#Also I love how they incorporated elements that people genuinely wanted

[astro-b-o-y-d]

Dove back into Cult of the Lamb after the recent update, and perhaps I treated the hammer weapon too harshly the first time because that shit is POWERFUL

[themakeupbrush]

In no particular order, my top looks from the 2023 Met Gala "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line in Beauty"

My thoughts are below, but I'll be honest, I didn't really do any background research this year because there wasn't much to be done. These are really just my opinions on whether or not I liked the look.

Ironically, I felt this was a very mediocre year, which led to me having a lot more favorites than usual because they were kind of all on the same level. In previous years I would have separated this into multiple posts, but I don't really see the point.

Doja Cat: I wanted someone to dress up as Choupette the cat and she delivered, and managed to do so in a way that was still fitting for the event

Keke Palmer: She looked amazing, and really captured the Chanel look with the bombshell hair and the extremely bedazzled tweed. I honestly don't want to think about how much that dress weighed

Anne Hathaway: Besides that fact that I love everything Anne Hathaway has ever done, this dress was the perfect combination of honoring Lagerfeld's style while also incorporating it into the style of the brand she was representing (Versace). It had tweed and pearls, but also sex appeal and safety pins

Cardi B: First, I just want to appreciate her ongoing commitment to high fashion and the fact that she had three (3) completely separate looks. This particular Miss Sohee look was my favorite because she's living out my glinda barbie mermaid fairy princess dreams

Harvey Guillen: This was one of the first looks I saw of the night, and still one of my favorites. It has all the Lagerfeld style essentials, but still manages to look unique. Plus, creative menswear always gets extra points because the bar is painfully low, though this year was a surprisingly pleasant exception.

Jennifer Lopez: It's not the most creative look, but it's right up my alley and honestly, do we expect anything groundbreaking from JLo? She's always going to show up in something pretty that's decently on theme enough for me to just focus on whether or not I like it. And this immediately makes me think of classic Chanel.

Penelope Cruz: She was a co-host, it's vintage Chanel couture from the 80's, and she's one of the people I most heavily associate with Lagerfeld and Chanel. A win all around.

Russell Westbrook: I really want to give Russell Westbrook credit for always showing up to the Met Gala and really going for it. I love all the details: the pearl necklace, the tweed blazer with floral clasps, the bows on the shoes

Chloe Fineman: Another first look that turned out to be a favorite. This again had all the necessary design elements without feeling like a cheap knockoff. Also major points for the bedazzled cat bag.

Anok Yai: I don't know and I don't care how this relates to theme, she looked like a goddess

Bad Bunny: Another man not only doing something interesting but incorporating the theme? Genuinely shocking. Obviously I loved the OTT floral cape, but I really loved the ode to c. 2005 Chanel with the backless suit and backwards necklace.

Gisele: She wore the same dress from an iconic 2007 editorial, proving not only that she still has it, but that she's always had it. A true supermodel.

Salma Hayek: She looked hot, I don't know what else you want me to say about it. Also it had color, which nothing else did. My eyes were starving for color.

Glenn Close: For starters, she needed an entire team to carry her train so props for that. She brought the drama, the glitz, and the "age is just a number so shut the hell up" glamor.

Lil Nas X: This was, for lack of a better phrase, a cheeks out, bedazzled, balls to the wall look. The Choupette inspiration is more obvious when he was inside with the fur (ish?) coat on, but I honestly didn't care. I needed a moment and he delivered. Though I do wonder (1) how long it took to bedazzle him and (2) will he every fully be de-glittered.

Brian Tyree Henry: I don't know if it's the pose or the cape, but it's giving me dramatic shakespeare vibes and I appreciate it.

Naomi Campbell: The only issue I have with this look is that they called 2010 Chanel Couture "vintage" and I can't accept that. Beyond that, I mean, it's Naomi Campbell in Chanel Couture. I was also dying for any semblance of color at this point and somehow this dress was among the most colorful

Jenna Ortega: The perfect combination of chanel tweed cropped blazer/mini skirt and the Wednesday Addams aesthetic. Which was interesting because I thought she was trying to move away from that but I don't care it was a successful look

Ava Max: Chanel was known for the haute couture bride, and this not only really captures that, it was one of the most and quite honestly only majorly dramatic looks of the night

Halle Bailey: She looked like a mermaid and I love that for her

Ashley Graham: I would have loved this look regardless, but after seeing the dress it was modeled after, I also think it was one of the best tributes of the night

Tems: Has she ever looked bad on a red carpet? Her headpieces are just getting bigger and more elaborate and I see nothing wrong with that.

Diddy: I love the drama + the floral cape, though I am left wondering how he didn't faint under all of that. Also, you can roast me all you want for captioning his post with Sean Combs but that's what was given to the AP so it's what I went with.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander: A final man who followed the theme and wore something interesting, arguably more interesting than some of the women. I actually think I like this look better without the coat over it.

[gremlinmodetweeker]

I LOVE your eldritch horror kinky story! I can’t get enough of it! Were you inspired by HP Lovecraft? Where did you get your knowledge of eldritch horror because I love the genre and would love to read more

Okay so, SO, I have a lot I take reference from. The big one yes is Lovecraft, of course. I read his stories, but then I went on to read a bunch of Call of Cthulhu mysteries and ran a couple of Call of Cthulhu campaigns (ttrpg) and stuff like that. I also just consume cosmic horror everywhere I can! A big resource for Eldritch!König is really based on Lovecraft plus a couple of SUPER COOL video games.

The first game is Dredge, which is beautiful and stunning and through the story isn't too exciting, the world? OH MAN THE WORLD. Also, I love the ocean and fish and marine biology so that shit is just my game. I'm into it big time.

Another game is World of Horror, which is heavily based off Junji Ito's work. If Lovecraft isn't your jam, try reading some Junji Ito mangs. They're extremely graphic, but also the stories are wild and super cool. A lot of the times, people don't pick up on the social commentary on Japanese culture in his works.

Speaking of manga, Berserk? Crazy good, but read up on the trigger warnings before reading because despite being (imho) one of the best mangas of all time, it has graphic SA and abuse and gore.

Bioshock and Fallout also heavily inspired the bug horror (though I haven't finished either game but shhhhhh).

Finally, the classics inspire me. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is genuinely one of my favourite books of all time. The themes it explores? The imagery? The characters? All incredible. Just a beautiful book that I desperately needed to read when I was in high school. The monster's dialogue really hit home for me when I was a very depressed teen struggling to find hope and friendship in high school.

