#i think that’s my issue is that a lot of things that get sold onto tim in fanon | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mangoisms · 5 months

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this is based off a quote post and not anyone or anything in particular Noah fence but i think tim’s whole thing with ra’s in red robin 2009 is so boring. especially because. well first off people have Made Points about the terrible characterization ra’s has gotten so that should be the problem First and Foremost. but it also goes in hand with how it feeds into the whole fanon idea around tim being the greatest detective in the world or something because ra’s. for whatever reason. holds tim up to that high standard because bruce is gone (i think it’s been ages since i’ve read rr 09 bc it annoys me 💪) but like. you know. like this is silly. it conflates tim into something he isn’t which just makes him More Annoying because of course it’s like Ohhhh ra’s bad but respects tim… and it’s like a good thing. for him. narratively. like oooooooh tim is the greatest detective ever. and then it’s a bad thing in red robin 09 for like. a little bit. like oh the woes of being too smart…. but then it’s still A Good Thing. despite that. which is just 😐 and it is all rooted in ra’s terrible characterization so 🫤🫤🫤🫤🫤🫤

#feeling like a hater tonight #but also i’m pretty sure i’m gonna be starting my period soon. Which means i’m full of an impossible amount of rage all the time #i think that’s my issue is that a lot of things that get sold onto tim in fanon #like being the smartest robin or whatever (which isn’t true. but also when it’s outside of that it’s like babs is right there.)#when 1) he doesn’t need it 2) it just closes off any potential flaws bc of that being explored #because it’s a good thing. like here AND in universe #which is annoying #you know. yeah

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leighsartworks216 · 7 months

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A Spawn Could Get Used To This

Astarion x gn!Tav/Reader

Wrote this on 1 hour of sleep. I did proofread it. I am so so sleepy. I'm going back to bed after this

Warnings: embarrassment

Word Count: 1,163

Main Masterlist

First Baldur's Gate 3 Masterlist - Second Baldur's Gate 3 Masterlist

AO3

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In the few weeks he’d been traveling along with this not-so-merry band of weirdos, Astarion got used to a lot of things very quickly. Gale loudly explaining anything at the drop of a hat, Lae’zel and Shadowheart fighting, the smells. Some things were positive, too. The sun was always nice and warm, and the odd sort of comfort being with a group of weirdos brought was nice. And, of course, some things were neutral.

One of the neutrals he’d adjusted to came in the form of you, their leader, and in fact the forms you could take on. He wasn’t sold on the whole druid thing before - all of them were tree huggers who cried over a crushed blade of grass - but, well, being romantically involved with one came with some quirks.

Quite often, almost any time you weren’t busy exploring or risking their lives, you would transform into a cat and go about the camp. If Scratch and the owlbear cub were any indicators, small fluffy things raised morale. Most everyone would scratch along your spine or behind your ears, all their woes forgotten for even a brief moment. It became rather commonplace. Mundane. What an odd thing to be called mundane.

Along with this came another little quirk.

After you did your rounds, getting pets and listening to their smaller issues, you’d come back around and rub against his leg. This very quickly became a way of asking for him to pick you up. You rather enjoyed being close to his chest and purring as loudly as possible.

Today was just like any other. You’d come back with a sack of stolen goods and bloody armor, drop everything unceremoniously in a pile, and transform to make your rounds. Well, he assumed that’s what you did. He was a little preoccupied when you disappeared, but he didn’t think much of it when a cat started wandering around the tents.

So he stood and flipped through his book and busied himself, waiting to drop the act and pick you up and cuddle. It was a rather good act, he thought. He’d furrow his brow or lightly chuckle, and become so engrossed in pretending to read he stopped noticing the passage of time, until something small and fluffy rubbed against his leg.

He closed the book carelessly as he looked down at his feet. Sure enough, a cat rubbed its cheek against him, already starting to purr. He grinned, though not too wide, lest the others begin to think he went soft. “Hello, my love,” he cood. “Want me to hold you?”

The cat meowed, head butting him. He chuckled and tossed his book onto a pillow, before bending down and lifting the darling creature - his darling creature - into his arms. It flipped to its back to be cradled like a baby in the crook of his elbow, paws stretching out and claws latching lightly to the fabric of his shirt. It purred so loud he was sure everyone else for a mile could hear it.

Unusually, it didn’t seem to like when he tried stroking its belly. He thought, perhaps, you just didn’t want that kind of contact today. He’d been getting used to the boundaries touch should have, and the fact you would respect them. It was only natural to have the same grace in return.

“Awe, you got yourself a little friend!”

Astarion startled at the voice, jostling the cat slightly, who mrowled at the movement. Sure enough, standing beside his tent toweling their hair dry was his beloved druid. Not in cat form. He gaped in confusion and awe.

“Darling, don’t take this the wrong way but, where the Hells were you?” The cat rolled to its side to knead biscuits into his chest. He barely felt the pinpricks of nails.

You gave him an odd look. “I went for a wash. Our battles were a bit bloodier today, and while you may like the smell of blood, I, personally, don’t. Especially when it’s up my nose.” You scowled, rubbing your nose at the memory. “Why? Did something happen?”

His frown didn’t disappear as he slowly replied, “No, nothing at all.”

You gave him another odd look. “Are you alright?”

He blinked, shaking himself out of his dumbfounded stupor. “This is going to sound ridiculous, but…” He looked down at the cat in his arms that seemed to settle down and prepare for a nap. “Well, dear, I thought this was you.”

The laugh bursts out of you unbidden, and Astarion glares embarrassed at you. You try to bite down the giggles trying to escape. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just,” you giggle and step forward to pet the cat. You have a bubbly sort of mischief in your eyes. He prepares himself for the worst. “You can’t tell the difference between us?”

“I didn’t think I had to memorize the precise hairs, no,” he bit. “It looked like you - why would I have any reason to believe it wasn’t?”

“You don’t need to be defensive,” you assure sweetly. “It’s cute! And it seems to like you.”

He huffed and looked down at the creature. The points of its fangs peeked out as it drifted off into sleep. The purring persisted, now almost reminding him of snoring. He pouted, though he hated when you called it that. He preferred the term brooding. “Yes, well, I was rather hoping it was my darling druid come to join me for a lazy evening.”

You chuckled and kissed his cheek. “I can do that. But I don’t think your new friend is going to want to leave you alone.”

He peeked at you from the corner of his eye. “I could be persuaded to share myself with both of you.”

“What if I turned into a cat and purred, too?”

He hummed, pretending to consider the deal, but the slight lift of his mouth gave it away. “I don’t know, darling. You know how much I simply loathe sharing. I think you can do better than that.”

You smile. “Okay, what if I throw a kiss into the mix?”

He grinned, the points of his fangs peeking out just like the cat’s in his arms. “That might even it out.”

You do your best to avoid disturbing the cat as you lean in to catch his lips. You taste of fresh spring water and the barest hint of a health potion. And he loves it. The kiss doesn’t last nearly long enough before you pull away and kiss his cheek. “Get comfortable. I’ll be back in a moment.”

“I’ll count the seconds,” he teases, though there’s no hint of a lie in his voice.

You chuckle and walk away, back to the pile of stuff that Wyll and Gale are already sorting through, counting 1, 2, 3, 4… And 97 seconds later, when you and this stranger cat are both laying atop him, purring incessantly, he finds he could get used to it.

