#(thats... certainly a metaphor)

[gammija]

ig another annoying thing about the 'this transcends language 😲😱' comments about the most obvious of cognates and literal english loanwords, is that it's another example of how native english speakers (and, by virtue of their population size, mostly USamericans) are the arbiters of what gets seen as 'universal' vs what's weird and foreign on the anglophone internet. cause to me as a dutch speaker, a lot of german compound words would '''transcend language''' - but the tweets that go viral about those kinds of words are about how they're silly little nonsense words to laugh at, can't be a real language, can you believe anyone speaks that!

[its-no-biggie]

me finishing a good story: wow i need more of this immediately *opens ao3*

me finishing a GREAT story: wow. *doesnt even think about consuming anything else for the next 3 days*

[llitchilitchi]

there's a pile of books, fiction and non-fiction alike, piled on my desk and bookshelves that I really need to get to, not to mention the absolute hell that these coming 2 months are going to be school-and-work-wise, but I really really want to go back and re-read the alexander trilogy (especially fire from heaven)

there's something incredibly fable-like to renault's writing in that novel and her depiction of the events and characters that I really vibe with and struggle putting into words

[freakinator]

theres a reason i havent drawn pentar yet and its cause i have no idea how to draw him lmao

[robinmage]

personally i think a super important part of jinshi and maoamos relationship (esp at the beginning of the series, though still true) is how they both have had really negative experiences regarding sexually/romantically-natured exchanges. maomao grew up in a brothel, shes seen probably every situation possible under the sun of women being abused, manipulated, lied to, and used for a mans personal benefit. and as such, the typical "sweep her off her feet with honeyed words and false promises" approach doesnt work on her at all, because shes already seen 101 different ways that can go wrong. subconsciously or not, she just instinctively knows that those 'fake'-like people cant be trusted.

jinshi, due to his characteristically beautiful face, has had no shortage of admirers during his time at the rear palace. women that invite him to their room in the evening, give him food with blood or hair or whatever in it, gifts him literal aphrodisiacs. hes willing to use his beauty to get what he wants (never unreasonably, though) but it becomes evident later that he certainly has some kind of complex about it. hes only 19(?) at the beginning of the series, and hes already been working in the rear palace for long enough to garner a strong reputation. the only people hes close to is gaoshun and MAYBE gyokuyou. to him, it probably seems like everyone else only cares about how pretty he is, and ignoring anything beyond that.

and so he meets maomao, who reacts to his advances not just coldly, but with obvious disdain. she sees RIGHT through his false flirty demeanour, and seems to be one of the only few people to do so. he doesnt expect that, and that interests him. not being attracted to his face is, in jinshis eyes, a key trait to have in order to work with him. he seeks maomaos counsel time and time again (bc he likes his new toy but also) because he trusts her to work WITH him, not FOR him; actually using her head to figure out what the best conclusion is, instead of just blindly following him and giving him whatever she thinks would make him happy with her.

after it becomes obvious to him that absolutely none of his advances will work on maomao, he really tones it down and they enter what i call their "bonding stage", which is mostly just dealing with situations around the inner and outer court together. thats where the foundation of their relationship really starts to grow; jinshi values maomao for her intellect and straightforward attitude, and maomao values jinshi for being a genuinely kind and hardworking person. they start to hold each other in higher esteem because they actually see each others real selves, and likewise appreciate that finally someone can see them beyond that metaphorical impersonal veil.

[misfits-in-motion]

bleed me dry (vampire!frank iero x reader)

i fear i should js make it known i dont proofread. i dont word count. i write until it feels right and just GO so... yah ^^ anyways ermmm thats all i have 2 say OH and lowercase this time. feels more... good. if you guys hate it i can change it back to proper grammar n shiz

summary: you're aware of vampires. you know they exist. everyone in your town does, but they pretend like they don't. they know how to handle a vampire. they know how to get rid of one. vampires basically became part of the town like any other animal, person, or landmark. but it was a bit odder when your boyfriend of a month had been turned.

tw/cw: erm,,, lots of symbolism. a lot of it. gore/blood/biting/bleeding etc. and a lot of vampric tendencies used as symbolism/metaphors for love and smeggs,,, perhaps slight slight tensions. not smut, probably just'll get a liiiitle steamy,,, mostly fluff and a bit of silliness, too ^^

