Sean: As Ya Best Friend...

I was talking to my mutual about Cole when I had a surge of Thoughts so per usual you all have to hear them now. I was considering a couple things, namely his development and place as the "strong guy" on the team and his masculinity (and how it presents in the show vs in fanon).

Cole's pretty often typecast as the gruff strong guy in a lot of fan-media (from fanfics to fanart etc) which isn't wrong because he was like that, especially within the early seasons. The way he spoke, the way he acted, his place as a sort of leading force. In season three you even see him in that stupid lumberjack fit (said affectionately), it's all very traditionally masculine. Which fits his whole Strong and Big guy of the team role (the five man band archetypes etc etc). However, it's interesting to say because at his core, he's very emotional and very driven by a strong sense of internal compassion (with a canonical affinity to children). Which obviously none of that is opposed to masculinity but these traits begin to show more as the gruffness pulls back. The first real example of that I think is in ToE with his fight with Jay. I don't read him as being invested in their fighting the same way Jay was. Jay was fueled by insecurity and a very strong sense of jealousy and possessiveness. Cole? I think he was just reacting to Jay's aggression, which didn't put Nya in a better position but it is a difference. 

So when their match rolls around, he's the first one to realize what they're doing is stupid and give in. He reaches out emotionally to Jay. However, Jays still is a friend so that is easy to write off as a symptom of friendship. And then following ToE we have possession and DOTD which I think are where he really begins to develop, and have the strongest examples of what I'm getting at. I'm going out on a limb and saying that I really see his prior gruffness as a sort of armor, to be good enough for the team (insert that one Wu note of him staying up late before missions) and also there his whole rebellious streak against his father trying to force him to be someone he's not. (Note: I wouldn't be surprised if how Lou raised him really had a impact on all this) Then, we get to Possession and both his self worth and self image are shook badly by literally dying. He outright says he's not a ninja anymore, which I think he based a lot of who he was on (<- which is why struggling with it hit so hard).

Finally DOTD comes up and I think we see the strongest example of where his compassion really become a core trait. It's his fight with Yang. He had no reason to reach out to him, to be honest he had the right not to, but he did and it worked! He didn't get out of DOTD in the end with brute force, he got out of it with emotional support (his team showing up), a stubborn adherence to his moral code, and reaching out to Yang with empathy. From that point on, I think he's softer and more prone to being emotional, it's like there was a very real shift. To circle back to Jay, because I think he makes for a good comparison, he does not develop like that post ToE. Actually, the issues carying from s3 (though, they do exist prior just not as starkly) all the way to Skybound where it gets violently (literally) addressed. Jay fans can probably say it better than me but the season is about his insecurity and treatment of Nya and there's a reason both Nadakhan and Cliff are like that (read: they're parallels). It's just interesting because both Cole and Jay have issues with self worth and image but they present and develop very differently. 

There's also the fanon aspect with those two that's really funny. I think everyone's aware of the infamous fanon-bruise, the 2010s-yaoification. Uwu Jay, Big Strong Man Cole, and how weirdly racist it is. It's just funny to note because the issues projected onto Cole in fanon are ones Jay has, like, in the show. Cole's the more emotional and compassionate one of the two, but because of the strong guy role, it gets flipped around in fanon. Going by the 'traditional' (read: toxic) masculine standards, in terms of personality and character, I think Jay more closely aligns. It reminds me of this post I saw once, it was of Hunted where Jay was making the plane (?) and Cole was with baby Wu. It called Jay the 'mom' and Cole the 'dad' which I find kind of funny because if you look at it through that hetero-normative lense, it really should be the other way around. Cole's the one caring for the baby pretty consistently, Jay's the one making a machine and Working. Did Jay just get called the 'mom' there because people think of him as smaller and weaker and therefore more feminine? Did Cole get called the dad just because he's strong and considered bigger? It's interesting. Fanon does Cole really dirty sometimes.

To get back on topic of Cole's narrative development, then we get to MOTM (like a bajillion years later which no I'm not complaining except I am). Cole's characterization in MOTM is so fucking good. MOTM does a fantastic job at tying together several of his strings. It ties in Lilly, his self esteem, his staunch morality, affinity towards leadership, and compassion into one, pretty bow. MOTM puts Cole back into a leading role, and it gives him several groups to reach out to (Vania, the munce and geckle, the uppily). It draws back the insecurity present in him, letting it show again to be addressed. It even ties in his relationship to Wu in a really lovely way to me. MOTM is the season where Cole finds who he is, his identity and his place as his mothers son.

