#Building Experts

[obriensonsbuilders]

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[roscoehamiltons]

scuderiaferrari: Calligraphy lessons with zhouguanyu24 ✍️

[largemandrill]

Obsessed with how horrible the composition of Rook’s meditation room is. Legit worst feng shui a room has ever had.

The couch is in the middle of the room with no back wall, so you feel exposed all of the time (the fish tank is not reflective enough to combat this). There’s a tiny table directly in front of said couch with no rug/carpet and fucking candles that could fall off so easily and spill wax on the floor. All of the cabinets/dressers are to the side so there’s just this big void of decoration for no reason (unless you’re running in a 6 foot diameter circle for several minutes every day). Genuinely I have no clue how this room could be fixed and I’m blaming Solas for fucking up his furnishing this badly.

[juniemunie]

Wait, for real!?!?!?!👀

Yep yep! Ink has two dads, and one of them is Zephyr!Gaster or Aster. He's super adorable, you should check out his FAQ!

Ink and his other dad (Undertop!Gaster) teaches him about the Multiverse and on the other hand Aster teaches Ink to enjoy things (machinery, blueprints, astrophysics) that don't rely on his inky creation powers!

Ink does some other non paint stuff too, he plays the flute for one and iirc, he is trying sewing, which is why I made my variant of him get into embroidery

( > 〰 < )♡

[baker-chan-senpai]

buncha doodles

[whenthelightisrunninglow]

these are the only 3 teams i've built so far on pokemon showdown. and yes i lose frequently.

in order they're the submas shinies team + my shiny serperior, a trick room team and then a team that pretty much only exists around beat up weavile + justified lucario

[cookinguptales]

As someone who grew up in a bilingual household where we spoke English but also signed, the part of Mabel and Theo's relationship that fascinates me the most is the communication, or lack thereof.

I'm mostly hearing (...sort of...) but grew up around a lot of d/Deaf people, CODAs, interpreters, etc. so while I can't give any input on the experience of profound deafness, I can at least tell apart different styles of signing. It's a little hard to tell sometimes how much of this is characterization vs. the skill level of the actors, but it is interesting.

Teddy Dimas does not sign fluidly. It's immediately obvious. It's not that he's terrible or that he can't be understood... it's just that there are a lot of tells that he does not sign as a primary language. The terseness of the signs, the deliberateness. You can tell that there's a second of thought before each sign, a jerky sort of compactness to them, that's common with people who learn to sign later in life. (Or who don't get a ton of practice with it.)

Signing, when you do it right, requires the use of your whole body. That can be hard for hearing people, who are generally used to more restrained movements. Teddy Dimas has never quite lost that restraint. He still can't go all in, not with his signing or his parenting.

I always thought this was really interesting, because it means that Teddy most likely learned to sign for his son (tragically uncommon with hearing parents of Deaf children) but that he still can't quite translate his thoughts properly into sign language. He can't quite get his emotions through to his son. There's a barrier there between them, and it seems to be largely one that Teddy's erected -- until Theo starts snapping back.

What I'm getting at is that Teddy has always forcibly drawn his son into his world instead of immersing himself in Theo's, and it shows. And it has really harmed their relationship, in more ways than one.

Zoe... we don't see a ton of her signing, but there does seem to be something somewhat performative about it. It's more fluid, like perhaps she's done it her whole life, but there's also something sort of... idk, false about it? And I wonder if that's just Zoe. It felt like she was always covering up her true feelings of loneliness and emptiness with a flamboyant personality, and the little flourishes to her signing seem to convey that as well. Her signing feels almost theatrical to me.

Theo and Mabel, though... I've always loved that episode where they go to Coney Island together. I get the criticism that Theo said at the beginning that he couldn't understand much of what she said when he was reading lips -- and then she proceeded to just talk at him for the rest of the episode anyway. But to me, at least, that always seemed like it was kind of the point. They couldn't understand each other, not fully, and that was something soothing to them.

There's something healing, I think, about shouting into the void. Letting out all of your most personal, complicated feelings without fear of repercussion or judgement. Talking into the wind because you know it won't talk back. You need to feel that echo but also know that it won't be heard.

I think there was some of that there in their initial relationship. Both of them desperately needed to talk, to get everything off their chests, but both of them also have trouble opening up to others due to trauma. So I think speaking to someone who couldn't understand them was, in some ways, ideal. They could make a human connection while keeping it fairly impersonal. They could unload without fear of judgement -- or worse, understanding.

Oddly, I think their mutual need to communicate without being understood was the one thing they understood best about each other. They could sense each other's loneliness and wariness and inability to trust that they could tell someone something important without it being used against them -- because their love and their trust have always been used against them.