Various different body horror artists and analogue horrors also heavily inspire Eldritch!König. It's a big mix.

My main elements when writing him are incorporating marine and cosmic (astronomical) horror with him. I also notice I tend to rely on bugs a lot, despite his biology not being bug-like at all. I will say, he has tentacles and a beak under his mask, but that's about all that your mind can comprehend (also let's be honest, he's not gonna let you see anything else). When I think of how I want to write his horror, I sometimes think of Over the Garden Wall or a Ghibli movie with how he interacts with horror. To him, it's mundane. To you, it's shit-balls crazy off the walls insanity. He genuinely does not get why you find it so foreign until he remembers that you're a human.

I do want to write more gore and horror with him, but I haven't found a good opportunity... If you have any suggestions, let me know. I want to have Eldritch!König fuck somebody up. His tentacles are crawling for kills...

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Name your favorite characters and why in absurd detail (if you want, or just name them)

Well, you asked for DETAILS, so have a sort of chatacter analysis/hot mess of ramblings for #1. This has a good amount of personal headcanons that I've built up and it's not 100% based on canonical facts. Also I HAVE only played 0, Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2 (Majima saga is in progress) so I don't have all the facts. I AM NOT GOOD AT CHARACTER ANALYSIS, be warned. Also ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.

1) Majima Goro! I find his truly kind nature masked by his 'Mad Dog' persona very fascinating and sad at the same time. The way he incorporated elements of Nishitani and Sagawa into that persona is interesting and telling of how much of an impact those two had in him deciding his path.

I'm entranced by his use kansai-ben (my beloved) and his playful tone of voice contrasted with the, at times, more serious voice that sends me right back to 1988. The way he switches from an almost mockingly polite speech style to his Kansai dialect in his introduction scene in 0 instantly made me curious about his true nature and backstory.

I think his way of showing off his tattoos by not wearing a shirt so civilians don't get involved with him (that's how I interpret it) is tragic and it's obvious his past has left him with deep scars and a fear of the people he cares about being hurt. He'd rather be alone than build bonds and then potentially lose more people.

The way he still loves Makoto deeply in Kiwami 2 after all these years, and how he sings about truly not wanting her to forget him, but regardless "not minding" it if she forgets him as long as she's happy, hurts me in a whole new way. The way he sings/screams those "I DON'T MIND"s as though he's desperately trying to make himself believe what he's saying, rather than directing those phrases at Makoto in his mind, breaks my heart.

His pretty much absent fear of death sends chills down my spine and makes me wanna cry because he was already saying he's been ready to die for a long time in a flashback from BEFORE he events of Yakuza 0. I dread possibly finding out more about his past.

He's witty and charming and his confidence draws me in. He dresses how he does and meets Kiryu as Goromi and pole dances for him as well with no problems, and all in all just doesn't care what people think of him. I know it's probably because of something tragic like him having given up on life so "might as well go out with a bang", but I want to believe he feels at least somewhat liberated when he does all that.

I'm obsessed with how he wants to witness Kiryu's journey down the path he could never follow himself. And he seems to genuinely want to support Kiryu's decision to follow his own principles. Their first conversation in Kiwami tickled my brain because in that moment he seems to "lock it in" that he'll place his trust in Kiryu's unwavering will to make his own path and wants to witness it. He wants to see if it would have been possible for himself as well, had the circumstances been different. Is it truly possible to stick to such "soft" values in the cruel world of the Yakuza?

When he saw Kiryu coming back after his decade in prison, he whipped him right back into shape because he wanted to keep witnessing Kiryu's journey and also keep Kiryu's principles alive by keeping Kiryu himself alive. Because he himself wouldn't be able to live by those values, he's in way too deep, he has a reputation to uphold. So when his brother returns to kill him (if he will try to kill him, Majima himself seems to think so), it'll be an achievement worth letting Saejima back in the family. Killing a legend and all that.

Majima seems to feel like he can let Kiryu in a tad more than others. Even if it's just fighting against or beside him and openly enjoying those interactions. Probably because he knows Kiryu can handle himself in a fight and he's near indestructible physically and mentally. Kiryu is, in a way, his equal when it comes to dealing with it when shit hits the fan. He's definitely at least fond of Kiryu imo, with him giving in very easily when Kiryu asks him to help the Tojo clan survive in Kiwami 2. And also with how uncomfortable he got when Kiryu bowed his head when he was asking Majima for help.

Majima also highly values the promises he makes; he fought those invading Sengoku thugs until he was battered and bleeding and barely able to stand because he promised Kiryu he'd be there to help. Weird move from a man who seems hell-bent on pretending not to care about anyone or anything besides his own interests, hmmm? He gave his word and he KEPT it. Because he doesn't make empty promises.

I love watching him when he's "on a break" during the Majima Everywhere storyline. It truly solidified the fact that the 'Mad Dog' is a mask for me. He's all hyper and "crazy" when others are around and he really lays it on thick, but on break? He's contemplative. He looks almost sad at times. He lets the mask drop for a second. The fact that he lets Kiryu see that instead of immediately masking back up is a whole other can of worms. Point is, the Majima from before is still there, underneath it all.

The way he thinks back on his time in Sotenbori is interesting. There's definitely trauma and anger in there, but the way he wonders about how his team is doing nowadays almost wistfully makes me happy. He had SOME light to hold on to in those dark times. He truly did care for his team and was fond of them. Also... him saying it wasn't in his nature to make a living using women like that made my respect for him soar. He truly respected everyone in his team, including the hostesses.

Also, just... ugh. The Doll Girl substory. The DAMN DOLL GIRL SUB STORY. I- THAT- 😭😭😭😭 O UG H

TL;DR: Majima because he's everything to me and he makes me experience thought spirals beyond anything I've went through before. He's tragic, he's fun, he's silly, he's hot, he's confident, he's strong, he's interesting he's kind and he's just... Majima.

2) Kiryu because he's sweet and wonderful and makes me weep and I wish he'd take better care of himself and I wanna hug him and give him soup and bring all his loved ones back to life. Please let this man catch a break.

3) Nishitani because he makes me feral and I want him carnally

4) Dojima Yayoi because... I mean... DAMN. She's fierce and extremely loyal, she handled herself extremely well in an environment that was probably rife with people who questioned her ability to lead. I'd bet my left boob she faced a lot of misogyny (direct and/or indirect) during her time as a chairwoman. But she kept going, head held high, with conviction and pride. Simply incredible.

