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#but not guarantee I'll make it

shinelikethunder · 2 months

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landlord gave me notice at 3pm thursday and by 9am tomorrow, sunday march 10th 2024, propelled by equal parts terror and incandescent fury, i will be putting in an offer to buy An Entire House.

i mean, it's a nice and low-risk little house, at a price that makes it a no-brainer to jump on it before it goes - but still, this is fucking surreal. i could technically have had the offer in by 3pm today; this is me taking the time to think it over. except there's not much to think over: i need a place and this one's solid, and the monthly payment is the exact same as what i was just offered in order to rent half as much duplex by the landlord who's kicking me out to renovate and price-gouge.

and i'm not gonna pretend one of the emotions driving my haste here isn't the vicious satisfaction of having just enough fuck-you money to pull this off. in all likelihood i'll be filling out mortgage paperwork by the time his ass even gets around to fitting a walkthrough of the half-duplex into his busy house-flipping schedule, and if he wanted his model tenant placidly paying the extortion rent on that place - two days before the first of every month like i've been doing for the five years i've lived here - then maybe he shouldn't have fucking dicked me around.

#i'm trying not to think too hard about the cat because whatever's going to happen with him will happen no matter where i move to :/#but also because if i think about that too hard i will make some choices that guarantee i'll never see a cent of my security deposit back #and i am about to need all the fucking cashflow i can get

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ratwithhands · 3 months

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Fun fact I used to consume a lot of Land of the Lustrous stuff.

Anyways this is one of my many Land of the Lustrous OCs, Vivianite. Mohs hardness of 1.5, dark green/blue in colour, and very old. Due to the nature of his weak composition, Vivianite can't actually do much of anything, and has had to live under very specific conditions.

Vivianite wears a tight full body uniform to hold any chipped pieces in place, and is kept in a box stuffed with loose cloth to ensure minimal damage. If he comes into contact with light, he begins to oxidize and darken, so he's kept in a windowless room with curtains over the entrance.

That's all to say he's isolated and bored. He spends much of his time inactive, but he'll jump at the opportunity for conversation if there's someone around. Certain gems visit him to chat, get guidance, or give him the recent news. A task given to some gems is to clear his room of dust, and maybe bring him some books if he's up for it.

Vivian sees himself as an older sibling/friend to many of the other gems, and as such he's very keen on providing a listening ear and giving advice where possible to those who need it. He's essentially emotional support in a can.

Other notes/details:

not all gems know Vivian exists! He's hidden away so most gems wouldn't see him unless they were actively looking for him. A lot of the older ones know about him, but the younger ones don't

Rutile is endlessly tired of having to glue him back together so often due to his softness, which is part of why he has a tighter uniform to keep all his broken pieces in place

Vivian struggles with walking, he tends to be slow and stumbly

the tanks in Vivian's room are for jellyfish. Gems who are sent to clean his room have to switch out the jellyfish too. They're there to provide a faint light source so he doesn't go completely inactive

Vivian, despite living in a box in the dark, has a lot of technical knowledge about things as a result of millennia of going through the library collection. He' a living encyclopedia and can usually offer some answers if a gem has questions on a particular subject

his internal structure is basically a lot of shards stuck together like fibers, so he does minor repairs on himself by affixing strands of his hair into empty spots. He's had his fingers repaired and replaced this way often

In the few instances where Vivian has gone outside, he has an abnormally high amount of energy as a result of his inclusions being able to work at full capacity in the light

If I remember anything else I'll add it, anyways have a good day!

#houseki no kuni #hnk #land of the lustrous #hnk fanart #hnk oc #hnk bort #not mentioned in the main post but shit man Vivianite wants to perish 😭#he's always felt like a burden as a result of his weak body‚ if it weren't for the fact he can't walk outside #he would've thrown himself into the sea to never rise again #he'd always asked Sensei if there was a way he could get stronger‚ and that's partly why he read so much in hopes to find a cure #when he heard about Phos' body getting replaced‚ he was both distraught and excited‚ because he felt so bad for Phos #but this was a way for him to become greater‚ if only he could just figure out how to guarantee it'd work (because otherwise he'd be #a burden again as they are forced to repair him and look after him through recovery)#that's also why he likes to talk with people; he can serve and assist others that way‚ he's trying to compensate for his lacking strength #tl;dr Vivianite is horrifically weak and makes up for it with his heart and mind in order to feel less bad about not being able to do more #also (unrelated) he tends to be touchy and holds people's hands/faces/hair a lot. He does this knowing the risk and he couldn't care less #also also‚ he has weird inclusions. What makes them odd is the fact that he can move them around and concentrate them in different areas #he's stiff cause he keep most of his inclusions packed in his torso‚ not his limbs. This also ensures he doesn't lose anything #by touching something and having his fingers (inevitably) flake apart #There's more but I'll save that for later. Good day ^^

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tj-crochets · 8 days

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So I have had a ridiculous amount of fun this last week plushifying art and throwing my usual crafting rules out the window as I did so*, and I think I want to make plushifying art a more regular thing? I'm not sure how best to do that, though. Should I make a post that's like "reblog this if you want your art turned into plushies", or "reblog this with links to art you want turned into plushies" or suggest a tag that people can add to art they want plushified, and then I go through the tag when I want to make some plushies? *no paper patterns, just drawing directly on the fabric so each plushie is one of a kind

