#and the flu and other stuff

[3gremlins]

ngl it bums me out how fast everyone hopped off masks not just for covid/communicable diseases but just the concept of revisiting personal safety equipment in general.

long post i guess

I've been taking a 5 week pottery workshop on wheel throwing (it's neat!) and we got up to glazing last week. When you glaze pots, the glaze starts as a a thick liquid and then dries really quick into a powdery form (on your clay piece). I was asking my instructor about clean up and she was like "oh you can just rub off the excess carefully, but try not to get dust in the air as it's a little toxic. obviously you're wearing a mask but the rest of us aren't"

(my partner and i wear masks b/c it's inside and that's just what we still do. it sucks but it's better than covid and also now inhaling dust/fumes)

I kinda wanted to respond "maybe we should all be wearing masks??" like if not for covid concerns, at least for the semi-toxic powder we're all just handling/some folks are breathing in O.O

(i didn't b/c tbh i'm still a little on edge with the going out/doing stuff in public thing/esp indoors and people misgender me/mispronounce my name constantly and honestly sometimes you just want to do ceramics and not fight with people. it also just didn't feel winnable)

I feel like there's so many things like that that people just disregard as a risk that don't need to be, but as a society (US at least), we just never wanted to have that conversation (it was at best, begrudging, at the height of government awareness of covid and now it's completely gone by the wayside). At this point people either respond negatively or aggressively to any suggestion of it.

But like we've all had that one art teacher/professor who was a little bit off b/c they'd just been inhaling toxic paint fumes their whole career and it was always written off as just a quirk/part of the job (maybe things are better now? new art students feel free to chime in) and not something that could have been mitigated.

idk, it just makes me sad that we never got to even have the conversation about how so many jobs/hobbies should use more personal safety equipment than they do (either b/c people feel inconvenienced by it or don't know).

(tangent but i remain appalled at how many people i see riding bikes/etc around here that don't wear helmets! it's fucking wild to me, like we had the "wear a helmet or your head will be shattered like an egg" demonstrations as early as elementary school in massachusetts. Like it's just silly not to, and yet so many people in cali are like "a helmet? i don't know her". Also adults will agree that children should, but they shouldnt?!? wear a helmet for biking/skating/etc is the hill i will die on, esp on pavement)

[matryoshkalex]

(click for better quality!)

inspired off of a conversation i had with a friend, heres a piece ive been (very slowly) working on.

i had a lot of fun with the shadowy figures, if you cant tell, and i FINALLY drew a maria im happy with so. overall really like how this one turned out. still need to practice drawing all the sth characters but i think im getting there!!

[inumbrapugnabimus-maybe]

some Zelda designs :)

[straycalamities]

heyyy. how was truffula flu supposed to end? who died? were there any planned events?

i dont even know how to accurately answer this anymore because of reasons and things other than: there's an old list of endings a couple of the writers of a few characters gave said character here

beanpole, one-ler, and rocky's are all still accurate and relevant as far as i know, but swag's is severely outdated and not true anymore

well i know rocky's is stlil accurate because we were so set and ready for it. it was supposed to be the very next big plot point before the blogs died. big shame it never happened because it was going to be epic.

last i heard 72 and ted's endings were set to be changed from what i knew them as. audrey's and dave's i won't reveal for my own reasons. and i never planned an ending for entre and that continues to be true.

we had at least (other than rocky's) two more big plot arcs to cover. honestly i think the RV/Stripmall arc was sorta the beginning of a snowball to an ending of sorts, but it never truly got rolling.

[iobartach]

👋

[articskele]

Woe, Pony Town Oncelers be upon ye!! Plus more pony-ified versions with different coat colors ouo

The Onceler always struck me as an earth pony, maybe a mule? I considered giving him longer ears

Both bc of his farming background, in reference to Melvin, and for the idea of making your way to the top through sheer hard work and innovation, not having to rely on any fancy powers!