So maybe in a way, their inability to talk to each other was actually what helped them communicate on a deeper level...?

Still, though. Still. I was so pleased to see that Mabel is learning more sign language so she can talk to Theo. She's got a long way to go, but no one learns to sign overnight. She's making progress, and you can tell that Theo appreciates it. There are still times where he gets too excited and signs too fast and she doesn't catch all of it, and there are times when she gets so wrapped up in her own soliloquies that she forgets that you have to face Deaf people while talking to them, but there's a familiarity to it now. When he signs too fast, she smiles and teases him. When she talks too quickly or forgets to sign or turns away from him, he just smiles and sighs and shakes his head. Then waits for her to come back.

Theo finds it irritating, obviously, but also understands that it's just... Mabel. She spends so much time in her own head that she has trouble communicating even with people who speak her language, as evidenced with Tobert. And maybe Theo does understand her in ways that others can't. Maybe it's the very fact that he accepts that he can't always understand her that makes her feel comfortable with him.

I also have to wonder, y'know... Has anyone ever learned to sign for him before, other than his father, who clearly saw it as a burden? Has anyone ever seen him as worth the effort of learning, not out of an obligation to speak to him but a desire to? No wonder he's being patient with her. I wonder if anyone has ever put in as much effort for him as she already has. It makes me so sad to think about, because what she's doing now is so... bare minimum. Theo has been so desperately alone, and so much of that is because his father isolated him. It's because no one else ever reached out. :(

idk, it just makes me happy that these two people who originally bonded over their inability to communicate are now comfortable enough with each other to try actually talking. There's something so shy and so joyful about it. I love that for them, especially Theo.

I don't want him to be alone anymore!! I want him to have someone he can talk to, whom he trusts enough to talk to, who thinks he's worth learning to talk to back!

Their odd brand of bilingual communication (or lack thereof) is just fascinating to me. ;;

[phoenixyfriend]

I spent a bunch of money this past month or so (some on silly things like the Neopets tarot deck, but a TON of it was like. Furniture. A new mattress because my old one was several years past lifespan and needed towels under the middle to keep from continuing to collapse in the middle. Dental product. Family groceries for an Event) and I'm about to hit Pride Month (ton of travel and event costs, some of which I can expense for through work, since we're involved in some of those events, and some of which I can't).

Basically, I'm in a bit of a squeeze and would like to avoid digging into my savings because of the ongoing struggle of trying to put together a down payment so I can move out.

Is there anything I could do to encourage ko-fi donations, commissions, or Patreon subscriptions? Other than what I'm doing already.

(I'm not in an emergency state so don't drop money you NEED, but I am almost thirty and would like to live on my own, and achieving that has been a STRUGGLE. The main reason I'm not in 'help me pay rent' mode like people who ARE in an emergency state is that I still haven't even achieved rent.)

[unstableyuriverse]

If you watched the wato vid you should. Watch hfjone it changed my life forever

[cheesebrackers]

Wait. I just realized something.

Big bot with a prominent underbite, dumb guy of the group, oddly really good at repairs, nobody ever takes them seriously.

Holy fuck I have a fav character type.

[neve-gallus-girl-detective]

Sometimes I see a post about Veilguard that criticizes something that I find to be a crucial and wonderful part of the game, and I truly understand the question, "did we play the same game?" The answer is no! We experienced all the same things, but I delighted in it and they hated it. It's fine, really, but it's hard to wrap my head around it. You see THAT as a negative?

[adarssuggestionbox]

what is Uruk childcare?

Adar- @palatablepain I am thrilled you are interested in the future! *I personally think of children as our future* Perhaps you ask because you are considering the idea of adopting an uruk child? Whatever your reason for asking may be, I'm very pleased to educate you on the most important things. I consider myself the first expert on this matter.

The first thing one ought to know is that depending on the uruk, one can live regularly about 50 years. This is a life span that might be average but it is usually not due to natural causes. My children have endured much strife and have died young either by force or by accident due to living situations. This is quickly changing. When able to grow properly they can have the potential to live for a very long time due to the left overs of our elvish heritage.

While my children may not have the capacity to live quite as long as me, they age slowly compared to most. As sad as it is we were bred for terrible things that require a strong youthful body in order to endure hard physical labor. I simply am the exception as I am one of the first to have gone through the transformation.

*My heart aches as I speak.... but I'm able to tap that down quickly in order to continue*

birth to 3 years of age in human equivalency

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Children are born in sets of 2 to 3. It is rare that children are born without siblings. This is due to our origins. We were bred to work as I mentioned before. So uruk women were built to produce more offspring to complete labor...