#the person behind the yarn #I can't guarantee I'll make all of them #some things are harder to plushify than others #whether for skill level concerns or 3D object concerns or just don't have that fabric concerns #(for the life of me I haven't been able to find purple faux fur)#also when I plushify art the artist always gets first dibs on the plushie #and I am almost always more than happy to send the artist the plushies #either in exchange for an art trade #or if no trade I usually just ask if they are willing to cover the cost of shipping?#if it's got some bought-for-that-project supplies I miiiight ask if they're willing to cover that specific cost #but that would be like. if I had to buy beads and used them all up making the thing #and maybe for more labor intensive plushies??? idk how detailed some of these might be #most of the time it's either art trades or the cost of shipping

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balis77 · 11 days

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Canto VII/Season 5 Abnormality Speculation

Ok, so each abnormality that is either part of a sinner's dungeon or their season pass egos (In the case of Heathcliff) usually has some connection/symbolism for them ala each of the ego used during Realizations in Library having some symbolism towards the emotions/memories displayed within. Since we have a pretty damn big list of mirror dungeon abnormalities and they seem to primarily draw on those for new bosses as opposed to making new ones, I'ma speculate on some options for things we'll face in Don's personal dungeon.

Pagoda Veneration

This one is pretty self explanatory. It's focused around wishes and the granting/destruction of them, which fits Don's character to a tee to the point she already has an EGO for it.

Rose Hunter

So, this abnormality is effectively a rogue hunter that seeks to bring Snow White's Apple (Or Ebony Apple, possibly both) back to fulfill the role they had in the original tale. Effectively, cutting their dreams short to drag them back to their original fate, which could possibly be the problem Don faces in her Canto or faced in her own past. It would effectively represent reality trying to drag her back down.

Sleepyhead

This one mainly correlates to Don's fascination and association with toys, along with it giving a lust gift which matches the Sin of Don's base ego. It also has a blood motif in that you need to offer it blood to get its head to raise back up to give you the gift, which also matches with Don's base ego translating to "Blood of Sancho".

Tomorrow's Expression

Tomorrow's Expression is an Aberration of Today's Shy Look, which in Library stood-in for Angela's having to mask her true desires to reach out to the others in order to fulfill the Seed of Light plan. Tomorrow's Expression is effectively Shy Look's opposite, being something that asks how it should express itself as opposed to something that wanted to find a way to express its own emotions. This can correlate to the possible origins of Don and her worldview, and the original story of Don Quixote and how people tried to cruelly snap Don out of his delusions.

#I'll probably make a follow up to this when the fourth Mirror Dungeon comes out and probably contains VII's actual abnos #but I wanted to get this out of the way because it's fun to speculate #BTW if you're wondering about any other sinners I don't have much but I can guarantee you one thing #Those hospital-themed abnormalities with greek mythology names are definitely showing up in Outis' canto #they match so fucking perfectly #anyways ramble over #Limbus Company #Don Quixote LCB

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basket-of-radiants · 8 months

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Proposal for Re-working the Kholins’ Character Arcs - a semi-coherent “essay” by me (feat. @akpaley, thank you for your contributions and for your attempts at editing.)

Hey guys. Different kind of post this time around, compared to my usual brand. It’s time for some fix-it fanfiction masquerading as literary critique. I won’t be using a readmore, I dunno, probably to punish anyone still following this blog or something. So! In this post I’m going to solve the all the issues of racial theming associated with the Kholin family.

I’m often very harsh on the Kholins for benefitting so much from exploitative power structures while doing little to help those below them. But then I’ve also criticized them for actually addressing these very problems in-universe. How can I be upset at them for their inaction and then also be annoyed when Jasnah ends slavery? The short answer to all of this is just that the ways these topics are addressed all feel very inauthentic. For example, in real life history it took over a century of protests, slave revolts, political campaigning, and civil wars to legally end slavery in Europe and America, and abolitionists were met with fierce opposition at every turn. A fictional world need not follow our same historical trajectory, but it still seems a little disingenuous for a monarch to just decide to end it within her first year of power because it doesn’t mesh with her philosophical framework. It’s more like trying to wrap up a subplot than actually address the topic.

Ultimately however, there’s only so far this line of criticism can ever take me because the Kholins are the protagonists and you can’t get rid of them without turning the whole story into something else entirely. And Sanderson shouldn’t have to, these are characters that he created and he’s allowed to tell a story about them. And I actually like a lot of their personalities and arcs and outlooks quite a lot. I do think it’s...unfortunate...to have used slavery and racism as disposable props in a story that ultimately turned out to be about a bunch of royals learning to be better people and saving the world along the way. So I guess what I’m interested in is if there’s a way to keep the premise, keep the characters, keep the general story beats, keep the themes of honor and personal growth, keep the basic structure of everything, and still handle those themes with grace. You know, could this be a compassionate story about addressing racism told from the point of view of nobility? Is such a thing possible?

Well, I’m going to try my best. And I’m going to be imperfect about it, obviously, so if you actually care enough to read all this shit, I welcome discussion and disagreement.

