocked his head curiously at the expression.

“What we do best,” Skip spat. “Persistence hunting.”

________________________________________________________________

Hari and Skip alternated between piloting and sleeping while the other humans tended to the injured. When the usual pilot (a lovely alien named Uyatd) was well enough to sit up, he was sat in the corner of the room, watching the two humans warily.

“We cannot catch up to the rebels, at this rate,” ve said, his eyes narrowed with uncertainty. Skip looked over their shoulder to look at ver, eyebrows shooting upwards. “We are going on a wild goose chase.”

“They are going to run out of fuel eventually.”

“So are we.”

“There is a planet close-by on the alliance’s side we can re-fuel at,” Skip informed, pointing to the hologram map on the wall. Uyatd blinked in surprise. “There are no rebel planets anywhere near here.”

Uyatd realized that ve was witnessing the very thing humans prided themselves on so many years ago. The persistence hunting and the packs they lived in. Many species had not understood the purpose of human pack bonding, but...

Watching Hari and Skip work together was mesmerizing. The way they spoke to each other without words as if in a hive mind. The way they knew where to go and analyzed their allies.

Uyatd stopped worrying about catching the rebels.

________________________________________________________________

True to Skip’s word, the rebel shipped guttered and eventually stopped moving entirely. Skip and Hari shared feral grins, slowly rolling up towards the other ship. Uyatd watched warily, ver gills turning a nervous green colour.

“Don’t worry,” Skip offered, patting Uyatd on the paw gently. The human softened their smile into an affectionate one. “We’ll be back soon, safe and alive.”

Uyatd blinked- Skip had pack bonded to vem, hadn’t they? Since when did that happen? It must have been between Uyatd’s nervous rambling or when ve stood over the human’s shoulder, watching them work. 

“See ya soon,” Hari beamed, slinging a gun over his shoulder. “Hopefully they surrender peacefully, but ya know. It’s always nice to have something just in case.”

Skip caught the weapon thrown at them in one hand, studying it intensely. Skip worked with mechanics and piloting, so the gun must be new to them. Still, they took it with stride and pushed it to hand over their shoulder.

“Toodles,” Hari and Skip high-fived in perfect synchronization as they disappeared down the hall. 

Uyatd shook ver head- humans didn’t have a hive mind, they had said? The liars.

________________________________________________________________

The rebels had surrendered with a couple of grumbles (and a shot to the leg, since the humans had to show they were completely willing to kill them if necessary) and audible relief that they were getting more fuel.

Fair enough. It wasn’t like they had much choice- surrender or die in the large expanse of space. Their food supplies would not last forever. Skip and Hari shared celebratory ‘whoops’ of excitement, performing a complicated hand shake.

They arrived back on their own ship with limited fuss, greeting a stressed Uyatd. The alien’s gills had gone a strange mix of green and purple- pride and fear. Skip merely grinned at vem and threw their arms around vem. 

Hari laughed at the surprised look on Uyatd’s face. It was a normal dynamic, as if the two humans had not chased down a powerful group of rebels across space, threatened to leave them starving, then saved them.

It was a human’s average Thursday.

[writing-prompt-s]

You have just been abducted by a UFO. While you are figuring out what just happened to to you, a frantic alien bursts into the room. “You have no idea how many rules I’m breaking, but my Human Studies final is tomorrow and I need help.”

[strawbrymuriel]

You don’t know how it happened, or why, but somehow you got abducted by a UFO and left in a seemingly abandoned room on a space ship. All you wanted to do was take a nice stroll on the beach in the middle of the night, but no, aliens really just had to stuff you up there.

Curbing your inner panic and frantically trying to find an escape to the room, you barely even registered the fact that aliens were real and they just stole you from your home. You, a struggling barista with a hella low pay. There was nothing delicious or interesting about you.

Would your insurance cover this? You hoped so. Absolutely done with your life as the first-ever human to get abducted by aliens, you flopped onto the floor in star-fish position. Staring up at the sterile-white ceiling of the room, you inwardly hoped that your grave would have something funny written on it.

The door to the room opened with a ‘bang’ hitting the wall violently. You tilted your head, viewing the alien from an upside-down point of view. Honestly, they looked rather unthreatening, and- OH MY GOD, THEY WERE FLUFFY!

Swinging yourself up into a sitting position, you eyed the alien curiously. Any lick of danger you felt previously was gone the moment you noticed the species was covered in fur. The alien looked downright panicked, shutting the door behind them and frantically fumbling with the lock.

“Okay,” the alien turned towards you, surprising you with English. “You have no idea how many rules I’m breaking right now, but my Human Studies final is tomorrow and I need help.”

You blinked dumbly at the alien a few times. The first thing that ever came out of your mouth to an extraterrestrial species was, “hohuh?”

The alien blinked in mild shock. “Uh, are you okay?”

“Okay?!” you squeaked out, lunging forward and shaking the alien by their fluffy shoulders. They looked increasingly more startled. “I was just abducted by an outer-space species and left in a random room! Okay?! How could anyone be okay in this situation?!”

The alien winced rather guiltily, shifting on their feet. “Yeah that, probably wasn’t my greatest idea...”

You eye twitched as you released the alien and ran a hand over your face. Clearly this alien was a student- whom was apparently studying humans? Grumbling about how unfair your life was, you steeled your nerves and straightened your shoulders. “Okay, so if I help you, you’ll take me back home?”

“What? Yeah,” the alien nodded distractedly. They shrugged. “If you don’t want to help I’ll take you home anyway, I’m just really struggling right now, so I’d appreciate the help.”

“Okay,” you nodded, agreeing. “Uh, what do you need to know?”

-------------------

H’ajd, it turned out, needed a lot more information than you expected. The alien- er, okhassian, xe said xer species was called, needed history, human anatomy, human studies, etc. You honestly felt a little bad.

H’ajd was younger than you by a few years, being alive for eighty moons old, which was the equivalent to a human seventeen years, apparently. Xe was struggling with xer school work and you, a human, could barely answer xer questions.

Instead, you gave xer people who could. A historian for the history side of the project, a doctor for the anatomy side, a therapist for the human studies side. Some of the questions you could answer, like the ones about pack bonding.

By the end of the questioning, H’ajd had several pages of the information you gave xer. How, you had no idea. Your answers were tired, caffeine-full tangents and you really doubted H’ajd was going to pass Human Studies if xe wrote your answers down.

“Okay, I think I should be good for now,” H’ajd nodded, flipping through xer pages. Xe winced apologetically, rubbing the back of xer furry neck. “I am really sorry I had to drag you into this. I’ll take you home and you’ll never have to see me again.”

“I don’t really mind,” you shrugged. “I mean, I missed my shift at work, but to be honest by boss is kind of a type one a-hole, so ya know. You really saved me there.”

H’ajd laughed and shook xer head, rubbing their elongated snout and flicking their long ears. You resisted the urge to pat xer, instead shifting and smiling. Normally, baring one’s teeth would be seen as threatening, but since H’ajd learnt about humans, it was probably fine. 

“So, home,” xe said, shifting awkwardly. Xe looked a little sad, for some reason. You also felt a twinge of strange sadness. “Uhh, I guess this is goodbye?”

“I guess,” you frowned, scratching at your scalp. You smiled. “If you ever need help on a Human Studies project again, you can always abduct me again. I really don’t mind. Besides... I like your company.”

H’ajd grinned widely, holding out a paw. “Shake on it?”

You did so. “Shake on it.”