But I will not focus on that, as it is a very heart sinking thought. *I pause to gather myself*

Instead, I shall use my son Glûg as an example! *My frown soon brightens as I motion to my son who stands by my side*

Glûg- ...... *He stares dead pan and unimpressed with my antics but it goes completely over my head.* 🤦‍♂️🙄😒🫤😐😑

-Really... Must he drag me into these discussions...- *He thinks to himself*

Adar- As I was saying, When my son was born we made sure he attached to his mother like any other babe. As one ought to already know breastfeeding is essential.

Glûg- *he is already speeding away in the opposite direction of us the moment I mention how we kept him breastfed.*

Adar- during these years we carry them with us everywhere. Primarily on our backs. Due to certain conditions we have endured in the past the safest place a baby could be was physically on one person. This was key to the little one's survival. It has permanently been ingrained in us to constantly monitor the youngest ones amongst us as they are easy targets of danger.

We also are quite communal. We all are looking after each other's children. I said before that children are our future, so we must look after them together to ensure our survival as a race too. I also value the young generation greatly. Children are a gift and must be treated as such. In this current age I have tried my hardest to instill this mentality with all my adult children as much as I possibly can.

Parental responsibilities include pûring to soothe the baby, and grooming. Uruk have barbed tongues much like large cats. So we often groom childrens hair this way. This development was made due to our lack of accessible hygiene resources in the early days. We were built to self clean.

Ages 4 to 6

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This age range is my favorite. Young uruk children at this age are wild and rambunctious! They like to run and get into loads of trouble like all children do. They are rowdy like warg cubs and often like to play fight with claws and teeth. Glûg in particular liked to curl up in a ball then roll around in a tussle with his brothers and sisters. *I begin to chuckle.*

This is also the age range that uruk children start eating other foods beyond breast milk. I personally think it is a great idea to mix other foods and continue breastfeeding during this age range. Though Glûg was very fussy about eating things beyond breast milk. That boy is still picky. *I sigh rubbing my temples*

Children are still carried on parents backs to this age. Adults continue to heavily monitor children in this age range as well. Grooming is also still a big parental responsibility. Uruk children often do not start to develop proper speech until age 7 due to our mixed animal-like genes.

So it is up to parents and adults to teach children how to communicate via pûrring, trîlling, hissing, growling, grunting, and snorting. Each sound can mean something different depending on the context. I might also add it was safer to communicate non-verbally in the early days due to our environment. This has been passed down through every generation that it has become apart of our genes and culture permanently.

A child's first trîl and pûr are a kin to their first words and is something we get extremely excited about.

I remember Glûg's first pûr *a jolly look draws up on my face* He was sitting by the sand pit in our camp, scribbling in it with sticks. Then suddenly a little lizard scurried up his arm, then sat up on his shoulder and flipped its tongue against his cheek. It made him so happy he began pûrring.

My newest son @koyaildoesstuff , has learned to trîl recently too! It happened due to a lovely family bonding moment between him, Glûg, and I. We helped each other through something rough that day. I won't forget the feeling in my heart when I hear his first trîl. The little one tried so hard to pûr but it came out as a trîl. But it made me happy all the same that Glûg and I could make an impact on his life.

*I smile waving my hand* But I digress, I'm becoming distracted. *I chuckle again*

Where was I.... *I pause to think* Oh yes!

Ages 7 to 9

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this is the age range that speech is learned. Children pick it up at different speeds. Glûg was pretty young for an uruk when he started to pickup language skills. Then again I kept him in my sight and constantly worked with him every moment I had. When his mother passed away, I gladly took him under my personal care.

Teaching him vocabulary of both Black speech and common was surprisingly easy. Though this is usually not the case for other uruk children. They typically need lots of consistent help and structure to learn speech. However, things relating to math and science is something most of my little ones seem to grasp quite early on in this age range. Memory for them is also sharp.

Adults are responsible for teaching them nature survival skills at this age. During the summer in particular children help prepare for winter. Adults help guide the children by getting them involved in community processes like basket weaving for winter storage and they also are taught how to forage. Overall they are encouraged to be helpful hands to those around them. We are a communal culture. We survive by helping each other. Children must learn this at a young age.

In fact we are teaching our children these concepts at this moment in Mordor! That is why my posts have gone slow as of late. There is much to be done during the summer season.

Ages 10 to 15

⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️⛹️‍♂️

Speech is usually fully developed by this time and children have a lot more responsibility. They are often charged with helping to look after the little ones and given more complex tasks in the community.

Parental responsibilities do not change too much either. We still help groom them, teach them our ways and emphasize community engagement.

Ages 16 to 19

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This is the age range that we consider young adulthood. By now they should have a healthy basis of how life works. They also are expected to fully participate alongside the adults in the community.

