#because it was a lot

[ihaveatypeanditstrickstergods]

The Circle of the Ceaseless Watcher keeps a Chapter House on the northwestern edge of Briar Green, a stone's throw from Groundswell. They are currently in a time of change due to the loss of their Lightkeeper and ascension of one of their own to the position. Their current membership is as follows (with possibly one more; I'm still nailing down how to best incorporate Melanie):

Lightkeeper Jonathan Sims: Recently came into the role after the death of former Lightkeeper Gertrude Robinson and his own injury and extensive Bleed exposure in an Oldfairen prison while tracking down the creature that killed her leaving him unfit for field work (he's grown enough extra eyes that he can't exactly go out and about under most circumstances, and there are other side effects of the Bleed exposure that he's working on getting under control).

Martin Blackwood: Formerly a research assistant to reclusive academic Peter Lukas, initially joined with Candela for a mission after being mistaken for his boss. By the time the mission was over, he had proved himself enough that Gertrude offered him the opportunity to officially join the organization, an opportunity that he took despite some trepidation (from both himself and other members of the circle). Still far more comfortable in a library than in the field.

Tim Stoker: Balances a day job as an editor for an entertainment paper with his work for Candela Obscura. His first encounter with the organization came about while he was investigating the disappearance of his brother, who it turned out had been skinned by some sort of creature in an Oldfairen ruin under a theatre. He has since dedicated himself to finding and destroying this creature.

Sasha James: Joined Candela around the same time as Jon and Tim, after a situation where she was investigating "a man with too many bones in his hands." During a mission after she joined, a different creature tried to kill her and steal her identity. It partially succeeded, so while she is still alive, it can be difficult to recognize and/or remember her.

Alice "Daisy" Tonner: A former member of the OUP who was discharged from the organization after an incident that ended up being a bit too public. She had previously collaborated with Candela Obscura while still part of the OUP and turned to them after her discharge, feeling that she couldn't just leave things how they were. She's still struggling to unlearn some habits from her former place of employment, but has proved herself an asset so far.

Basira Hussain: Daisy's former partner on the OUP, resigned and joined Candela shortly after Daisy was discharged and for similar reasons. This turned out to be a good fit, as it turns out she's as good at studying the paranormal as she was investigating and destroying it. She's leery about the amount of magick that Candela permits and makes use of, especially when it comes to members that have... paranormal conditions.

#circle of the ceaseless watcher #the magnus archives #tma #candela obscura #yes I know what Spencer said about newspapers in Newfaire during the Needle and Thread character creation #I am choosing to disregard it and follow after Brennan's comment #“you telling me there's not a single rag in this city?” #also I need to talk more about the incident that got Jon his third scar #because it was A Lot

[lilyginnyblackv2]

I have like 5 million different emotions going on at once right now!!!

EPISODE 8!!!

#Buddy Daddies #BD #KazuRei #Kazuki Kurusu #Rei Suwa #Miri Unasaka #I have to take some time to think about this episode #because it was A LOT #OMG! #Buddy Daddies spoilers #BD spoilers

[hycinthrt]

Delilah tried to laugh, though it turned out to be more of a strangled puff of air from her nose. She reached for the picture and straightened out the crumpled corner. She stared at it for a few seconds, her face full of melancholy, then ran a finger over Lee’s smiling face. She set it back gently.

“We are all dealing, Michael,” she said, her voice so low he barely caught her words.

Michael hugged his knees close to his body, resting his chin over them.

“I guess that’s what we are doing,” he grumbled.

#ended up diving this one into two #because it was A LOT #also i promise i swear its for a reason there's a purpose #michael yew #will solace #lee fletcher #kayla knowles #austin lake #cabin 7 #apollo cabin #percy jackson #trials of apollo #toa #pjo fanfic #pjo apollo #percy jackson fanfiction #de hyacinth writing #writing #fanfiction

[angelicgarnet]

the way people online talk about autism is getting really weird, like do they know that neurotypicals still have interests? that someone being passionate about a hobby doesn't mean they're autistic? you guys know that right