---

Tag List:

@hypopxia @flsalazar @beverlybeav @angelofthorr @emiemiemiii @marina-and-the-memes @aurasyn @furblrwurblr @cappsikle @mjmygd @thegirlsadventuresinwonderland @kindadolly @bloopthebat @pandimoostuff @chesb0red @black-star1472 @sessils @olitheghostboy-blog @puppyg1rl666 @maruichio @cyber-dump-171 @katharynmarie @twinkliker3000 @cherifrog @catching-fire-in-the-wind @phantoms-fandom-blog @thespectacularspaceace @lynnlovesthestars

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raisedbythetv89 · 11 months

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To me, I don’t think Buffy or the audience can ever truly know if she’s in love with angel or just in attachment with him. I believe she is just in attachment and especially before innocence and after his encounter with the first, just full on enmeshment with him. No boundaries whatsoever, his pain is her pain (which is extremely common in parentified children who feel they have to protect their parents from their pain like what buffy does with joyce), just like how she describes her feelings towards riley later which is NOT a good thing, empathy is good, taking on others pain as if it’s your own is extremely unhealthy. (Yes I’m pulling on my psych degree for a tumblr post, human behavior and buffy are two of my special interests)

What I mean by “in attachment” is that she has all of the same anxieties and insecurities about angel that she does with her father. Angel’s erratic and unpredictable behavior plays on her anxious avoidant attachment style SO AGGRESSIVELY. He keeps showing up, giving her little information at all and even less about himself and then vanishing leaving her hanging, and anxiously wondering about him which can mimic thinking you’re romantically interested when really it’s just an unresolved problem you desperately want to solve. She has a lot of valid criticisms about him before they’re officially together about his inconsistencies, him treating her like a child, him being too old for her and then all of a sudden she’s saying she wants to die when they kiss and that she loves him (after he forces her to say she loves him before he’ll tell the truth about drusilla). That is exactly how falling into attachment goes. Once you’re hooked all your feelings that are caused by a bad relationship with a parent are projected onto the partner who you are unknowingly recreating that dynamic with which is why such intense and strong feelings can happen so quickly and suddenly you’re ignoring all concerns you had before forming this attachment with someone.

He’s not her soulmate, he’s just the first guy to treat her like her father did and if you don’t address that cycle the relationship is recreating it can be impossible to move on because they will ALWAYS feel like something is unresolved and if you don’t know why you feel that way you can misinterpret it as true love or destiny because why all would you suffer so much and still love them if it wasn’t? It’s a mistake SO MANY of us make in our romantic relationships and these portrayals of unhealthy attachments being sold to us a soul mates doesn’t help us at all.

She does it with Riley also but she walls herself off so she doesn’t get AS attached to him as she did angel but their relationship is still her trying to fix the relationship with her father by changing herself so maybe this time he’ll stay. It’s why his opinion still matters so much to her when he comes back in season 6 despite him being a truly awful person to her who has done nothing but make mistakes and whose opinion should not matter to her at all after everything he put her through. He is another pseudo father figure she craves approval from.

It’s why I love her relationship with Spike so much despite all the bad they go through before season 7. We know her feelings are real because Spike doesn’t play on her anxious-avoidant attachment at all because he is ALWAYS there even when she’s mean and claims she doesn’t want him there. And to me everything they do to each other makes perfect sense, their relationship is exactly what two people with severe trauma and one with anxious-avoidant and one with just anxious-attachment going into a relationship together looks like. You hurt each other A LOT because you’re working out all your issues with each other and they don’t have ANY help from a therapist or someone who can help minimize the hurt so they both just use their worst coping mechanisms and the fact that they go through all that and still get to be together and happy and healthy on the other side is just everything to me because that so rarely happens in the real world, where you get to be with the person who was also a catalyst for healing and having to go through all that suffering together only to have to start over -hopefully from a much better place - but still with someone else BLOWS. So Spike and Buffy to me are about hope and healing (including the unpleasant and very ugly, dark parts of healing people rarely talk about) and getting to do each phase of that with someone AND enjoy being happy and whole together is just UGHHHH I love it so much.

#spuffy

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gabessquishytum · 11 months

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ok, Selkies then, right? Cool, I got my BA in literature and cultural studies for this moment.

So some neigboring Queen gives Hob this seal fur coat she found. She trying to tell to Hob that she's totally DTF, but Hob is just like "right, thanks," and has the coat put away and doesn't want to think about it cause he's not really ready for the whole marriage thing, it's all stupidly political and complicated and he'd rather just keep the gifts the suitors-to-be send over in a hall where he doesn't have to look at them.

Meal while, Dream has been looking for his coat left and right, and that sucks because he wants to be a seal again. Eventually, he find that it was sold at market to a woman who worked for the queen, and when he tracked her down, the woman informed him that the queen gave it to Hob.

So *heavy sigh* Drean has to go tell Hob that he, Dream, needs his coat back to go back home.

No one will let him see Hob, no one will tell Hob that Dream wants an audience. And Dream has to brake into Hob's bed chambers to demand the coat back.

When Hob wakes up, he sees this man over him and is like "well, something just awoke in me."

But Dream has no time for these sexy shenanigans, he wants his coat back and if Hob could just kindly point him to wear it's being kept, Dream can get it and be on his way home.

And Hob, very happy to be rid of the coat for a good cause, says "I can get that for you," and Before Dream can stop him, Hob get's the coat and hands it to Dream. Dream won't take it, so Hob just drops it in his arms, so Dream can't really refuse him.

Hib gives one of his warm and goes back to bed, but Dream follows him.

Hob explains that he doesnt need permission to leave, and Dream should return home.

And Dream meekly explains that returning the coat like this was akin to a marriage proposals, and Dream taking it basically meant they were married now, and it would be impolight for him to *a-hem* leave his husband wanting on their wedding night.

And Hob doesn't want Dream to feel obligated, but Dream's on board if Hob is, and who is Hob to argue if a beautiful husband gals into his lap?

Hob is like fuck yeah!! I don't have to do all the boring political matchmaking!

But of course he feels super guilty for accidentally trapping Dream into a marriage! He feels like such an idiot. But Dream is like "actually my family sent me onto land to try and find a spouse but things got complicated and I lost my coat so this is good, I can go home and tell everyone that I'm not useless!"

And Hob is like "useless?? Why would your family say that, you're obviously perfect???" And Dream blushes and decides that his new husband is rather lovely, actually.

Turns out that Dream is actually a selkie prince! His family kind of suck and he much prefers being Hob’s consort. Dream tries to let Hob have the coat back to show that he won't run away but Hob refuses because he's determined to let Dream have as much freedom as he needs to be himself. So Dream takes Hob to the sea and they swim together and have sex on the beach as a kind of big Fuck You to Dream’s terrible family.

Hob issues a proclamation that is basically like "if you fucking touch my husband or his coat i will have you personally murdered :))" and I like to imagine that they have lots of lovely little selkie babies together or alternatively adopt some babies who have lost their parents. And when Dream goes back to visit his family, they have to begrudgingly admit that he's done very, very well for himself.

#the sandman #dreamling #nsft #literature ba solidarity between anon and myself 😌😌

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writingfarintothedark · 2 months

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So I saw this opinion from @bitchypuppystarlight saying Simon was "unfair" when being upset with Wille about Alexander taking the fall for the drug situation.

Hm. It is reductive and unfair (haha) in my opinion to say only Simon was "unfair" in this situation. The whole situation was unfair and messed up, Simon and Wille had their reasons for what they did, but they were both in the wrong.

Something this show clearly did in season 1 is show how people and situations are multifaceted- characters in this show are rarely completely "right" or "wrong"- they all have their justifications for doing what they did. So it is interesting to see a take that completely blames Simon- especially in THIS situation, which was one of the most complicated and messy plotlines in the show, where Wille made his fair share of mistakes as well. In fairness, I do think most people caught onto that this was meant to be a complicated issue.

I'm not sure I am following the opinion "Wilhelm had nothing to do with the whole thing." Wilhelm...willingly TOOK the drugs Simon sold? And the "Society" was almost caught taking those drugs, which would have landed Wille in deep shit, so he very much had A LOT to do with the whole thing. That was the point- Simon AND Wilhelm were totally entangled in this situation. Wilhelm is not blameless here.

It was pretty clear that the fight Wilhelm and Simon had in the music room showed the hypocrisy/double standards when it comes to how working class poc (like Simon) vs the rich elite would be treated in this entire debacle- Wille calls Simon selling drugs "low", but he was the one who TOOK those drugs as well.

It wasn't like the Society was going to fess up collectively with Simon- their plan was to pin it ALL on Simon. Their plan was to screw Simon over, and to get away scot-free because the words of the rich white boys would be valued above Simon's, a non-res. How is that fair? So Simon was rightfully upset at those implications.