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I think this covers most of the basics about uruk child care and child development. I personally believe it is very hard to talk about one of those subjects without mentioning the other. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions about raising an uruk child. I'd be happy to answer any questions you pose!

[psychomusic]

i had a vague idea last night on chiss space-traveling system. it's really just an idea and maybe it breaks the existing lore so. if there's any chiss expert here PLEASE tell me if it's something that could exist because i wanna know if i can put it to use in my story

i know they use force sensitives with that third sight power, but like. idk. i understand that they are trained and sometimes they fail but like that's SO complex. you're traveling faster than light - you can have jedi like reflexes and shit but that's still hard af.

so i was imagining (because lately I've been trying to better understand chiss lore, which i LOVEEE) wouldn't it be easier if there were like some stations in between planets, especially important colonies, to allow the force sensitives to have to navigate between smaller points, and not completely in the dark?

idk if any of you know sky: children of the light's trial of fire, so here's the link (skip the intro part). now imagine that instead of the checkpoints with rocks and candles you have little artifical moons/planets/asteroids (depending on how important that station is), and force sensitives are supposed to reach that and then re orientate etc.

BUT to make it cooler and most importantly, easier to sense for the force sensitives, imagine that those artificial ecosystem are made to be inhabited by different creatures that can't stay on their planet of origin (like. maybe because the environment changed and they are endangered, or they're too dangerous so they like. put them there). so they're full of life. they'd be like lit candles in the dark, literally.

THIS CAME TO ME BECAUSE TWO WEEKS AGO I SAW SUCH A COOL VIDEO (a 12 hour analysis of the phantom menace that's like. so fucking well-researched??? considering its length it's impressive really, so here's the link) that spoke (at 1:19:22) about that Boss Nass's phrase about going through Naboo's planet core. But to synthetize: basically in the lore, Naboo is supposed to lack a molten core, and at the center of the planet, plasma is being emitted, and it creates infinite tunnels that can connect even theed and otho gunga. but besides other worldbuilding problems that this rather absurd idea would create - that i won't recap here - in the video, there are some ideas on how to make it make sense (like. "going through the planet core" is simply a figure of speech and not what actually happened), BUT between those, there is one in particular that struck me: at 1:30:40, he proposed Naboo could be a constructed planet - like a planet-aquarium.

then, the video explains why it can't be the case for naboo but. GUYS!! if there's a species that could pull off something like that it's the chiss, with their sense of order, their need for knowledge, and organization abilities.

the maintenance of these stations with particular ecosystems could then be left at the nearest colony of csilla (kinda like the romans delegated the maintenance of their streets to each town it crossed and benefitted off of it), and be used as a "lighthouse" for new sky-walkers to train their third sight. researchers would benefit from keeping these animals alive + they could be kept in various different scenarios depending on how the specific station is made. if it's big enough, those creatures wouldn't be even captive, in a certain sense. especially since these stations need to be big enough (and full of life) to be perceived by the force sensitives, they'd just become replicas of the planet, where researchers, even in the creation of such stations, can really have a boost on their understanding of those ecosystems, through the feedbacks and experiments on the stations.

i have made a few sketches to visualize the idea

(ugly quality and poor rendition ops. in my defense it was late)

i know i wrote A LOT and prob not many will read this BUT if you've come this far, what do you think?

[lynzishell]

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Transcript:

Spencer: [squealing] Asses!!!

Atlas: Ahh bonjour mon petit ourse! Spencer: Raaawwr!!! Atlas: RAAWWWRRR!!

Asher: [laughs] That would be Spencer. Dawn: Does he always talk to her in French? Asher: Just a little bit here and there. She loves it. Dawn: Cute. Asher: Yeah, it is.

Spencer: Eevuh! Atlas: Livre? Hmm. Spencer: Peeeas?

Atlas: Ok, let’s go pick one.

Asher: I’m afraid we’ve lost him for the day. Come on, my mom’s probably out here.

Megan: Hi sweetie. Asher: Hi mom.

Asher: This is Dawn, Atlas’s sister. Megan: Oh Dawn, I’m so glad you’re here, it’s great to finally meet you. Dawn: Thank you, it’s wonderful to meet you too, Mrs. Goode. Asher: Doctor. Megan: No need for formalities. Please, call me Megan.

Asher: I was gonna show her the spot out back where Ally got married. Megan: Of course, yeah, I’ll join you.

[fagtainsparklez]

admittedly i'm not a doctor nor do i have any issues with chronic pain but this conversation about house being "addicted" to his pain meds feels fucking crazy 😭 like yeah.... obviously he's going to be dependent on them. that's what makes his leg stop killing him. the point of the pain medication is for him to take when he's in pain. why are we berating him for doing the thing they're prescribed to him for