5) Haruka is a sweet angel and I wanna protect her and I hope she will be happy forever. She stayed strong and still has faith in people even after seeing all the horrors of Kiwami 1. She's so resilient and brilliant.

[creativitysparks4everxoxo]

I never make memes because I suck at making them, but I thought I'd try my hand at making one for TFE. This is so heavily inspired by that famous TFE meme that I first saw posted on reddit and then saw posted again on here. I felt that it needed a part 2 because the TFE haters have been extra exhausting lately. 😩

*This isn't just a meme post, this is also a scene playing in my head and basically a jumble of thoughts. Can you guess which character I represent? 🤣

EarthSpark haters: This show is woke garbage! The character designs are horrible and the voice acting is subpar! This show is grooming children and forcing gender politics onto our precious children blah blah blah! 😡😤

EarthSpark: A refreshing new take on the TF franchise that redefines what it means to be family, through the lens of a beautiful POC family that adopt a new species of Transformers called "Terrans". The Terrans are born on earth and are adopted into the loving Malto Family, where they form a strong bond with the Malto Kids, Robby and Mo. Although the show's main target audience is children, the enjoyment of this show is not limited to kids because many EarthSpark lovers are not kids, and this show is meant to be wholesome and action packed.

This adaptation shows the viewers that Decepticons are not inherently bad and being bad is a choice. We see that some Decepticons just want to live in peace and do not want to harm people, but because of the insignia that they wear, they are forever branded as the villain. However, despite this, some Decepticons are genuine friends with Autobots in this show, showing that at the end of the day, Decepticons and Autobots are still the same species and friendship goes beyond a label.

The first piece of TF media to introduce a non-binary character (the main cause of all the hate that TFE receives 😑), that is such an amazing character whose personality does not centre around their gender identity. As seen in the new batch of episodes released on March 3rd, that EarthSpark haters conveniently did not watch.

People who haven't seen it: I mean, it's pretty hard to form an opinion when we haven't actually watched the show yet. But we find the amount of hate that this show receives absolutely ridiculous. To hate on a show that you know nothing about, beyond the selective parts that you choose to hate is just sad. Maybe try watching the show first before you bash it? How do you know that Nightshade's personality will "centre around them being non-binary" if you haven't even watched the show yet? 🤨

How is this show "woke garbage"? Do you just have a problem with POC being the main humans? Or do you foolishly expect every piece of TF media to be identical to the G1 series or [insert preferred TF adaptation here]? Did you know that adaptations are meant to be a retelling of an existing story by incorporating new elements to further expand the story and offer a new take? Did you know that it's okay to add a variety of different characters from all walks of life, whether they are LGBTQ+, POC, disabled, non-binary, etc? These people exist in real life and it's good to teach kids this so that if they identify as any of these, they will know that it's normal and that they are not alone. They will feel seen!

We may watch TFE because it looks interesting and we like the Transformers franchise, and we want to see Transformers being Transformers! Or we may not watch TFE, but we won't bash it because we have not seen it!

EarthSpark lovers: We find the amount of hate that this show receives quite sad, because we absolutely love the direction that this show is going! We haven't had a TF show centred around family bonds since TFA! We really like the idea of a brand new species of Transformers being born on earth, and we like that they are adopted into the Malto Family vs just being seen as friends. This adds more depth and makes these characters even more interesting.

We find it cool that although the Terrans are these highly advanced, highly intelligent robotic beings, they still act like children and have their childish moments that consist of sibling rivalry, innocent naivety caused by them only being online for what, a few weeks in S1A? and other adorable childish moments.

This show may be marketed towards kids, but the amount of positive messages and themes shown is beautiful. Even more "sensitive" topics are present in this show, which is wonderful because kids should know about them.

Teamwork

Family bonds

Friendship

Giving second chances

Healthy discussions on gender identity

Racism

We like that TFE has given us G1 Daddy Optimus back, with his goofy dad moments. Too funny! And why is Bumblebee handsome AND adorable at the same time?!! 🥺🥺 He's just so precious in this adaptation!

We like the little details like Mo wearing a bonnet to bed to protect her gorgeous curls, or Robby being a hard-core gamer. Or Alex wanting to share his Filipino culture with his children and pass down traditions that he and his grandfather shared. We like that Dot is passionate about animals and enjoys bird watching. She's also a war veteran and has a disability, but she's still a badass! We like the Malto Family as a whole because they are such a nice family and they must be protected at all costs!!!

Ultimately, it is impossible to narrow down everything that we love about TFE in one post, because there is just SO MUCH GOOD with this show!

The character designs

The voice cast

The positive messages

The Terrans

Representation for POC

Representation for non-binary people

Daddy Optimus

Uncle Megatron

Uncle Bumblebee

Aunt Elita-1

Big sister Arcee

Not all Decepticons are bad

Dot and Megs' friendship

The sound design

And many, many, MANY more things!

Here is the TFE meme I drew inspiration from:

I can't seem to find the original reddit post anymore. Did it get deleted? But anyway, this meme is beautiful and if you're the OP of this meme and you see this post, thank you! I was thinking the same thing when I first saw this scene from "H.O.U.S.E. Rules".

*Edit: I've been adding to the list of things that EarthSpark lovers love lol so far I added Dot and Megs' friendship and The sound design, and I will probably continue to add more points in the future :)

If you made it to the end, thank you! 😊 That's all for now ~

[616witch]

heyo, i've been following your works for a long time now and i genuinely love your creations, you put so much effort into them - they're so brilliant and polished, it's remarkable and inspiring.

i edit often but i am more used to working with gifs of live action media — comics is a whole new territory for me but i would still like to get into it. could i please ask for your tips and recs on how i can get started?

it's alright if not! thank you for what you do and have a nice day. x

Aw, thank you very much! <3 I'll make a list of some different tips I think might be useful (but as with all things, experimenting is the best experience!), and also some links to different resources I often use for edits. Some of these you'll probably be familiar from gifs, but others will hopefully be new!

Gifmaking is a really good basis for making graphics; most of the same principals apply, particularly with colouring and playing with light with art! One of the best ways to make edits work together imo is having consistent colour themes to make all the edits look related and to work with one another, and those elements mirror in graphics and gifs.

The main thing that I think is different is the use of art. A lot of the time with art, you have to cut it out of panels by yourself, and sometimes colour something in yourself, if it's a sketch or something. You can use the subject selection tool in Photoshop/Photopea, but this really only works if there's a very clear background and subject; something more detailed or with multiple subjects doesn't work so well. I like to select using either the lasso tool or the polygonal tool, and then create a layer mask once my subject is fully selected! It's timeconsuming, but worth it to have those sharp and detailed pieces.