THEN what the Society ended up doing was blaming the whole thing on Alexander. So again, they lied and threw someone under the bus. If we understand Simon's character at all, it'd be obvious why he would be "indignant" with that- it is unjust! He doesn't like unfair things, that was established about his character from day one and he was intentionally written like that- to contrast the entitled attitudes the elite students at Hillerska have. Simon likely had residual anger at being the potential scapegoat, and then he found out another boy was the scapegoat. Why would he be happy that Alexander got thrown under the bus for something Alexander had a minimal part in, while the most privileged group of boys didn't? Why would Simon condone that? Why is that something to celebrate?

And I think "indignant" is a strong word to use in that situation anyway...Simon pretty quickly came around, accepted the situation, and comforted Wille. He saw that Wille was in a tough mental spot, with a lot of pressure, and that Wille just wanted to help Simon. Simon immediately hugged him and they made up.

Simon and Wille are BOTH very much in the wrong here, as is everyone in the Society. They all fucked up- that is the point! They're human! They make mistakes! But they all had their reasons. Simon has none of the privileges these other students have, and he was trying to navigate this environment to take care of his sister and his grades. Wille had just lost his brother and was facing this new pressure of being Crown Prince. They had their reasons for what they did, but that doesn't make it right. And clearly, they paid for these mistakes later down the line.

We're not supposed to condone these actions, we're supposed to understand them though, and pointing the finger at any one person in this situation is reductive.

#young royals #wilmon #simon eriksson #prince wilhelm

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fortheloveofarchons · 1 month

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Xiao turned into a bird and Aether takes care of him

C.W.

- Kiss and make up - Potion making - Xiao | Alatus being a birb - Hu Tao, Zhongli, Paimon and Verr Goldet mentioned in this chapter

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The letter that Aether had received back in Wangshu Inn seemed like an urgent letter, with only a few sentences written on the paper.

I have heard that you are currently back in Liyue. It is of great timing for you to come to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour immediately. As for the issue at hand… I’m afraid it’s about Xiao.

“Aether! Slow down!” Paimon flies from behind, trying to catch up with him. “Paimon can’t fly that fast…”

Aether ran as fast as he could, sweat beading out of his forehead, his legs slowly getting tired. Yet, his mind persists. The moment Aether runs up to the red bridge in Chihu Rock, he sees the familiar building with golden-red pillars and green roof tiles.

Along with a familiar lady with the plum blossom hat and the man with dark brown hair.

“Mr Zhongli! Director Hu Tao!” Aether chokes out his words, his hands holding onto his knees to steady himself. Raising his head, he sees that Hu Tao’s expression remained unchanging: A gleeful smile on her face.

As for Zhongli, his geo-coloured eyes flicker to worry.

“What happened–” Aether asks on an exhale. “Where’s Xiao? Is everything okay?”

“About that…” Zhongli points to Hu Tao’s hat. Aether turns to her, his eyes narrowing as he attempts to decipher the cryptic message. Hu Tao’s eyebrows rose along with her smile, and she took her hat off, flipping it upside down for Aether to witness.

With a raised eyebrow, Aether takes a step forward, only for his eyes to become wide.

A round-bodied bird, whose feathers are adorned in shades of teal, with the familiar purple diamond mark on its forehead.

“Xiao?!” Aether immediately grabs the hat with his hands, watching as the little bird is resting peacefully inside Hu Tao’s hat.

Paimon takes a look from behind, only to cover their mouth in shock. “Wh– What happened?!”

“Again, about that…” Zhongli lets out a sigh, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “Do you remember when you and Paimon conducted an alchemical business selling different kinds of potions?”

“Oh yeah!” Paimon replies, nodding their head enthusiastically. Their head could only recall the amount of mora they have earned. “We sold a lot of potions, and we learned a lot of things!”

“Then, do you remember when Director Hu Tao had made a bulk order on the ingredients?”

Paimon scratches their head, trying to understand the meaning behind this question.

Aether steps in and replies on Paimon’s behalf instead. “She ordered a large batch of a variety… but…”

Aether’s mouth fell open as the gears clicked in his head.

“D– Don’t tell me…” Aether turns to her, his lips becoming slack as his terror grows. “Did you try to make your own potions and use them on Xiao?!”

“Hey, hey~” Hu Tao closes her eyes as waves her arms defensively. “For the record, I was trying to be experimental for my business. Business is slow these days, so I thought if I try to conduct a few harmless potions it would be beneficial for my work! And– I could gain more customers!”

“Director…” Aether’s entire body became impossibly still, his hands clutching onto the under brim of Hu Tao’s hat. “Your business is about conducting funerals!”

“Aiya~~ I was trying to sell some healing potions for them!” Hu Tao clenches her fists, shaking her hands in protest. “I know my business tactics have been off, so I wanted to try something called… reverse psychology! If I were to sell these healing potions, this would make my clients feel safe when they think about Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, and perhaps I could repair my relationship with Doctor Baizhu with these potions as a peace offering.”

An imaginary black and white thread forms into a convoluted tornado in Aether's mind, trying his best to understand how that would really work if the healing potions came from a business that deals with death.

“I…”

Zhongli makes a subtle cough, covering his mouth. “Point being, it appears that after the consumption of Hu Tao’s potion, Adeptus Xiao had temporarily transformed into a little bird.”

Aether’s golden eyes glint with hope from hearing that word.

“Temporarily?” Aether asks, taking a step forward to Zhongli. “You mean… Can he be saved?”

“It would take time, but yes.”

Zhongli stretches his arm out to the interactable wooden board, a sign for the two of them to chat privately. Giving a short nod in return, the two of them walk over to the board while Paimon bombards Hu Tao with more questions.

“Although I was an archon back then, I had to ask Madame Ping and Cloud Retainer for advice before you came.” Zhongli folds his arm, a signature move by the man who used to be the Geo Archon. “They’ve said that since the potion is pretty much harmless, Xiao would be able to revert back to his original self by today.”

“Then… Why summon me here?” Aether asks. Just then, the bird wakes up from his nap, and blinks at Aether. Once, twice, thrice, then immediately flies up, making chirping noises before he rests on Aether’s soft hair. Aether couldn’t help but let out a laugh, his heart now in a steady beat from Zhongli’s reassuring words and Xiao’s activeness.

“I need you to take care of him for today. Director Hu Tao and I had to deal with the sticky mess that she made in her office.” Zhongli’s head turns to stare at the two of them, with Paimon’s bickering and Hu Tao’s argumentative verses, it certainly raises a few eyebrows from the passersby. “It would take a while, and I trust that you are careful and delicate with animals.”

“Uh… Yes, very delicate.”

A sweat drops down from Aether’s chin, thinking back to all those times when he slaughtered some Sumpter Beasts with his blade for some raw meat, freezing fishes with his cyro elemental powers so he could make some grilled fish, and killing the pack of pigeons that resides on the bridge at Mondstadt.

That petrified look on Timmy’s face was priceless.

“Moreover, since this concerns the guardian yaksha, it's best to solve this issue for those that are close to him.” Zhongli gazes softly at Aether’s eyes. “And you, dear traveller, are one of them in Xiao’s heart.”

Aether’s cheeks were already pink from running, but Zhongli’s sentence pierced into Aether’s heart, making his face bright red like a Jueyen Chili.

“Is that so..?” Aether fans his face with his hand.

“I suppose it’s about time we should take our leave.” Zhongli walks over to Hu Tao and Paimon, giving one more glance to Aether. “When Xiao returns back to normal, inform us.”

“I will!” Aether makes a salute pose like those Favonius knights back in Mondstadt. Zhongli lets out a deep chuckle in return, and turns to Hu Tao.

“Director, shall we head inside to clean up the mess?”

“Let’s!” Hu Tao turns to Aether, her hand raising for her hat. Aether then returns the hat to her, and Hu Tao neatly puts it back on, but not before she adjusts the position on it. She lets out a hum in satisfaction once it settles neatly on her head.

