#Way to go Zero

[mochasucculent]

Was looking at refs and since Viktor has two different leg braces I was wondering, do we think he wears them simultaneously?? The refs don't perfectly line up perspective-wise so it's hard to tell but parts of the one he wears during the Hexcore scenes look like they could maybe line up with the brace that he wears over his clothes, but also some parts really don't and look like they'd be super uncomfy. Also HOW does he take these on and off. Experts weigh in

[artbymesa]

Playing Mass Effect for the first time in 2025 and This is basically what Shepard did, right

Am I missing something

[fictionadventurer]

The Lord of the Rings is so full of goodness. It's good on a literary quality level, but it's also just crammed full of good things written by a guy who understands goodness. It's good on a literary level, good on a moral level, good in its appreciation of so many different kinds of good things. You've got the vastness of ancient myths and the homely coziness of small towns and casual heroism from the most ordinary people. It knows a hot bath is good, an ancient legend is good, giving up everything and everyone you've known in a desperate attempt to save the world is good. So many different layers of what good is, and it understands and appreciates all of them. Very few books are to-the-core Good the way that this one is.

[stealingpotatoes]

I hope Aloy found some chappell roan databanks before those Talanah quests bc she NEEDED good luck babe

(commission info // tip jar!)

[storiesconsumemysoul]

Stupidly Long Incoherent Ramblings on Lanfear, Rand, and Egwene

I feel like we are only discussing the Lanfear play with Egwene and Rand as jealous vindictiveness but we are truly not giving her enough credit. Every action she's taken so far this season has strategically resulted in, once again, slowly isolating Rand from his support system. Required conditions to secure her hooks - that have been rudely slightly dislodged - back in him. And in her eyes, Egwene is pretty much the last major obstacle.

By end of S1, Rand was alone, pretty much resigned to going mad and dying in the near future, cut off from all that he has ever known and loved, and terrified of his own mind and body. Selene makes herself a place of safety, companionship, trust, but most importantly, strength. She was the second relationship he'd ever had. With an older worldly woman who still wanted him, a clueless country bumkin. As he put it perfectly, she made him feel like a man (2x4). While he is extremely vulnerable, isolated, and terrified out of his mind, she made him feel stable and capable. That is an incredibly potent connection that does not get dissolved by the reveal of who she is. Especially since all of the reasons why he was vulnerable and isolated are still factors at play. He's still the Dragon. With all that that entails.

In the backend of S2 Lanfear has to resort to explicit forceful methods and make deals and transactions because the relationship has been damaged. But after she gets to be his big savior (2x7) she now gets to go back to building their dynamic again with more subtlety. Namely, by recreating the conditions that got them together in the first place.

We start S3 with explicit acknowledgment that 1) Lanfear is invading his dreams and trying to interfere in his decisions, 2) He is not being swayed and is instead working with friends again, and most importantly, 3) He told Moiraine about it! And what does Lanfear do? Bubble of evil that kicks every member of his entire support system exactly where it hurts them most -> makes them all splinter in different directions -> makes Moiraine (and Lan) her accomplice in that act of betrayal and cruelty establishing some real mutual destruction leverage over Moiraine where Rand's trust and compliance is concerned. Even though he still chooses to not go after the sword, that's still impressive work. And of course, continuously torturing Egwene in her dreams every night since she is the last holdout staying with him.

The scene in (3x5) when Rand says that he and Egwene haven't had a moment alone to talk since Rhuidean really stood out to me since the last we saw of Egwene in (3x4), she was desperately trying to catch his eye. To connect. Of course, since it's clear that Lan and Moiraine hadn't talked either (until settling in from their travels) that tells me that there just wasn't a chance for heart to hearts on the way from Rhuidean. But Lan gets to it basically the moment there is an opportunity because babygirl came out of Rhuidean in absolute shambles and he needed to get on that ASAP. But Rand (who's doing a great job pretending he's not going through it) and Egwene can't work towards reconnecting and really processing the shitshow that is their lives together because ... oh yeah ... Egwene is slightly preoccupied by being tortured nightly by a goddamn forsaken. Lanfear actively and materially benefits from keeping Egwene strung out and preoccupied. I really don't think it's the simple petty satisfaction of it all that she's really after. And The Wise Ones, wisely, prioritize teaching Egwene how to defend herself as quickly as possible over having heart to hearts with her dubious-status-boyfriend. Which means Rand, who is totally Fine(TM) and in no urgent need of a heart to heart, once again only finds real refuge with one person.

