#speaking of essays for school

[keferon]

May I ask what were the best transformers media you ever saw/read?

Well Transformers Prime, Transformers 1986 and IDW comics are having the first place that’s for sure

And then the second place is kind of shared by Fall of Cybertron, Exodus, Prime wars trilogy, Robots in disguise(2001) and Transformers One.

The third place goes to G1, Animated, Earthspark, Armada, War for Cybertron Netflix series, Aligned Robots in disguise, Bumblebee, Rise of the Beasts and Cyberverse because I only liked some little parts of them.

And then I also saw some of the Bay movies, Victory and Headmasters and didn’t like them at all.

Separate first place for J-Decker. It is not exactly Transformers but it is a show about giant robots and I loved it

[thevtuberlestat]

i've seen a lot of conversation about the ways that armand tries to recreate the marius-amadeo dynamic with daniel. and like he absolutely does do that, but i also think it's a useful exercise to identify the places where his treatment of daniel is very different from the way that marius treated him and the role this plays in their character arcs.

[trigger warning for everything discussion of armand's backstory involves involves, including sexual violence, physical abuse, and CSA]

marius-amadeo starts with a rescue, starts with amadeo being totally overwhelmed by pleasure and beauty. there are hints of darkness/evil underneath it--notably amadeo notices marius' sharp teeth, amadeo feels unsettled by marius' art and possible blasphemy, amadeo knows there is something inhuman about the act of drinking his blood. but for the most part he has no information about what is happening to him AND no control in it AND the experience is pleasant. the shopping trip, the gifts, the art, being taken care of, even the sexual elements* of the dynamic are immediately gratifying despite him having no context or control.

on the other hand, i think it's important that daniel goes in with ALL the context, the knowledge that he is seeking a monster (though, to be fair, not the one that he finds), and specific understanding that armand is, like, maaybe a touch problematic due to all the murder and stuff. and i think it's equally important that the relationship immediately fucking sucks for daniel -- armand locks him in a cellar for days and then torments and pursues him across several continents. they are decently far into their relationship before armand starts to play nice with daniel -- the gifts and trips and money are absent at first, then present as kinda incidental to keep the game of cat and mouse going, then become a genuine element of their dynamic. that's also when the elements of armand "taking care" of daniel are introduced--armand pulling daniel into the shower (hey, bath scene, where have we seen this), armand cooking for daniel, armand holding daniel when he's sick/withdrawing/etc.

so the arc there is inverted. marius at first appears as a well of generosity and care and then slowly reveals a monstrous side, which armand appears as a monster and slowly eases into generosity and care.

control is also pretty different between the two dynamics. both armand and marius are deeply controlling -- marius literally owns amadeo and tells him precisely how to use his time, expects him to think/act in very specific ways, pushes him into sexual situations he's not comfortable with. armand tells daniel that his nights belong to armand, wakes him up and drags him wherever his whims take them, bosses him around, literally makes him wear his name around his neck, pushes him into sexual situations he's not comfortable with. there are different vibes to this control - marius' status as head of household is societally sanctioned and his interest in amadeo's education often makes him come off as much more paternal, while armand's tendency to have daniel organize his plane trips and arrange business expenses makes him come off more as a boss, but enforcement is also really different.

marius enforces his will mostly through acts of physical abuse and expects strict compliance. the physical abuse spills messily into their bdsm dynamic (i would say there are several points in TVA where the lines between "i am punishing you for real because i'm mad for real" and "this is sexy punishment" are SUPER blurry, but i digress). marius grows angry with amadeo and hurts him until amadeo changes his behavior.

the pattern of control between armand and daniel is different from this in pretty substantial ways. armand doesn't tend to punish daniel's behavior with expectations of compliance -- he seems to badger daniel into doing what he wants through persistence, annoyance, and just sorta pushing him into it. see-- armand waking him up in the middle of the night, armand bugging him until he calls paris, armand physically pulling him around to do whatever it is he wants to do. when daniel puts his foot down and leaves, armand... doesn't tend to do anything about it. there's no system of punishment, there's no system of enforcing his will beyond wearing daniel down.

which i think brings me to my last thought. the movement between the two relationships differs in really interesting ways. marius leaves amadeo in venice, again and again, to visit the ones who must be kept. his tendency to skip town is the biggest point of conflict between them, and amadeo's reactions to this strongly shape the narrative. marius goes, amadeo stays.

meanwhile, with armand and daniel, it is daniel who leaves, again and again, before ultimately choosing to go back to armand, growing sick of it, and running away again. armand tries to spoil him, the attention grows suffocating, and daniel runs again. this feels notable. armand tries very desperately to seize full control of his relationship and still, five hundred years later, he's the one being left behind, the one waiting. *obviously, amadeo is being sexually abused; it is still sexual assault even if it is physically pleasurable in that moment -- i think the scene makes it clear that amadeo is pushed to do something he wouldn't have chosen to do on his own.