⠀in your town, vampires were like another day to day thing. curfew was advised, but not enforced. mostly because vampire related deaths had decreased significantly when townsfolk actually began carrying around holy water and crosses and stakes. things leveled out, and it became commonplace to kill vampires and call the exterminators to get rid of the body. and even then, vampires learned to stay away from people. once vampires stopped killing people, they became sort of... okay. people weren't fond of them, and occasionally you had people who befriended vampires or remained close with vampires post-turning. it was just normal.

⠀no-one really questioned or spoke about it, either. if you saw someone speaking with a vampire, you looked the other way. there were vampire-only bars. you could donate blood to a number of places to feed vampires because that was seen as a way to tamp down human deaths. you had even donated a few times. long story short, the townsfolk and vampires coexisted. a close yet distant relationship, parallel.

⠀as per usual, you went through the routine of doing your usual home lock-up. you remember doing it when you were little, walking around your house and checking every window and door after everyone else as if inspecting it to make sure it was up to par. you had just recently moved into your own place, and thus were keeping up the usual routine. at the end of the day, the last thing you wanted was death by bloody violation.

⠀with everything secure, you headed to your bedroom with a yawn. you finished up the last of your routine, getting a few things set up for the next day so that future you wasn't too pissed and past you for making you rush against the clock. you pulled yourself into bed, rubbing your eyes and yawning again when it dawned on you. you hadn't heard from your boyfriend, frank, for a few hours. usually, he would at least text you to let you know he was okay. he was childish and and asshole in that endearing sort of way, but not to the point of ignoring you. maybe he just got caught up in band practice. that wasn't too far off. frank's relationship with music was intense, and you could admire it. brushing it off as best as you could, you rolled over and attempted to let sleep overtake you.

☾•☾•☾

⠀when your body jolted awake, you initally assumed you came out of some nightmare that you'd begin to remember momentarily. but the moment never came. you were just awake. eyelids wide and staring up at your ceiling. was this sleep paralysis? you tried to move your head. well, certainly not sleep paralysis. you looked at your clock which read 2:23. good. you could at least go back to sleep. that was, until you caught the faintest bit of movement behind your curtains. a small creaking sound, almost as if something was being scraped at. picked at. great. mice. rats. something. that's what you wanted to believe, anyway.

⠀everything in your body told you to go lay back down. pretend you never heard anything and that it was some weird case of being out of it that caused you to hear such noises. that was easy enough to do, at least before you seized open your curtains and laid eyes on frank, your boyfriend, sticking a pocket knife between your window and the windowsill.

⠀bewildered, you unlocked the window and slid it open. "i have a front door. more importantly, i have a phone, and what exactly are you doing outside my window!?" you whisper-shouted. frank stopped, eyes a bit wide and face laid into an expression of realization.

"ohhh.... yeah, that would have made a lot more sense to do, huh?" he let out an apologetic, almost forgiveness seeking, giggle.

"just get your ass inside."

⠀frank complied, and squished himself into your room through the window. a slight chill followed him, and once he was inside, he shut the window and locked it just as you had. assuming nothing was really wrong, you headed back for your bed. it wasn't uncommon for frank to crash at your place just because he wanted to be with you.

"wait- wait, wait. i actually had a reason to come here, and i think the adrenaline and urgency is part of what made me... choose your window."

⠀confused, you turned and sat on the edge of your bed. frank, almost pleadingly without words, got to his knees in front of you and took your hands in his. you reserved anything to say, because quite frankly, you didn't know what to say. his behavior was strange. there was usually only one reason he liked to be on his knees in front of you. considering his expression and the tone of his voice, you didn't think this was that sort of thing.

"something... happened."

"...what?" instantly, your mind went for the wort, and it seemed like frank could tell, because he began shaking his head quickly.

"no-! no, no, no, nothing like that, no- never... i... i was... okay," he took a breath and wet his lips, seemingly trying to find the words, "i was out with the guys. fucking around like usual... and they- they fucking- they told me they got turned. like willingly, i guess. mikey's girlfriend, and then one of gerard's friends did him and ray... it's- it's a whole fucked thing but- but i- they- i did it, too."