And he's just so cute- I like how you can see the brown part of his gloves when he lies down ouo

He EEPY, featuring messy wet hair

And the Biggering AU version has his fancy peacock wings!

Biggerler, the man himself! Featuring a little trick that makes it look like he's got those long curly coattails ouo

Also an earth pony! I think the greyscale look really fits him, and that dark marking between his eyes makes him look especially serious

(There is a shark plushie in Pony Town that I would've added in reference to Viktor, but it's one of the Halloween collectables I don't have yet :pensive:)

A note about his neck, you can make things the same color as the in-game grass to create the illusion of it being invisible! So it's like his head is floating ouo

Pony Bitter's got a light green coat with darker ends of his ears, a lighter snout, and mark on his forehead that may or may not be foreshadowing-

And I made him a unicorn! I like the idea that an infected unicorn's magic turns yellow and unstable, so I'm picturing him lashing out at someone and his horn sparks

Which would add extra emphasis to the idea that he's dangerous, and something needs to be done fast.

ROCKYYYYYY- Sporting his skull bandanna and the little star on his goggles and everything! A pegasus this time, since those kinds of classic rock songs tend to use wing imagery

And the markings make him look like a bird ouo

And his second outfit! I looove love love how he goes from a nice blue to this murky blue-green, with the markings turning dull. The fiery wings are a reference to this post!

And lastly, have pony Artic with a little Onceler plushie ouo

[skippygiraffee]

Hi, I'm the Raileon anon from a while back. Thank you for answering my ask! I loved reading your thoughts, and I hope you don't mind if I ask you for some more. You mentioned Leon and Raihan were both fascinating characters to you separately as well, and I wanted to ask why you felt Raihan was fascinating? I have my own reasons ofc, but I'd be delighted to hear yours as well.

I absolutely never mind, thank you for the ask!! (even if it takes me a while to answer things sldjfksjf). genuinely I love talking about these characters, all the SWSH characters (and SuMo) really, and talking about Raihan is top tier for me. under the cut because it's both long and I have included images from the manga as little Raihan treats :3

in regards to Raihan, what a character, yeah? when I got this ask I immediately went into chat with @beammeupbroadway and we had the following exchange (she's the Furby icon, I'm the first message):

and to elaborate a little, we're all introduced to Raihan in the framing of him being Leon's rival, and we're not really reintroduced to him until midway through the game. so for a while we're left with this impression that Raihan is the hotheaded rival to Leon, setting them up with the same sort of framing as like Hop vs Bede (which is more a rivalry than with the player I argue) or even Red vs Blue (certainly with the Charizard and the color imagery at play with both Raihan and Leon's designs). Raihan is, at his core, a peek at what someone looks like when they grow up in the shadow of someone else.

it's stated in game he has different interests, hobbies, a career, but he's still Leon's rival Raihan. where his job as a Gym Leader and his work with the Hammerlocke Vault serve the narrative purpose of bringing the player closer to Leon and closer to solving the mystery of the Darkest Day, rather than things that allow us a better view of Raihan. not to discredit those moments, because they absolutely do allow us as to see more of Raihan, but I guess I want to argue that the game just uses them as a jumping off point to get to Leon. even Raihan's accomplishments as a Gym Leader and battler are framed within the context of him being so good he could be Champion of another region, but he can't beat Leon. from a world building and audience perspective I think it's interesting to see, but man, picturing that as how he's painted in Galar, in universe? where all of these insanely amazing accomplishments are pushed aside to market himself as Leon's rival I think genuinely ruined his self image, his self esteem, and the way he views anything he does. Raihan's social media presence got started because of Leon, even if he sometimes takes random pictures of sand storms, and the only thing removed from Leon is his love of fashion and history, but we don't even get to see a lot of that as the audience/player of the game because it's not relevant to the story in most cases, and definitely isn't relevant to Leon. this was definitely a little rambly, but at least right here I just think that like Raihan being literally overshadowed by Leon makes him fascinating to rotate around like a rotisserie chicken, because you take one whiff of that guy and you can tell he was spiced up with self loathing and angst strong enough to turn the average character into a straight up villain