[faynthearted]

maybe I'm overthinking things, but whenever I see people talking about significant/transformative moments in tianshan's relationship (barring their fight, the kiss, the ear piercing, etc.), I'm always a little disappointed no one points out the scene where the boys are going through the cardboard boxes of random things from he tian's childhood and he tian says something to the effect of, "the entire world is out there but everything I've ever owned only fits in these two boxes" and then he discreetly places his hand palm-up between him and guan shan. and guan shan pauses for a moment before placing his glass in his hand. and then the chapter ends.

this moment is one of the few panels I've saved over the years:

like... it's short but there's so much emotion behind this scene, it's hard for me to put it into words succinctly. and it stands out to me because it's not particularly intense or climatic like their other big moments. it happens soon after she li assaulted guan shan on the riverbank — which was heavy on the drama and ultimately the catalyst for tianshan's relationship. he tian had also just been financially cut off from his family and guan shan had been physically and emotionally vulnerable/exhausted for some time. basically, things were still raw and hectic for both of them in different ways

so this quiet, subdued, and wordless interaction between them on the balcony was very interesting. I honestly think it's one of the first instances in which tianshan have a personal/intimate mutual understanding of one another without an outside force influencing it or the moment being interrupted. and somehow, it's both abnormal and very fitting that he tian didn't make a grand gesture in this moment. like, if you think about it, he simply turned his hand on the cushion and looked at guan shan. it wasn't obvious; he wasn't making a scene. but of course guan shan, hyperaware of him, noticed

and the fact that the chapter ends after that also stands out to me. again, if he tian was being his normal self, he probably would've said/complained outright that he obviously wanted guan shan to give him his hand, not his glass, or he probably would've grabbed guan shan's hand as he was placing the glass down because he tian always just takes what he wants and tames guan shan's defiance or embarrassment after the fact

but instead, the chapter ends. and it doesn't even feel abrupt, really. it feels complete. and it makes me assume that he tian accepted the glass as guan shan's response and didn't press the issue. he might've just held onto the glass in his lap (or drank from it while maintaining eye contact) and then moved his attention back to the group at large. and, again, that's both abnormal and fitting for him in this scene

and I know I just said "guan shan's response" but what's frustrating — and fascinating! — is that I've yet to come to a definitive conclusion about what the (unspoken) question/response between them was to begin with. of course, he tian had just finished talking about the paradoxical state of his life — about how he could have everything and yet he has next to nothing — so maybe his "question" for guan shan was as simple as: "even if I don't have/want anything else, can I at least have you?"

but I also think it's interesting to consider that jian yi immediately laughed at he tian after he finished talking, accusing him of being dramatic (and in jian yi's defense, he'd never really seen an honest version of he tian like guan shan had at that point, so I don't blame him for thinking he tian was just being melodramatic for attention as per usual). anyway, jian yi and zheng xi got a good chuckle out of it, but guan shan didn't. iirc, he actually looked a bit lost in thought before he noticed he tian looking at him, and then his hand between them

with that small detail, it makes me think he tian's question leaned more toward: "do you believe me?" or maybe "do you understand me in the ways I want you to?"

I'd like to think he tian wouldn't have offered his hand if guan shan had also rolled his eyes with zhanyi — poor little rich boy — and dismissed what he'd said. but then again, with the state of their situation/relationship at that point, I don't think there was a chance in hell that guan shan would've dismissed him. I'm sure we can all agree that he tian's intense emotional response to finding guan shan injured and subsequently taking care of him without expecting anything in return drastically changed guan shan's perspective of him. guan shan had a lot to process at that point in the manhua, and a lot of hard truths to start acknowledging. it was clear that he tian had a lot on his mind during that time, too

so guan shan placing the glass in he tian's palm might've been him saying, "I'm still figuring this (us) out... but my answer isn't no" (hence the reason why he tian presumably didn't push the issue further bc he was more cognizant of guan shan's boundaries by this point) or it might've been him saying, "yeah, I'm starting to understand you, and you're not what I thought you were but that's not scaring me away" (therefore affirming he tian's question so he didn't feel the need to pursue the moment or make a bigger scene)