Using large pieces of art I think is really important for making sure edits are sharp. I generally try to only use stuff above 1000px, but generally anything below 700px is really difficult to use, especially if you're colouring in a sketch by hand.

Hand-colouring is another thing that's real difficult and time-consuming, but is worth it! Multiply and soft light are your best friends. Multiply for the blocks of colour, and soft light I like to use for adding a bit more depth for things like hair, or blush, etc. But play around with the different layer styles, you can get some interesting affects!

It's also useful to build up a little catelogue of styles or designs you like to incorporate into your work. A lot of graphic designers post their work to Pinterest, for example. Here's my own pinterest board of graphics I like!

And here are some of the resources/websites I use. Behance for general PSDs, fonts, textures. Search 'freebie' in the search bar to get those free resources! Dafont and freefonts.io are the two websites I use most to find fonts! Texturelabs is a great resource of free textures to use; white images generally go on multiply level, dark ones go on screen. Resource Boy has a bunch of free textures and pngs on there that you can use, I recently downloaded 70 different chain pngs from here. Designsyndrome is mostly paid stuff, but they do have a number of free pngs and effects that are cool to use. Comicartfans is a really handly website where a lot of people upload art from professionals. It works as a buying and selling site, but I use it often to find art by searching a character name in the searchbar. Unfortunately, not all of these are high quality, but generally you can use these to find larger resolutions by finding an artist's personal website.

As always, feel free to ask if you want something explained, or if you want to find out how I did a certain affect! I'll always be happy to share where I got stuff, most of this hobby functions via word of mouth :3

[frenzyarts]

Hello Frenzy from Frenzy-Arts!!! If this is out of the blue and weird PLEASE feel free to delete this but i have a question: im an artist who wants to get into drawing suggestive/nsfw girls (less bean ism <3), but im struggling with how to stylise suggestive posts/outfits/actions without veering too far into caricature Horny Poses or alternatively the other extreme "i am drawing this sexual nude far too much like how i draw in a life-drawing class". Do you have any tips for finding a happy middle ground in stylisation?? Sorry if this is a weird question, i just thought i might ask you bc u talk openly abt being an nsfw artist and enjoying drawing nsfw art ;-; and i cant exactly ask my art professor XD have a great day regardless! 🩵

This isn’t a weird question at all! I’ve noted in the past that I don’t like when people ask me about my own personal sex life, but I love to talk about my nsfw art, and am happy to answer art questions always 🥳

Trying to balance between caricature and figure drawing style nudes is something I find myself trying to work on still as well, and something that helps me a LOT is looking at other nsfw artists work that I enjoy and trying to really think about what makes it appealing and sensual. Is it the body shapes? The faces? The fluids? I’ll try to incorporate whatever it is that’s captured my interest into my own art.

Also what I would recommend to make your art not look like a figure drawing nude is to turn up the spice. Add an element you wouldn’t get in a figure drawing class like a saucy pose or some props

I think trying to avoid generic horny caricature won’t be hard as long as you’re drawing from your heart, and creating something that is genuine to what you want to see. A person could draw the most generic pinup of all time but if they put their soul into it then people usually don’t care how generic a pose is!

Again, this is stuff that I feel like I’m still working on still, but I hope this advice was helpful nonetheless. If there’s a specific aspect of nsfw art that you’d like to hear my thoughts on as well, feel free to let me know!

[blossoms-phan]

hello!! i heard u like receiving asks so here it is :3

what are your predictions (or funny pheories) on what dip and pip have planned for the tour?? or what you would like to happen on the tour (no matter how unrealistic it is lmao)

hii ty for the ask!! i’ve been thinking about this a lot and i feel like I must reiterate that i was SO anti-tour like a month ago, I genuinely believed that they wouldn’t do one again- and can you blame me dan said “this is your last chance” “we’re never doing this again” multiple times during ii promo and the new enlightenment from the mukbang video made it 10x worse but WHATEVER all men do is lie (they had time to discover themselves and ease back into the joint content and found a new love for their audience and a desire to tour and see us irl again yay!!) yapping aside the promo so far is genuinely very intriguing bc we all know a lot has changed over the last few years, they’re a lot more comfortable and open- they’ve always loved incorporating their own lore/things from the “world” they’ve created into stage shows so i feel like the version of that for this might be tying some older references in with the stories or “things that would’ve sent you into cardiac arrest” 7 years ago yk? me personally I would love to see them just fuckin spill about youtubers they were forced to hang out with and annoying shit they dealt with back in the day “roasting us bc we deserve it but also their past selves” but who knows lmfao. i think there’s defo going to be some kind of audience participation, im hoping it’ll be more casual like with wad or that there will be some kind of element that changes from show to show. also i hope their stage outfits are cunty as hell or that there’s some sort of costume change bc that would be a lot of fun imo!

overall i would love to see other peoples responses to this bc I feel like I didn’t have a good one (im sorry LOL) all they do is surprise me & I desperately want to go into it blind but idk if I can handle avoiding spoilers for 2 months

[radioprune]

tagged by my friend maddie @leonardcohenofficial to answer these 20 Qs for fic writers!! yay thank you :-) i'll tag @fieryphrazes @stupidredsuspenders @ghostpunkrock if you'd like!

How many works do you have on Ao3? 26, they tell me

What's your total Ao3 word count? 400,467. oh my

What fandoms do you write for? mash of course but i also have a couple of star wars things including the time travel fic that i promise will get done eventually

What are your top five fics by kudos? or, the children's crusade, maple syrup, breathe fresh air ever after, hawkeye, why hawkeye, i now pronounce you pierce and hunnicutt

Do you respond to comments? i really try to even if it takes 100 years

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? hmmm. i really rarely don't write a happy ending but maybe breathe fresh air ever after aka the one where daniel pierce watches "the interview." the truman show AU and the one where it's all a dream also are both kind of bleak

What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? all the long ones with a bj goes to maine element i think are kind of equally happy so maple syrup, hyh, but also you deserve the best, the hawkmarg friendship inspired fic that was the first mash fic idea i ever had

Do you get hate on fics? not to my face tho i sometimes wonder if mutuals in law have me blocked bc of any perceived bad takes in my writing

Do you write smut? If so, what kind? not habitually, but ive written some in my opinion narratively relevant sex scenes lol

Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? closest i've come is incorporating elements of the catch-22 universe into mash stuff, and i have a broader outline for a real mash-22 crossover that i'd like to actually write one day

Have you ever had a fic stolen? ok funny yeah i was just telling della about this but like. not word for word like copy pasted but i was reading a hawkeye margaret friendship fic a while ago and was really enjoying it and then realized it was beat for beat copying my hawkmarg bestfriends fic 😭 right down to including references to the communist manifesto

Have you ever had a fic translated? i don't believe so but that would be cool!