Repeatedly triggering and retraumatizing Egwene, who is still stubbornly sticking by Rand, ensures that she continues to have a hard time with intimacy of any kind anyways. Which is in turn also somewhat triggering for Rand since his biggest fear is hurting those he loves. And Egwene tensing up, flinching away, and distancing herself from him - as much as he understands isn't actually about him - well ... still is a particularly rough experience for him too. Their bubble event was truly perfectly calibrated to severely mess both of them up. Add on to that both of their nightmares, the arches, and Rhidean? Yeah. So, naturally, the distance between them grows and grows because Lanfear is pushing all the right buttons at such a crucially vulnerable time for both of them. Egwene needs her own refuge in order to protect herself from even more trauma, and Rand finds relief in the only familiar place of comfort still being eagerly (against his will) offered to him.

And it is so important that he finds his refuge in dreams instead of clandestine real world meetings. For one, it allows him legitimate deniability. He's not like ... seeking her out and he doesn't have control of this space so ... you know? Is it so wrong to soak in whatever comfort he can from the continued invasion of his mind by a near all-powerful being? And I really don't want this to be misconstrued as "oh he secretly wanted it so Lanfear is doing nothing wrong there actually" type of argument. What I'm trying to get at is this: making your target feel complicit in their own abuse because you put them in a position to "enjoy" some part of it is very much so an abuser tactic (the cult dude ritualistically performing oral sex on his victims as part of their initiation into his inner circle comes to mind).

Two, his dreams without her are nightmares where he commits his worst fears. And taking the alternative of having a nice little chat with his ex(?) in their "love cabin of simpler times" sure is a no brainer. The waking world and his dreams are terrifying and painful, but Lanfear can give him refuge in a safe little warm bubble. All for the cheap cheap price of indulging her advances a little. Three, seeing Lanfear in Rhuidean reinforced a thing we have seen him kind of realize but not really confront. Which is that Lanfear (and Ishamael) have a real meaningful connection with some version of him. And he can say all he likes that he's not Lews Therin but it doesn't make the grain of truth there go away (I often think about the strange lovely tenderness he shows Ishamael in his last moments). But like ... the hell is he meant to make of all that anyways? Nothing realistically. Except when he's in this strange liminal "unreal" space ... who can blame him for trying to feel out the shape of that connection?

And four, in controlling the setting of his dreams, Lanfear gets to naturally invoke Selene and all the ways Selene made him feel, all the warm fuzzy feelings associated with that place, and time, and lover. Even while he actively distrusts Lanfear. It's why her "there is a way for me to escape the dark one ... oh what am I saying let me dramatically dip real quick" thing is so effective. She's sitting on their bed, in the warm glow of their cabin, vulnerable and allowing him the opportunity to step into the role of a stable and safe version of himself. The opportunity to be in a place of safety and strength again for his own sake AND be a place of safety and strength for her. Again, that quote about making him feel like a man is so important, especially when he's vulnerable and so terrified of himself. So when he meets Mierin, of course he's going to latch on to her goodness. It's everything he saw in Selene. And everything Lanfear had been subtly priming him into keeping at the forefront of his mind and heart throughout their interactions. She has slowly but surely positioned herself back where Selene was. As a place of respite, comfort, and strength. Of course, of course, he would be tempted by the idea that that version of her can be saved. Can be made real again.

Now the real risk with her shenanigans in (3x5) is that, surely, Egwene is going to tell him that Lanfear has been the one hurting her this whole time. Which could be a massive blow that ruins the fruits of all her work. But I think Lanfear is taking that calculated risk now because she feels secure in her position. Secure enough to forcefully sever the connection between him and the last person in his support system close enough for him to seek in them what he found in Selene. She's betting on his anger being mitigated by growing more desperate for comfort when isolated fully again.

I don't know if this play is gonna work out for her the way she wants. But I can't deny that I respect the hustle. Truly villain-ing at the highest messiest degree.