⠀instantly, you wanted to pull away. not entirely out of fear for him, but perhaps fear of change. of the new. you had never been in close quarters with a vampire before. frank felt the slight tug of your hands, and squeezed them tighter in his own. "please, don't be scared of me. i'll loose it if you're scared of me, baby, please... just... just... just listen to me. i don't want to turn you, too, or anything- unless you want me to- but.. i... i just needed you. i needed you because no one else would understand and i just knew you would understand..."

"... what now..?"

⠀frank's eyes were shifty. glancing around to different parts of you. your throat. your wrists. your thighs. you weren't stupid. you knew what he was thinking.

"frank." your voice was soft, yet direct. "ask."

⠀instantly, it seemed like a weight fell from his shoulders. he relaxed visibly, and his eyelids slid half-way over his eyes. "i'm just so hungry, and i don't know where the blood banks are, and i'm so scared, and this is all so new, and-" you pressed a hand to his cheek, turning his face up toward yours.

"you're only going to take what you need, right? i- i don't want to die, if that's alright with you." you laughed lightly.

⠀frank nodded eagerly, and you pulled your hands back away from him. you shifted back on your bed, frank following you as if you were magnetic and drawing him in. as you leaned back, he leaned in. you were now only rested up on your elbows, frank hovering over you with one leg slotted between yours and the other over the outside of your thigh. he lifted his hand to smooth your hair back, then leaned in to press his lips to yours tenderly.

"i'll be careful. promise." he murmured.

⠀you tried your best to relax under his touch, one hand bracing your side while his other hand held to the back of your neck. you stared up at him, his features barely illuminated by the faint moonlight spilling into your room. he leaned down, and you felt your heart pound faster. his breath hitched as if he felt your blood rushing in your veins. with every inch he got closer, your heart beat even faster. then, he sank his teeth into your throat.

⠀the pain was unexpected, causing you to gasp. once you familiarized yourself with the feeling of his teeth piercing your skin, it became less painful and moreso uncomfortable. your blood being drained from your throat, the feeling of his teeth slotted deep into your neck. it hurt less than you thought, and part of you felt as if you could get used to this.

⠀what brought you out of your trance was the sound of frank moaning. whining. small noises that came from his throat as he tasted you. as your blood coated his tongue and throat and seeped into his tastebuds and filled his stomach. he moaned like he never tasted something so good before, and good didn't even begin to explain it. his fingers dug into your side, balling up your pajamas in his fist while his other hand gripped your neck.

⠀he was taking you in a brand new way. you kind of liked it. he sounded so pretty, and he was still warm, still pressed close to you, holding you as if he'd never hold anything else so dear to him. you could feel the slight sting of his nails dug into your neck, his hand breaking free just enough to grip into your hair and hold the roots in a tight fist. you whined, and instantly he pulled back. his lips were stained at their epicenter, a small trickle of blood coming from his bottom lip down his chin. shakily, you reached up to swipe away the bead. then, as if he knew what you had in mind, he opened his mouth a bit to allow you to swipe your thumb against his tongue. his grip tightened again for a moment, just at the sheer taste of you.

"are you okay..? did i hurt you?"

⠀you then realized he must have thought you whined in pain, which caused your face to flush slightly. "no.. no, you're okay. it wasn't that."

⠀his face lit up into an impish grin. and it was that exact moment you realized he hadn't really changed. physically, maybe. but he was the same frank. that shit-eating asshole, but at heart so beautifully emotional and himself. "you liked it, huh? when i pulled your hair?"

⠀you hesitated, then nodded slightly

he only gave a snide chuckle in turn. frank leaned down, dragging his tongue over the fresh puncture holes in your throat. cleaning you. he then pulled away, wetting his lips. you could tell he was still hungry. you moved your hand to pull your sleeve down your shoulder a bit, and upon realizing what this meant, frank leaned in with a fervor. again, you felt the sting of his teeth sinking into you, draining more of your blood second by second.