ties to Leon aside, the little things about Raihan I adore ARE those little hobbies he has. fashion, history, social media all are super interesting, and ignoring the Gym Trainer battle with WEATHER EFFECTS INSIDE THE TAPESTRY VAULT aside it's clear he is a trusted expert on the matter. Sonia goes to him, even if it's a way to get the player closer to Leon Raihan is the one who grants access to the vault, and anyone who loves tapestries is immediately boosted in my books

his characterization in the manga is really cool, and I adore manga Raihan a lot. it's actually when I really fell in love with his character because he's given a lot of really neat moments, where he's kind of this key player in having everything come together. also he was a trouble maker when he was younger!!! which I think is a logical reaction to being pitted against the literal undefeated Champion for so long. but, allow me to picture that below:

I also love him spraying himself in the face with a potion after being poisoned by Eternatus in the manga. like yeah he's confused, but literally no other character is brought up, only Raihan which is funny to me

also him and Piers are just buddies!! which is neat, especially since in the post game of the base SWSH titles they're shown not to really have interacted that much

he's also super polite to Melony (my beloved Mummy Melony scene), and he's overall pretty fleshed out, with being both serious and goofy, while having this odd tension with Leon when it comes to serious moments

like it shows a lot of complicated things brewing under the surface for him, even in the manga, and I love how it keeps his characterization in tact, while expanding on it in a way that feels natural

I think in short, there's an argument to be made that Raihan could have been left as this one dimensional rival to Leon whose only purpose to push the player along their journey. a road block as a Gym Leader, a helper as the keeper of the vault, but nothing more. and yet he's a pretty fleshed out character, who has other stuff going for him. he could be so many things, and yet he's Raihan, the dragon guy who loves fashion, is a bit silly, but also takes things as serious as they need to be taken. who had a bit of a rebellious streak when he was younger, to the point Rose knows about it in depth. where, in game, he can flip from smiling like :3 to hunching over in the stadium yelling out moves. he's cool, like undeniably, but also not, and I love that skdjfklsfd. I think Raihan is a testament to the subtle ways the Pokemon writers can dish out characterization without explicitly writing things in, and I love him for it

[shuckstruck]

new year new me. i’m finally living on my own again. i’m sleeping in my condo for the first time!!! I’m so fucking happy!!!!

i’ve cried several times today: both because I was sad (mostly for leaving my mom’s dogs- especially angus, who I’ve raised since he was a puppy. Not to mention Oliver, who’s been especially sad bc of Siri’s passing.) and for happiness (I’m a first time homebuyer! this is the first place I’ve ever owned!! my finances are in the red but I’m going to figure it out!!!).

Either way, I’m so excited to finally be on my own again. I’m a different person when I don’t live with my mother.

My tipsy mother said I have to drink the champagne she bought me on the floor. like she did when she bought her house, and like mothers before me. AND I DID. on the floor of my bedroom- and my cat got up to butt his head into the back off mine when he heard my voice <3

[celepeace]

born to be the kinda person who goes on weird adventures and makes new friends all the time. cursed to be a chronic fatigue sufferer and stuck at home or alone in the woods meeting nobody and doing nothing

[feroshgirlsims]

Ok my heart is so full from ppl loving my completely unhinged machinima 😭😭😭 I have the flu and everything hurts but I’m so flattered y’all liked it ♥️😭♥️😭♥️

[randomnameless]

@zeroabyss replied to your post “RE thinking about King Gerard in Unicorn Overlord...”:

He also could have left those behind because he didn’t feel worthy of them, further cementing his doom. I can see the logic in making Knights loyal to the King(as they’re already minor nobility when Knighted) since that prevents the Nobles from leveraging their military might against the Crown. He probably even thought something like that could happen leading to him doing so, but he probably didn’t think about how he SHOULD have some allies of high enough positions to help assert such an action. Like in ASOIAF the most progressive King of Westeros turned to trying to resurrect Dragons precisely because all his progressive reforms for the smallfolk was a boon to the people who truly mattered, it alienated and made enemies of the rest of the nobility, leading him into such a desperate action at Harrenhal that killed him.

