#Can you imagine how many dynamics they could have created?

[cinnamontails-ff]

Why this is the perfect cover for "Accountant's Guide"

Alright, folks! It’s been a week of coming to terms with my overflowing emotions regarding this beautiful piece of cover art for the Ukrainian translation of Accountant’s Guide, and I am ready to wrestle it all into an essay.

Spoilers for the story ahead! It’s been finished since September 2023, so either read it here or proceed at your own risk!

First off, a huge, huge thank you to Marko_Wowchok for taking the time to translate my work and of course, the incredible @razinbee for creating a cover that, quite frankly, I could see as an ad for the next Studio Ghibli movie. You are both so very talented and your love and care for my story is so, so appreciated!

Now, as for the piece itself: Let’s start with the choice of showing just their hands, clasped intimately atop a piece of paper. It’s something I never would have come up with in a million years, but it’s absolutely genius. There’s a sense of subtlety to it. It leaves room for imagination because you don’t actually see what they’re doing; it’s simply implied that they’re most likely going at it on the desk (again). I love this. Because while I wrote Accountant’s Guide as a romance (and it does contain explicit spicy scenes), my goal was always to write Astarion and Scarlett as partners first and lovers second. I am really not a fan of romance stories that rely on physical attraction alone. Basically, if the story wouldn’t work with both of them being ugly, it’s not for me.

Astarion and Scarlett come together as reluctant allies at first. Scarlett offers him a deal to take out Cazador together and Astarion agrees mostly as a way of keeping himself entertained. He does not believe for a moment that she might actually succeed and he is actively planning to throw her to Cazador’s feet at the earliest convenience. But simply by working together, they start to grow closer over time.

Scarlett is the first person in centuries to treat him like a normal guy™. She is a very practical person - she has to be in order to willingly cooperate with the man who’s led her sister to her death. And while she isn’t immune to his flirting, she ignores it because she is painfully aware that he’s way out of her league and nothing good can ever come from that. It is only when she starts to see his vulnerable sides that she develops feelings for him and he, in turn, for her. At this point, however, they’ve both already saved each other’s lives several times. She has fed him when he was starving and he has slaughtered a bunch of guards that interrupted his poorly planned heist/date idea. They know each other, trust each other, rely on each other – they are a team in every sense of the word. When they do eventually share their first kiss in chapter 13, it is a powerful scene (if I do say so myself), but it is also really just one more layer to the bond that they have cultivated over the course of many months. Showing their clasped hands and nothing else is such a fantastic way to visualize the depth of their connection. It is a gesture of companionship and trust as well as intimacy and romance.

Then there is the positioning of their hands: Astarion’s on top of Scarlett’s, his fingers pinning her down, while her fingers are splayed out helplessly - dare I say, ecstatically. It is a stunning representation of their romantic dynamic. Astarion is the experienced, confident sex god who usually takes the lead, while Scarlett hasn’t done a whole lot of things before meeting him and is generally happy to go along with whatever he has in mind. He is her first. He is the one who shows her everything her body can do and he is careful in taking things step by step, working her up from missionary to slightly kinkier stuff all the way to her sitting on his face in “Pocket Money”. His hand on top of hers, holding her and guiding her, is a beautiful depiction of that.

At the same time, I like how the tenseness of his fingers in contrast to her more relaxed posture indicates how much he clings to her. After two centuries of being Cazador’s slave, Scarlett is literally the first time Astarion has anything that is his own. She is his first genuine connection, a lover he’s picked for himself, as well as his savior in helping to break him free from Cazador. He is terrified of losing her, so much so that he even tries to convince her to let him turn her into a vampire, so she won’t die before him. None of that is a perfectly healthy relationship dynamic, mind you, but who could expect that from him after what he’s been through? She is his lifeline. His anchor. The one glimmer of hope in two centuries and this man is ready to eviscerate any vampire lord, spawn, or magic teacher (sorry, Gale!) who so much as threatens to come in between them.

I also want to shout out how the softness and subtlety of their clasped hands reflects how their relationship has to unfold in secret. The second half of Accountant’s Guide lives off the tension of them plotting their plan B while living under the same roof as Cazador, both of them bound to him in different ways. They are in his house, their every move under constant scrutiny by Cazador as well as his spawn, and one wrong step could be the end for both of them. Those are absolutely cruel circumstances to be building a relationship in. Astarion has to make up lies to Cazador as to how he has gained access to a more regular blood supply. He has to pretend to be disgusted with her, so Cazador will continue to send him to comfort her, not one of the other spawn. Scarlett has to hide her bite marks and (awkwardly) flirt her way out of Cazador’s attempts at getting closer to her. There’s a sense of powerlessness to their situation that makes the intimate scenes they get even more special to both of them. I am generally a fan of subtlety, a big proponent of “less is more”, and I couldn’t be happier with how this is conveyed in the simplicity of their clasped hands on the desk.

Finally, the ink and fountain pen. Fountain pens have accidentally become one of my defining characteristics as a writer and I am not at all mad about it. I love heroines who succeed through cleverness and tenacity rather than Strong Female Character syndrome™. When I designed Scarlett, I really wanted someone who would throw Astarion for a loop. Someone he’d have no clue what to do with, someone so different from him and his reality, her every word would cause a flood of error messages in his precious brain. I wanted someone down to earth, someone who would play off him and make all his silly lines sound even sillier - and I wanted someone who’d be able to free him from Cazador through nonconventional and meme-worthy means.

And so I made her an accountant.

I have spoken about this before, but I hail from a family full of accountants. My research for this fic was every single family dinner I have ever attended. I love the ridiculousness of defeating a vampire lord through tax fraud because it plays on the inherent arrogance of Cazador. He is immensely powerful, physically as well as in his social influence, but he, too, can be brought down by a very diligent, very detail-oriented accountant who can demonstrate just how much money he owes the government, thus motivating them to step the fuck up and put him behind bars. It’s the epitome of the (fountain) pen being mightier than the sword. Scarlett is a character who has been underestimated her entire life and she doesn’t really mind it because when the time is right, she knows she can brandish her fountain pen and show everyone what’s what. She has a very quiet, unassuming type of power about herself that I have seen in the many badass accountants in my family and I love how this is reflected in the fountain pen, the ink pot, and of course the infamous ink stains on her fingers. Scarlett does not care about the ink on her fingers – she cares about getting shit done. And I love her for it. And Astarion loves her for it. But he will use every chance he gets to tear her off her work and bend her over the desk because he is also absolutely crazy about her.

This piece is sexy without being graphic. It is beautifully intimate and soft, yet still holds that tension between the two of them with Astarion holding on to her as hard as he possibly can and Scarlett practically melting at his every touch. It shows how a very unassuming, very mundane pencil pusher went and took down the immortal vampire lord with nothing but her mind and her fountain pen (and, well, math magic). The simplicity of it all is what really kicks me in the gut, I think. Because their love is simple at its core. It’s inevitable from the moment they first strike their deal in chapter 4. They don’t have a lot of grand gestures or epic fight scenes (the only fight scene is largely taken care of by The Gang as Astarion is stuck to the floor and Scarlett goes one-on-one versus Laiara). Even their love confessions are quiet and unassuming. They just grow together in a way that has always felt very natural to me and then they hold on and weather it all together until they emerge on the other side, together.

This piece hits right into the core of my story and I couldn’t be happier to see something so beautiful emerge from what I have created. Thank you. I will treasure this forever.

- Cin

#my writing #geeking out over stunning fanart #astarion x oc #astarion x female oc #bg3 astarion #astarion #cinnamontails

[nymeria1105]

Ok, or they are all sadistic people who enjoy torturing us (and given the last few seasons I wouldn’t be so surprised 🙄🙄) or maybe there is still a little hope for Deran to get out alive and reach Adrian.

If this is the case I really hope that they will give us the opportunity to see them together for one last time and maybe even have a minimum of conversation between them 🤞🏻🤞🏻 (I know now I’m asking too much but if I have to dream let me dream big 😁🤡😅)

#animal kingdom tnt #animal kingdom #deran x adrian #deran cody #adrian dolan #animal kingdom season 6 #series finale #I still can’t believe they robbed us of two seasons with them #Can you imagine how many dynamics they could have created?

[morphodae]

Fragility

Yandere!Kafka x Fem!Reader

wc: ~1k words cw: manipulative themes, yandere, sad times all around, slightly suggestive (nothing happens, kafka is just flirty and touchy lol) a/n: butterflies have always resonated with me so peep the symbolism I added, also if you know about the meaning behind Ball Peonies in HSR, kudos to you ;) inspired by this post

Life has many forms of entertainment, yet never enough time to indulge in the splendorous display that each corner of the galaxy can offer you. As a child, you reveled in the entertainment that your own mind provided. As such, you never did enjoy playing with toys much. Lonely, dusty dolls laid untouched, the latest models that were limited edition and inspired by the trendiest media of your time – also left in the wayside.