“Mhm~! Take care of this silly little adeptus for me, will you?” Hu Tao gives him a wink before she bids farewell with a wave.

“Alright…” Aether turns around, but not before he hears a little bit of a conversation between Hu Tao and Zhongli.

“...It’s just a potion to make him a lil’ bit tired for him…”

“...It’s still wrong, Director…”

Tired? Tired from what? Aether ponders the question, but shakes his head in resignation. Meanwhile, Paimon flies next to him, looking up at Xiao resting on his head, then down at Aether, who is giving them a criminal offensive side eye.

“Don’t ask too much.” Aether folds his arms defensively. “Zhongli just wanted me to take care of him for a while.”

He then walks off with Xiao the little bird, while Paimon is scratching their head in confusion.

“Uh… Paimon hasn’t even said anything yet…”

Full chapter down below!

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eerna · 3 months

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Hello! This is incredibly random, but as a fanartist, enjoyer of critically examining media, and critic of capitalist corporations (*cough* Disney), do you have any thoughts about fan art being a form of unpaid labour?

Context is I’m writing an essay about digital labour and how fan creation is basically kind of like free PR for big corporations… and now whenever I do fanart I can’t get that thought out of my head uGH. I want to believe that drawing fanart is my own form of creative expression and way of showing love for the media, but at the same time I’m like “am I being exploited???” since I’m helping advertise smth for free and these corporations are just capitalizing on my love for said media??? and I can’t reconcile these thoughts 🥲🫠

Also I’m struggling with the essay LOL my eventual conclusion is that we as fans do have agency but we kind of still are being exploited… so it’s not a very optimistic outlook haha. Doesn’t help that the scholars’ articles I’m reading are all very negative about this digital labour thing. Help.

Sorry if this is unexpectedly deep!! 😅 just really curious to hear a fellow fanartist’s thoughts, and I respect you a lot for being unafraid to criticize media 🙏🙏

Hi! First of thank you for your kind words~ Second off, what a cool concept to discuss. Your message is pretty much how I feel. It is very frustrating to remember that so much of the media I love is so closely tied to the harmful cycle of capitalism. I grew up in a country that didn't have access to merch or much in the way of official media so piracy was my go-to most of the time. This means I was introduced to the concept of consumerist aspects of fandom via the Internet as a teenager and started feeling bad about "not supporting" stuff I love, but I told myself "Well I pay back by doing fanart and talking about it online". And then I found out about the way capitalism shapes the media landscape and started feeling bad for playing into it, the same as you. It gets even more conflicting when I am talking about something I dislike made by a company I dislike - yeah, I am probably preventing some people from interacting with the media for themselves, but I am also probably making others interested. What makes me feel better about the entire thing is that the "digital labour" I do is that I'm doing it for other fans like me, and to express myself. I love things so much that it makes me feel like I am going to explode, but pouring it out onto paper helps with it! Of course, I don't have to post it online for it to be worthwhile, but sharing it with others who feel the way I do makes the feelings even better. BUT one of the most important aspects of the issue is how willing those companies are to let me gain something monetary from the relationship. Are they ignoring fanworks being sold as fan merch, as commissions? It is illegal, but I feel like it should absolutely be allowed as a sort of unmentioned perk of being a fan worker, and the companies that don't allow that are evil. My audience gets bigger, I sell more prints, and so do they. (This is also why I never accept money for fanworks made by small creators, such as webcomics)

There's also the fact that lately I've been seeing the rise of "If you REALLY love this piece of media, it is your DUTY to consume it as much as possible and spread the word about it as much as possible and make the company as much money as possible if you want to see more things like it!" takes. These are utter bullshit and where enjoyment of media goes to die. The moment you reduce your love for something only to how much money it can make the evil capitalist overlords who allowed it to grace your eyes, you completely deny any kind of artistic worth. Media should exist because we deserve to have our hearts touched by stories, not because it makes someone money.

I don't have a clear answer or feel like my approach to the issue goes entirely along with my morality. But I don't think we can find a way to feel good about the entire situation as long as our media is dictated by capitalism. It's the sad reality of loving something in a system that will squeeze any money out of you that it can. But we gotta march on, remember that we are the ones allowing them to survive and not the other way around, and love while we do it. Good luck with your essay, stay positive!

#eernask #elsartzz

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darlingmissmoth · 5 months

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Hi, my name is Moth and, uh, with “encouragement” from @babacontainsmultitudes (aka: “you should do it” and I went “yeah okay”) I have decided to do… A little (not a little) rambling about the kiddads (mostly Twin Focused, but still) cause I have many thoughts and feelings, most of which I tend to keep hidden but I have a blog and I’m making that everyone’s issue.

This probably won’t be totally coherent because my thoughts like to jump from point to point erratically so I’ll try to organize to the best of my ability? But there’s a good chance I’ll be all over the place! And it’s probably going to be… Very Fucking Long as a warning lmao

Anyway, uh, stuff under the read more :)

I’ve seen a lot of wild takes about the kiddads and their actions, and the general view on Sparrow is… Very Negative, from what I’ve gathered. I’ve seen a lot more positive as of late, but I still see a lot of hate. Which I get! If you do a skim of all he’s done, it isn’t a great picture. Telling your kid you aren’t proud of them, training your kids from a young age to kill things, his anger and upset, it isn’t good.

Then, of course, there’s Lark who tends to excuse Sparrow’s actions or try to smooth them over, it appears he’s the main one who did Hero’s training, and his anger is rough as well.

Then we have Grant and Nicky, one of whom is Overbearing, the other Distant.

All in all, the kiddads are, well… Not Great Parents to put it lightly.

But I think a lot of people tend to view all their actions through the lives of their own lives or what is “rational”, totally forgetting that the circumstances around the teen’s raising, around the kiddad’s lives, are not rational.

At the age of 11, all of them got kidnapped by their grandparents! And sold into slavery! They weren’t sure if they’d see their parents again! And while most of them took it in pretty good stride, they were 11 and most likely didn’t see the inherent danger of the situations they were in until they all got spirited away to Castle Ravenloft, where they had to deal with their grandparents and, no doubt, the abuse they dealt.

Both Nicky and Lark went through Real Life Or Death Experiences (not to say the other kids didn’t, but they were the only ones we see in S1 who got anywhere near actually dying) - and of them, Lark was the only one who felt death. It may have been a fake body, but that doesn’t change the fact that he actually felt himself die.

Grant had to kill something in such a horrible and gruesome way that we actively saw the way it changed his life. He got fucked up from it! Really badly. Mans is numb and struggling to feel anything which, of course, leads to a lot of self hate and self destructive habits.

And then, after all of this, Lark was manipulated by one of their abusers to stab his father and release The Doodler, which he didn’t fully understand the consequences of because, again, he’s 11. He was A CHILD.

Now he’s saddled with the knowledge he ended the world. He doomed his family, his friends, all because of an impulsive decision that he was manipulated into doing, yet he isn’t aware it was manipulation. He thinks it was just… Him. He chose to do it.

And now he, and all his friends, are wandering around trying to figure out how to stop this World Ending Creature that used to live in his family’s blood and it all seems terribly hopeless. But they keep trying. Because what else can you do? What is your other option? And he’s given a prophecy that says that his (or his twin’s) first born is the Only Thing that can stop said World Ending Creature. At the age of, like, 15.

Sparrow, who feels just as guilty for it, takes this onto his shoulders because he probably doesn’t want that tacked onto his brother’s conscious as well. Raising a kid just to be a tool because it’s either that or they continue to let this creature that he and his twin unleashed.

What were their other options? What other choices did they have? Let the world - the worlds - continue to die? They had to do something, and the only thing that would have worked - apparently - is to have this kid.

Meanwhile, Grant gets a kid and they’re in the fucking apocalypse, so of course he’s going to shelter his kid. He remembers what happened to him when he was put under extreme stress and in a life or death situation and he doesn’t want that for his baby. He loves Lincoln so much, loves his husband so much. Was it right to totally isolate him? No! Probably not! But he was terrified of the world, and he had every right to be.