Jasnah is the most obvious example to point to as being indicative of the problem, but I also think she has the easiest character fixes. She’s already been established as an outspoken dissident on many of her society’s deeply ingrained values. Just add to her atheism and feminism that she’s also always been an outspoken abolitionist. Give her ties to an ongoing reformist movement. Have her lecture Shallan about it in Way of Kings. Make that a reason she’s butted heads with her family so much. I do think it’s poor writing to have a ruler end slavery on a whim, but I won’t deny that having the right person in power can make a huge difference. It’s not as cathartic as having Kaladin lead a slave revolt (or as having Moash destroy society <3) but that doesn’t make it inherently bad so long as the topic itself is still treated with weight. Have her moralistic ideology be firmly pre-established so that when she has to explain why she’s abolishing slavery, her reasoning can be purely pragmatic. The reason she’s moving so fast is because this is a historical point of heightened change, and so her reforms are more likely to work, but if she waits too long and things settle back into a new status quo, she may have missed her window. Not to mention, when her nephew comes of age, her own legitimacy as a ruler might be challenged, so she needs to do as much as she can in what may be end up being a short reign. As a character, Jasnah has always been able to girlboss her way past political realities through sheer force of personality, and that’s great and all, but I think it heightens her character’s competence if she does have to deal with real backlash, not just to her but to her policies as well. The narrative doesn’t even need to linger on her opposition, but acknowledging it and acknowledging that she’s simply a member of a preexisting and ongoing movement would have done wonders to portray slavery as a real and prescient issue. Then again, this is a topic which people have fought and continue to fight wars over, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to have receive major backlash either; perhaps when the Kholins hear in Words of Radiance that she was assassinated, the news could come as tragic but not entirely unexpected so as to imply that her opposition has attempted such in the past. All this is to say, I don’t think it’s at all wrong for Jasnah to do what she did. I also don’t think her entire stance on abolitionism should have come down to a comment where she tells her uncle she’s trying to rule according to ethically consistent values. The fact that slavery was insultingly easy to end not only delegitimizes is as a topic worthy of discussion, but also is a really scathing indictment of literally everyone else in the ruling class who didn’t even think to try.

Jasnah done, easy, Dalinar next.

Dalinar is probably the most complicated character for me to discuss and form coherent statements on. He’s just so rife with contradictions down to his core. That’s probably why I continue to like him so much, why he’s still my favorite, even though I still consider him to be a Bad Person over all. I think deep down I’ll always lean a bit too pacifistic ideologically to ever consider a warlord/general to be a good person, no matter how honorable he may be or how much growth he may undergo. Don’t get me wrong, I still do love his growth. Dalinar is characterized by his constant change and forward momentum, even moreso than the rest of the cast. So for discussing him, at what point can I point to him and say “this is Dalinar, this is who he is, this is what he believes and what he cares about”? Of course, during any point in his arc, you’re going to have to grapple with the fact that all of his lofty rhetoric about honor and striving for personal betterment is ultimately going to be pretty useless to all the people whose lives he’s meaninglessly thrown away across his military career. For me personally, when I talk about his character I like to take the end-of-oathbringer approach, where I acknowledge everything he did in the past as Blackthorn, I agree that it was pretty fucked up, and I forgive him and grant him a clean slate. All this to say that even if I’m judging him purely by his behavior as the current Dalinar within the present day continuity of the books, he’s still a massive hypocrite with horrific amounts of blood on his hands which he’s never even bothered to consider. I dunno, when I first read Way of Kings and I first got to meet this general who’s leading an army in a literal genocide campaign, I sort of figured he’d get some kind of “wait am I the bad guy” moment at some point in the future. And he did get a moment in Oathbringer where he has to fully confront his guilt over past actions, it was great, I really really loved it! But it was also all about actions he took before the series even started, so I guess wiping out the listeners wasn’t a sin he thought needed any atonement. I’m not going to get into the narrative’s treatment of singers and listeners on this post (for no other reason than because I have waaaaaaay too much to say there) but the point I’m getting at is that however good Dalinar’s growth is and whatever direction it takes, it’s always going to have poisonous roots to me. And his treatment of class/racial issues is no different.

Fixing Dalinar is going to take a lot of what Dalinar does best: introspection. In Way of Kings, Dalinar dislikes how Sadeas treats his bridgemen because he believes it to be dishonorable, because he believes Sadeas is forcing others into a situation that he himself would never put himself into. He also has various sympathetic reflections here and there about how sad it is when soldiers die, and about how without the benefit of the Thrill, violence is actually kind of bad. You know how it goes. But I don’t think he ever put himself at risk to actually help or protect any of the people who are dying. Whether he wants to end the war or not, he still continues to participate in it. And he’s still willing to set aside the lives of literally everyone beneath him so he can pursue his dream of unity. The book ends with Kaladin and the rest of bridge four saving him and Adolin, and in gratitude, he purchases their freedom and gives them honored positions in his household. You know, because he’s so honorable. Everyone loves this scene, so I’m going to make it the catalyst for Dalinar’s new and improved character development. The problem with saying Kaladin helped Dalinar so Dalinar helped Kaladin is that when I’m being reductive and uncharitable (like I’m being right now), I can argue that their relationship basically started as a quid pro quo. This scene is meant to prove that Dalinar really is the most honorable person in Alethkar, just as Syl thought, only it doesn’t actually do that. See I don’t actually want Dalinar to start treating Kaladin as an equal. I want Dalinar to, in that moment, realize that Kaladin is better than him. That for all of his pontificating about honor, he would have never even considered risking his own life and the lives of his own family to rescue a bunch of bridgemen. I want him to see Kaladin’s honor, and rather than be validated in his beliefs, I want him to be thoroughly humbled. Let him spend all next book reflecting on all the lives of darkeyes he’s destroyed. Let it shame him, as Evi’s death shamed him. He already flirts with these lines of thought, and he already has an arc about confronting his past actions. Let the racial injustices he’s participated in be a part of that. Let him abandon his books and traditions instead look to Kaladin to learn what honor truly means. I don’t know how any of this would translate to his actions, because if we’re being honest his ideals are already quite incongruous with his actions, but the fact that he manages to have such strong theming regardless makes me think maybe that’s okay. I guess ultimately it would be enough for me if his character, as someone who symbolizes the ideals of a nation, was able to look at a darkeyes publicly be a follower rather than always trying to lead by his own personal example.