To many, your lack of interest was skewed as ungratefulness.

To you, that was a sliver of vanity to pride yourself in. After all, nothing could ever erode the endless possibilities of the mind, no, not even age. Your mind was your own and no one could hope to take it from you.

It isn’t long before the object of your disdain stands in the doorway before you. She never could stay away from you for very long.

“You really should smile more, you know. Frown lines would ruin that cute face of yours,” she drawls out. A sharpened nail traces the edge of your cheekbone, lightly trailing down until it reaches the junction of your jawline and erratic pulse in your neck.

A warning, it seems. A deliciously dangerous, intoxicating warning that beckoned you in a never-ending push and pull dynamic. Kafka was always a master of that game. No matter how often you tried to read her, to outsmart her, to play into her hands and exhaust her options, your efforts never bore any fruit. In a way, Kafka admired the duality of your spirit, and found it endlessly cute. 

Fragility would always be the most beautiful thing to her.

“...but all beautiful things have one thing in common: they are fragile. The more fragile something is, the rarer it is. Maybe that’s what makes its mere existence so precious.”

As such, you get flashbacks of your first encounter with her on Belebog; long before you knew her true nature, long before you knew what she was capable of. You were, after all, a simple floral assistant that droned throughout your days. Yet, the monotony was always comforting. It kept you grounded in life, in a world that never seemed to change. Almost like the fairytale books you read as a child.

When you had met Kafka, she was captivating in the most severe sense; her mere presence drew in everyone around her. You’d never seen her before, never had her as a customer, yet her unmistakable charm drew you right into her carefully woven web. 

Her cute, fragile, little butterfly.

You never imagined that the skincare she gifted you was created from your own flowers; ingredients that contained a calming, drowsy effect. No wonder you were so compliant and limp. You were the one who sold her those flowers in the first place. Your naivety was your own undoing. You had no one to blame but yourself. Especially not when the woman inches closer, careful to close and lock the door behind her; hiding you away from the rest of the ship’s crew, from the rest of the galaxy.

Vast distance turns into closeness and suddenly, the flowers that used to be your favorite; sitting so pretty on the nightstand of your room – became repulsive. Kafka continued to use them on you, to keep you compliant. Yet, at the end of the day, you let her.

Kafka sits you both down on the bed, sprawling your legs out in front of her and situating herself so that her back may be flush with the steely wall of the ship’s room. Her nimble arms wrap around you, her pointed chin digs into your shoulder and she sighs in content. 

“A smart move,” she begins, “watching me.” Her grip around you tightens by a fraction. “You managed to figure out that the key card I carried was specific to my genetic code and that I was the only one able to unlock your room and others.” A poisonous kiss to your cheekbone. “You also managed to sneak a lock of my hair and find a fingerprint to recreate my genetic code in a futile attempt to escape. Heh, amusing but – we all know how that played out, right, my darling?”

Of course you remembered. Kafka switched the cards, changed the key codes, and reset all main codes so that you’d get caught before finding an escape. She’d anticipated everything and beat you at your own child’s game.

Kafka sighs and inhales the natural scent of your shampoo: her personal taste in shampoo that she forced you to use. “The ball peonies are growing well, aren’t they?”

You force a lump down your throat and nod meekly. Kafka turns you gently to face her, swirling lavender hues tracing the features of your eyes down to your lips.

“We should stay like this a while. Would you mind if I kissed you, sweetheart?”

A beat of silence. You hardly want to look at her, let alone answer this predatory captor holding you so closely.

“I need your permission. I need your words before I do anything.”

“You may.” Kafka stares deep into your eyes, scouring your expression with scrutiny before letting out a tiny chuckle.

“That’s my good girl. My sweet butterfly,” she leaves a gentle kiss on your forehead. “Now, lay down and let me take care of you.”

You allow her, boneless as you are; who are you to fight back anymore? Should you? Would your family want you to? Before you know it, a tear dribbles down your cheek and onto your jaw, falling and evaporating silently. Kafka kisses the spot on your upper neck where the tear remained while you stare up at the icy ceiling of your room. Wandering hands of hers were not felt, the chill of the room left you numb once your bare skin was visible.

Ball peonies were no longer your favorite flower.

ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ઇଓ

#yandere kafka #tw yandere #kafka x reader #yandere kafka x reader #hsr kafka x reader #hsr kafka #yandere hsr #yandere star rail #hsr x you #hsr x reader #yandere hsr x reader #yandere hsr x you #yandere honkai star rail

[misfithive]

What I think Simon likes about Wille

I have seen some discussions about “why Simon even like Wille” (😔☹️💔) both here and elsewhere. I'm bored sooooo here is my list of what I think! I admit when I first watched I used to wonder sometimes why Simon liked him, mostly bc the back and forth hot and cold of season 1 could understandably be exhausting however once i thought about it I came up with many things. (some are hc ish ) :) I also think that if you love wilmon's relationship then you can see what they see in eachother. Two people (Wilmon) created that dynamic together both of them are loving/open/gentle with each other it is deeper than " i like that he sings and he is pretty"- they like how the other person makes them feel which is different I think than what is usually portrayed in teen relationships. People focus too much on their fights/angst sometimes and not their nice moments I think the good outweighs the bad. Also why i believe in endgame bc they have something deep and special.

1. I think Simon thinks Wille is adorable in a dorky way or finds him endearing. When Wille dropped the utensil after their first real convo Simon was blushing and giggling

2. Wille actively seeks him out a lot and tries to help Simon when he can/ When someone is giving you that kind of attention it is flattering and shows how kind Wille is (the tip about tutoring, the rowing tips, the song on the piano). Thats a quality someone would find attractive

3. Similarly when they are together Wille’s attention and energy is solely focused on him / Wille smiling at him adoringly all the time. I think that would make anyone feel special and especially if you are like Simon and spend a lot of energy caring for/thinking about other people

4. Wille is generally very gentle with Simon which is beautiful and also imagine someone being that gentle with u and holding u like that im sure u would fall in love too lmfao even tho simon is asleep I think he felt it and this isnt the only example I just like the picture hehe

5. Wille wears his heart on his sleeve. Simon is more guarded with his feelings i think he could drawn to how open/expressive/ softhearted Wille is with him. “I didn't want to lose you” “you are beautiful” etc

6. Wille makes him sandwiches asks him how he is doing a lot etc sorry but no boys were making me sandwiches as a teenager a lot of small things like this are still a big deal

7. Wille is a prince and he could be a total arrogant a** hole like everyone else at that school and no one would think twice but he is not. It takes a certain type of person to actively not be like that when u are born into that level of privilege and everyone will let you get away with whatever. I think Simon likes that Wille is different than than the other people at school who ignore him and treat him bad.

8. Simon feels safe around Wille (maybe with the exception of the music room scene) but they have a safe space together its a strong contrast to the dynamic with marcus and i think everything with marcus serves to highlight how special the dynamic is with Wille.

9. Wille gives good hugs

10. Wille is nice to Linda and tries to make her feel included Simon thought that was cute (it was very cute)

11. They can laugh together and see how silly (ridiculous) august/some of the antics of the other boys are

12. I could go on okay but love is not always rational and cant be contained in a list, they are soulmates and thats that!!!!!!!!!

//Adding that i think Omar said in an interview that despite what Simon says in the locker room he thinks Simon likes that Wille accepts him for who he is. But if anyone can find the clip pls share I dont wanna misquote him! //

#i know a lot of this seems obvious but maybe not #i must defend my sons #young royals #simon eriksson #wilmon #prince wilhelm #wilhelm x simon #wilmon endgame #i also resent people saying they dont do anything besides fight and f bc there is a lot more to their relationship than that #feel free to add lolo

[irmise]

I dreamed about you

After so many years of waiting, here is finally the epilogue of this love story... And of course, Michonne occupies all his thoughts, she is his strength in trying to escape, the letters he writes to her, the drawings of her allow him to keep a little hope even when everything seems desperate. He is ready to cut off his hand to escape because whatever happens, his wife, his daughter will always remain his only  choice.

From their first interaction in TOWL, we see a parallel with their last: both moments come straight from Rick's imagination and they both highlight the importance that Michonne has in his life.

Rick was left hallucinating on that bridge telling Michonne that she was his family and that he had found her. Michonne telling him why she fell in love with him, because he never gave up. Even in agony, he remembers that she believes in him. It's seeing her that gives him the strength to get up and try to fight one last time.

