Man I Love Geometry

It just occured to me that Stan technically canonically liked to draw, so here's my take of what Stanley's sketchbook would have looked like had he never gave up on art :]

Stanley first found this sketchbook left behind in a dumpster next to a library. The rings that once held the pages together were broken and warped, so he instead fashioned himself a jury rigged binder by weaveing one of his shoelaces through the holes in the side. In the end, it was essentially just a stack of barely held together paper, but he was still satisfied with it.

Pencils were easy enough to snag from the store since they fit so easily inside his pockets; but he had to settle for the shitty stubby pink erasers that barely did its job on the end of the pencils if he made any mistakes.

Stanley wasn't much of a poetic guy, and he didn't do the kind of art that had deep symbolism or meaning behind them. He was more the kind of artist that just drew what was in front of him, plain and simple. Had he been younger, he might have been able to fill in this cobbled together sketchbook in a matter of days, page after page filled to the brim with creatures and adventures of the wildest dreams.

Well, Stanley wasn't exactly a sprightly young child anymore with a boundless imagination to take inspiration from, but 10 years was a long time to be on the road and moving around, so there was plenty for him to draw.

(My primary goal was just to make these pages look as realistic as possible, but I did add in mini backstories in each of the pages' image description, if you feel like reading that :])

Jadina from les légendaires ! She's my fav character !

I got a lot of watercolor at Christmas, so I had to try it. I like the result.

Rose Tyler I love you

Thinking about how Danaël and Jadina fall in love in every universe

eddie diaz really spent a whole episode saying i told my son he can do anything he sets his mind to and i still want to believe that but as he grows up im so scared hes going to get hurt because he charges into untested situations so confidently. but i want him to keep believing in himself. and everyone around him said “hmm you should accept your son has limited options for his future and help him realize one of those safe and easy goals instead :)” and ONLY EVAN BUCKLEY said “thats STUPID chris CAN do anything everyone else shut the fuck up forever if youre just going to waste the vibes” and then he spent the rest of the episode offscreen building/buying christopher a massive accessible skateboarding rig and both eddie and christopher got to keep the power of belief in determination because he said nope. you two are right. keep going im right here with you

Something I really appreciate about TOA that I don’t see get talked about much is that I never get the sense that Apollo finds Lester ugly.

For all that he complains about the body he’s stuck in, I never got the feeling that it came from a distaste for Lester himself. When he sees Lester’s traits reflected in others, like Meg being chunky, he is completely unaffected by it. Finds it charming, even. (In fact, the only times I can remember him having Opinions about how someone looks is when they’ve chosen something about their appearance that he either approves or disapproves of, like a tacky jacket/hair cut or when he finds someone attractive. The only time I can remember him calling anybody ugly was when he pointed out that Dionysus was choosing to look as ugly as possible to piss of Zeus, which is a statement of fact and doesn’t necessarily mean he thinks that Dionysus’ form is actually ugly. He makes no mention of finding it so before or after that line. It’s a statement of fact that Dionysus is choosing a form that either he or Zeus finds ugly to piss of their dad.)

The thing about Lester is that he is so devastatingly mortal. He has flab and acne and no upper body strength and his voice squeaks when he’s nervous and he sweats a lot and he has a silly name and messy, curly hair that’s impossible to tame. He is the Most Teenager To Ever. There is no godly blood running through his veins, no powers he can call upon. If Apollo were to run into him in the street, I don’t think he’d pay him much mind. He’d probably just think, “sweet kid”, and move on. If he got to know him, I think Apollo would adore him because that’s just who rrverse!Apollo is. He loves mortals despite himself, flaws and all. He’d argue against anything bad Lester had to say about his own appearance and mean every word.

The problem is that it’s Apollo in this body. Apollo, The Golden Child, the perfect son, a God. His distaste for this body is because Lester is so devastatingly mortal and imperfect. Apollo has to be perfect, he has to be shiny and pretty and strong because he has nothing else to offer otherwise.

And.. I dunno, there’s something about Apollo hating the things that draw him to others when it’s him. The flaws that he tears apart in himself he finds endlessly charming on others, or he thinks that they have better reasons for why they have them, or he thinks they have enough positive traits to counteract them. The positive things that he hides deep enough that even the reader can’t see right away, like his kindness and genuine desire to understand and connect with everyone around him, that he’s shocked to find directed at him in turn.

That Apollo accepting himself and reclaiming his personhood leads to him being comfortable with being Lester, imperfect and mortal as he is. That he takes that imperfection back with him to Olympus… I dunno man I’m Emotional. Also it’s just plain nice that Lester is never treated as ugly for looking like a normal ass teenager, even by the guy stuck in this body. That’s neat.

Or maybe I’m just rambling and this means nothing at all and I’m reading too far into Blorbo from my books.

they call me the problem ignorer for reasons that i know but dont feel like addressing right now

Shimy and Jadina are soooo Girl So Confusing to me. Two sides of the same coin. Both having been so lonely growing up but choosing to deal with it in such opposing ways. Jadina who reaches out to everyone, always, who wants to know and understand everyone she comes across vs Shimy closing herself off. Shimy viewing everything as a competition because that was the closest thing she had to friendship vs Jadina not wanting to feel like she has to prove herself anymore. Both of them hating feeling judged but still doing it to the other. Their judgment towards the other hurting the most because it's coming from another woman. Both of them wanting friendship yet not knowing how to extend it. Is this thing on

How do you handle loneliness?

Awkwardly.

Me checking on one of my beloved ao3 fics that hasn't been updated since 2017