That’s Dalinar. Elhokar next?

I actually don’t think there’s too much wrong with Elhokar’s writing, especially in the first two books where a much greater emphasis on these themes were placed. He’s not a protagonist and we the audience aren’t supposed to endorse his actions. Most of what I’d change about his story is more about Kaladin and Moash than it is about him. I definitely don’t love that he can throw away the lives of his own people by the thousands in the genocide campaign that was the vengeance war, and then have the narrative just ignore all that in favor of him being sad about his own incompetence. If Elhokar is meant to be a sympathetic character, then when he calls himself a bad king, that’s what he should be thinking about, the number of lives he’s wasted over these years. I actually like him a lot more as a less sympathetic character, and I think I would have preferred if in oathbringer the narrative and the other characters would have stopped making so many excuses for him. Back to Kaladin and Moash, those are the two characters defined by their experiences as members of the downtrodden caste, so I personally sort of judge the problematic-ness of the whole story by how they get treated. Everyone loves to talk about how those two are foils. So. In order to strengthen Kaladin and Moash’s characters, either Elhokar needs to be as much of a monster as Amaram, or Amaram needs to be just as sympathetic and conflicted and having-of-a-toddler as Elhokar. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely love the trope of finding at the end of a revenge quest that the person you hated has changed and grown. But I hate how this means that Moash’s hatred is wrong and unjustified, whereas Kaladin’s is validated at every turn. I don’t actually dislike Elhokar. I mean I think he’s a bad person, but I like a lot of characters who are bad people. I just think that if this story really wants to grapple with class and race (because it sure brings them up a lot for a story that doesn't want to talk about them), then Moash is a much more important character than him, with a lot more to add to that kind of discussion, which is why I think Elhokar’s characterization would have to come second to Moash’s development. (Obviously if this series were being reworked to be better on this topic, Moash would have to be written with a lot more compassion in general, but this post isn’t about him.)

Intermission time. Gavilar.

Gavilar is already perfect, 10/10, great character all around, what a guy, no notes, no wonder he’s so universally beloved among all of the fans, social justice icon.

Okay onto Navani.

I may not be the best person to talk about Navani. She has never been a favorite character of mine, and so compared to the others I haven’t thought as much about her values or the way she thinks or the narrative impacts of her actions. Someone who has more love for her would probably write better criticisms of her. (I’m going to reject any premise that falls along the lines of “Navani isn’t racist because she feels X,” but I’m not wholly confident in my analysis here, and I welcome any good faith critiques both of my own thinking and of her character when come at from other angles.) It’s hard to say where she should have grown from how she starts out viewing darkeyes because I don’t actually know how she starts out viewing darkeyes. I know I’m probably meant to assume she just treats everyone equally because she’s a Good Person on Team Good Guys, but it’s hard to just accept that she had all around good values when she married a warlord and was in love with his more violent brother. I dunno, was her “good guy” status meant to have always been an element of her character, or did she get it secondhand from her association with the new and improved Dalinar? With someone like Adolin, we got to see what shitty values he held at the start of Way of Kings (I’m talking about the Alethi warmongering, not his interest in fashion) but we also got to see how his father gradually won him over throughout the course of the book, and then later on we get to see him develop further on his own. For someone like Navani, I find it strange how she’s always so proactively supportive of Dalinar in everything, even when his own goals and values are in flux. I assume her character is just meant to be super ride or die when it comes to her family, and I do like that in a character, but that also means that she’s been wholly willing to support or at the very least excuse her family’s oppression and exploitation of darkeyes without comment. (See, Lirin is a much better parent than Navani, he would never have let his son start a whole genocidal vengeance war for fun and profit (I say this as if I’m joking but I’m kinda not.)) Some people have reminded me that she was pretty much shut out of the political process by Gavilar and Elhokar, and I agree with that, but I don’t really have any evidence that she would have cared much about darkeyes even if she had been more involved. In general it just seems like the whole topic doesn’t matter much to her. So what I would wish for the narrative would be to lean further into this. Draw attention to her cognitive dissonance and try and make the readers feel conflicted about her as a person. Highlight the fact that she’s willing to overlook the suffering that befalls other families if it means success for her own. I think one of my issues with her is that to me, this is a major (and interesting!) character flaw, but the books never seem to treat it as such. Honestly I think if this were intentional, I’d probably find her character really interesting, but from my reading of the text, I feel that I’m supposed to think of Navani as a generally decent person who’s by and large on the right side of things. The thing is, with the caste system playing such an integral role in their culture, I think she needs to have some sort of feelings about it, or else the fact that she doesn’t should be an issue to overcome. Otherwise she becomes another factor delegitimizing racial oppression as a real and important problem. If she’s a good guy and she doesn’t care about racism, then that’s saying you don’t have to be antiracist to be a good person in this world.