And now, torn from his family, it's her he dreams about, in a world without apocalypse, he dreams of what could have been their first meeting. Michonne appears to show him the road to take when he is lost, she believes in him to find his way.

Isn’t that what she’s always done? The one who believed in him when everyone else doubted, when HE doubted himself. She didn't have to be on the same page to know that he would always do what was right in the end. She always showed him the right direction. I remember writting on an old post: "Rick guides Alexandria, Michonne guides Rick" : She always believed in his leadership and she was his compass to guide him and she still is in his dream.

That’s the most beautiful here, in a single dream we find their dynamic, the one we have seen since the start of their journey.

Are you where you want to be ? That's the whole question. Where he wants to be is close to her, it's where he feels safe, it's near her that he feels stronger. So much so that this place he is looking for in this dream no longer matters because he found her.

She became his family, his reason to be happy and to believe in the future even after the darkest times, even after Carl. She once asked him “Don’t you want one more day with a chance?” and he agreed to follow her and hold on to a little hope. And today, even far from her, it’s dreaming of her that keeps him going.

The second dream bears so many parallels too, Michonne with her white dress, like the dream of what a happy ending would have been for Rick in an ideal world.

It made me think about Glenn's death when Rick imagined this moment with all the family he had created in this apocalyptic world. I thought of this scene because of the white dress Michonne was wearing. I remember that at that time, I said to myself that there must be something symbolic in him imagining her in a white dress.

And there we are, her wearing a white dress again and him asking her to marry him. Michonne, his wife, that's his purpose...

The two of them can get through anything and even in his dreams it's a certainty. Together they are invicible by the strength that each gives to the other: "We can make this whole damn world ours if we want to". Like an echo of what he had said to her one day, when nothing seemed impossible with her by his side... “The world’s ours, and we know how to take it”.

He needs her to get there even if it's only in a dream because as she tells him before he wakes up, she believes in him as always...

And that's the problem… All his dreams, his letters, these drawings on these phones, are so many hopes that he must erase if he really wants to be able to become the "savior" that Okafor asks him to be. Agree to forget the love of his life to try to save as many people as possible, sacrificing the little hope he had left. Because even if he found a way to escape, he would put her and their family in danger if only because Okafor found his letter... Rick finally understands that he must give up. And that's also what this episode was about, Rick who gradually loses hope of finding his family, to the point of wanting to kill himself, to the point of no longer dreaming of Michonne, to the point of destroying everything which allowed him to fight.

So desperate that when Michonne takes off his helmet in the last scene he has his eyes closed ready to accept his fate until he opens his eyes and faces hope.

And that's their story isn't it ? She always appears when he's lost, to guide him.

#richonne #towl

[wellfine]

HII I love your art so much it's so expressive and it feels like theres so much movement in it! I was wondering if u had any tips or advice to help with that? I practice anatomy and expression so much but it seems like everything I draw on my own is so stiff!! Anyway I hope you have a great week :)) <3

Hi there! Firstly, thank you so much for the kind words, it means a lot that you would take the time to tell me!

Second- my advice is to take everything you've learned about anatomy and THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW!!!!!!!

... For now. Just into the front yard so you can keep an eye on it. But I have seen many artists concentrate chiefly on studying anatomy only to feel like their art ends up too stiff. My own experience has been to treat anatomy as a tool best used to correct an image in the later stages of construction rather than as your driving foundation.

If "correct" anatomy (however you choose to define that) is the priority of your undersketches, I find that you end up with a sort of Skeleton Song approach to drawing - y'know, the knee bone's connected to the thigh bone, etc etc. Whatever energy, emotion, or intent you wanted your drawing to convey is getting lost each time you split it into another anatomical segment. By over-focusing on individual parts, you lose sight of your image as a whole.

The key to conveying dynamic movement in motionless art is to ensure every element of your image agrees on and communicates the same action, the key to which is something called the line of action.

A line of action is simply that - an implied "line" with wich you lead the viewer's eye and communicate movement. Think of it as the core of your figure's action, simplified to its rawest form. By knowing this, you know what to emphasise and what to de-emphasise.

Well, art is a visual medium and I am better explaining with drawings than words or I'd never have picked up a pen in the first place, so:

Images can have multiple lines of action, lines of action can complement and contrast each other, and a line of action isn't always as obvious as something like running. Imagine you're tring to make your art more "aerodynamic" to the eye. Since I draw a lot of One Piece fanart, I assume you're also familiar with it, and you can probably imagine how Oda uses "lines of action" when composing panels of Luffy punching something, Zoro slicing something, Sanji kicking something- etc etc. He's really good at selling the "oomph" of action shots by reducing visual clutter so that the impact of the action is greater.

(The Monster Trio's abilities are all designed in such a way that allow for REALLY striking lines of action... you can tell Oda loves studying manga fight scenes and wanted to create a world where he could push these concepts to the limit, and it's no wonder One Piece caught the eye of animators even before it was serialised by Toei)

You're probably already noticing how line of action also feeds into composition and silhouette when it comes to conveying movement in an image. Basically put, once you've isolated whatever action it is that you want to convey, the more visual clutter you can streamline away from that action, the stronger an impact that will have on the viewer. A firm line of action, an uncomplicated silhouette for your figure, and a readable overall composition of your image/panel are all ways to minimise visual clutter.

You can also use this information to achieve the opposite effect! Sometimes the ideal action you want to convey is not fast, or powerful, or confident, and you can use the same principles.

In fact, you can apply line of action to images that don't have any "action" in them at all. You can make a drawing of someone simply standing there feel more lively by applying these same principles to their body language:

You can develop an eye for how to simplify movement down to its "lines of action" by studying real photos and other people's art. Try simplifying a figure to its silhouette, and then simplify that silhouette further to a stick figure. And honestly, a lot of this could be boiled down to "see your image as a whole and not just a collection of individual pieces". Set anatomy aside during the composition stage and bring it back in when you start building up the sketch.

Moving away from the line of action, my second piece of broad advice is simply to exaggerate more. Lots of artists subconsciously hold themselves back from pushing motion, expression, etc. out of concern that it will look "too much". Well, maybe it will- but you won't know that unless you try! You can always walk it back if you think you took it too far, but I think you'll be surprised by how far you can push your art before you hit that point.

My final piece of advice is to work on line confidence. Even if you follow the rest of this advice, if you have hesitant and scratchy lines, you're undermining the flow and punch of your art. The best way to improve line confidence is simply by practicing! Do a lot of quick, timed studies, and use a permanent medium like a ballpoint pen or marker. Focus on unbroken lines wherever possible even if it makes your studies look like garbo. I find traditional studies are best for improving line confidence, but if you'd really rather stick with digital then just don't let yourself use the eraser tool, and try using a chunky brush with limited pressure sensitivity.

And that's it! Don't stress about it too much though. Loosen up with your art and, like any other skill, you'll improve with practice, time, and analysing what you like about other people's art. Good luck!

#long post #sorry this is so long I just didn't want to hide it behind a cut because I think a lot of people would miss it #I hope this was helpful in some way! I'm always flattered whenever anyone thinks I'd know enough to ask HAHA #if I have the time then I'm always happy to answer questions like this! :) #not that I am an expert by any means but I can at least share what's worked for me

[stoat-party]

Big fan of The Charon Situation being just so incurably screwed up. If ever there were a person equipped to have full control over an adult man’s free will, it’s definitely not the Lone Wanderer. Even the most educated, well-meaning, and genuinely righteous LW couldn’t handle the responsibility. She’s a teenager raised in an insular totalitarian ant farm who’s suddenly been thrust into a world with no authorities, no guidance.

Which creates a wonderful dynamic with Charon. If Ahzrukhal is to be believed, he was raised this way - he never had the chance to be an adult, taking risks, shouldering responsibility, gaining independence. His parents probably weren’t in the picture for long. I imagine his lack of agency causes him to be emotionally immature sometimes - how can you learn to solve problems like an adult if all the adults in your life treat you like a weapon or a dog or a houseplant?

This guy has to be so screwed up in every way. According to the game guide, he just doesn’t sleep?? Or Azzy never let him sleep? He has that idiosyncratic formal speech pattern, he worries a lot, and the only personal detail we know about him is that guns make him happy. He also kind of openly hates the player’s guts sometimes (he’s sarcastic when given certain commands, is joyfully mean about the GECK, and basically sentences you to death in the non-canon base game ending). No matter how hard the LW tries, some damaged part of him will always resent her authority. She could be a thousand times kinder, fairer, and more just than all his previous employers combined, but she’s still one of them. He still doesn’t have free will.