​The point I wanted to make wasn't about the creation of the Ashen Blue in general, but more about Gerard doing something, and then bailing out.

As you said, he might have thought that removing power from nobles by "hijacking" their vassals would have pissed those nobles, even if it would, theoretically prevent them from using their armies against the crown (the prologue is here to tell us that, uh, no it didn't work at all, Giethe was still knocking at Gran Corrine asking for Ilenia's death) -

But the main thing is, he bailed out instead of facing, himself, the ire of those nobles.

Like, he smashed a hornet's nest, and left his toddler daughter(s?) to deal with it :/

Doubling down on your comparison with ASOIAF, Gerard would be similar to Big Bobby B (Robert) as in Bobby loved to use his weapons and in general "win" the throne, but when it came to ruling and "counting coppers", he was less than thrilled and wanted to fig away.

we can even make a comparison with Bobby loving to, uh, sire and play with babies but as soon as he had to take responsability and raise the kids, he fucked off and left someone else to do it

If there is something I liked, even if it was surface explored because the game is not about this aspect at all, it's how, for Cornia at least, while we are told that Alain doesn't know jack about his country but vows to make a "better" Cornia after retaking it from his mom Galerius and pals, we are shown that Cornia, before the Zenoiran invasion, wasn't all roses and daisies and while Ilenia didn't have the same circumstances that Alain has (tfw you can't smash the people who oppose you because they ally with an invader) she tried her best to keep the situation from degenerating (like Hodor/Hodel? invading Drakengard for because during times of peace his skills are useless, or Reimann pulling an Izuka).

Re-Robert wise : the game seems the make a difference between a ruler who has to rule in times of peace aka no war (Ilenia), and a ruler who has to rule during a war (Alain).

Gerard was in the first situation, I guess he would have thrived in the second but, hey, Alain understands that he needs to rebuild his kingdom after all (thus rule "in times of peace") - something Gerard, despite having some ideas about what to do to make a "better" Cornia, ultimately didn't.

[pastelnightgale]

America Update: Pulled out of WHO, government health organizations barred from communicating with public without direct approval from the president...

[deathxproof]

hiiiii. hi. hiii. the thing is in recent history whenever I say I want to make an effort to start using this blog more I accidentally clown on myself. Which in retrospect is always kinda funny.

between new doctor who and schedule changes and stuff I am finally getting the fucking itch and ENERGY to start writing more often again. And I would like to use this blog more often again with that!!

BUT While I’m at it!!! If you wanna roleplay, plot, catch-up, etc, feel free to DM me, or you can catch me on discord @ canisonicscrewyou . And if you want to write or keep-up or anything else, I’m always Super Active on my personal blog @canisonicscrewyou <- mutuals & nonmutuals welcome to add/follow me on either !! I’ve been roleplaying way more on discord recently, and also oddly enough in the DMs of my personal blog + its side blogs.

but !!! hiiiiii hiiiiiiiiiiii I miss being here I miss the folks here. and a little life update: I’m also going by Ryker too/again!! :3 back in rotation. still call me Andrew too, that is also still my name.

[adore-gregor]

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[seenthisepisode]

i need help to manage my budget... by help i mean 3 million euro sent directly from heaven i guess

[majimassqueaktoy]

So, Jess I know you’re not an artist like your bestie in the entire world snap… but what does your art look like I remember you doodled this little pic for me of Tien with Choatzu’s make up lol but have you’ve drawn anything else?

Ya