A lot of people judge the kiddads under the lenses of our current world, but they need to remember that isn’t the setting. That isn’t their world. Maybe when they were children, but not now. Not when we see the teens.

Their world is a dying one, it’s scary, it’s dangerous. They did the best with the trauma they were saddled with, in a world that they were the cause of and could die in every single day. Do you think you could do better? Truly?

They did the best in the situations they were in, and for Grant, maybe he shouldn’t have had a kid. But he did! His husband wanted one and they were given one and they were small and innocent and sweet and Grant was smitten instantly. And people seem to forget he was a good dad! Lincoln turned out good! He’s smart and kind and gentle. He loved his dads so fucking much and didn’t realize anything was wrong until he was shoved into a position he shouldn’t have been in.

Grant raised him well. He raised him with love and adoration and did his best.

Sparrow and Lark did, too. They love their kids! No one can deny that! Sparrow and Lark love their kids. But it’s a dangerous world, and they knew at least one of their kids is the only hope humanity has. They had to make sure she could defend herself, she could take it down when the time came.

People also point at the homecoming scene for Sparrow and Lark and I agree that it wasn’t good. They fucked up. But it’s also made so, so clear that Sparrow loves Normal deeply. He adores his son. But it’s also canon that Normal reminds Sparrow of his younger self, who Sparrow is not proud of, and he desperately wanted better for his son. And Normal, had Sparrow and Lark not manifested, would have never known his dad wasn’t proud of him.

Which means Sparrow never let that show! Sometimes parents aren’t proud of their kid’s decisions, that’s just the long and short of it. And that should be okay. It should be okay to not agree with something your child does. But the important thing is that you don’t show it. And Sparrow NEVER DID. He NEVER ONCE showed Normal that he wasn’t proud. He showed love first and foremost always.

Which is why it came as a shock when he revealed otherwise. So he was doing good! He was a good parent!

Did they fumble? Yes. I’m not saying that any of them are totally blameless. They messed up a lot. They should have made better decisions. But they were also horribly traumatized, lost their innocence of childhood at the age of 11, and had to grow up in a doomed world with guilt on their shoulders and the fate of the world in their hands.

All of this to say that they are complex. They are human. At the core of this sillyfunny podcast, that is something that remains consistent. These aren’t characters on a traditional Hero’s Journey. They are regular people thrust into impossible situations that have to figure out how to cope with it on their feet. They’re flawed, they make bad decisions, and that is the point. They aren’t meant to be perfect or always know what to do. All of them are shades of gray. None of them are truly evil or truly good because no person is.

They’ll fuck up. They’ll make bad decisions spurred on by guilty consciouses or emotions. Some decisions won’t be rational because humans aren’t. We are made up of emotion and memory and personal values, and we make our decisions based around those things.

They aren’t perfect. They aren’t meant to be. They are complex and they are beautiful for that.

I’m sure there’s more I could say, but this is long enough as is, uh. If you want to hear more I guess either dm me or shoot me an ask about specific characters idk

Thanks for reading

#dndads #dungeons and daddies #I'm not gonna tag individual characters #moth speaks #moth writes #Here u go fandom #Long rambling thoughts from a woman with too much time on her hands lmao

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apostaterevolutionary · 4 months

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Wholly agree Duolingo isn't great any more but it's the only fully free site so it's all I can use...:(

I totally get it anon, it’s a tough situation. For what it’s worth, I believe most of memrise is free, so it might be worth taking a look to see if it has your language. And I mentioned this in the post, but your local library may give you free access to other apps. Tumblr library propaganda has taught me many things about what libraries offer!

And even though I’ve been mad at duo for a lot longer (since they rolled out that stupid path, even though I managed to dodge it for over a year by not updating my app, they did eventually force it onto my ancient and crumbling version lmao), I kept up with it for a long time just because I couldn’t find an alternative I liked. And tbh I’m still not sure what I’m gonna do now, cause it turns out I like casually learning languages, it’s fun and I don’t want to stop, I’d love to get at least conversational in several, but I’m not exactly sure where I’ll go from here yet

Even disregarding the ethical issues, I do worry about the future for duo learners because machine translation simply cannot compete with the real thing. I think anyone trying to read something from another language knows from experience lmao. But I think it will be a while before the app really dies, because the idea of learning for free is a good one. It’s just sad the ceo sold his soul and made duo publicly traded, because it’s been going downhill since (completely changing courses when you’re halfway through, the path, the loss of the forums, the removal of notes, the loss of typing practice, and now severe staff cuts for a cheaper but inferior option)

It sucks ass but it is what it is and I won’t necessarily judge anyone for sticking with it if it’s your only option. I also saw some statements from people who worked on the original duo courses as volunteers upset about these developments, but also distraught that all this work and effort and love they put into the courses would be for nothing if duo eventually does shut down. The courses were originally made by people, for free too, and most of their work is still there, I can’t blame them for being upset at their love letters to the world getting twisted but also not wanting their work to disappear forever because everyone quit. There’s no winning for them at this stage

Idk this is way more rambling than was necessary lmao, but anyway let’s summarize by saying I feel you, it sucks, but I also understand if people keep using the free version duo because, and especially depending on the language you’re working on, sometimes there really aren’t feasible alternatives

#you have my sympathies anon #i have a lot of feelings about duo lmao #I broke my streak at 950 days at the start of the year #and even though I’d set my mind to it and wasn’t happy with it anymore it was weirdly hard to do #I just miss what it used to be #it opened my eyes to the idea that maybe it is possible for me to learn more languages even if 9 years of french failed lmao #but on to new pastures I guess. once I figure out what they are #text #misc #generic ask tag #anon

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billpottsismygf · 10 months

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Okay, rewatch complete and my feelings are just so *mixed*. When I was halfway through, I wrote this whole thing about the weak plot and bad pacing, but having watched episodes 4-6 in one sitting today, I’m now feeling much better about it. In fact, the emotions of the last scene were even more hard hitting this time, and I no longer have as much of a character issue with Aziraphale’s decision as I did my first time through.

To get my bad thoughts, all written yesterday, out of the way:

The plot is so weak and the pacing is all over the place. What is series 2 about? Crowley and Aziraphale take in an angel who has lost his memory, they successfully hide him for a few episodes while trying to set up two shopkeepers, then we find out what was going on. The End. Series 1 works because we get all this amazing character stuff for Aziraphale and Crowley on top of an engaging romp about the end of the world, with a huge cast of characters and lots of moving parts that all come together at the end for a satisfying finale.

I found episode 3 a particular slog, which is a shame because I do actually like the Georgian setting of the flashbacks, but it gets very flimsy very quickly. I just don't believe Elspeth's sudden desire to kill herself (with an apparent sudden change of heart re: bodysnatching, since she says she doesn't want anyone digging her up), then another sudden turnaround once she's been given the money. I liked the general message they were going for wrt poverty and Aziraphale's ignorance of how the world really works, but it just doesn't quite work for me.

I also don’t buy into Nina and Maggie at all. If it was established that they knew each other a little already, then it might work, but Maggie’s deep investment in Nina liking her just reads as either overbearing or unbelievable. They’ve clearly never spoken about anything other than coffee before, and Maggie has a crush fair enough, but after one somewhat awkward evening locked in a shop, she’s crying and declaring herself in love. I like both of the actresses, but I’m not sure they completely sold it either. (I feel bad pointing out particular instances, but when Maggie’s “crying” when Aziraphale goes to ask about the song, she doesn’t even believably read as upset, let alone crying.)

There's also just the, fanfic-ness of it all, especially with Gabriel and Beelzebub. I've always seen that pairing as a bit of a crack one, though I'm glad there are people who enjoy it, and for it to become canon like that... Maybe if they were still bitches at the end? But the mushy lovey dovey 'wherever [they are] is my heaven/hell' stuff just doesn't read as in character for either of them. It's like they switch into totally different characters at the relationship reveal (though on the rewatch, I did appreciate knowing why Beelzebub was so keen on finding Gabriel).