That power is illegitimate for a reason. There’s no way not to misuse it eventually, especially for a teenager with endless stress and trauma of her own. You’re fighting and you tell him to shut up so you can have the last word. You get a significant other and he gets left home with the dog some nights. You take a quest path he doesn’t approve of and he has to grit his teeth and go along with it.

It’s not fair, can never be fair, and that’s the perfect dynamic to explore. Because as much as he hates her, he loves her too. She literally saved him from Hell on earth, gave him the opportunity to be a force for good. He’s not dumb, he knows that the problem is the contract, not her. Over the years they’ll mature together and learn how to fix a lot of these problems. There are so many unique challenges to creating a healthy relationship out of… that.

(A lot of writers have the contract get destroyed, especially for 😉 reasons. There’s nothing in the game indicating that can’t happen, and it works fine for their purposes. I just think it’s more fun for it to be a continuous obstacle.)

#i’m not addicted to longposting i can stop whenever i want #fallout #fallout 3 #charon #charon fallout #fallout charon #fallout 3 charon #Charon fallout 3 #fo3 #charon fo3 #dogmeat #the lone wanderer #lone wanderer #fo3 charon #ghouls

[rimouskis]

could you explain more about what you view as the before era and what you view as the after? i need to learn my herstory

I think this requires a more detailed and educated/researched answer than I can give after an exhausting workday and an after-hours work event, but I'm going to do my best and also open up the floor in reblogs for people to chip in their thoughts

foremost: a DISCLAIMER that this post does not aim to shit on writers from the "before" era. there are many classic fics that I love and enjoy, even if I consider their characterizations to be "less accurate"* than the ones we have in the after era.

*aside to say: accuracy is based only off of literal media accounts we have of these men; we do not know them, we should not claim to know them, and they have had different comfort levels with the media knowing selective truths about their lives [sid out of choice, geno out of media xenophobia] than they did when these early fics were being written.

"before" fics (which I tend to refer to as "classic" fics, and had their heyday in 2012-2013 but continued up until 2016ish) tended to have more regimented roles for sid and geno. sid was usually the protagonist; geno was the love interest.

this came with a cascading set of characteristics assigned to each guy. sid was poor-little-meow-meow'd. geno was the pursuer in the relationship. sid usually bottomed. sid had the whole spacetoaster moment (he was the inspiration for the term, haha). there wasn't much a/b/o fic but sid was, like, the omega-fied one and geno was alpha-ized.

something I've been thinking about more recently is how 2012-2013 era sidgeno displayed signs of Migratory Slash Fandom. I don't think of MSF as an inherently negative/condemning thing, but I think it's a phenomenon that deserves to be mentioned/analyzed, yeah?

MSF thrives on big character differences.... like, grumpy/sunshine, sarcastic/broody, genius/empath. it's all about emphasizing disparate archetypes to create natural tension in a story. this works really well in most romance novels! I love it!

the issues arise when people try to make characters fit into these preset dynamics. and, frankly, when sidgeno first got big, we straight-up didn't know as much about sid and geno. I mean that. despite sid being EXTENSIVELY covered by media from age, like, 14, he was really tight-lipped compared to what we have now.

and geno was.... there. I don't mean that as a diss—he was INCREDIBLE, but the media totally passed him over again and again. or they helped contribute to stereotypes of him being a dumb oaf who didn't know english.

aside: ironically I think that helped in creating sidgeno and not, like.... sidflower or sidtanger. geno was so "DIFFERENT" from sid (aka: russian, characterized by media as not knowing how to speak [in comparison to sid's highly curated media soundbites]) that it meant he was the best candidate for A Ship with sid.

a lot of the really big writers who got into sidgeno were fandom veterans with lots of experience in other big fandoms. to me, that means MSF had a hand in all this. and we should be grateful, because it led to the BOOM of hockey fic, and of sidgeno fic specifically. modern hrpf wouldn't exist without it.

that being said, those template ship dynamics, plus the media's attitude then towards sid and geno in its coverage, led to those characterizations of whiny soft sensitive boy sid who needed to be rescued even though he was the best hockey player EVER, and geno as the lumbering tall strong alpha not-that-bright Love Interest Man.

this isn't to say every fic was this way, or that this is BAD. I, uh, love poor-little-meow-meow-ing sid and omegafying the hell out of him. what I'm saying is that it was a near-ubiquitous characterization across the board.

that all changed in 2016-2018. I personally wholly credit sevenfists, though I imagine it's more nuanced than that, but: my blog, I make the rules here. I don't know if sevenfists was psychic or just highly observant and absolutely excellent at reading people (and that's basically the same thing, right?), but characterization shifts began taking place in fic....

and the coolest thing happened, in that those characterizations were seemingly reinforced by more media coverage. the back to back cups brought with them TONS of interviews with and media about the team, and sid and geno in particular. the coolest part of it was that sid had loosened up a LOT and geno had gotten more comfortable (and had gotten a reporter firmly on his side).

the interviews about sid post 2016 were just SO different. so much information started coming out, and a LOT of it conflicted with Ye Olde Characterizations. as it turned out, sid was deeply one of the boys. he was funny. everyone liked him. he loved hosting. he was insanely comfortable around almost everyone, including strangers, because he's a little freak who's kind to everyone. he can make smalltalk like no one's business. he's kind of gross. he likes to giggle and be in on jokes and get into the thick of it. he isn't some blushing virgin bride sold off of mario's doorstep, yeah?

and geno, too, was finally getting the coverage he deserved. and his personality was both fortified by age and better shown to us through media. as it turns out, he isn't some happy go lucky oaf. he's mercurial and intensely aware of what others think of him (and he CARES). he's sensitive and thoughtful but also can lash out at random times. he has a wicked sense of humor that he uses as a defense mechanism and as a surefire way to get people to like him, which matters to him. and, as everyone says, he is SMART.

if you had to boil it down, I'd say that post-2016, it became clear that SID is the confident one and GENO is the insecure one. and fic caught onto that with a miraculously fast pace. also: they're more alike than they are different, but I still think romance inherently feeds off of difference and tension, so we still exaggerate things to make the stories ✨WORK✨.

I'm not going to give examples of pre- and post- era fics, because I don't want to point any fingers and say someone was doing characterization "wrong." that's not the takeaway I want anyone to have here.

fandom attitudes have changed. it's been 10 years since that first wave of fics, and while I don't think that's very long, it's a hell of a long time on the internet, and in a niche internet community. what was once the standard for fics (and what was well-read, and what people gravitated towards) was different. not worse—different.

I think it's fair to say the "after" era of fics is more "accurate" to what we know of sid and geno. it's also fair to say that this is only the case because we have a WEALTH of information, character-revealing interviews and videos and anecdotes, that Ye Old Authors could only dream of getting.

I really love the story of how everything has changed, and it's a fabulous microcosm of fandom evolution and how approaches to fanworks have changed and grown with fandom, and I think it's all so so cool.

#additions welcome! #I also feel like I've made this post before lol #gather round children it's time for granny rimouskis to spin the tale of the sidgeno evolution once more

[httpstes]

Observations of the Mercury placements

This is kind of like a pt.2 to the mini observations of the moon signs that I posted to my second account. I would’ve posted this there but I honestly don’t think i’ll make anymore astrology posts on that account. I’ll link it for those who want to see :) Mini observations of the moon signs. I might add more onto this as time goes on :D

Mercury in 5H may be very interested in art, history, literature ect.

Mercury in 5H also know how to have a good time, like literally, they make conversations so fun and easy, esp for people who struggle to continue conversations.

Mercurial dominants are for some reason similar to uranus doms imo. However Uranus is more about change and revolution meanwhile mercury is more intellect and personal power.

Mercurial dominants are really easy to spot, they’re very eccentric yet sophisticated. They look all over the place but put together at the same time. They’re really unique individuals.

Mercury in Cancer relies on past experiences/knowledge to help them in tough situations.

I noticed they may find it hard to improvise on the spot. And though Cancer mercurians do have strong intuition, it’s hard for these individuals to decipher whether it’s intuition or if they’re overthinking it.

Mercury in 4H may write/create deep and emotional pieces that can resonate with a lot of people and their childhoods.

Mercury in Cancer at an Aries degree might come off as petty or vengeful. I know many cancer mercuries that have an Aries degree on it, and god these people like drama 😭

Mercury in Aquarius could be into alternative/grunge music.

Not to be stereotypical or anything, but taurus mercuries/mercury in the 2H do have very beautiful voices. Even if they don’t believe it themselves, their voices are so soothing to hear, they sound poised and elegant lol.

Scorpio mercuries analyse EVERYTHING. Every small thing, they will dissect and uncover istg. They’re also good at getting to the root of a problem in any dynamic/situation. This is due to their good analysis skills as well as emotional intelligence.