Probably could have done that one better. I dunno. Leave me angry and hateful comments if I’m totally misrepresenting your favorite character. Moving on.

Adolin already has some great character development across the books. And he already has kind of engaged with this stuff in his story. Unfortunately, that’s less used in the “this person was racist but is becoming better sense” and more used in the sense of “Kaladin learns that #NotAllLighteyes are bad” which is pretty unfortunate for a number of reasons. Especially since, if he actually was going to prove he’s different from other lighteyes, out of all the Kholins I think Adolin is the best candidate for being a full on class traitor. I’m serious, looking back over the events of his plotlines, it would suit him shockingly well while disturbing the overall narrative shockingly little.

Adolin’s current plot is loosely as follows: in Way of Kings he likes all the things someone of his station is supposed to like, clothes, violence, dueling, warfare, swords, hangtime with the guys, all the good stuff. At the beginning of the book he doesn’t understand why old, stuck-up Dalinar can’t just let loose and be a relelntless war-monger like everyone else, but by the end of the book he’s come to understand a certain value to honor and thus has begun to become a better person himself. Words of Radiance has him lose his popularity, fall out of favor with all of his friends, grow disillusioned with his society, perform a prison sit-in in solidarity with Kaladin, and murder Sadeas. Most of this is done again, because of his father, and how Adolin now wants to help and support him and his ideals. In Oathbringer he mostly isn’t involved in courtly politics, being away on a mission for much of it, but he does make a pretty big move by rejecting the throne. In Rhythm of War we see the schism that’s formed between him and his father until he leaves on another long-distance mission. Summary over. In general I reject the idea that making the Kholins be individually less racist makes for a better, or more nuanced and compassionate discussion of the topic, but if anyone is primed for a “lighteyes learns racism is wrong” character arc, I think it’s Adolin. Imagine him following a bit less in Dalinar’s footsteps and a bit more in Jasnah’s. You almost don’t even have to change any story beats: in getting to know Kaladin, something clicks in Adolin where he realizes that if he wants to treat Kaladin as his equal, he has to treat all darkeyes as equals, and so he realizes to his horror that he and his entire caste of friends and family are all monsters for treating them the way they do. (Actually, there is one plotline in WoR I’d probably scrap, and that’s his slowburn bromance with Kaladin. I mean I get what Sanderson was going for with the ribbing and then eventual friendship, but Kaladin was an absolute stranger who risked his own life to save Adolin and his father from certain death, and so I feel there should probably have been a bit more overt respect upfront there.) In pushing for his newfound belief in equality, he ends up burning through all of his intracaste goodwill and political capital, causing all of his friends to drop him. When he kills Sadeas, it doesn’t have to be about protecting Dalinar or about personal revenge, it could also be that he’s gotten to know Bridge 4 and learned firsthand about the atrocities they’d gone through, and so there’s no way he’d allow such a pioneer of human rights violations to stay in power. In the following books, maybe he’s become so politically toxic due to challenging the very foundations of his own power, his own family has to send him away on missions so he can’t rock the boat too much at home. Maybe refusing the throne was more of a political statement than a personal one, because he’s come to understand that being a ruler means oppressing thousands of others. Maybe this is another form of hypocrisy he criticizes Dalinar for, how Dalinar might claim to value darkeyes but how he still retains power bought with thousands of their corpses. None of this has to modify actual events very much, it just affects the reasons for them. And it would also meaningfully show why he gets to be a “good lighteyes” if he actually engaged with his status and rejected it, knowing it comes at the expense of others.

Okay, enough about that. Renarin maybe?

I won’t say too much about Renarin here, because I’d probably just end up repeating a lot of the same criticisms of how he’s used as a “good lighteyes.” From a narrative standpoint, all those criticisms hold for him as well. You know, he wants to join Bridge Four, and future-villain Moash doesn’t like the idea because he doesn’t trust lighteyes, but Kaladin reassures him that Renarin is a good boy, so don’t worry about it, and everything works out fine in the end, proving that lighteyes are good people just like you and me. This isn’t a problem with him as a person or character, it’s just more of that general theme of “the caste system is fine so long as nice people are at the top” which I clearly think should be interrogated. Thus far, in contrast to the rest of his family, Renarin is very young and has had much less of a political presence, not to mention fewer POV chapters anyway, so I think delving too much deeper here will feel a bit hollow to me.

Does Shallan count as a Kholin? I’d like to talk about her super briefly.

Unpopular opinion, but I actually think Shallan is one of the better characters on the topic of race insofar as how she’s written, especially compared to the other Kholins. But wait, I hear you say, what about all of her dozens of instances of casual racism? Yes, that’s what I’m referring to. I like how Shallan demonstrates how ingrained these harmful ideologies are in their society. I like how every time she has a distasteful thought, we the audience are reminded that racism still exists and even good people will continue to promote it if they don’t view it critically. I like that Shallan is problematic, because their society has problems! At least with her it doesn’t feel like the story’s trying to sweep the fact under the rug. There are plenty of issues with her writing, plenty of jabs at Kaladin that probably shouldn’t have been treated as cute. She’s actually the main character whose racism and classism I see criticized the most. And I think that’s a good thing! My issue with the Kholins isn’t that I think they should all be less racist, my issue is that their positions are inherently oppressive, and it seems as though the narrative doesn’t think that matters so long as deep down they’re good people. When people critique Shallan in specific instances, I tend to see a fair amount of consensus and agreement there, but when I critique the Kholins people will argue with me by pointing out that Dalinar/Adolin/Navani/whoever actually treats darkeyes as equals, so my arguments are invalid. Purely my own anecdotal experience of course, but it tends to make me think that there’s something in Shallan’s writing that’s working right, something that isn’t working for the other lighteyed characters.