Really the main things this series has going for it is, firstly, that it is often pretty funny, and, secondly, the chemistry between David Tennant and Michael Sheen, on top of their individually brilliant performances. I am deeply invested in their relationship at this point, as well as the wider implications for Heaven and Hell, but if I weren’t I don’t know that I would be all that excited for series 3.

I do think series 3 will be better, as this was always described as the series that got us to where series 3 needed to start from, but this is so obviously a filler that it’s hard to see why it was made in the first place. I imagine we needed that break up scene at the end to lead into the final series, but I wonder if that couldn’t have been achieved with a special, or honestly if we couldn’t have just found out what happened through flashbacks within series 3 itself.

Now, onto the good, written today:

The second half of the series is actually much more enjoyable. I adore the entire conceit of having a Regency ball, and it works so well alongside the gathering menace of the swarming demons. I also love the entirety of the 1941 flashback, even if it doesn’t have much to do with the main plot - sidenote, but the thing of calling the flashbacks ‘minisodes’ is very odd given that they often take up the vast majority of their respective episodes.

Now that I was expecting the Gabriel and Beelzebub stuff, it wasn't quite as jarring as the first time. I stand by what I said above about the out of character-ness, though.

The Nina and Maggie of episodes 4-6 are also much more believable, because they're actually talking. They're taking part in the main plot, too, and they get to have agency at the end and tell Crowley off for trying to manipulate their love lives.

As said above, this time the entire final scene between Aziraphale and Crowley packed an even bigger punch. I loved it the first time round, though of course I found it devastating, but this time knowing where it was leading, it hit me all the more. It’s a real showcase of both Michael Sheen and David Tennant’s acting chops, as well as the complex relationship between their characters.

Derek Jacobi, master that he is, is of course completely fantastic as the Metatron. I wonder if he’ll have a bigger role in series 3 (if we get it). I really hope so; I’m always delighted to see more of him. Muriel is so adorable as well, and I find the rivalry between Uriel and Michael so enjoyable.

This series is such a mixed bag and I just cannot settle on a consistent opinion. I think perhaps it would have fared better with either a more complex plot, or fewer episodes. I’ll probably do another rewatch soon, but on a much slower episode-by-episode basis.

#good omens series 2 #good omens #good omens spoilers #ineffable husbands #aziraphale #crowley #good omens mine #mine #reactions

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tufta · 9 months

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I finished watching droners and here is my opinion. I'll try to keep the first part spoiler free, and later I'll move on to the ships.

The finale was intense and I really, really liked it. It had some pacing issues, that's for sure, but over all it were two well done episodes. I especially liked part two, it was one of the best episodes, with the highest stakes, good angst and drama and best action scenes. Absolutely love it

Over all, looking at a plot, action, and pacing I would give this show a solid 6/10, but, because it was really fun to watch, I'm sticking with 7/10 score. I don't really understand why English broadcaster changed the order of the episodes? Its stupid and show makes less sense bc of that, but oh well. I watched it with original order.

The finale left with an open note for season two and I'm really excited for it. I know it's been airing in France already, but it seems that we have to wait a little longer for it to get to the rest of the countries. Although checking the screenshots here on Tumblr and Bill Otomo's Twitter and Instagram makes me think, that the new season will be even better. That's good. I think the show is following the typical formula - first season just quick episodic adventures, and in the second we will get into the lore. And I'm excited for that! These screenshots and official art seem really promising and I can't wait to watch season 2!

I already talked about most of the characters in one of my previous posts, but I want to add that I have grown really fond of Monk, his episode was really good. Also Adam officially became one of my favorite characters.

NOW ONTO THE SHIPS - and there will be spoilers, so be warned!

I'll start from my favorite ship, which is Corto x Hannah. They should be endgame. But Disney is broadcasting this in other countries and we know what they did to The Owl House so unfortunately I think this ship will never happen. But I can have a glimmer of hope, right? There were screenshots of Hannah and some random, where the girl was kissing Hannah so maybe? I think the chances are slim but I will have this ship in my heart. Hannah is a mean lesbian to me and she's cool. She matches Cortos energy and I feel Catradora vibes from them. Only they would be better and healthier for each other, bc Catradora was really toxic for a long, long time. Corto and Hannah are cute togheter, both skilled, they complete each other and motivate each other to be better. I see a strong enemies to rivals to friends to lovers potential here and I'm all in for it! I love them

Next we have Sun x Corto. It was hinted A LOT in the show, not even subtle. And they are cute togheter, I liked them a lot, but after the finale... I think that Sun should have trusted Corto more and support her in that moment. And even tho he kinda did, he left her then, even though he knew that it was important to her. I wanted him to be more involved, more proactive. And I get his perspective, but still, it was for Corto. And this was kind of like a betrayal, at least for me. I still think they are cute tho, but I think that Corto will move on after that

And with that we are smoothly moving to my second favorite ship, Corto x Manta. They are kind of like Corto and Hannah but just straight hah. I really like them. After the Polaris predicament i was totally sold on this ship. I love it. Corto motivates Manta, she pushed him to do the thing he was so afraid of. Manta is a character that has such a big potential and his relationship with Corto is a really good opportunity to explore that. I like his redesign too! Also saw people saying that they changed his character even though we don't have second season released globally yet, and, well, in my opinion that's just character growth. If Corto can't be with Hannah I want her to be with Manta. I wrote a fic about them even hah 💀

Last thing, Manta x Shino. I think they are cute, I saw that people ship them and it's a nice ship. They don't have too many interactions but I shipped characters that were from two different shows so I totally understand that people ship those two. I'm not the biggest fan but I like them!

I will draw fanarts and write fanfiction. I want this fandom to get bigger, couse the show is really good :3

#droners

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thegoldenshi-shi · 1 year

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I am having an internal crisis. Outside influence is swaying me towards drawing Sides and Sunny in tuxes/suits/dresses, and I am very much itching to do so. This itch is also making me want to pull out my patterns and start making my cosplays again, one of which is a papillon inspired dress shirt and jacket. And I haven't drawn or tailored in a /hot/ minute, not to mention that my sizes have very much changed, and aren't particularly congruent enough to make a shirt, or any form of top other than a crop top, so I am FIGHTING not to do it

Also, working on cleaning my room still, stars above was it a mess, is a mess. I have however cleared out my desk area! And my computer is back to functional cause my friend is a saint and gave me his old graphics card (sly bastard, he didn't tell me that's what he was gonna do so I couldn't refuse) so now I just need to get the fans connected to the motherboard (frankencomputer isn't a joke, they were directly connected to the psu, wherein the old psu had the wires welded into the thing so I couldn't just transfer fan wire onto new psu, so fans are dead in the water as of right now. Cause new psu doesn't have the right thing, a male plug, to be able to connect them). But! It's functional again, blessed be, and so with a lot of external things factored in, including me generally keeping my room temp at almost 60°f and two external fans that I was able to clean and set up around it, me and two friends were able to play modded mc last night! Which was fun, first time playing co-op with my friends in a month.

On other news, my desk is tiny, so with computer back I physically do not have space to comfortably art, so I am gonna see about getting some stuff set up to scooch the moniter and keyboard so I can have desk space to use my pencils and sketchbooks. Largest issue with drawing Sides in a really frilly dress is my issue of not being able to draw humanoid things. I can't get proportions straight. (Damb my useless brain, not able to have images in my mind, remembered or imagined, kills my ability to art)

And work is. Fucking awful right now, actually. We have someone that has been here for almost two months, and he is a misogynistic dirtbag. Our warehouse is severely lacking in Y chromosomes, and I am unfortunately in the closet at work due to bigotry against queer identifying folk, so I count in his mind towards the *problem*, and he won't stop flirting with me. Which is gross, he's twelve years older than me, which were I older and twelve years weren't such a significant part of my lifespan I wouldn't take issue with. But I worked retail and fastfood in places that made me feel as if I was part of the product to be sold, so people older than me, especially men, flirting with me is a really yucky feeling. Not to mention there is this thing about him, I don't entirely know what, that has me feeling an awful mix of scared and angry about him? There's just something off about him, and maybe its that he insists on trying to talk to me alone, or maybe it's that I have disliked him from when he first started flirting with me, or maybe its him triggering ma and SV's gaydars, but whatever it is is gross and I don't like it. Oh, and apparently he drives the forklift smelling like alcohol, which I wouldn't know because I try to keep one me-height away from him at all times, at least.