Mercury in 10H, similar to 1H, look like smart individuals. Except unlike the first house, mercurial qualities aren’t apart of their personality (unless ofc they have a virgo/gemini rising, major mercurial influence) Mercury in 10H individuals look smart and put together when out in public but people who are close to them know they are actually really scatter brained🙏

Mercury in Capricorn have dry humour, and i love it. They are very sarcastic individuals and I love them for it.

Mercury in 11H individuals are social butterflies even if they don’t think so themselves. They always manage to get on peoples good sides without even doing anything.

Mercury in 11H can manifest easily through communication, writing and visualisation.

Yeah. Libra mercuries are very balanced people. Mentally at least. They really do want the best for everyone and want a fair playing field for all. These individuals could be heavily involved in protests for equal rights, and they enjoy bringing attention to things that need to be talked more about in society.

Libra mercuries are also really funny people, ESP IF THEY HAVE AQUARIUS PLACEMENTS!!

Mercury in 12H could come off as very shy people. Of course this is dependant on the sign mercury is in and the aspects made to it, however I noticed most Mercury in 12H at first really come off as quiet.

Mercury in 12H also may be very detached mentally. They could be more attached and grounded in their imagination. These are the types of people who have dreams that really drain them in their waking life. It’s like their dreams have a huge mental impact on them. Ik many ppl with this placement who use a dream journal as well.

imo the most emotionally/intellectually mature mercury placements are scorpio/cancer/aquarius/taurus mercuries, 8H/3H/10H Mercuries and Moon-Mercury, Jupiter Mercury aspects

Leo and Gemini mercuries are so cool istg. I love how vibrant you guys are when you talk. Leo is very entertaining to listen to (this highkey applies to sagittarius mercury as well) and they’re just so funny to watch LMAO. Many Gemini mercuries I have met are actually really jittery and like move a lot when they talk, lots of them barely hold eye contact with me either it’s so cute. Some of them actually may struggle with speaking out loud in front of people but they are extremely talented writers.

Interest in writing/Talented at writing = Venus/Moon/Mercury/Jupiter in 3H as well as Sun/Venus/Moon/Jupiter conj Mercury.

I also feel like Saturn in 3H may enjoy writing but they may have struggled a lot with english or communication as a kid but grew to like it as they aged.

this is a very random assumption I just made, but maybe saturn in 3H have really well structured writing ? I feel like they would be really good at essay writing and exam prep, because they won’t go off topic or anything, they can keep things short and concise while also describing things in detail.

Meanwhile Venus in 3H may have a very soft and delicate writing style. The words they use are unique and really paint a picture inside the readers mind.

Mars 3H might be good at persuasive writing/speeches. Could be good at making eye catching advertisements, good catch phrases, y’all should get into marketing or sumn.

Fixed mercuries are the types to stand up strongly for what they believe in and i admire this wholeheartedly.

3H Moon may have lots of writing pieces that are perceived as very emotional and deep.

Uranus in 3H may be interested in and good at all types of writing. They get bored of sticking to one topic so they may struggle writing essays.

Pluto 3H may have very dark ideas that they can easily put onto the page. Traumas they have experienced, or any issues that they have in their lives can be written in a beautiful manner by these individuals.

Ok im done with my 3H/writing tangent 😭

Maybe this is just me, but i notice you attract a lot of individuals with mercury placements that are extremely similar to yours. For example, many of my friends have Cancer mercuries, I am a cancer mercury myself. I have a 3H mercury and I attract a lot of people who have mercuries in air houses, no matter the sign. (Air houses = 3H/Gemini, 7H/Libra, 11H/Aquarius)

Mercury-Neptune I feel is similar to 12H Mercury, these individuals could have very vivid imaginations, ones that they easily can get lost in.

I feel as though many people misinterpret mercury in 12H/Neptune-mercury’s words.

Capricorn Mercuries have a really monotone sounding voice ? Think text-speech voice on tiktok but more human like ?? 😭 I MEAN THIS IN A GOOD WAY. Because they have a very ‘matter of fact’ type of voice it makes me want to listen to them and take whatever they’re saying seriously. I’m on the floor for you guys atp, if I have to, I will lower my standards for you

Mercury in 4H may have been seen as the smart child in the family.

Mercury in 4H may also write really deep literature/lyrics that resonates with many individuals childhoods.

Mercury in Sagittarius, are blunt in the best way possible. Mercury in Sag are really good at explaining things and giving advice as well. (This is esp true if their mercury is in an earth house, ie. 2H/6H/10H)

Many Mercury in Sag individuals are also powerful speakers, this is because many people with this placement in my generation have their Mercury conj Pluto.

Mercury in Taurus take a while to learn things, this does not mean they are slow in the head, actually quite opposite. They’re very strategic and work at their own pace, and even though to others it seems like they’re taking their sweet time, they are building up a lot behind the scenes and turn out to be ones that are the best in their profession. Definition of work smart not hard. Plus they do all of this in such a aesthetically pleasing way 😭

Mercury in 8H can make very beautiful and meaningful art. Whether it be music, paintings, literature, makeup and fashion, they always know how to reach deep within themselves and pour out the most authentic work.

As a 3H Mercury and Gemini Venus, I LOVEE Sag mercuries/9H Mercury placements/Mercury-Jupiter. I always learn something new from these individuals and they’re like my other half. My bestfriend has this placement and even though we’re quite different, we’re very mentally compatible for each other. She takes in information, analyses it, then spews it out for me to learn and understand. This is the best way I can describe it🙏

Gemini-Sag Mercurial placements (Any sag/gemini placements tbh) = teacher/student dynamic, in the least weird way possible LMAOO.

Pisces mercury individuals are very, very imaginative people. Esp when placed in the 11/5H. Pisces mercury in 11H makes these individuals big dreamers who daydream about the things they constantly want. Pisces mercury in 5H daydream about new and different things that they think are fun and may struggle to commit to one single idea/creative outlet.

Mercury in Aries are so authentically themselves. They don’t talk/say things to please other people, they say it because they want to. They always rely on their mind in the end, very independent individuals.

Mercury in 7H could be very relationship oriented and constantly are wanting to please others

Fixed mercuries are stubborn in terms of their beliefs and mindset. I’ve noticed these individuals find it hard to to analyse situations from another perspective as their opinion on the matter is what matters most. Out of all fixed signs though scorpio and Aquarius seem to be more open minded.

Cardinal Mercuries are the ones to speak up in class and actually raise their hands when everyone else is too afraid to.

Mutable mercuries, understandably are the individuals with the most easy going mindset. They find it easy to accept others beliefs even if those beliefs are highly criticised. Though, this does have its downside as mutable mercuries may change their opinions often and struggle to form strong opinions on different things in life.

Virgo mercuries may be very organised when speaking. They could overthink before even saying anything, so they go over everything and make sure that what they’re going to say is well structured and makes sense.

People who have Mercury in the 1st house look smart. Like i’m telling you every single person I’ve met who has this placement, look extremely punctual and intelligent.

#astro community #astrology placements #astrology notes #astrology community #astro notes #astrology #astro tumblr #astroblr #astrology observations #mercury astrology #astrology mercury #mercury placements #aries mercury #taurus mercury #cancer mercury #pisces mercury #leo mercury #sagittarius mercury #aquarius mercury #capricorn mercury #virgo mercury #gemini mercury #scorpio mercury #libra mercury #astrology aspects #astrology houses #astrology tumblr #astrology degrees

[sahonithereadwolf]

Can I tell you about the very queer game I made this Pride?

In A World That Hates and Fears You, Living Becomes an Act of Rebellion.

Exceptionals is a game inspired by X-Men about and for the spaces and communities marginalized peoples make for themselves. Play as a Geno, one of little less than 0.5% percent of the population that has gone through a mysterious process called Claremont-Simonson mutation, as you try to navigate a world that won’t make room for you. Exceptionals is a game about what the mutant metaphor means to you and the different lenses through which we view it. Punch back and build something of worth together in this narrative tag-driven tabletop role playing game. 🧬Features Open-Ended Character Creation🧬 Mix and Match between (23) open-ended but guided protocols. Answer questions to create high concept and unique super powered characters where the only real limit is your imagination. Get invested in who you make as a whole person, and not just a set of powers. Build a Community 🧬Create a living and dynamic community space full of colorful characters. 🧬 Grow your base as an anchor for other geno and help fill it with the resources they and you need. Understand how your actions effect others and gain trust through the bonds mechanic. It’s a game where you get stronger by growing your community and heal by being part of it.