⠀you were now pinned by his weight, his hands pinning your wrists against the mattress by lacing his fingers with yours. he still made sure to tenderly rub the side of your hand with his thumb. frank was breathing intensely, his breath hot and heavy enough to create a thin film of sweat over your shoulder and throat. only now was a slight delirious feeling beginning to make itself known

⠀somehow, it made everything that much more intense. you could feel the way his fingertips traced down your forearm, moving one hand to brace the other side of your throat. still drinking, he began to slowly rut his hips. a subtle movement, but a movement nontheless. grinding against your thigh just because of the taste of your sweat, skin, and blood. he groaned lowly, his hand squeezing yours every once and while. you lazily lifted your hips, eager to meet his in some way, and he matched this by slotting his thigh firmly between your legs. you didn't know if he even knew he was grinding against you.

⠀seconds felt longer as they passed, and eventually you realized the room was spinning ever so slightly. you lifted your free hand, gently tugging at frank's sleeve. you hummed, trying to catch his attention in some way. and, though delayed, it worked. frank pulled away, panting as he licked at your fresh wound again and again as if it would spout any more new blood. you were his new addiction. he wasn't going to let you go any time soon.

⠀ finally, frank rolled onto his back, catching his breath most likely out of habit. "fuck... that was so good. you're so fucking good..." he giggled breathily, then turned his head to glance at you. "oh shit," he sat up, quickly taking you into his arms and helping you sit up. "are you good? are you okay? fuck, did i take too much? i'm so sorry, i wasn't fuckin' thinking and i was just tasting you-"

⠀lazily, you raised a thumbs up. he stopped his rambling and smiled.

"right. let's get you some band-aids and water."

AHHH this was so fun ^^ hope u guys likeeee comments and critiques in the notes plss !!!

[thewertsearch]

GG: yaaaaaay!!! GA: Youll Need Somewhere To Keep Them While They Grow

Vriska would approve.

Also, I hope that water's fresh.

GG: so what is the actual purpose of all this breeding? GG: am i trying to make one really special frog with just the right genetic code or something? GG: sort of like the ULTIMATE FROG :O GA: Actually GA: Yes GA: Thats Exactly What Youre Doing […] GA: Your Objective Is To Breed The Genesis Frog

The Genesis Frog - a phrase I’m willing to bet is capitalized even without Kanaya’s quirk - would fit right in with Bilious Slick's other titles.

I think Jade's literally trying to create Slick, or an iteration of him, and that deriving his genome is crucial to the session's endgame. He's been haunting us for thousands of pages, and his importance is nothing less than absolute.

GA: You Cant Complete The Game Without Doing So GA: Your Entire Mission Depends On Breeding Him

Finally.

Come on, Kanaya, play ball with me here.

What is the purpose of Bilious Slick, the Genesis Frog?

GG: what do we do after i make this big god froggy? GG: does it have something to do with the new universe we create? GA: Most Certainly

...oh my fucking god.

Oh my FUCKING god.

She's deadass, isn't she? She's not being figurative, allegorical or metaphorical. Kanaya is literally saying that if you zoom out far enough from a universe, you'll see Bilious Slick's beady eyes staring back at you. The true shape of reality is a thing that croaks.

This is why Derse hates him. He's a symbol of Player victory, and Derse's entire raison d'etre is to oppose the Players. The amphibian civil war was signalling the opposing Carapacian attitudes to the creation of a universe.

This is why Aradia associates Slick with probability. He contains all possibilities because he's made of Paradox Space.

This is why Vriska was so surprised that John found one in his Land. Creating frogs is an endgame quest, and her own Space Player took weeks to make progress in cloning them.

The Forge hasn't even entered yet, and John's already holding one of the ancestors of his nascent universe.

And this the answer to the Great Frog Riddle. It's why Slick stands at the peak of every Sburb Temple - because he is its genesis, its purpose and its prize.

Bilious Slick is more than a god – he’s a space for gods to fill.

It's shit like this that makes Homestuck my favorite webcomic of all. The Ultimate Reward - the grand prize of reality's great game - is a fucking frog.

[couchie]

this is very cool, and also a nicely done explanation. imma see that video later on. for now i have two questions:

1) who's the "him" in the "the son's love for his father, expressed in us who are united to him" part?