Have you ever co-written a fic before? not really, i've thrown ideas around with people especially like with noirhawk stuff but it never really coalesced

What’s your all time favorite ship? i don't knowwwww. when i was a teenager the doctor/rose was literally so important to me and honestly i was surprised at how much i cried at doomsday upon rewatch. i possibly care more about the hawkeye/margaret friendship dynamic than i do about beejhawk

What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? ooh my idea for a mash tv show/movie crossover which i have some good dialogue written for and would love to be able to bring to fruition but i just dont think it's gonna happen

What are your writing strengths? i think dialogue for sure, and when it comes to fic in particular (like as opposed to my original writing) i think i'm good at character studies/keeping things very realistic and in character

What are your writing weaknesses? bc when i write as a hobby i write mostly plays, i sometimes catch myself writing prose like that, like just dialogue and what amounts to stage directions. i have to make myself think about when some internal monologue might be good, how to make things actually sound good instead of just being practical

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? you guys know i love to throw lots of yiddish in there. i wouldn't be able to write real dialogue in another language unless the character had an eighth grade level spanish education or was trying to say "the farmer is my friend" in latin

First fandom you wrote for? star wars 👍

Favorite fic you’ve written? ough hard to choose. i have to shout out mind field bc i somehow haven't mentioned it yet and the experience of writing it was so surreal and was just genuinely me trying to convey how it had felt to be in my brain for a year or so through projecting onto hawkeye. and the fact that everyone liked it was bonus. BUT my actually favorite might be with friends like these, who needs enemies?, my hawkeye/margaret slow burn friendship fic and margaret deep dive. i want to make everyone read it and care about them as much as i do mwah

[yakultii]

Your uni work sounds really interesting, would love to hear more about it if you feel comfy sharing!

omg yessssss I fr can only study things I am passionate about !! I’d tell you everything but idk where to begin!! I did a lot of philosophy over the past few years but I got tired of it so I’ve gone full circle and I’m back doing sociology which comes a lot more naturally to me (while I looooved writing philosophical essays/curating my own ideas based off previous ones/filling the gaps, I got hella sick of reading stupjd ideas from middle aged white men from way back oop(I have a lot of opinions on that but I’d go on forever) and sociology I enjoy both the reading and the writing and the researching component(I think), though I’m quite new to conducting my research from scratch rn) - I mean sociology is genuinely just about how everything is socially constructed , peeling back the layers, even on the things you wouldn’t think are/sociology is just the study of how social influences play a role in shaping us/how private problems can be shaped by public issues sometimes (not to take away autonomy completely but just to acknowledge there are structural and historical elements at play.. to then find more effective solutions to social problems including things like health, economy and so on) .. so while I’m technically wasting my life away these last few yrs feeling non-human I’m always lowkey learning about life on the side .. so when/if I finally get it together and go live half a life I’m gonna have more knowledge on my side (which can’t be a bad thing surely - though sometimes I wish I knew less about life haha) I also did closer studies in gender studies a few yrs back but I found that general sociology incorporates gender in just about every topic and felt more useful for every day life, though I’d recommend that everyone takes an intro to gender studies class if you can! I’ve done a tonne of units over the yrs.. in philosophy my fav/most memorable was on love, sex and death which was super fun and was actually what made me think I wanted to go down philos pathway ahh I got super passionate and also world religions I loved too! but some memorable sociology units I enjoyed covered public health, youth, performance of identities etc (it’s all stuff I already knew but I love putting it into formal practice) and this sem my focus is on 1. sports and bodies in society 2. contemporary research (which is a diff class entirely but I also happen to be conducting research on transphobia in sport utilising social media) 3. love, sex and relationships (which is mostly on family dynamics so far but I think it’ll get more interesting soon) and4. culture, control and boundaries which is a lot on deviance and how society kinda constructs what is deviant, who is the “other” how we “other” people etc. and then next sem I think I’m gonna go back to focusing on religion again but from a sociological perspective rather than philosophical and some others… I mean obviously within each unit there’s a lot more to it and there is method to sociological approach but that was just a brief overview of what I’m doing rn haha but let me know if there’s anything in particular you wanna know about !!! regarding sociology in general or any of these topics ig :))) p.s if u feel like ur stuck/can’t escape society’s constructions and want to live freely in denial (what I should do) I highly recommend u don’t study soc bc it will only reaffirm how fucked up capitalism and patriarchy got us, no matter what field within soc u look into like this study only enables my depression for sure which is probably why it comes naturally to me lmao but also I feel like everyone should study soc bc I feel like it’s knowledge everyone should have Argh. I need everyone to know and understand everything I know and understand !!!! (I’m learning that’s just never gonna happen ugh)

also side note - I still personally think philosophy is beneficial to study as it teaches you how to think more critically, though I felt I already did that but it allowed me to put it into practice formally I suppose, so I still think it’s worth it! but I feel as though once you are confident thinking extremely critically/not just consuming but critically responding/putting forward your own ideas/knowing how to contribute something new to academic discourse , philosophy starts to feel pointless for me because the content itself is not so applicable to real life as something like sociology but that’s just my opinion haha

also fun fact that I didn’t really know before I studied sociology is that soc is actually a science like it has its own set of research methods and procedures to follow (if you go beyond writing random essays ofc) which I think is kinda cool considering I never took much interest in typical science (I think science is cool and great but my adhd brain just don’t give a fk)

[scribble-dee-vee]

Happy STS! Which of your characters do you think would be most popular among cosplayers? If you had to pick one of your OCs to cosplay, who would it be?

Oh heck yea! Thanks for the ask; I lowkey forgot that STS was a thing

So, I loooove cosplay as an art form/means of having fun! I used to do it more when I was younger, and I still dress up for cons/fan themed events. I also follow a lot of cosplay content online. I must admit that I think about the cosplay-ability of my characters a LOT. Like, every author wants a screen adaptation/a fully VA'd audiobook/whatever, but I specifically want silly creative ppl on the internet to dress up as my lads!!