🧬Comic Book Storytelling 🧬 Play as a creative team of writers and editors working to tell the best version of the story you can over time and storyline-based experience to model changes of the status quo and creative direction. Enjoy panel based action pacing and the ability of characters of all power levels to coexist and carry the same amount of story weight.

🧬Not Pain Tourism 🧬 While Exceptionals offers a number of places to push back, we understand and recognize that the most important part of a punching bag is that you choose to hit it, even if it’s not at all. We recognize not everyone gets to set the issues that the mutant metaphor is used to talk about down when they leave the table and offer many ways to tell stories outside of a lens defined by pain. We also put an emphasis and mechanical weight on the importance of joy and celebration. 📚You can buy the Core Book here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals 📚You can buy the Expansions here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals-expansion-bundle 📚You can buy the bundle with everything here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals-expansion-bundle I didn’t go out with the intent of making this a very queer game. Not explicitly. I started making games because  I got frustrated waiting to feel seen or acknowledged. Another game got me mad about using my peoples stories to be transphobic, to be racist, to be ableist. Nevermind my people have more than two genders traditionally and faced a genocide. That was too much for me. I said this was enough and the quite indignities I suffered to feel included wasn’t worth it. I could do better myself.  So I set out to make a superhero game. I hated just about every comic book game on the market. It never seemed to capture what I did like about big hero comics with high concept storytelling and powers and couldn’t care less on a mechanical or narrative level about who this person was outside the mask. More focused on bashing action figures together and golden age pastiche that doesn’t really reflect the decades of character and genre developments that have happened since then. I later found games that do it better, but I was dissatisfied... I chose x-men for the homies. I’ve always been an x-men fan. A lot of people my age were. My first action figure was one of rogue I got at a garage sale, where she then went on to fight many a play-dough monster. But for many of us it was the first place we were allowed to be heroes. There are no natives on the 90′s x-men team. But I had uncles and older kids all too eager to tell me about Forge and Warpath (I hate that name) and my favorite Dani Moonstar (I ain’t the biggest fan of that name either, but she’s the closest thing mainstream hero comics have to a good NDN).

After that, things just kinda flowed from there. The X-men have such a focus on community. It’s “comics greatest soap opera”. It can be messy, complicated, beautiful and life-affirming all at the same time. They take the time to play basketball, go to the mall, and have birthday parties as they grow. Two of my favorite x-men comics aren’t about fighting at all. One is framed around a sleepover some students have, and another is about a wedding and framed around everyone filming their part of the wedding tape.

So I started thinking about the communities I’ve been a part of. A big core of the game is informed by my time and the people I met in these sort of spaces. As a native, as a queer person, as a disabled person I’ve been both someone who needed them and someone who gave back.

Which suited x-men just fine. X-men has cared about that sort of thing from about X-men #3 with the first appearance of The Blob, establishing it’s tone of sympathy and mutants as a minority analog.

I just kept going and I didn’t stop. And apparently I did a good job. Someone out there has been using my game as game-therapy and community outreach in a gender health center out in California. I got a lot of kind words for the game too (which is good, because I spent 3 years on it).

KUDOS

-As featured on; io9/Gizmodo, Kotaku, Listen to Theses Nerds, Team-Up Moves, Yes Indie'd Pod, Team-Up Moves, and The Voice of Dog -#1 Best Seller and Popular on Itch.io in both Analog & RPG Games, Sept 2021

Listen to the Team-Up Moves AP Here!: https://teamupmoves.com/runs/exceptionals "Exceptionals is a beautiful, brilliantly designed superhero RPG. It's truly a masterpiece, and if you haven't checked it out, do yourself a favor." -@PartyOfOnePod

"This thing COOKS, Sahoni doesn't just tap into the queer/minority readings of mutants, but also ties in the weirdness that really gets my mind racing when it comes to X books." -@froondingloom 

"A refreshingly different game, that strikes a good balance between unlimited player freedom and solid guiding handrails. Really gets at the full potential of what the ;mutant outcast heroes' genre should be about: found family, building communities, and lives lived to the fullest despite being lived in defiance." -@guywhowrotethis 

"The whole game oozes love for its inspiration while also going further than they dared...." -@Phoenix24Femme

"Astonishing! Uncanny! All-New! And all other X-Adjectives available. This book gets why one would want to play the Mutant Metaphor in an RPG. It cleverly weaves the power fantasy of powerful individuals with the drive to do good for one's community. It's well-researched, well-written and, well, so much fun to play! This is the superpowered game I've been wanting for a long, long time. I can't wait to tell an Exceptional story of my own!" -@Kokiteno Team-up moves even made a recommended comic reading list. It has some of the best x-men has to offer and then some. It even includes that  New Mutants comic with the sleepover. They read me for filth and I love it.

I hope you play my game too. I hope you like it. I hope you tell queer stories and build community around you. I hope it’s messy, complicated, beautiful and life-affirming all at the same time. Thank you for reading this. Please reblog if you can as well as share it with x-men and rpg fans in your life.

#exceptionals #Indie TTRPG #ttrpg #comics #X-men #pride #mutants

[lutawolf]

My Personal Weatherman and the D/s element Ep 8

It's the last episode. I'm excited and sad. For those that haven't read my other episode break-downs, they can be found here.

The side eye that Yoh gives Segasaki is wonderful. So full of WTF.

First, let me explain that sub scared is not the same as scared scared. For some, that uncertainty and fear isn't something they want to escape from. Never once do you see Yoh truly fight. Let's be honest, homeboy is being sweet, pretending that a shirt could really keep him tied up.

Segasaki is laying down the guidelines. Ahh, and then he realizes that he doesn't want a slave. He's back tracking. This is good evolution for an organic D/s relationship. See how loose that shirt is when Yoh grabs Segasaki. That thing is threatening to come undone on its own.

Ohhh not only is Yoh agreeing to the guidelines, but they are communicating. Nice. Same Segasaki, same. That's exactly how I would describe myself. Aww, the shy cute baby making a move on his Dom. But damn does his Dom like it.

See! See! What did I say about subs? They like that feeling that is like, right before a roller rolls down. Damn, this is hot. Segasaki knows Yoh likes it. Yoh is being a little brat, giving that typical push back because he likes the no, but he's being careful to not push too much because he doesn't want Segasaki to actually stop.

See doesn't really want him to stop.

Yoh trying to explain or understand, but Dom's protective instincts have been activated. His sub baby is sick.

OMG! Mickey and Minnie are the best! "Try to use more thought in forming your words." DEAD!

Segasaki's smile! He is so happy to finally understand what Yoh needs from him. Bless it, though, his man is dense. 🤣🤣🤣 Welcome to my life Segasaki, welcome to my life. My man is so fucking smart but so fucking dense. But they are ours, right.

He is cooking curry and it looks awful! 🤣🤣🤣

Segasaki is setting up more guidelines! Even talking reward! This is so cute!

Oh!!! Okay, so this may be confusing to some. Segaski asking Yoh to wait for him at the door and greet him when he get home, but this is actually a big thing to many Doms. Let me explain. So, the Dom of the house returning home, it's a significant part of everyday life. When the Dom returns home and closes the door, the D/s couple, who are often not public, can truly be themselves. It’s an important moment to help activate the subservient role, reconnect with each other, and reinforce the dynamic. It's an intimate bond building moment for both parties.

You are seeing it in action. Both parties are getting their needs met and creating a stronger bond. A relationship if not nurtured becomes mundane but with this small thing, you remind each other of how important you are to one another. It's saying, I will put in the effort because I care, value, and respect you. Imagine receiving that message from your loved one every day.

Then the curry. Ahhh, Segasaki is so happy. These two worked a lot of things out. I loved watching it. And now we've come to the end. I'm gonna go re-watch because I love it! I hope you guys enjoyed this. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Hit me up if you have any questions. 💜💜💜

#my personal weatherman #taikan yoho #yoh x segasaki #segasaki x yoh #luta talks my personal weatherman #luta talks kink #coconuts mafia

[yonemurishiroku]

Wondering the whole thing about loyalty being Percy's fatal flaw might actually be on a much more personal level rather than an encompassing "children of Poseidon"-trait.

This is to say that Percy's problem with unhealthy 'loyalty' could be a consequence of his upbringing. You see. The whole point is that Percy can be wary, yet once he deems someone an ally/ not-enemy, it's dangerously difficult for him to see them in a negative light. It's this sort of bipolar disorder but the categories are "Friend or Foe", each of which comes with a package of completely separate treatment. He put Luke in the Friend lot and he nearly died for that. He distrusted Nico but he didn't see him as an enemy and fell for the kid's trick still.