Now obviously with all of this, I’m not saying I want these books to have more racism in them. What I’m arguing is that if the books are going to explore the topic (which they do) then they should treat the topic with an appropriate amount of gravity rather than acting as if it can be solved by having aristocrats become nicer people.

If you’re still here with me, thank you for reading, I love you, I hope you enjoyed yourself through my descent further and further into rambly nonsense. If you just scrolled to the bottom, that’s fair enough, there won't be a tl;dr but you’re welcome for filling your dash with massive text blocks.

#i'm going to be super nice and not put this post in any of the respective character tags #you're so welcome #i don't even know what to tag this as no one actually blocks ''long post''#i could tag it as discourse but my discourse tag is usually reserved for moash posting #also i genuinely am happy to read discussion about any of these points #i can't guarantee i'll reply to all of it but i welcome good faith disagreements (or agreements i suppose.)#except for my points about gavilar #try to argue with me there and i will make fun of you sorry #i should fully reactivate this blog but JUST for gavilar posting #preemptive faq response - q: why is this so long please put this under a cut. a: it's literally your fault for following me.

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orcelito · 1 month

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Ok here's a question for y'all

I'm gonna get all 3 eventually, but I need to decide on one first, and I keep going back and forth on it. Bellybutton would take the longest to heal so doing that first could be beneficial. But at the same time, if I go swimming this summer, that could be a problem...🤔 idk idk idk. Give me opinions pls 🥺

#speculation nation #no guarantee i'll follow the poll's results but it might sway my opinion #help me make a decision im begging U

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victimized-martyr · 9 months

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Did you ever mention how you got into kyman? Personally speaking, I got into it (again) around 2020 when I rewatched sp, and I basically fell down the rabbit hole. I’ve been into it on and off since then.

I probably did somewhere, but I'll say it again!

I wanted to see what SP was all about so I decided to just watch the most recent episode/special at the time-- post covid. But I realized, it was a story that wasn't forgiving for newcomers, and I had NO idea who was who. I have vivid memories of being weirded out by the redhead guy being upset about the rabbi dude's wife and kids. Then when he said "did you know that he once snuck into my room and gave me fucking aids?!" I GASPED bc one, it was super out of nowhere, super crude, and two, I falsely assumed like, OHHHHH they're gay exes... that explains this weird behavior. I'm sorry what else was my dumb ass supposed to assume! And I watched the rest of the special viewing them in that context hgkd But when I started to properly watch the show from the beginning/ hop between episodes, I felt embarrassed for myself, I was like HOW on earth could I have made that false assumption. I was actually grossed out by the thought of kyman at the start! I knew that Cartman was obsessed with Kyle, and that they did care for each other as friends, but I couldn't fathom Cartman's obsession being anything genuine or Kyle reciprocating. I even made a post abt it on my main as I was watching the show, it might still be in there somewhere lol. I was happy just watching the show as is and I was like, dang! This might be the first thing I get into without shipping anyone! Then, my buddy @shpadoinkle-day texted me what was practically the kyman manifesto and urged me to "wait till seasons 20/21, it'll change everything"

at the same time, an irl buddy watched THAT moment in Manbearpig w/ me for the first time and went "that's... kinda fruity" and I was also like?? yeah?? damn... Then I saw seasons 20/21 and it opened up my eyes. I think it was the only seasons I was so enthralled with to completely binge in one night ghfksd and I. was. floored. Kyle crying over cartman? during a montage of couples breaking up? Kyle being speechless when he saw cartman get a gf? Kyle questioning if he liked heidi, Kyle's stupid ass "we're all going out with Cartman right now", how he inserted himself in the relationship so hard, yet when taking heidi from cartman, talks as if he wasn't doing it for Heidi. His frustration at Heiman was at the very top in list of justification at bombing a country (yes, Kyle says he's upset a girl he liked turned into cartman... but there's layers in that statement, esp. compared to kyle's actions). Kyle memorizing the day they got together, confronting Heidi and asking how Cartman is doing as a boyfriend, what specifically she finds about him that's redeemable (and we all know how Kyle is about finding the good in people), batshit insane things a normal person (like stan) wouldn't ask his friend's girlfriend. And then of course, Kyle dropping all that effort when they break up. Insanity. I realized the obsession was mutual, and rewatching the show in that context completely rerouted my watching experience with the show. It kinda made it funnier for me too lolol. I started picking up on all the evidence I saw shippers point at, and I got what they meant fr. Kyle and Cartman are assholes and poke at each other's insecurities, have hurt each other, yet will not let the other die, Kyle is usually the first one to call for cartman if something happens to him, he saves him when he doesn't deserve it, and Cartman, as stated by Stan, cannot live without him. And it's subtly shown he wouldn't keep kyle just to rag on, bc if that were the case, he would not hesitate to hold it over Kyle's head. Their feelings for each other are very complex, and--if you really pay attention to the show--mutual.