Happier note, with summer coming around, I will get to enjoy having ladybugs randomly cropping up in my room and eating wasps again. Which was funny as all hell to discover the first time, cause I always forget they're carnivorous and predatory, as well at that thick exoskeleton and forewings they have meaning that actually stinging them is damn near impossible for the wasp

~Smooch

Hello again Smooch~ The urge to draw robots in clothes happens to every mecha artist at some point I think… And I don't care HOW good you think you are at art, trying to slap Fortress Maximus in an evening gown or Deathsaurus in a three-piece suit is going to break your brain. I can't help you with proportions I'm afraid, since that's just something you have to learn over time. (As they say: repetition is the mother of mastery). But, I can say that dresses are easier to draw on robots than suits. If you want to draw suits, brace yourself to give them weird cutouts and things to make room for kibble. Examples A and B (with your preferred boys hehe)

Since you can sew cosplays though, that wouldn't be an issue for you I'm sure. I'm trying to fight the urge to sew unnecessarily as well. I too am an odd size so I'm always having to get my mom to tailor and/or make me clothes. I'll have to send you some pictures of my finished pieces on discord sometime~

It's good that you were able to play with your friends, a functional computer is a blessing. 60 degree bedroom is less of a good thing, but I guess it's the price you have to pay for the computer blessing right now hehe. I'm not ashamed to say that everything you listed about your computer woes flew completely over my tech-retarded head, but it sounds like you've gone through a lot to fix your problems. I wish it was as easy as replacing parts to fix your work-place issues. If you're lucky, your problem dude will get fired for being intoxicated at work or for being a butt. Me wishing won't fix your problem of course, but I really do hope that it gets better for you. In the meantime, enjoy your ladybugs eating wasps??? I didn't know that ladybugs could or would eat wasps, so when I read your ask I was flabbergasted. It makes sense that they can since, as you said they're carnivorous and heavily armored, but still…wasps?!?!

#smooch anon #hey there again #always nice to hear from you #I felt like you deserved some art this time #I've been giving your artless answers for a bit #so have to pictures to make up for it #not sure if the pictures will help you at all #but they are cute

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lobsterplush · 9 days

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Day 1-2: Cord length and types

Before you can make a project you need to select a cord and cut it to the length needed. There's many types of cord to choose from, each with their own properties. :

A. Limp cord, usually made out of twisted cotton, can be tough to use. It unravels and sometimes doesn't hold it's diameter- a tight knot can compress the cord. However, limp cord is the only type that doesn't hold it's past shape. It can be good for wall hangings where you don't want the hanging cords curly from being sold in a bundle. Since I'm not really into wall hangings I personally avoid this type.

B. Flexible cord like waxed braided cord is my favorite- the cord is strong and brightly colored, the ends don't unravel enough to be an issue, and the texture is smooth and nice on the hands. Sometimes sold in bundles, sometimes wrapped around a piece of cardboard.

C. Stiff cord is usually natural hemp fibers, which are sold in round bundles. This type is really good for trying out new designs without worrying about wasting fancy colored cord, plus the ends don't unravel. Be careful though- this cord is very hairy and can be lumpy and uneven. Natural fiber cord can also come in different colors and stiffness, but even limp natural fibers don't compress in a knot like cotton.

Try not to mix these cord types- limp cord is flattened in a knot with other types, making the knot uneven. Mixing natural fibers with braided cord is fine in certain projects but for the most part the mix of smooth versus hairy+lumpy is awkward.

Other types of cord include synthetic cord, which is limp and can unravel like cotton but can come in vivid colors and weird shapes like flat. I don't have much experience with these. Avoid elastic cords for macrame.

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^ Some cords don't unravel much and you can A) not worry about it. For cords that unravel you can B) tie the end in a knot, or for some synthetic cords C) singe/melt the endings with a lighter.

/\/\/\/\/\

One other thing to keep in mind is thickness- the width of the cord is usually given in millimeters (mm) but between you and me, tumblr, I don't think they know what a millimeter is. Who said that.

"1mm" is thin, good for smaller projects like jewelry. This is my default thickness. I've also seen 1mm be called "0.5mm." It doesn't matter much as long as it's thin macrame cord.

"2mm" is thick cord for smaller projects. I don't use thicker cord much because the thicker the cord the (slightly) easier it is for knots to unravel. 3mm and thicker starts getting unwieldy for my style of projects, but is common in stores because wall hangings got trendy.

/\/\/\/\/\

When it comes to the length of the cord many tutorials will just give you a length to cut. They give either the length for one specific project or there's a chart for bracelet/necklace/whatever. But people come in different sizes and having a 'one size fits all' measurement leads to wasted cord or a piece that's too small to wear. It can be a bit of a hassle. And I don't like having to dig out a ruler.

So I have my own method.

To measure by feel, use your chosen cord to figure out the length of the project (A). If it is a bracelet, wrap the cord around the wrist. You can make a necklace tight or loose. Whatever you like. Then, add like 3 or 4 inches, 15 to 20cm of bonus cord (B).

(The bonus cord is for you to hold onto when making the knots, and on longer strings it gives much needed wiggle room in case your knots eat up string.)

A and B together is the Project Length, or PL.

Next look at your project. Plan out what each string is doing- if it is used as a base string that goes the length of the project with no turns, it's length is 1 PL. Another string that is used in knots and has lots of turns can be 3 PL. The more PL, the more convoluted the path of the string.

For example, a series of square knots has two base strings and two strings that wrap around them. This project could be one cord, 2 PL, folded in half for the two base strings and a second, 6 PL, folded in half for the two wrapping strings.

So once you measure your project and decide on a PL, fold it back and forth until the cord is the desired length, and use that cord to measure the others in the project.

Another example with pics:

Two strings, natural hemp fiber, as straight as I could get them without taping them down lol. One is 2 PL and the other is 4PL, each folded in half. This makes two 1 PL strings and two 2 PL strings.

The long cords were used to make knots around the base cords, which are straight. (the wrapping cords ended up having more leftovers, but I chose a knot that's really light on the string. And I used string-saving techniques, oops)

(I didn't give myself that much room for the finishing knot, oops x2)

Final product with the strings trimmed! Don't worry about leftovers, the longer ones can be used in other projects or small samples for testing designs. It's better to overestimate the needed cord then to go through the circus of ending up short.

Anyway this way I can give you a design, say the Project Length of each string, and you can use that to build sweeping necklaces to child bracelets.

btw you can always look around at other tutorials of similar designs if you just want a solid number to work with.

(Macre-May Prompt list)

#Macre-May #Macre-May 2024 #macrame #art challenge #not me throwing subtle shade at the wall hanging community #after wall hangings became a trend braided cord slowly stopped being sold in art stores #or at least there's less variety each year #it's all thick rope and cotton cord in varying shades of tan #boo #also #how did this become a mile long #I put two concepts in one post because this wasn't supposed to be wild #it got wild #also also #sorry for going back and forth with the words cord and string #there's a difference..... I can feel it but I can't explain it

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welcomingdisaster · 10 months

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Choose Violence Game:

the character everyone gets wrong

which ship fans are the most annoying?