Revert back to his childhood. IIRC Percy had two parent figures growing up, i.e. Sally and Gabe. And here's a thing. They are basically two ends of the spectrum of Parenting. Gabe was an abusive, negligent, alcoholic, problematic stepfather whereas Sally was like a saint or something, who had sacrificed for him so much. So Percy had only experienced two types of attitude in his perspective-shaping phase: extremely loving and downright scornful.

This could thus limit his relationship categories, and later create a hole in his view of others' attitudes, I believe. His relationship table basically has only two columns, Friendly vs Not friendly. Percy puts people in those lots based on how they treat him, how they express themselves to him, how he sees them. But people are way more than just one facet. People can be many things at once, and so are the relationships. Percy's system is lacking, so he suffers from being twirled around in complicated, multilayer dynamics.

Imagine Percy, who only has two sets of acquaintances in his life, one of which gives him misery whilst the other fights for him, is thrown into a mess of two-faced lies and concealed intentions. He doesn't have the specialized code of reaction for that. There's no special section in his handbook dedicated to "People you need to beware of" or "These guys seem friendly, but better be safe than sorry". Once Percy has decided to put you in his mind as not an enemy - he would actively refuse to treat you as an enemy because that's not the way he does it.

And because Percy has so few 'Friends', you know, that he intrinsically, automatically puts you in the Friends column as long as he finds no hostility from you. Yeah, he has Sally, Grover, and Annabeth, but he also has Gabe and Nancy (?) and IIRC the bullies. He has always felt like he didn't fit in (no thanks to you, demigod-bonus ADHD and dyslexia). Percy has had to put too many in the unfavorable section that he, subconsciously or not, favors amicable acquaintanceships - that's why Luke got to him so effortlessly, just by treating him decently.

It's quite similar to the other category too. The best example I can come up with now is Bob/ Iapetus. Bob first made his entrance as Percy's enemy aka Iapetus, and later became harmless to him after getting his memories erased. You'd think Percy would rearrange the columns, but the fact is that Percy technically didn't even remember Bob, or Iapetus for that matter, after leaving him in Nico's care. If my theory is of any credit, I suppose Bob didn't make it into Percy's 'Friends' category, i.e. Percy hadn't considered him a friend. Bob landed in as a Foe and he stayed there in Percy's head - at least up until the Tartarus debacle.

So, like I said: a bipolar relationship classifying system.

#percy jackson #pjo #hoo #toa #yone rambling #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #over analyzing #sally jackson #gabe ugliano #luke castellan

[shock]

"Don't just play—do something!", Jack Abele, 01.21.24.

This is a companion piece to the collage I made about moving into the first place that felt like my home back in '21 (shown below). They have matching frames and are displayed together above our dining table! This second piece is a reflection on how my relationship to "home" has evolved since then, especially after proposing to my now fiancé last month. I'm really proud of it!

Text transcript:

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY

In the cold, thin clouds of interstellar space, written in the precise message of starlight:

What made you so interested in fireflies?

Imagine that they propel the environment into play: they STAND OUT, add color, chaos, curves moving behind and below, inside, outward along feedback loops, perplexing positive panic persuaded to make another form of animal art.

Love is a Many-Splendored Thing, a beautiful structure, flamboyantly scuzzy, sassy, a full bouquet of many wild ideas — a dazzling interplay between lightness and unclarity, trying things out, fancy, whimsical records looped with webs, half-truth surface textures composed of swirls within swirls, a performance of information, scene-setting details with many impressive, more tongue-in-cheek, unforeseeable aspects relatively stable and evolving at the same time.

Distinctly transitional.

The trouble with love is it's hard to describe in simple and consistent words. Beyond the jolting familiarity of self-similar, self-referential tessellating hues, the little comedy-drama fictions... you see openness, possibilities toward change; our very existence together antidote to the dull grind of the paradox that we live every moment in an indifferent universe yet having so much fun with friends, local communities, places, faces, even muddy bog holes.

Music! A Tribe Called Quest, The Beastie Boys, The Breeders, Nick Cave, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Santana and Crosby, Stills, and Nash, mud-caked at Woodstock, picking up Space Age scrap, cutting collaged paper, playing with magical little lights, heretically evolving in this meaningless, magnificent place fine-tuned just right to allow for life, love, and grunge to exist nevertheless.

Maybe what keeps me here, making art, is how beautiful it is for optimism to become the first expression of hope despite danger amid the disparate depth of our universe created by chaos.

Movement characterizes my "youthful, dynamic" journey, escapes to infinite other places somewhere else, afraid of considering complicated survival long-term, wherein risk is worth the reward. But something about your windy city reminded me what strange, cascading effects the fingers of two hands form together, intersect one another, interfere with fate, interlace like light radiating rays woven, at certain points, into dynamic singularities.

Mutualism is a happy hybrid of symmetry and chaos — a relationship, it's like the entire forest is blinking in sync.

Just as the fun is to make up a great story, the writer in me calls this piece, "Don't just play— do something!"

This time around, living offers a profound pivot from playing a game. Today we confront as animals, we're not far from dogs, domesticated punks at heart, manifold.

I am humbled, exhilarated, afraid yet strangely calm and clear "On Bended Knee"

(The term ground seems inapt.)

...Nor is it possible to describe...

The closest feeling to being the world itself? It is to have loved someone so much that you wanted to spend the rest of your lifetime with them, with each other.

We're writing a book. Adding a stroke of paint and words to illustrate what we became, a bright third dimension that can be seen from space to meet the generations to come, to simulate the uncountable whimsies they could achieve.

The mind already knows before the key touches the lock.

To watch firefly swarms with a mangy mutt.

That must be quite a sight to see.

BECAUSE THEY EXIST

NOWHERE ELSE ON EARTH.

#collage art #my collages #my art #collage poetry

[open-hearth-rpg]

Links: Great RPG Mechanics #RPGMechanics: Week Eight

I dig Forged in the Dark– it’s an interesting system which people have tuned in many different ways. It is tight, with many innovations– several of which I’ve talked about earlier on these lists. But FitD's tightness means that it can be challenging to balance the mechanics. Some adaptations, like Scum & Villainy and Hack the Planet, hew close to the original with mainly a reskin and a couple of tweaks. 

Others dig in and make more substantive changes, like Songs for the Dusk and Vergence. Some Forged in the Dark reworkings are excellent but still have some gaps in the mechanical balance. For example, I love Mountain Home. It’s a strong contender for my fav game of the year. But in MH, stress acts as a significant restriction on player choices. It's a currency you're often spending to resist bad results and there’s few mechanics to help clear that until the end of the year. It’s playable, but the game needs a couple of additional options (new buildings, GM rewards) to help offset that. A minor tweak could make things stronger. That experience with Mountain Home colored our thinking about Forged in the Dark games.

So when we started our Girl by Moonlight campaign my group expressed skepticism about the mechanics. GBM makes some major changes from the Forged baseline. In particular characters have so few action dots– meaning that any roll would be few dice, which in turn meant they’d either be constantly taking poisoned promises or resisting consequences. There were grumbles but we decided to give it a try. 

And it works– it works really well, all thanks to Links. We don't have the issues we imagined. Girl by Moonlight's Links system creates dynamic, interactive play with a lot of choices. Plus, in a way we couldn’t see before we started playing, it adds new and novel space for roleplaying. FitD is sometimes criticized for not offering obvious space for role-play and character interaction. Girl by Moonlight builds that in. 

In play, you can spend links to let you or the named linked protagonist regain 2 stress. You can also spend them to give +1d to that named protag or to have them ignore 1 harm tag temporarily. Finally you can, in certain circumstances, spend it to try to keep them from falling into the negative state called eclipse. In play, this changes up things dramatically– people are spending links to help one another and describing what they do to connect. It supplements the stress mechanics while making actions feel possible. The small number of action dots don't matter as much. Links clear after each mission so you want to spend them during that phase. 

But the other half of the link system is what really makes it hum. You create links during downtime by using the Make Connections action. You choose to do something with another PC to build your relationship with them. There’s a roll made, with a 1-3 giving two links; a 4-5 giving three; and a 6 giving four. When you Make Connections, your targeted player writes those down. This becomes a crucial action in Downtime, replacing Recover Stress from base Forged in the Dark. Choosing another downtime action has to be balanced against this one– making for interesting tension when other things need to get done. 

But here’s the key– Making Connections pushes for role-playing. It offers moments where characters can interact with other PCs. They can also take links with NPCs (and their mecha Engines in the “On a Sea of Stars” framework). That’s meant that we’ve spent entire sessions– profitably letting these scenes breathe and just doing downtime. It is amazing and dynamite. 

The thing that strikes me is how much I couldn’t see this interaction and dynamic just from reading the rules. It was only once we got to playing that I understood exactly why GBM made these choices and what impact they had.