2) if it's more or less, at its core, love — son's love for the father, father's love for the son, mind's love for the self, father's & son's love for the universe — why not call it that? like. why is it called the spirit, and not the love?

thank you for the thorough explanation btw !!

hey. i couldnt get a straight answer outta lookin it up, so, any christians who finds this: can someone tell me who the spirit in "the father, the son and the spirit" is? like, i figure that the father is god and the son is jesus but whos the spirit

[shazzbaa]

Fallen London Crayon Ask Game: Mango Purée!

mango purée: what’s something modern they would love, and what’s something modern they would hate?

Samuel would simultaneously HUGELY benefit from an autism diagnosis and also find modern working life absolutely soul crushing. Voted most likely to end up in a cult because they promised an appealing commune and he was desperate to escape his life.

But with a diagnosis, or even just the knowledge that autistic is a thing he might be, he'd have a better chance of understanding WHY this sort of thing isn't working, and that it's not a moral failure on his part. In the Neath it's easy for him to run off and have an extremely atypical life, but in The Modern World he would need to intentionally strive to carve out that atypical life for himself. ANYWAY THATS NOT THE ACTUAL ANSWER THATS JUST. A THING A MODERN SAM NEEDS.

Modern thing he would hate: the simple fact that all the maps are filled in. Everything is safe. He'd be quick to acknowledge that that's better, overall, for everyone, but I think he'd quietly really long for the open edges of the map where There Be Dragons. Both literally and metaphorically -- Sam is living in a time when you can poison yourself a bunch with dangerous chemicals and it's for Science!! Even if you were very stupid and just die, you got valuable data!!! Now if you eat chemicals in the lab you will just get fired because we already know not to eat them you dummy. You need fifteen years of schooling to catch up on what everyone already knows in most arenas, and Samuel simply does not have that in him. A world that requires him to develop expertise before he can jump in and learn hands-on is a much smaller world, for him. Modern thing he would love: A while ago some friends pondered a Modern Day College AU for our flondons and I decided that, while boats can certainly still exist in college, vibes-wise for the setting it made the most sense to translate Sam's love of zailing into being a Car Guy, and we joked about college AU Black Ribbon being an illegal street racing club. I think this tracks a lot for actual Sam too…… the physicality of learning about and working on his personal machine, the thrill of Go Fast, the competition and adrenaline of Racing.... I think he would love cars like they're people.

[greyyson-but-no]

hey guys heres a couple reasons I don't like taylor swift and maybe yous should consider your own opinions on her, no enforcement, just a suggestion

Being a billionaire will never not be bad for the economy (The Eras Tour is expected to make around $2 billion by the end of it so there is no denying her being a billionaire now).

She brands herself as someone that completely build her own fame from nothing - this is not true both her parents were extremely wealthy which meant that she had the ability to fly weekly to NYC to get singing and acting lessons and was working with a talent manager at the age of fourteen. She could not be at the level of fame she is at today if it were not for that but she brands herself as if that is the case. The issue is not with her actually coming from money but that she brands herself as someone that isn't — it creates a fake sense of security for her young fans that believe they can do the same.

She takes the worship she recieves from her fans and (for lake of hetter word) uses it against other artists and communities to attack them through the way she advertises her new music and speaks about them in other songs. This is not me saying that those other artists are perfect either (eg the kanye situation), but instead that this sentiment creates further uneccessary drama which she uses to boost her fame and popularity.

Taylor Swift only speaks up about certainly world issues when it benefits her. She hasn't spoken up about the genocide in Palestine at the moment, it took her 21 years into her career to collaberate with a woman of colour and she is clearly the poster girl for White Feminism. Not only this, but dating Matty Healy of 1975 is proof of that. He is an extremely racist, xenophobic and generally controversial person, and since Taylor once stated "i want to be know by what i love", those same attributes can automatically be associated with her.

The Eras Tour that has been completed so far is only a small amount of her carbon emissions (the first leg of the tour ended with 139 tons of CO2) and that isn't including the equipment being transported and her individual trips to run errands and see her boyfriend three times a week. Her buying carbon credits does nothing, carbon credits will not rid the world of the CO2 she has emitted and in fact only pay governments to 'support the reduce, reuse, recycle' project which we all know is not where that money actually goes. Recently, she flew 30 miles and don't give me the 'its easier and quicker' argument, thats equivalent to a 20 minute drive.