That being said, I have many opinions on this front.

Taking a broad look at the Heart of Lead universe, I think it would offer a lot of different options to cosplayers. I could see the extended cast catering to people of all skill levels and interests, at least in terms of character design. You got regular-ass humans with one or two defining physical traits (although someone could always go in for more detail, because of the Victorian-fantasy clothes)! You also got characters with A.) complicated armor/uniforms/gowns, B.) wings/fangs/assorted fantastical traits, and C.) like,,, props?? Like there is a very large, somewhat evil sentient sword in this universe, and I would die happy if someone made their own for cosplay purposes. I would DIE.

All that in mind, here are the characters I think would be the most popular to cosplay, based on my observations of present-day cosplay communities online. I've given all them "most ___" awards, for funsies.

Dale Porter – most popular. No contest whatsoever. Sarcastic, evil, conventionally attractive white man. People love to cosplay characters with this profile; it's inescapable, and somewhat obnoxious. He's also fairly easy to cosplay, I would argue, as long as u got a white wig. (I would not personally cosplay him. He is my pookie but he can go ROT.)

Rosalind Lake – most sexy. If you want to wear an ostentatious dress and look hot in a femme way, here ya go. She's not the most important character, but her look is distinctive and fun. (I would definitely cosplay Rosalind.)

Wren Dorian – most steampunk. Listen, if you love steampunk/gaslamp fantasy/cabaret rock aesthetics, she is your GIRL. Big curly hair, big boots, massive belt full of tools, potentially goggles if you're feeling really fancy. Wren also gets some interesting design variations throughout the series that make her even cooler. (I would cosplay Wren. I have closet-cosplayed her before.)

Nicolas – most edgy. At least, that's how I think people would cosplay him. He wears a black trench coat and fingerless gloves for like half of the series; he has emo boy hair; he lowkey looks like Dream of the Endless. I'm not going to spoil his magical abilities, which make him EVEN EDGIER, but those exist, and they also impact his physical appearance. He's a sweetie boy baby who cries a whole lot, but he LOOKS very cool to one's inner 13-year-old. (I would cosplay Nicolas, and I have closet-cosplayed him before!)

Vesper – most fantasy. They're a faerie. He has wings. Their magic turns their eyes and fingers black. He wears sickass gender-nonconforming outfits, including such articles as capes and tiaras. If I was actually going to pour tens of hours into creating a cosplay from the HoL universe, I would 100% cosplay Vesper. They look cool as hell. (Also, fun personality – he's very outgoing and sweet!)

I'll leave it there for now, but I genuinely have SO many more opinions about HoL cosplay potentiality. There are options for the ppl who only cosplay evil dilfs,,,, for ppl who like to play princess dress-up,,,,, for ppl who incorporate gore and horror elements into their cosplays,,,,, we've got it all!!

(Now to get about FINISHING and PUBLISHING these books, so ppl can feasibly do this. Lmao.)

[ava-core]

so i got a lot of love for phoebe, my mean girl female manipulator courier six :’) i’m so glad people like her!! granted, she’s not…likeable beneath her veneer of practiced amicability, but i’m still happy people dig her concept! i know i do, complicated couriers are my bread and butter—and incorporating more traditionally feminine elements into this specific storyline that’s no less brutal than may bells’ was a treat to do!!

my process on making her under the cut!!

(ALSO I FINISHED AN ENTIRE DOC ADHD YOU LOST TODAY)

honestly, phoebe came to me like lightning one day: i was resting from finals and still in the middle of my may bells playthrough when i came across this neat analysis of regina george as a dictator on my youtube FYP:

my half-dry brain: what if…we made a courier six that’s JUST LIKE THAT. an enigma of feminine power who weaponizes her assets to survive the wasteland?

and just like that, courier six phoebe was born. at her very core, i modeled her after the film noir femme fatales, but instead of ultra-vampy and mysterious, the persona she’s carefully curated is more on ‘untouchable angel’: she will smile, shake hands, do your errands and be nice, all the while keeping a distance because she knows you know that she’s only a dream you can have. but what wouldn’t you do for such a dreamy girl in the middle of the post-post-apocalyptic nightmare?

still, that doesn’t mean she’s no less deadly. she’s still human. if you piss her off, she’s going to…respond.

also, as you can see in her inspiration sheet, a huge chunk of the pegs i had for her are ultra-feminine queen bees, with varying degrees of…kindness. they’re also young, because she’s young: by the time the events of new vegas roll around, she’s only 20 years old.

let’s get to specifics (L-R, top to bottom)

Rita Hayworth’s Gilda: this one is pretty self-explanatory. call her what you want: the bombshell, the femme fatale, the desert angel, she doesn’t care if it gets her caps, favors, and access to things she otherwise wouldn’t have if she was true to her more awkward and snooty self.

Nicole Kidman’s Suzanne Stone, To Die For: yeah, that’s a face to die for. for phoebe, they also share in that all-consuming ambition: once phoebe gets a goal, it doesn’t matter what’s going on or what’s going to stop her. nothing is going to get in her way to achieve it, even if it means she has to kill someone. or open her legs.

Katherine Heigl’s Izzie Stevens: for this character, she’s more of a physical inspiration. in FNV’s character creation, i had a picture of her on standby to serve as a peg to copy LMFAO even downloaded a mod to make her pretty. i’ve been so obsessed with katherine heigl none of you understand :’) but if any of you have watched grey’s anatomy, you’ll know how genuinely sweet and nice izzie is. that’s the persona phoebe puts forward: scrappy, kind, will bake you cookies if you need it, optimistic and happy. even if she’s not those things, not at her core.

Rachel McAdams’ Regina George: yeah. evil takes a form in phoebe buendia, her doctor ex would say. and maybe she’s right: just like regina, she lies, smiles, and chokes behind the scenes to stay on top in terms of power—the most a courier can wield, anyway. she’s also still just barely out of being a teenage girl: it’s not an entirely happy life pretending you’re sweeter than you are almost 24/7. so she gets her reprieve with the kill missions, especially when the Legion sends her assassins—hell yeah. also, to cultivate a cult of personality, you have to be intelligent. so many people are unaware of how smart phoebe is; the girl’s a damn genius, but she doesn’t play on that often. it’s a big advantage to be underestimated.

Alexa Demie’s Maddy Perez: like izzie, the biggest thing i got from her for phoebe is the allure. the aura. you can’t tell me you don’t look at alexa demie’s smize and not fall to your knees in awe of such sheer beauty. that’s the effect phoebe has, even on the most hardened in the mojave. and, well, yeah, again—just a young girl with confidence oozing out of every unblemished pore.