in any case, although there's no continuation after that scene, I think they were both satisfied by the end of the evening. I don't think he tian was disappointed by guan shan's response, and guan shan would've known that too. in fact, I'd argue that guan shan wanted to reaffirm he tian's emotions in that moment. the worst (yet easiest) thing guan shan could've done is look at him, look at his hand, and then look away and ignore him — literally leaving him empty-handed. that would've left he tian in a sour fucking mood... or at least a bit wounded

but instead, guan shan chose the more honest/reciprocal route even if he wasn't 100% sure yet. and... I don't know. it really stands out to me and I think a lot more was happening in that interaction than what could've been expressed in words. and yet I've literally never seen anyone talk about that scene since it was posted — which, fair enough. it's only a couple of panels. but I think about it constantly!

[themysterioustaria]

HAHA GUESS WHO USED FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST BROTHERHOOD AS AN EXAMPLE IN THEIR ESSAY TODAY

[moonshynecybin]

get in there. rpf the sports journalists

[angelsdean]

siblings will get into math vs english fights. siblings will get into heated, emotionally charged debates abt math vs english. siblings will remember cain and abel and nearly commit acts of violence, over math vs english.

[jjngipilled]

the boy is HOMEEEE ignore old plushies my bookshelf is a mess rn. why does he look so sad

[kidcanines]

“okay, love, okay…i hear you…papa hears you, baby..”

x - x - x

x - x - x

x - x - x

—DNI NSFW—

[sylvesterelle]

for no reason at all thinking about the AP US History course in high school with very low enrollment because the teacher notoriously assigned at least one short essay (~750 words) every day

and how the six of us who stayed learned to scribble our essays on the bus and between classes and over lunch and become absolute masters of on-the-fly bullshit, which itself is a precursor to on-the-fly mastery

and by the time we finished we'd each written over 200 individual essays varying from utterly atrocious to surprisingly rigorous (i still consider a paper on medical deaths from ether in the civil war as one of my best and I have a fucking doctorate now). most importantly, we learned to thoroughly detach ourselves from any hangups about quality because of sheer *quantity*

which, by the by, was a larger lesson on the value of muscle memory and on trusting your own instincts. vomit out enough essays over time, and you'll have no choice but to internalize structure and externalize the patterns of thought and insight unique to you, which is how you become not just a competent but a compelling writer

so use chatgpt if you must but what a shame, what a sadness it seems to never get over the fear of your own words. depriving the world of thoughts only you could have and sentences only you could write (even if they're bad. especially if they're bad. that's composting the soil, baby!!)

[delicatetigerobject]

i need you guys to understand that when I say "he's so me" I mean it in an autism way, not in an "I want to fuck him" way. in case that's not clear already

hes not a "hear me out", he's a "wow this person is like me"

[mantisgodsdomain]

Anyways, to those who have been wondering what we've been doing during our impromptu Tumblr Vacation or whatever we're calling it, we've been trying to find a playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 that is made by someone who doesn't annoy the shit out of us, and also tormenting Karlach Cliffgate (as you do)

[foolsocracy]

big plans for tonight (self sabotage)

[aahsoka]

i added stupid little jokey captions to my presentation we will see if i keep them but ill be damned if i wont at least try to make my presentation not super fucking boring

[maryasmorevna]

does anyone know of some essays comparing and contrasting camus & sartre's works and philosophy? i've just finished nausea and i'm extremely interested in existentialism and absurdism, so... is there anyone familiar with these authors who can give me some recs? 🤔

[dye-it-rouge-et-noir]

"If you post and do more traditional art that's of finished quality, you can consider that a covert promotion post for your favorite pen company if you put the pen somewhere in the photo to show what pen you used."

You're right.

[ratbastarddotfuck]

Answering your tags in the children’s rights post, no, not where I attended school (US public school). I wasn’t even aware the UN made a document about it until now, which is unsurprising for the US but nonetheless aggravating

every day I learn something more horrifying about the US education system.

I'm pretty sure we read the children's rights when I was in grade 5 here in Australia? so I would've been 8 or 9 or so. I have no idea if this was standardised so really idk what I'm surprised about. but man that was something that built a foundation of autonomy for me as a kid that I could fall back on when I was scared... I have the right to safety. I have the right to xyz. seems important I think.