#woof #like self diagnosis is one thing #but saying someone is autistic because they talk about a specific hobby a lot is weird (and waters down the actual definition of autism) #and its no different than saying someone has ocd bc they organize their books alpabetically #or saying someone has ADHD because they got distracted by something #and people who aren't even autistic are honestly getting way too comfortable with autism jokes

[brightlotusmoon]

#oh no #i know a lot of audio engineers #it's like a hallucination #dare i say it #because color theory #children's hospital #hotel carpet patterns #color theory #heavy sigh

[caffeinatedopossum]

Me when I remember something I said ages ago that was wrong or my values no longer align with

#my path of self improvement has been less self righteous and personally gainful #and more just. a lot of embarrassment and pain #like i wouldnt change the path i took to get where i am now but i wouldve chosen to travel that path sooner because omg #nothing hits me like the fear that future me will feel the same way about right now me that right now me feels about past tense me

[sweaty-confetti]

idk y’all should treat fat men better. and i don’t mean mildly chubby guys i mean honest-to-god love-handles-and-double-chins fat guys. stop calling them shit like discord mods or gross weebs or nasty creeps or neckbeards or that they’re stinky or sweaty or beer bellied or whatever else. fatphobia isn’t cute, even repackaged in a neat little box of “ew men”

#and this isn’t some like “IF A CUTE GUY HARASSES A GIRL SHED LOVE IT BUT WHEN A FAT GUY DOES IT SHED HATE IT” #I guarantee she’d hate it nontheless #just saying that the way some of y’all treat fat guys is seriously disgusting #and a lot of em end up falling down the incel and rightwing pipelines because of it #fatphobia #antimasculism #fatphobes #male fatphobia #transandrophobia #anti transmasculinity

[max1461]

Disgust has absolutely no ethical weight. If you are basing your ethical positions on the emotion of disgust you should stop, it is entirely unjustified and leads to a huge amount of harm.

#I've spent a lot of time thinking about the various difficult technical ways in which the world is bad but at some point #you also have to tell people “just stop doing bad stuff on purpose” #because they in fact do this

[tearlessrain]

please help me- i used to be pretty smart but i’m having so much trouble grasping the concept of diegetic vs non-diegetic bdsm!

gfkjldghfd okay first of all I'm sorry for the confusion, if you're not finding anything on the phrase it's because I made it up and absolutely nobody but me ever uses it, but I haven't found a better way to express what I'm trying to say so I keep using it. but now you've given me an excuse to ramble on about some shit that is only relevant to me and my deeply inefficient way of talking and by god I'm going to take it.

SO. the way diegetic and non-diegetic are normally used is to talk about music and sound design in movies/tv shows. in case you aren't familiar with that concept, here's a rundown:

diegetic sound is sound that happens within the world of the movie/show and can be acknowledged by the characters, like a song playing on the stereo during a driving scene, or sung on stage in Phantom of the Opera. it's also most other sounds that happen in a movie, like the sounds of traffic in a city scene, or a thunderclap, or a marching band passing by. or one of the three stock horse sounds they use in every movie with a horse in it even though horses don't really vocalize much in real life, but that's beside the point, the horse is supposed to be actually making that noise within the movie's world and the characters can hear it whinnying.

non-diegetic sound is any sound that doesn't exist in the world of the movie/show and can't be perceived by the characters. this includes things like laugh tracks and most soundtrack music. when Duel of Fates plays in Star Wars during the lightsaber fight for dramatic effect, that's non-diegetic. it exists to the audience, but the characters don't know their fight is being backed by sick ass music and, sadly, can't hear it.

the lines can get blurry between the two, you've probably seen the film trope where the clearly non-diegetic music in the title sequence fades out to the same music, now diegetic and playing from the character's car stereo. and then there are things like Phantom of the Opera as mentioned above, where the soundtrack is also part of the plot, but Phantom of the Opera does also have segments of non-diegetic music: the Phantom probably does not have an entire orchestra and some guy with an electric guitar hiding down in his sewer just waiting for someone to break into song, but both of those show up in the songs they sing down there.

now, on to how I apply this to bdsm in fiction.