#kyman #this is all a word dump i'm sorry if it doesn't make sense #asks #the weird Thing happening between these two characters is damn chaotic and mutual. I ain't sayin u gotta ship them cos you dont gotta #but to say it's one sided or not there at all is a misread of the show. I'll die on that hill.#Like they're so. fucking weird that it's a reoccurring joke that they get mistaken for a couple. or people easily believe they're together #The shock of them being together is. kinda the joke. as seasons go by #matt and trey love making them fruity or putting them into fruity situations and the sooner u accept 'hey that's gay af' the funnier the #show is i promise y'all #believing kyman is one sided or not there does little for the 'he gave me aids when we were young' joke. if u accept they fruity? bursting #out laughing i guarantee

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knifefightandchill · 24 days

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who do you think would ultimately when in a fight?

saddler, simmons, or wesker?

I know this is a joke ask, but I’ve legitimately put thought into this. Also coming from your armand blog makes this question so much better. Also the fact that you said when not win.

I’ve been wracking my brain over this all night long, because every time I think I have a solid answer, something changes my mind.

Because there are so many different factors and scenarios that could come into play. Especially when it comes to Wesker. Like are we talking just prototype virus? His injections in 5? full blow Uroboros Wesker? Does he have any resources? Like he’s a wild card. Is this DBD? Do I have to think about eldrich horrors??

So, let’s break this up into multiple parts; Saddler vs. Wesker, Saddler vs. Simmons, Wesker vs. Simmons, and the massive mess that would be all 3 at once.

Before we get into the the fun part, I wanna go over like their respective abilities and mutations ahead of time to make it simpler.

Starting with Lord Saddler.

(and I will be taking RE4R into account.)

We’ve got his human form, his final boss form, and the giant wreathing tentacle mass that is his final final form. He's also able to mutate parts of himself on a whim, and quickly go back.

With his human form he’s extremely fast, has a healing factor that allows him to not only heal literal headshots in a matter of seconds, but shoot projectiles back at assailants. When he wants. He’s very resilient. and terrifying.

His ability to call and bring in novistadors in both his human and final boss form makes for some really useful backup.

In his final boss form he’s slower, but massive, and can jump pretty fucking high. He's got sharp points at the end of his spider-y legs and those sharp boney tentacles at his disposal. Sure his weakspot is out in the open, but he can also crush people with the pincers(??) on his head.

The final final form is a massive immobile mass of writhing leviathan sized tentacles. Those can pack a punch by simply slamming down into things. Granted, he's the most vulnerable in this form.

Now onto Mr. Bolo tie, Simmons.

With enhanced C-Virus, Simmons has the ability to mutate indefinitely, and without the need to turn into a chrysalis like with regular C.

He can shift/shuffle back and forth to his human form regardless of a couple of his forms. which is both useful and a really really big disadvantage. Makes it easy to kick the shit out of him.

So, that being said, his notable mutated forms are beast/centaur, gigantosaurus, and the giant fly. The first being very fast, and able to shoot projectiles. Plus claws and all that. The second is well, a big ass B.O.W. dinosaur. He's big, has some bone plating, and has some really big teeth. Imagine dinosaur things, he can do those.

Without zombies or something to consume in order to heal and mutate further, I don’t think his giant fly form is applicable. Though maybe he could eat novistadors? if it came to that? But regardless, it has its sheer size going for it. we need really really big fly tape.

And now the ball of worms that is Wesker.

After injecting the Prototype virus, Wesker gained super human abilities. He can move so fast that it looks like he’s warping. He’s strong enough to punch a hole through a person’s chest, and catch and hold back rockets. What were the developers of RE5 on.

Being very skilled in both armed and unarmed combat, his melee is just as strong if not stronger than weaponry. If we look at him in Mercenaries, and Rev:2 raid mode, he’s a force to be reckoned with. especially with that big knife.

Throw Uroboros in the mix and things really start heating up.

It makes him bigger, even stronger, and gives him so many worms. Err, tentacles?? Tendrils?? Uroboros is one of those nasty viruses that consumes all organic matter it comes in contact with, and uses it to grow.

Wesker, however, doesn’t really use it in that manner? But I imagine it’s painful for others just getting touched by it.

Uroboros also makes Wesker extremely resilient and resistant to most damage. This man had to take a rocket launcher to the face in order to die, despite sinking in literal lava. So this generally unstable virus gives him one hell of an advantage. But does he really need it to be a threat in this fight?

So lets get into it finally !!

Saddler Vs. Simmons;

So ultimately, I think Simmons would win.

They’re relatively evenly matched, I don’t think it would be hard for Saddler to handle Simmons’ centaur form. He has the speed, the ability to throw his projectiles right back at him. Doing enough damage would cause Simmons to shuffle back to normal, which makes him really vulnerable. Even if Saddler had to mutate, his final boss form could deal with him easy. But Simmons always comes back.

Gigantosaurus Simmons has the upper hand. Most of his head is just a giant mouth with some big teeth.