Speaking of that, I have a very strong love for male characters who exemplify who their mothers were and what they taught them. The scenes with Lilly really put his entire character into a different perspective. At the start he was this tough kid fresh off grief and pressurized so strongly by his dad and himself and he goes through loops and hurdles of strength and identity and by the end he finds himself exactly where he needs to be. Where he's the strongest and it's in his mothers footsteps, as someone both emotional and strong. It's a really lovely character arc to take him on, and though I haven't watched DR, I've heard they continue that on. 

Anyways, consider it positive masculinity, consider it anything else. I just had a lot of thoughts to share and hope I don't sound too 'reading-too-deep' about it. Bye bye Kar ramble over.

behold. my collection of arthur morgan doodles i kept telling myself i would post (some of these are almost a month old now)

I made the sides into doors from Encanto

This took a literal week but it was fun doing them!

Thank you @ros_poz2 for helping me with some of the designs :)

Also, Happy New Year!!! :D

 When Jason Grace wakes up, he's surrounded by friends. He's holding hands with a beautiful girl who says that they're in love, and there’s a boy with a wild grin who says they’re best friends. Jason doesn’t know what’s going on, but he knows he's surrounded by people who care for him and want to help him.

When Percy Jackson wakes up, he's almost completely alone. His only connection is a wolf that seems to be judging his every move as it decides his worth. He's fighting for his life and desperately searching to find a place that would take him in and accept him.

When Jason and Percy were switched, they didn't just have their physical selves swapped. They had their lives swapped. Jason got to believe that someone loved him, and Percy got to experience what it was like to have no one.

^ me when i'm not at all suspicious and definitely don't have any intimate knowledge of the subject

Time for some art dump! (and oh boy you can really see the progression)

So as part of that Red Dead Supernatural AU I'm working on it's going to feature a Ghost Rider!Arthur. Or in this AU a "Harbinger".

Goes from most recent to oldest because of tumblr show more and I definitely want to show off the most recent one, and my favorite, first. Can't wait to draw more of this and get back into the groove of writing out that AU.

A batch of Chibis I made last year (quite literally), as a complement to Raye Rodriguez's first and second batch. This one centered about boys.

This batch was made before Raye drew Mandrake and Parnell, so my interpretation differs, altho Mandrake's clothes got modified from the original 2024 piece to match Raye's

(Do not repost)

My precious baby boy he is so everything to me

Concept: Percy and Leo are arguing over the whole burning of Camp Jupiter but their tiff is interrupted by a scream.

The two of them spring apart, instantly on guard and surveying the scene. But neither are prepared for the sight that takes their anger and turns it into sorrow.

Jason.

Jason Grace who had always been in the short time they’d known him, a pillar of strength. A picture perfect image of one who stay composed in any situation.

That picture shattering before all of their eyes as tears cascade down from his.

Jason’s hands grip the sides of the ship like he’s about to leap off. Yet his legs remain frozen in place. He doesn’t respond when they call his name.

For all his attention lays on the burning embers of the only home Jason has ever known. His whole frame shaking with tremors and sparks.

His mouth open whispering something that at first no one can identify. But soon realise is an apology he chants like a mantra.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry.”

Like the way a mother would sing her child a lullaby through a storm.

Leo almost wishes Jason would just turn around and start yelling at him for all of this. It would hurt sure but not as much as seeing him like this is.

Frank and Hazel are upset of course but Camp Jupiter didn’t mean the same thing to them as it did it Jason.

Piper is the first one to walk over and gently puts a hand on his shoulder. It gets his attention but oh does she wish it didn’t when Jason looks at her with haunted eyes.

“It’s all my fault” he whispers with shame colouring his words. She shakes her head, firmly “no no it’s not. It’s not anyone’s fault but those eidolons.”

Jason shakes his head as new tears well up in his eyes. He lifts a shaking hand to the wind that’s billowing around them.

“I can hear them…all of them blaming me.”

Prinxiety doodle