Calling her a lesbian/queer icon is just completely wrong and doesn't work in any circumstance with her. She is openly straight and has never even been open to questioning her sexuality or gender at all. Just because she released 'you need to calm down' during a time of queer peril, doesn't make her a queer icon. In fact, there are many other lesbian artists that are either growing in popularity or have the potential to, and giving that title to her brings down actual queer artists and their opportunities.

"Tortured Poets Department"? Are we even serious at this point? Who exactly here is tortured because its certainly not the white straight billionaire, that's for sure. Having a song that basically says it was okay you dated a racist because you were 'heartbroken' is not okay. To have little digs at Joe and him being depressed using the excuse that he broke your heart is not okay. Using metaphors that link to you being in an insane asylum is not okay. Insane asylums were extremely torturous places to be and there is no moral decision in comparing the music industry to a place with that much terror and injustice.

here I have only spoken about two of her partners in a passing mention, there is much more that I could add to on these subjects but I've decided not to because I don't think they hold the same weight the points I've already made have. this will probably be edited and added to in the future.

I'd like to emphasise this is not me forcing swifties to completely turn on her and hate her and everything she does. all I am doing by posting this information is allowing people to make their own educated decisions on how they go about interacting with taylor swift and her community however they deem fit. personally I have her removed on spotify because that is a decision I have made. my decision.

it wasn't easy for my either. a lot of songs of hers I associated with my grandad who recently passed, which meant having stop listening to her music lead to a big part of mine and his bond was erased, but that is again, a decision that I have made. her negative impact on the world, the music industry at the media is just too much for me to defend. again, I will reiterate that is my opinion and my decision, what you guys decides to do effects me just as little as what I decide effects you.

[spookberry]

Izuru Kamukura's design is interesting to me cuz like what was the point of having all that hair.

I feel like usually the metaphor in design would be to make the hair shorter. To signify the way hes stripped of identity and remade. But they go the opposite route. Izuru's hair is long and all over the place.

Also with an in world perspective, why would the people who created him give him/let him have long hair like that. What was the motive there?

Not that its a design that says nothing about him or is out of place either. I think it actually says a LOT about Izuru. The lack of styling reveals a disinterest in his appearance to some degree, or maybe a lack of identity. He doesnt even bother to push it out of his face, just sorta leaves it. He could've just as easily cut it all off though, seems like itd get in the way or be more of a hassle to worry about, and hes not one for hassles either. Having long hair involves caring for it to some degree thats just a fact.

Also cutting it all off after everything, I get its symbolic of Hajime and whatever, But I cant help but think it wouldve been more interesting to go an alternative route. Finding some kind of inbetween, not quite Hajime anymore but certainly not Izuru either. Ya know? I feel like that be more in line with the point. Not going back to the past, but looking towards the future and whatever that means.

[delicatuscii-wasbella102]

I always seem to be behind on popular shows, So, I have only just started watching The Handmaid's Tale and this quote really stood out, among many.

"The quote uses the metaphor of a gradually heating bathtub to represent how oppressive regimes can take root and solidify their power without people realizing the danger until it's too late." The importance of being vigilant and aware of societal changes, is, I'm afraid is over, The Red state did not heed the warning against complacency and the potential for unchecked power grabs, Which, in the past three months has been so visible. This is how America, and parts of the UK, has slept walked into totalitarian theonomic ideology. So, whats next? The Constitution is suspended, newspapers are censored, Which has already started, and the United States of America is reformed into a military dictatorship, Which I feel, is most certainly on the Trump's agenda. With totalitarianism seemingly moving forward the importance of resistance, and the need for critical thinking about power structures is much needed, I hope that those against Trump that have the power stand up and fight, It maybe the biggest fight they will ever do, but it needs to happen. The things that Trump is doing, hasnt really affected people yet, But it will and it will be hard, on every level. Thats when the Red state will start to take notice, but, by then it will be to, to late. *Steps down off the soap box lol*

[a-box-of-stupid-ideas]

Adi Shankar prioritized the offensive racial metaphors over everything else. He still could have done something in limited time like how he and the co did it on Castlevania season 1 but he didn't. He's the one responsible.