He also has a lot of bone on him, which helps him get some defense. Final boss Saddler is all limbs and tentacles. One good bite from Simmons can cripple him. I think it’d take more than one bite to rip off a piece of him, but biting and tearing is still going to do damage. Sure, Simmons’ weak point is in his mouth; but aiming for that comes with the risk jaws closing around said tentacles.

If Saddler is able to do enough damage to cause Simmons to shuffle back into a human, then he could crush him or impale him easily. However, it’s a matter of can he do that much damage fast enough? Before he goes down? Or is badly hurt? The odds would be super close. BUT. He keeps coming back.

Saddler wouldn’t be doing too hot by the time he turned into a fly, and sure, that form isn’t as strong, Simmons’ attacks are really meh. But it’s fresh, it’s at full health, and I think our dear lord would be limping into that fight.

It’d be bloody and long and close, but I think Simmons would come out on top. Based solely on his dinosaur form and having whittled Saddler down over time.

Saddler Vs. Wesker

Against Saddler’s human form, Wesker could hold his own without weaponry. It wouldn’t be easy, Saddler’s ability to heal alone would be a massive pain. With weaponry, even if it was just a gun and a knife, he’d do infinitely better. I do think Saddler would be able to get the drop on him like he did with Ada though, in the right circumstances. Then he can dangle him and lure chris into a fight.

As far as final boss form goes, Wesker can hold his own for a while without weaponry, but he wouldn’t win. Saddler is too big, and too strong. Honestly, it’d be a really long game of cat and mouse. With weaponry, even just a knife and a handgun, he’d win. Listen, if Leon could do it, Wesker can do it easier and better.

If he was infected with uroboros, then it would be a more intense and interesting fight. Both have ranged attacks involving tentacles/tendrils. Despite still being a lot smaller than Saddler’s boss form, his amplified physical strength would put him on same level regardless of body size. Not to mention he becomes much more resilient against attacks. It’s a matter of out-surviving the other one.

I think Wesker would ultimately win. He’d find a way regardless.

Simmons Vs. Wesker.

The same thing applies when it comes to him vs. Simmons. If Leon can do it, Wesker can do it even better. Granted in this case, Leon needed help. So I’m keeping that in mind. Without uroboros, Wesker would need weapons of some sort and a way to use the environment to his advantage. Especially against the dinosaur form. Because it does have that armored plating, and only has one weakpoint.

His speed would help him dodge centaur projectiles, as well as rush attacks, also any stomping done by the dinosaur form. But doing damage to his stronger mutations is where he falls short. Or at least, doing damage quickly. Uroboros would put him on equal footing. He’s a smaller target than Saddler, a bit harder to get. Has some good ranged attacks that can chip away at his defenses. And the best part? Simmons can bite off his tendrils. It wouldn’t hurt Wesker. Sure he’d have to reabsorb the pieces, but it wouldn’t hurt him. Hell they could start truing to consume Simmons if he doesn’t spit them out.

And once Simmons shuffles back down to a person? He’s going to get wrecked. Even if he manages to reach his fly form. It just might take Wesker a little longer.

All 3 of them in one giant fight;

It’d be one giant mess, and honestly someone should just nuke the whole thing. Wesker wouldn’t win, he’d get away to survive. Saddler and Simmons? That’s a fight to the death. A big bloody fight.

In conclusion;

Wesker is OP. When I started writing this whole thing I didn’t think it would be Wesker. In fact I was almost certain it would be Simmons. Sorry Saddler :c ily. but after looking into things, Wesker really stood out.

A great litmus test for this is if Leon can kill it, it’d be a lot easier for Wesker to do so.

Ultimately, I’m no expert. I’ve confused myself so many times while writing this, and I’m sure there’s contradictions. But I still had fun with it and put some thought and research into it.

If you made it this far thank you! I hope you enjoyed it, or found it interesting.💕💕

I really love questions like this, and sharing my thoughts. (even though I go overboard.) And if anyone wants to weigh in with their thoughts, opinions, headcanons and all that, please do! It’ll be a fun conversation. I’m also down for more asks like this ngl xD

dividers are by saradika-graphics who can be found here!

#asks #meta #listen i can't guarantee next time i get an ask like this i'll go this crazy with it but there's always a chance!!!#also listen i had to make the little graphic for it because i've had those clanmaster pictures for ages #derek c simmon #albert wesker #osmund saddler #sorry for any like big grammatical errors i have been up aaaaaallllll night with this and i really wanna get it out into the world #re

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ktarsims · 7 months

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So, a few months later than intended, I have followed through on learning how to turn my photos into Sims 3 artwork. This was my test case photo. (Original for comparison. Click to see it full size.)

I'm not entirely satisfied with the results of my attempt to make the photo look more like artwork so that it won't be overly photo-realistic for the game, but I can tweak that process as needed. (Third image added for a possible texture tweak I'm kinda liking.)

SO. Now that I know how to do this... Does anyone have suggestions for frames? I used s3oc to clone the Giraffe Family photo here just as a test case.

I'll also take requests for which photos (or which flower types) you'd like to see as Sims artwork.

#ts3 #sims3 #ts3 wip #ts3 artwork wip #I can maybe actually call myself a creator after this #I've never felt pattern conversions really count #Since I don't make any patterns of my own #Which I suppose is being harsh on myself but eh #So let me know what type of flowers or which photos you'd like to see as artwork!#no guarantees on how fast I'll get them done though #simblreen is coming up though #maybe my first flower artwork will make it for simblreen

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