Natalie Dormer’s Margaery Tyrell: out of all of them, i’d say she’s the most similar to phoebe in terms of personality. she’s known for her ‘beautiful altruism’, with sweeping gestures of charity for anyone who would accept: it’s why freeside and westside love her. but behind closed doors, she’s power-hungry, irritable, petulant and even borderline psychopathic in her quest for ‘a better Mojave, no matter the cost’.

Another major influence, though not pictured here, is the Sofia Coppola-brand of feminine gloom (when she simmers down, or when she was back home in Shady Sands), specifically The Virgin Suicides.

her past + more on her personality is inside the doc! i hope you guys love her as much as i do even though if i met her irl she’d probably flick my forehead for kicks </3

(p.s. i haven’t even talked about her love interests: the aforementioned centurion enemy-husband, legion recruit begrudging ally, followers of the apocalypse ex, and even another one that’s a terrifying great khan who will rip hundreds to shreds to see her smile…should i make a doc about that? it’s in these dynamics her complicated personality shines through the most lmfao)

[thowawayuntilfurthernotice]

So I had originally planned on doing a Danny Phantom retrospective, mostly because I’ve been watching a lot of video essays on YouTube about old media and internet personalities, and Danny Phantom was always one of those shows that I had a complex relationship with. But during my research, a simple question kept popping into my head over and over again. 

What does Butch Hartman actually do? 

He constantly keeps claiming that he created Danny Phantom, and a lot of people do consider Danny Phantom to be Hartman’s best show, but how involved was he? 

I’m not saying Hartman just slapped his name onto a product and took all the credit for himself, as he is credited for writing, storyboarding and directing various episodes. But from all the interviews and clips I’ve seen of him, he doesn’t seem to know that much about the show’s lore or why people like the show to begin with.

For example, the show clearly establishes that there are ghosts who used to be human at one point, but Hartman has always insisted that every ghost you see in the series is a supernatural creature from an alternate dimension. And that his explanation for why some ghosts are more human looking than others is because they wanna be human? Um…..okay. 

Feels odd that Hartman had a problem with the ghosts being spirits of deceased humans but he originally wanted Vlad to be a vampire. 

It’s also pretty interesting how Hartman never wrote any season two episodes, as that season is when the show started to heavily incorporate elements of serialized storytelling into its main narrative. Something that was previously absent from Hartman’s other show, The Fairly Oddparents. 

And yes, I am still annoyed that we never got a legit payoff to the Ring of Rage and Crown of Fire, they were clearly set up as these major plot points that were gonna be important later on, but were completely dropped entirely after Reign Storm. 

Guess now is the perfect time to talk about Steve Marmel and the controversy surrounding him. Long story short, Marmel was a writer who helped develop the series. A lot of the best episodes were written by him and once he left the quality went down the shitter. 

Many people have speculated that he was fired by Hartman/Nickelodeon for wanting the show to go into a more darker direction, while others claim he left due to creative differences. 

None of these rumors have been confirmed by Hartman, Nickelodeon or Marmel. And as such, should be taken with a huge grain of salt. 

Regardless of what you believe, you can’t deny that Marmel wasn’t influential during his time on the show. He really helped flesh out a lot of the characters and lore. 

Say what you will about the Green Bay Packers jokes in Bitter Reunions, but I kinda loved that aspect of Vlad’s character. It was a nice little touch that helped him stand out from your typical Saturday morning cartoon villain. 

And if I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t think Hartman could pull something like The Ultimate Enemy or Reign Storm off on his own, as he’s not that good of a writer. 

Which brings me to season three, now I don’t usually like parroting out the default opinion but, season three of Danny Phantom is just…..really bad. 

I’m not going to go into that much detail about season three, mostly because it’s a topic that’s been covered to death and I really don’t have anything new to bring to the table. But I will say that, if season three does anything well it’s that it showcases just how terrible of a writer Hartman actually is. 

Take for example the episode Urban Jungle, Sam’s eco friendliness is taken up to eleven, to the point where she starts feeling less like a character and more of a caricature. All she does in this episode is complain about how terrible humanity is, get captured and brainwashed by the villain of the week before getting rescued by Danny in the end. 

Oh, and Danny gets ice powers because…..reasons. 

I genuinely do feel bad for all the Danny Phantom fans who want to see a legit continuation or reboot, I came across a ton of amazing fan art and AU stories/webcomics that are a billion times more entertaining than the shit we got in season three. 

But alas, Nickelodeon has made it clear that they aren’t interested in a Danny Phantom revival/reboot, as they seem to only want comedy shows. Plus even if there was some sort of continuation, I doubt fans would support it if Hartman was heavily involved. Considering that he’s spent the last couple of years destroying any good will he had left with animation fans. 

Still, while the show may never get a proper continuation or revival, it will continue to live on in fan media form.

[the-owl-tree]

honest to god you cooked so hard, I seriously agree with everything you said. I ADORE Beastars to death, the worldbuilding and incorporation of animal behaviors and ethics is perfect and Legoshi is genuinely one of my favorite fictional characters of all time fun fact: Legoshi's birthday is actually the same as mine xdd but it makes it all the more painful that it ended the way it did

I can't find the source rn but I distinctly remember reading somewhere that Paru was forced to add the shonen elements by Weekly Shonen Champion to make it "more marketable", and that she was so dissatisfied by having to add these elements that she ended the manga's run early. It clearly shows in how rushed and lazily explained the Melon arc stuff was, and it makes me even sadder because Paru is so passionate about her characters and universe and you can just FEEL that she hated having to add all that stuff in. it's just, man.

I one hundred percent agree with you on your opinions of Melon. I ADORE his concept and his backstory (reads like something out of Criminal Minds which I also adore hehe), but he is WOEFULLY misused as a character. They should have leaned in WAY more into him being a carnivore/herbivore hybrid, fleshing out his conflicting instincts and really hammering in how much of a parallel he is to Legoshi... which is what I feel like Paru WAS going to do before WSC started breathing down her neck. The concept of hybrids should have been focused on more in general tbh - I know Paru could have done something truly fascinating with their worldbuilding, but she couldn't due to all the shonen stuff. I felt you so strongly about the daycare in particular - I was SO EXCITED when I first saw it and then it was never seen again????? I don't even think a single student from there was NAMED????? PARU WHYYYYYY???

moving on, you already said a bunch of good points about what makes the ending weak as hell, and I agree with all of it, but honestly, the thing that pisses me off the most about it was how fucking dirty Louis was done. His break up with Juno and him WILLINGLY getting into an arranged marriage with Azuki was bad enough - it was just wildly out of character. But what REALLY makes me furious is how Oguma drops dead off screen and suddenly Louis forgives him for everything he's done?????? WHAT THE FLYING FUCK????????? AGAIN THAT'S WILDLY OUT OF CHARACTER FOR LOUIS BUT IT'S EVEN WORSE BECAUSE OGUMA IS A FUCKING SHITHEAD. SHOULD HAVE FUCKING PISSED ON HIS GRAVE LOUIS.