if I'm referring to diegetic bdsm what I mean is that the bdsm is acknowledged for what it is in-world. the characters themselves are roleplaying whatever scenarios their scenes involve and are operating with knowledge of real life rules/safety practices. if there's cnc depicted, it will be apparent at some point, usually right away, that both characters actually are fully consenting and it's all just a planned scene, and you'll often see on-screen negotiation and aftercare, and elements of the story may involve the kink community wherever the characters are. Love and Leashes is a great example of this, 50 Shades and Bonding are terrible examples of this, but they all feature characters that know they're doing bdsm and are intentional about it.

if I'm talking about non-diegetic bdsm, I'm referring to a story that portrays certain kinks without the direct acknowledgement that the characters are doing bdsm. this would be something like Captive Prince, or Phantom of the Opera again, or the vast majority of bodice ripper type stories where an innocent woman is kidnapped by a pirate king or something and totally doesn't want to be ravished but then it turns out he's so cool and sexy and good at ravishing that she decides she's into it and becomes his pirate consort or whatever it is that happens at the end of those books. the characters don't know they're playing out a cnc or D/s fantasy, and in-universe it's often straight up noncon or dubcon rather than cnc at all. the thing about entirely non-diegetic bdsm is that it's almost always Problematic™ in some way if you're not willing to meet the story where it's at, but as long as you're not judging it by the standards of diegetic bdsm, it's just providing the reader the same thing that a partner in a scene would: the illusion of whatever risk or taboo floats your boat, sometimes to extremes that can't be replicated in real life due to safety, practicality, physics, the law, vampires not being real, etc. it's consensual by default because it's already pretend; the characters are vehicles for the story and not actually people who can be hurt, and the reader chose to pick up the book and is aware that nothing in it is real, so it's all good.

this difference is where people tend to get hung up in the discourse, from what I've observed. which is why I started using this phrasing, because I think it's very crucial to be able to differentiate which one you're talking about if you try to have a conversation with someone about the portrayal of bdsm in media. it would also, frankly, be useful for tagging, because sometimes when you're in the mood for non-diegetic bodice ripper shit you'd call the police over in real life, it can get really annoying to read paragraphs of negotiation and check-ins that break the illusion of the scene and so on, and the opposite can be jarring too.

it's very possible to blur these together the same way Phantom of the Opera blurs its diegetic and non-diegetic music as well. this leaves you even more open to being misunderstood by people reading in bad faith, but it can also be really fun to play with. @not-poignant writes fantastic fanfic, novels, and original serials on ao3 that pull this off really well, if you're okay with some dark shit in your fiction I would highly recommend their work. some of it does get really fucking dark in places though, just like. be advised. read the tags and all that.

but yeah, spontaneous writer plug aside, that's what I mean.

#I found their original stuff while I was researching various waterhorses and their folklore for no reason #because one of the characters in their original work happens to be an each uisge #and then it turned out it ALSO included a lot of figures from welsh folklore in general #so yknow if you happen to have my incredibly specific hyperfixations you'll love it but even if you don't it's great #I didn't mean to bring up phantom of the opera so much it just happens to be very relevant to a lot of my talking points #I haven't actually seen it in years

[oasisr]

after hearing "simply having a wonderful christmas time" by paul mccartney 74 times while working in retail, I came to the conclusion that they shot the wrong beatle

#meme #christmas #Christmas music #paul mccartney #the beatles #beatles #dark humor #retail #fast food #work #job #seasonal #seasonal worker #funny #lol #yes i am using a lot of tags because i want everyone to see this and laugh with me #welcome to the comedy of hate

[catmask]

does anyone have like an anti aesthetic. like something you look at and can recognize as a complete fashion/interior design/artistic movement and understand it but it makes you shudder seeing it. i am not talking like “its morally bad” “its poorly structured” like just sheerly devoid of joy for you actually invites a repulse response.