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

oooo hello hello! thank you for the ask!

the character everyone gets wrong Hmm I wanna say I feel the strongest about this with Maedhros. Maedhros in general I feel like... I always want him to be an angry dude... trauma-induced anger issues despite it all. Fire in his eyes. I get why fandom portrayal tends to lean more towards sadness/fear/anxiety as his trauma response, because I think for a lot of us it's easier to feel sadness and fear than anger, and easier to project onto. But I want him! To be pissed! I also feel this a little with Caranthir... we don't make him enough of a bitch. I know he's in the book less than other people, but he also manages to be rude during every single social interaction he is a part of (and not just awkward! rude!) and I think we sleep on it a little too much. But that's a petty gripe.

which ship fans are the most annoying? I'm gonna take one for the team as a russingon shipper & say that we're probably annoying as fuck to people who don't ship it LMAO... it's just so universal and I'm sure if you don't like it it's gonna be frustrating to be in the fandom. Also for some reason, being attached to Arafinwean!Gil-galad I get annoyed about him as a russingon baby (which, again, is a personal preference thing! i totally get why people like it and i've read excellent fics that have sold me on the concept). That being said I do actually love the ship! outside of that........ some of the takes that have gotten the MOST under my skin I've heard from the angbang & silvergifting sides of fandom. just not a fan of the "the villain was the real victim all along" takes, tbh. I feel like it makes the villains less interesting. i'm being mean to the three most popular ships in the fandom because i think the smaller ships very rarely surface enough to get under my skin lmao

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them INDIS I'm so not normal about her she's one of my favorite characters and I get SO annoyed about how people tend to portray her as a homewrecker/feanor's evil stepmom/etc. also i'm in my thingol and orodreth eras i think :)

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores oh god this is actually a hard question. I do really enjoy the drama of Thingol's court in the era the Arafinweans are visiting, and I feel like that doesn't get written about as much... hm. also i think gil-galad's several thousand year long reign probably had some exciting things happen in it

#lena speaks #i feel a little bad no one think i'm judging you over these takes #they're just not up my alley #antares0606

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dianaladrislovebot · 1 year

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random gone headcanons that have popped into my unhinged little brain, likely part 2

ayo we back my guys. i’ve had many gone related thoughts (and conversations, shout out to the gone brainrot gc on ig 🫦) since i made the last one of these so y’all are gonna have to bear w me while i get them out of my system. okay thanks bye onto the hcs (also my current fancasts for some of the characters at the end !!)

tall lanky astrid truther. alternatively, short ass mf drake truther.

diana is a skin care girly for sure. when the boys use those several in one things she goes into a frenzy.

everyone at coates bullies diana w diana by one direction but can only get away w it bc caine does it too (i’m not sure when that song came out but pretend it works okay. i like this.)

drakes whip is gross as fuck. like veined and slimy and shit like a genuine tentacle it’s the worst. thank you user inkskxtch for reminding me of this fact

astrid has scottish heritage on her mothers side. her grandfather is genuinely from scotland so she has a slight accent

diana is named after princess diana and took it extremely personal and demands to be treated as such

caine fell first but diana fell harder

quinn has consistent issues w his dad. in the first book he says he had a fight w his dad the night before the fayz which leads me to believe that happened a lot

because of this i think he spent a lot of time at sam’s house and saw connie as a surrogate parent figure. which is adorable

after he got over being a douchebag to edilio, quinn actually had a crush on him and never told a single soul, not even sam.

astrid is asexual, quinn, diana, orc and lana are bi, howard is gay and caine is some kind of fruit. there’s no way to convince me he doesn’t like men. you cannot do it.

i also like hcing drake as pan bc 1) i don’t like the stereotype that the bubbly happy character is always pan and like to combat it w making the most vicious angry violent characters i can find pan and 2) he has way too much chemistry w every man he’s ever been in a room w to be straight

okay hi also i thought i’d add some of my fancasts bc i’m very proud of them and need everyone to know what they are. some are set in stone, some of them i’m still on the fence about. pls i am begging you give me other ideas bc i’m losing my mind trying to place the other characters i will take any kind of suggestion i’m serious. anyways here are the scrunklies i lobe them so much

isabela merced louis partridge

as diana ladris as caine soren

joshua bassett anna cathcart

as quinn gaither as mary terrafino

hunter schaefer sadie sink

as astrid ellison as brianna berenson

i’m still on the fence about these two. i don’t know is sadie truly gives brianna’s chaotic energy justice and hunter is 24 which is slightly older than i’d like my fancasts to be due to the characters being like. 14. but she fits my vision of astrid well so for now i’m going w it. but besides those i’m completely sold on the rest. these are my children and i adore them. i am also open to suggestions for the other characters (especially sam give me my boy) bc i’m struggling so bad w everyone else

anyways that’s all the thoughts i have for now have fun w this messy ass post

#gone series #the gone series #michael grant #gone michael grant #fayz #the fayz #caine soren #diana ladris #drake merwin #sam temple #quinn gaither #astrid ellison #lana arwen lazar #edilio escobar

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thepartyponies · 5 months

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stream of consciousness post

my new car is great in a lot of ways but it’s… slow

It’s the base model 5-series 2.5L i6 189hp 6500rpm in a ~3600lb car

My other car I usually drive is a Taurus SHO 3.2L V6 220hp 7000rpm, which is just enough to have fun with in a ~3400lb car. A great engine in a mediocre car. Now I have a great car with a mediocre engine.

If I wanted to change that, I’m contemplating two different routes.

Swap in the 3L m54b30 version of the engine from the e39 530 sedan or e46 330, maybe get the 330 zhp engine for a bit more power and revs. that would be fairly affordable and probably replicate the performance of the Taurus, while keeping the straightforward parts compatibility and i6 smoothness, and I could possibly manual swap it at the same time relatively easily.

But that would still only get me 235hp/6800rpm, which would be… enough, but it’d still be slower than it looks, with the M5 front bumper and wheels (still need the back bumper).

The s54 engine from the e46 m3 would be really fun, 3.2L 333hp 8000rpm, or the actual M5’s s62 V8, 4.9L 394hp 7000rpm, but those are really expensive and questionably reliable. The 540’s m62 4.4L V8, 290hp 6000rpm, would also be an option with factory compatibility but it’s got timing chain reliability issues, and isn’t very powerful or efficient for a modern V8, and revs even lower than what I’ve already got.

So then there’s the ford coyote v8, 5L 435/460/480/500hp and 7000/7500rpm depending on the version. Pretty fuel efficient for what it is, and while more expensive than the m54b30 I could probably find one for less than an m3 or m5 engine, and it would have better power, efficiency, and reliability/maintenance friendliness than any of the other options, and more revs than anything but the s54, especially if I go for the gen 3 coyote.

I’m definitely not going to LS swap it, yes that’s the cheapest most powerful option, but a low revving pushrod engine just wouldn’t suit the car.

I’d really like to get one of the ones with the tremec tr3160 transmission, not the mt82. The gt350’s 5.2L 526hp 8250rpm V8 also exists and has that trans, and would be amazing, but might be too expensive and vibrate too much. idk I haven’t driven one to know, but I really like the current i6 smoothness and want to stay as close to that as I can.

Another issue is the rear differential. The only direct swap for the current open diff is the M5’s lsd, and those are expensive and only have one ratio option. What I want to do is put the ford 8.8 irs diff in it, either from an older explorer or cobra etc, or from whatever s550/s650 mustang I get as a donor car. Problem is, the mounts don’t fit. You’d need to modify or replace the rear cover, and weld new front mounts onto the car’s subframe. Doable, I’ve seen it done for the guys who have ls swapped these, but it’s work I don’t currently know how to do. I’d probably have to get a lot of outside help for the whole project, especially the electronics programming and wiring. My friend who sold me the car is a fabricator, which could come in handy.

Then there’s the exhaust. One of the most annoying things about the car. Every e39 5-series has the spare tire and battery on the right side of the of the under-trunk area, which only leaves room for a single exhaust on the left side. The M5 ditched the spare tire to run dual exhaust, which is a lot to give up. All the dual exhaust conversions I’ve seen online either replace the whole rear floor with m5 sheet metal, or are ugly hack jobs. All of them lose the spare tire. I think, if you ran small mufflers, or had the muffler further forward, you could shift the spare tire to the center and sneak a second tailpipe between the tire and battery compartments.

Alternatively, just run the stock axle-back section for quiet mode and have two valved dump pipes in front of the diff. But I really like the aesthetics of the m5 bumper and quad tips, so idk

#mechanic update #long post

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