...oh lord I've rambled for a while now 😅 but yeah Beastars is a series I adore, and I'll still recommend it to people without hesitation, but with the same caveats you presented. I will say, though, that I genuinely think there is a good chance that Studio Orange creates an entirely different ending for the anime (I genuinely think the only way they can wrap everything that's left up in one season is if they make MASSIVE changes to the plot) and it gives me a tiny bit of hope. So to anyone reading this, if you want to experience Beastars in the best way possible, WATCH THE ANIME. It's already such a good experience in general. Even if the ending sucks, DO IT FOR THE ANIMATION. AND DO IT FOR LEGOSHI.

I am very sorry for making you read these giant ass paragraphs I am just a little more passionate about this series than the average person LMAOOOOOOOOO

DO NOT APOLOGIZE!! I've been having a bit of a blast sharing thoughts about the series with people, love hearing other's sentiments (specifically about that ending, glad we can all agree it was trash lol). I am glad that my theory that the decision to focus Beastars on battles was definitely someone else's call has some truth to it, it didn't feel like Beastars at all. Definitely a poor choice...

Louis. Man. I was so angry about how Haru had been shoved off into a corner for most of the second half that I could barely process what was going on with Louis. The series was so good at calling out bullshit in the first half, Oguma getting redemption via death was so out of left field and not built up at all. Him getting with his fiancee too....SO disappointing. That I think was a bad call on Itagaki's part, Louis getting with Juno would've been immensely more satisfying than whatever the arranged marriage shit was. Throwing rocks!! boo!!

[connorsnothereeither]

Whats something about the telchin that you really enjoy writing about? And when your writing and have major story elements that you need to have, how do you not become side tracked?

There’s so much honestly, genuinely the whole process of writing Telchin lore as a group with the other cast is so much fun.

Something I love which we get to incorporate is the humanity in lost civilisations. Like, these were real people who are now just gone, and getting to see glimpses of those life stories within the larger picture is beautiful to me. With the Telchin, I love getting to introduce personalities and lives into the the wider story. Things like the sapphic priestess romance, where as a group we took a brief random idea and gradually workshopped it into this tragic living story, its really fun to me.

As for being sidetracked: tbh i get sidetracked way too easily in my storytelling- But, as a small trick for it, I like to plan out in detail (or even entirely write) the bigger elements/scenes in advance. I call it “concept sketching” personally, but it’s really just drafting certain scenes in advance.

I do this a lot with my fics. If I have a big plot point/cool scene that I want to happen later, I’ll just write that big plot point/scene now, and then set it aside. Part of it is then obligation based (“I’ve put the effort into writing it already, I have to at least get to the point where I can use it”) but also I find it more rewarding in the process of creating if I know what I’m reaching for! Like “yeah, there’s that cool thing that I’ve done! I’ve just gotta get there and then I can use it!” It becomes like a finish line in a way. Sometimes the sketch needs to be edited/adjusted to fit any smaller things that might have changed in the story since the sketch was written, but that’s easier to do then just creating this big event from scratch when you’re not as interested.

For example, chapter 40 of Blood was written before chapter 27. Because I was like “I want this to happen. I love this, and I need to get to this point.” So everything prior to that came from a place of “okay that’s what we’re moving towards.”

I don’t know if that fully answered the question but I hope so!

[sketching-shark]

what do you think about religion, god and stuff? what do you think about people who believes on these things? I don't want to offend or smth, I just want to know your opinion about it, also I like your blog!

You're not being offense at all anon, and glad you're enjoying you're time at sketching shark dot hell.

That said, I am going to begin this ask with a somewhat confused El Am A Oh on account of the fact that religion and the concept of God, throughout both human history and in the contemporary work, take of a dizzying amount of beliefs, creeds, rituals, loves, hates, and faiths. As such, I feel that my opinion on God, religion, and religious practitioners is very context specific.

I do very much enjoy learning about different belief systems and the mythologies that have formed, especially since they are often the foundation for how a society structures itself. At the same time, I've often been left feeling pretty conflicted if not downright hatefully cynical about religion due to the extent to which people have used it and its structures to hide or even to justify a obscene number of atrocities. I do for example feel great admiration for the Catholic priests who genuinely see their calling as a way to promote actual peace and nonviolence, as exemplified by the priests who actively protested the Vietnam War by destroying draft records. At the same time, however, I also feel deep hatred for the Catholic church for the extent to which it covered up its priests sexually abusing children. And incorporating some other religions and histories that personally hit close to home, I am horrified that the Mexica had a religion that justified and even demanded constant warfare and human sacrifice. I'm even more horrified that the Conquistadors and later colonizers used their Catholicism to justify the murders and tortures they inflicted on the people they subjugated long after the fall of the Mexica empire.

So yes, history and contemporary life is rife with people using religion as the basis to do all kinds of genuinely good things, but also with people using it as an excuse to be absolute monsters to their fellow men. And even while I can and have definitely found great meaning in some of the ways religion has offered to contemplate the divine, I've come to feel pretty leery about many organized religions due to the sheer amount of abuses and mass death they've often permitted.

I will say that the element I've come to appreciate the most from my personal encounters with and studies of different religions is how the metaphorical reading of mythology can at times mesh pretty well with the more scientific sense of material reality--I especially like this in terms of the contemporary growing sense about the universe being animate--as well as the sense of necessary humility religion can bestow. And here I'm not talking about the "submit to the will of God (i.e. human religious human authorities)" that way too many religious institutions push, but more in the way that religion can give space to consider this brutal and beautiful creation in its totality that often seem too much for the human mind to fully grasp or fully handle, i.e. how you might think about God. For me at least being able to contemplate how vast and often unknowable creation/God is has been a important element in helping me grow as a person, as well as to help keep down my sometimes overinflated, all too human ego haha.