[lucabyte]

heres your highly requested fluff you fucking animals

[bytebun]

my piece for @thecodywanzine! thanks to the mods who let me go completely ham and cheese on this bad boy. this one's about living longer than you ever expected and not knowing what to do with it

[tls12lessthan3]

posts inspired by the orv yuri discord's discussions about yoo joonghyuk's long journey of exploring her identity and learning to understand herself, which results in a coming out that kim dokja responds to in the most insane case of monkey see monkey do by going 'well, i guess we're women now' and trying to subtly copy yoo joonghyuk's outfits.

[anjelia3]

"Buffy? What's going on? Where are we? I- I don't remember."

[waitineedaname]

putting aside being sad about binghe for now, I was looking for the first time sqq directly compares binghe to a maiden, and as far as I can tell, the first time he calls him a maiden is this part:

To push him away during this moment would be like giving a young maiden -- one who'd finally worked up the courage to call and brokenheartedly weep to an older sister for comfort and encouragement -- a face-turning slap. It was really a bit cruel. (Chapter 11 in vol. 2 of the English translation)

this stands out to me because this is shortly after he finally realized binghe is attracted to him, while he's still grappling with the fact that he's "turned binghe gay." it's yet another example of sqq equating being gay with femininity -- he knows binghe is into men now, and thus begins him repeatedly referring to binghe's behavior as that of a maiden's

but the other thing that stands out to me about this quote is that sqq is also making himself a girl in this metaphor. I know the translation is probably lacking here and he's probably using jiejie to mean generic older female friend as opposed to jiejie meaning older sister, but still. shen qingqiu, why are both of you girls in this mental metaphor. hello. shen qingqiu are you aware that making both of you girls does not make it any less gay. shen qingqiu are you listening to me. shen qingqiu yes it's still gay when you're both girls

[y-elleven]

it's easy to fall for bunny but it's hard to fall in love with bunny, if that makes sense. kinda hard to love and stay in love with a guy who can't stomach all the joy he sees in your eyes when you're with him. who treats giving and receiving affection like you're just trading bracelets at a concert or candies at lunchtime. who treats you well because he's not so much of an ass that he'd mistreat you on purpose (because he likes you, genuinely) but also keeps you at arm's length. you fall for his pretty face and that effortless charm, sure, but honestly? it's easier for you to like him as a friend than to ever seriously consider him as a lover. he makes it easy. he jokes instead of flirts, is thoughtful without being too giving, and looks at you with no expectation. being his friend is the kinder, easier option. for both you and him. even though it makes his skin crawl and his bones ache with the force of his wanting

[copia]

endless ghifs 18/? ⛧ source — "the ancient serpent deceiver..."

[gentle-hero-blog]

Original zero suit design I’ve been sitting on for a while

[odd-chips]

So I've been teasing this character in my tags/posts for a while, and she's finally hereeee. Anyways WHOOPS, another self indulgent Lethal Company character who is basically the Wario version of [Cap'n]!

Meet Echo and her crewmates: Orion (goggle'd circle-shaped one), Spade (short one with big arms), and Guy (shapely GNC one). Being the opposite of Cap'n's crew, they're all men EXCEPT for Echo!

At first, she started out as a grown woman having a one-sided, very pathetic beef with Cap'n, but she evolved into an angry teenager who projects all of her issues onto someone who literally doesn't know she exists (and subsequently does something horrible to herself to rectify this weird beef). Did it work? Well no, come on, look at her, now she's even worse GOKJDFMKDF

And when I say "one-sided", I mean it. Genuinely Cap'n doesn't know who she is, like, at all. I think the first time they meet will be the inevitable werewolf fight between the two of them when things get out of hand.

Anyways I love the kidnapper fox, but alas, she was too swag for this world, RIP to a real one that lasted a month and a half. u_u)!!

[kirby-the-gorb]

[hplonesomeart]

*guilty sigh* There’s no coming back from this one boys—throwing all my self respect and artistic dignity out of the window right now, oopsie woopsie! Listen the longer we don’t hear any news or updates about him from the SMG4 channel, the more I go stir crazy clawing at my fixation enclosure making Puzzle art to cope. His hold over me is getting stronger every day /j

(flipped/vertical version under the cut)

You could spin the angle/reposition the canvas vertically as well if looking down at him is more your thing. Oh the power I have been granted to manipulate reality as an artist is unmatched >:3

I mostly wanted my hand to guide me into practicing drawing odd angles like this, where the head appears closer to the viewer then legs/lower body. Almost like forced perspective? But I didn’t use any reference images…so you let me know if this works or looks wonky lmao