#ttrpg #rpg #rpg mechanics

[middlenamesage]

Tumblr is VERY Piscean and I think it’s absolutely beautiful.

Today I woke up thinking about how Tumblr has been the only website out there where I can share longer writings of mine and get them noticed and appreciated by merely including hashtags. The niche as a writer that I am falling into is extremely unconventional- it’s vulnerable personal accounts of my life, contextualized by astrology that naturally most want to come from me. And I am very grateful for anyone who resonates with my frequency and appreciates my messages, because I know I’m basically out here trauma dumping😂, and to happen across other people who are here for both that and astrology, is surely a rarity!

I was feeling grateful enough for Tumblr this morning to get the idea to look up when this site was launched. I was curious just what were the open-minded dynamics, so accepting of emotional vulnerability, that characterize Tumblr. To my pleasant surprise, Google informed me that Tumblr was launched at the very beginning of Pisces Season- meaning that it’s just about to have its birthday.

But that wasn’t all. Tumblr’s conception chart (with time unknown, but at least city known) is likely the most Piscean chart I have personally ever seen. 💖 Every single personal planet except Mars is in Pisces (and maybe it’s a good thing Mars didn’t join this party😂). All this Piscean energy seems to create a realm where I can find others as if I’m divinely guided by the Universal spirit which connects us all.

There’s vast yet connected territory here, because Pisces is the very undercurrent that runs through all of society. It’s the 12th and final sign, so it holds a little understanding of them all. 💧

Pisces holds so much power, it just holds it graciously. And often inconspicuously.

Pisces also explains why I was just realizing I see so many emojis included in informative astro Tumblr posts, compared to other sites. I’d been wondering if Cancer had a hand in this somehow (I myself am a Cancer Mercury, and please don’t ask me to not include emojis in my writing😂). But Pisces really makes a lot of sense too. Both Cancer and Pisces energy want to show expression in emotional terms… and emojis are so good for that. ❤️

And jeez, Tumblr still has relevance after seventeen years?! What other social media sites can you manage to say that about?? 🤔 This really shows the fluid and mutable ability of Pisces to adapt.

The Moon and Venus in Pisces in Tumblr’s conception chart really create an expression of Pisces energy that’s especially accepting and open to emotional vulnerability. And personally, they are trine my Moon in Scorpio, explaining even more why Tumblr-ites can stomach any sharing of my trauma. 😂 As if that wasn’t beautiful enough, the Pisces Sun in this chart is on my Pisces ascendant. No wonder I feel this is the only site I’ve so far found that gives me and my writing a place to shine. 🌞

Mercury retrograde in Pisces could be seen by some as indicative of a site where not the most comprehensively informative nor practical writing is shared. But I see it as indicative of a site where writing that makes people reflect on their emotions, grow their imagination, and even feel open to the web of Spirit connecting us all, is shared. I’ve long been fascinated and often admired a Mercury in “detriment” because it brings Jupiter’s realm up into Mercury’s realm; merging areas that can relate to the concepts of “left brain” and “right brain”, sometimes in amazing ways. And Mercury retrograde just gives us more opportunities for inward reflection. I love that posts can stay relevant here for ages, as we keep coming back to reflect upon them.

Jupiter is at home in Sagittarius in Tumblr’s profoundly Piscean conception chart, and aspecting some of those Pisces placements, so I think you can say this chart is extremely Jupiterian in every way. Personally, I’m so here for the expansive energy. 🏹 There are many ways to grow your philosophies hanging around on this site.

And I should mention that Uranus is also with the group of powerful forces for love and oneness hanging out in Pisces, because this is a revolution.

Thanks to the North Node also in Pisces in Tumblr’s chart, lending extra forward motion to this whole movement, I’d say exploring Jupiter territory, most colored by the loving, accepting, and spirit-recognizing side of Jupiter that is Pisces, is a perfectly appropriate direction for this site to only go deeper in.

Happy Birthday (tomorrow), Tumblr! Thanks for providing a meeting ground for beautiful, inclusive souls who can learn from each other.

#astrology blog #astro tumblr #astrology #zodiac side of tumblr #writers on tumblr #astrology tumblr #spiritual writer #zodiac signs #pisces #jupiter in astrology #pisces placements #astrology writer #as above so below #spirituality #tumblr anniversary #pisces season #tumblr milestone #astrology observations #creators of tumblr #tumblr

[amitytaylor]

I truly think the writing of MHA is superior. Full stop.

But why do i think so? Let’s get into a part of it. The bubbly atmosphere that hides the “ugly/evil/dark” and just how twisted this story truly is.

Let’s start with the doctor.

the fact that the doctor Garaki (a play on the name Shigaraki that was originally AFOs) says this

we see in Dabis flashbacks that they had MULTIPLE children they were grooming to be AFO heir.

Think about that again : the demon lord, a man who can live twice as long as another man (due to Garakis quirk) had this DOCTOR(who we know of as being a pediatrician bc of Izuku) KIDNAP CHILDREN AND HOLD THEM HOSTAGE TO CAPATALIZE ON THEIR TRAUMAS AND TURN THEM INTO A HOST BODY FOR AFO. They had a whole ass hide out where multiple children lived and were told to make it their own home. They didn’t even have names! CHILDREN!!!

That in an of itself, in reality in the modern world, is HORRIFIC! Imagine if today we learned that a pediatrician was kidnapping, grooming, and holding these children to make them “child soldiers” basically or an even better way to put it is toys for the powerful to do with as they please. WHAT THE FUCKING EVIL INCARNATE RIGHT?

NOW! think back to the two children that followed baby bakugo around and the wing quirk that was stolen. While simultaneously thinking about Kurogiri and the fact that Garaki was actually “hoping to get his hands on erasure” - so how did they get their hands on Kurogiri original body? Did they set up a situation where they knew one of the UA children who get hurt/killed and then waited to take advantage of the deceased?

I mean if we think about it, Giraki is quite literally ravaging these children’s bodies. VIOLATION ON EVERH LEVEL. and for what? for AFO? to get hands on quirks? for one person?

How far do you think they were willing to go to create the Nomu? If they are willing to use deceased children’s bodies who’s to say they hadn’t use live children’s bodies? ESPECIALLY BEFORE AFO WAS CAUGHT. WE SAW THEY USED LIVING ADULTS BEFORE?! is it that far of a stretch for them to try it on children? absolutely not.

MHA is dynamic. It’s about hope and friendship and love and family trauma and societal trauma and it’s also the most vile shit i’ve ever read. The way Bones studio portrays a bright blue sky is both irritating when not following the manga but also a HUGE FUCKING POINT! BECAUSE - we have all these amazing things we see, hero’s, quirks, friendship, family love, all the typical shonen stuff. That to me is the bright blue sky. WHILE COMPLETELY OVERRUNING THE FACT THAT ITS ALL BUILT ON BLOOD.

We know the big theme between Deku and Tenko is about the shit that’s pushed under the rug to make society livable for 75% of the population while 25% is left to suffer. (% is probably off). but if you really take a look at this theme and follow it along the path of the manga it’s TERRIFYING.

As a person who lives in the USA where our country is quite literally based in the suffering of the many for the luxury of the few it is CHILLING TO SAY THE LEAST.

NOT TO MENTION THAT AFO (if my theory he gave Tenko the quirk is correct) PREYED ON THE MOST VULNERABLE GROUP OF PEOPLE - THE QUIRKLESS AND CHILDREN

Izuku, Aoyama, and Tenko were all quirkless.

The writing makes it seem like it all just happened, but it didn’t. AFO meticulously planned every step out like he’s mentioned before but to AN UNNERVING ASS DEGREE BRO.

All For One needed a persons body who could still FEEL THINGS. BECAUSE HE CANT ANYMORE. or could ever? He has no real will of his own or real emotions or feelings. he is the true embodiment of “psychopath” (outdated term but helps to paint the picture)

I wouldn’t even think it’s a stretch to believe that AFO played a role in Kotaro abusing Tenko with what we just saw in the latest chapter. I mean they were like best friends? and it’s confirmed afo is the same person who dropped tenko off at home.

The sinister feeling of this manga as we continue to go forth is incredulous.

I didn’t even TOUCH ON the Dabi and AFO issue. I mean, how did he know Toya was on that peak? How did he know he would be there thst day? How did he know he would likely burn himself alive? How did he know about the abuse going on within the Todoroki family?

FUCK MY BRAIN THE CONNECTIONS ITS EVERYWHERE 😭

#mha #my hero acedamia #mha spoilers #bnha 418 #bnha #my brain will not shut up about mha #it’s actually painful i want to scream and cry and throw up