#also if it wasnt clear this isnt ‘its bad its lazy’ there is a level of like #completion consistancy i am thinking for with this #personally i really do not enjoy the like. vintage chic long red nails fur coats noir esque aesthetic HOWEVER 💥💥💥 #i can recognize that it is put together it is Intentional #i feel like a lot of people are going to say minimalism on this so LET ME SAY 🫰☝️ i recognize that minimalism is Considered an aesthetic #but i *PERSONALLY* do not consider it an aesthetic i consider it the void of one #it is a lapse in aesthetic or personality in the same way a silence in a song is still technically a ‘beat’ but no music is played #however the importance of Space or Breath in design is more akin to a purposeful silence in music #because that silence matters in the same way rhythm and breath in design do #so i guess minimalism is more comparable to like. white noise. the sound of a fan #very little effort and there is a comfort in it i suppose but its not. A Design. okay #TO ME 🤫 #if minimalism has one hater its me if minimalism has no haters im dead

[indigo6f00ff]

need to share an experience i had 30 minutes ago

(edit: thanks to @walks-the-ages for providing and reminding me to put alt text, sorry it slips my mind alot lol)

#my hands are still shaking to be quite honest i could not put a lot of effort into this. #but like. brain. why did you do that #literally i have been like hopelessly obsessed with de nonstop thinking abt it for the past couple of days it is Scaring me #it is terminal its soooo fucking chronic #disco elysium #kim kitsuragi #for anyone who wants to know i bumped into some guys car that was stopped for a school bus. i think my brain errored and thought #my foot was fully pressing down on the brake pedal but it wasnt. #i am like 99.99 percent sure neither of us had any major damage to our cars but we still filed a police report just in case #because insurance do be a bitch. dudes back bumper was scratched lightly and my front license plate has a dent now #also literally my first ever car accident that ive had ever yippee yay

[cozylittleartblog]

not that we didn't already Know belos was full of shit, but it's even funnier knowing the titan was still alive the whole time and probably judging him

#toh #the owl house #emperor belos #papa titan #the titan #art #doodles #comic #fanart #watching and dreaming #captioned #brief visit to ye olde days of memeing on belos... those still get spread around #i hope the titan saw him get his shit stomped in before they passed on #like yes luz was right there but did the titan actually get to see it. i hope so #shoulda been broadcast on penstagram too #there's a piece of fanart i wanted to draw after. i think o titan where art thou. but i never got around to it #because it had animation in it. and im regretting it now #maybe i will finally do it. and something else too #the whole titan reveal brings with it a lot of tropes and ideas that absolutely destroy me personally #and i need to Draw about it #edit - thank you anistarrose for the caption! #''he wasn't Really alive'' you're right they were a secret third thing. the heart still beats. they were still Somewhere #but it's easier to just say Alive. it's not Technically wrong #i try to keep my captions short ok

[15lehna]

The universal gm facepalm

#brian murphy #matthew mercer #brennan lee mulligan #aabria iyengar #critical role #dimension 20 #naddpod #had to use a pic of murph as a player because can't see his face on a podcast #burrow's end #a starstruck odyseey #the fact that the last two happened during the same season says a lot about it

[fairydriver]

if you post an image in discord itll round the corners, but once you hit a certain smallness it rounds into a circle. so basically if you make an image that is 32x32 and you post it in discord itll go from this

to this.

so you basically can just draw a little face in mspaint or something and paste it into discord and itll look like a little emoji. you can potentially mess around with this a lot, its proportional to your image going smaller and it doesnt have to be a square either.

#I THINK THIS HAS A LOT OF FUN POTENTIAL #discord #i am reblog locking this bc i lack the ability to properly issue corrections (see replies) #and also because getting notes like this causes me some distress #please feel free to issue a version of this post that is more accurate yourself (any reader) #but i will refrain #i still think its fun tho i initially noticed this at the 16 scale where it works regardless #just have fun and express yourself in a carefree manner

[genderkoolaid]

okay so rewatching hbomberguy's new video, James Somerton has:

Called ND Stevenson and Rebecca Sugar women so he can make a point about how queer women have it easier

stolen an Asian transmasc person's very personal essay on Mulan and queer Asian identity

stolen from Alexander Avila, the One somewhat well known transmasc video essayist

Lied about English courts letting Radclyffe Hall "live her happy life" because perceived-female queerness wasn't legally persecuted, when in actuality, they were charged with obscenity and had their work destroyed

clearly a man whose very normal and chill about transmascs and anyone he sees as a woman i think

#making this post because ive seen a lot of people calling him a lesbophobe and misogynist but for some reason not a transphobe #hes all three baby! and they overlap (like w Radclyffe Hall!) #hes ALSO biphobic lest we forget #m. #james somerton