That is true, i often give benefit of the doubt because nothing is as simple as it first seems but castlevania s1 despite being 4 episodes did a better job at writing. But my main issue with Adi is that he was literally deceiving the fans with his tweets, saying how lore accurate the anime is gonna be or little changes he has made. If I had time I would show them I wish I took screenshots when he was tweeting them. I agree he prioritised the political things and Lady over everything else, with Castlevania while it was certainly unsubtle with its distaste of Christianity i say it did better at setting up Dracula and Trevor, while still letting Sypha shine. Unlike DMC whos pacing felt odd, it honestly made Dante a plot device without much agency and he was told everything. Trevor despite his changes I would say is still better written i have preference to the game Trevor but show Trevor was still well written, in part with the fact he knew exactly who the hell he was. Dante not knowing anything messes up the anime, because you need to exposition that he is the son of Sparda, exposition that his family was killed by demons, exposition that he has a devil trigger while also showing Lady’s and the White rabbit backstories. Thats just bad writing because Dante just can’t engage the same way the game version does, perhaps thats the point i dont know, but its dishonest with how Adi was setting up the anime as the adaptation that was so accurate to DMC. Maybe he was trying to cool the fans down due to the mixed reception of Netflixvania especially on twitter. But he was setting himself up to make DMC so divisive with how he was tweeting and especially post netlixvania where game fans very much had a distaste for these type of adaptations that it was kinda inevitable to have the type of discourse we have now.

[circeius-invidioso]

💠Painting Garran Crowe using Genuine Afghan Lapis Lazuli 💠

And the end of a very long story about an idea that sounded good on paper and took way too long to execute.

But execute we did.

So.

Let's jump right in.

What is there to say to the few people that had come along for this journey other than.

It was a lot, oil paint being a territory I haven't touched in a while didn't do me any favours. Textured paint on minis being another and last but not least the drying times and the harsh chemicals certainly made the whole experience more a riddle than it should.

But. It has been done and I am here to present the final results.

Here we are. No confetti to be added, just some details that are still drying one week after being put down.

Clean results, a new background and a lot to speak about for those curious about how painting with lapis was.

💠 Looking Back 💠

This was certainly the definition of bitting more than one can chew.

But stubborn we are. Thus we persisted and came out in one piece on the other side.

Lapis is a rough paint. Genuine lapis and I do not recommend it to anyone unless they are stubborn and have the patience of a saint.

There is texture to it. A lot of it. You don't use this, it uses you and by the end one must learn to play by its rules or get to experience the crushing depths of failure. Alongside a mini that looks crunchy and crusty.

Does it look good?

Absolutely.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely!

Do you have to fight with it to make it look good?

Absolutely...

It was a painful experience where I got to learn so much about oil paints on minis. Historical pigments especially and how to use but mostly how to not use them.

The drying times were abominable, down right criminal. But thats oil paints for me, I knew what I was going into. I knew the price of immortality and I still sold my soul to the old masters and forgotten gods.

Thus now that I got this off my chest I shall turn the mic back to you fellow traveler.

As you can see this challenge has been conquered. And as we sit on this cold, rough and very weird metaphorical mountain peak I shall remind you of the promise I made in the past. About making a tutorial on lapis and how to use that. What you say? Do you want that?

Or am I alone in this. I do not mind the achievement itself is enough for me. I set out to do something and here it is.

Garran, my best boy, my man with his lapis cape. Now. Now after all this time. Here he is and I can't stop staring at him. 🎊🎊🕺🎊🎊

[kaedesjournal]

so so tired of seeing takes like 'andrew wouldve been a good person without ashley around' bc shots and such makes it abundantly clear thats not the case. i cant formulate this thought into an artful paragraph so lets do a numbered list

andrew's primary flaw is his apathy. he doesnt like anyone. he takes after his mother in that he lies and hides himself to appear Normal, but as we can see in julia's letter, his true nature is much more akin to something dead puppeting a corpse and mimicking human behaviour. she's afraid of him because his Normal Person mask is full of cracks and she can see there's no love in there for her or anyone else. this would be caused primarily by the abuse renee heaped on him as a child and her example as a manipulator. as he says, he's beat her at her own game. ashley didn't make him turn out this way. he just wouldve been better at it if she wasnt around.

ashley's behaviour is not because she was Born A Bad Person. like can we discard that shit already? just because she believes it doesnt make it true. ashley's behaviour is motivated 50% by intense neglect and 50% by fear. and while he certainly cant be blamed for not knowing how to raise a child at age 5, a SOLID chunk of the neglect she experienced came from andrew. ashley cant receive any attention at all from her parents, leaving andrew her only half-reliable source, but he doesn't care about her either (at least not for a good few years) and only gives her the time of day if she's acting out. children need love and attention so of course she's going to seek that out the only way she knows ever works. but andrew refuses to show her any actual love. it's always about how much he hates her but tolerates her anyway, for Some Reason. every time she seeks love or validation, he shuts her down with sarcastic disinterest. the best she gets is a rotten, moldy sore spot of his heart. and sure its cute and poetic but she doesnt get poetry and she needs actual affection because shes a human being with feelings. this is why she breaks down when he spends time with other people, especially julia, because he CLEARLY doesn't care much for her so why would he ever stay with her when there are other options? she said it tongue in cheek, but the thing ashley needs more than anything else is to feel secure in their relationship! and she can't because he has never once shown her anything more than a step above disdain.

obviously they both treat each other pretty bad, and while we cant blame andrew because his situation Super Sucks, we also can't blame ashley because HER situation super sucks as well! and thats the whole point of tcoaal, is that theyre both fucked up products of abuse whose problems feed into each other in a wretched codependency. if you examine the bed before you leave carl's apartment for the last time, it talks about ashley's problems and how she's using sex to keep you tied to her (because at this point she cant see ANY other reason you're still around!) and the narrator (andrew, btw) remarks that she should really work through that, but how can she? her problems are inextricably tied to yours, and there's no way in HELL you're going to work through yours of your own volition. and in the cliffhanger ending, he talks about being sorry that his bad parenting fucked ashley up so bad. he KNOWS that she's only this way because of him, even if he didn't know better. we can't blame either one, really, but its frankly misogynistic to insist that only ashley is guilty when he's the one who made her like that.

more a metaphorical point than anything, but yknow when you examine stuff in the final apartment in shots and such, how the narrator remarks that you know ashley claws at you when you fuck because she wants to return a fraction of the pain you cause her? a literal description, yes, but also pretty clearly applies to the rest of their relationship.

[foollime-00]

Hey. When did they stop making ghosts.

What?

Like, we're always hunting ancient evil ghosts, you know? Like where are the new evil ghosts. People didn't stop dying, and they didn't stop having wishes and they certainly didn't stop dying with those wishes unfufilled. Like. What happened?

I don't really understand what you're getting at here.

Like, my grandmother always wanted to visit Paris, but she never managed to leave the country in her whole life. is there a chance we're going to need to hunt down and destroy the ghost of my grandmother or not?

Oh, well, i mean it's not really in vogue to become a ghost anymore is it?

What?

Like theres way more popular options if you want to hang around after death. A lot of people these days like to become a metaphor. It's what all the cool corpses do and its super easy. You don't need to be vengeful to become a metaphor, and you spend your whole life collecting symbolism to re-enforce yourself with. It's way easier to haunt somone's life than it is to haunt someone, you know?

I guess.

You can still become a ghost but like, theres so many rules surrounding it Gotta be vengeful, you need unfufilled wishes, you gotta be tied to a location. Anyone can become a metaphor, it's way more accessible. I know my father always wanted to become a literary device.

What does he represent?

I dunno probably something stupid, like death, or change. Everyone knows you died dad you're not special! Oh you changed from being alive to dead, oh your favourite band broke up oh the sun rises in the morning and sets at night, oh the tide goes in and out, everything represents change dumbass! You're not special.

Oh, yeah thats true I guess...

Anyway, we should focus on the job. What part of this stupid manor havent we searched yet?