#I'm at it again XD lol loved this

[phoenixcatch7]

It's always funny to me when in an lu fic the chain is offered bananas and don't accept them. Like, you're offering these high energy adventures free food?? Fruit they'll have never even heard of before??? A ridiculously expensive imported good at best?? AND it boosts your attack?

Not ONE of these idiots would ever turn down something new and interesting to eat at least once. They'd be all over those bananas and immediately get dubbed yiga and I'm honestly surprised no one has used it in a fic yet 🤭

[omaano]

Big Blue joins The Mandalorian Meets Hades Project!

[russlanbf]

Biblically accurate Scriabin, I wanted to play with his hair and it got out of hand lol

Scriabin belongs to @zarla-s

[piko-power]

Every time I encounter a ship war with Sonic and Amy or Shadow, etc, I just smile to myself and believed that I'm the only smart shipper in the fandom because Sonic is bisexual and I'm the only person who knows that. 😎

[pixelatedraindrops]

Yuma Month: Day 31: Post Game

…for the sake of the world’s happiness.

[blackjackkent]

Now that we're out of Moonrise, we can bring Minthara into the party, and she has a LOT of camp chat for Rakha to catch up on. Moving this into its own post from the other camp stuff, because there's a lot of it.

Annoyingly, we can't have the usual Durge onboarding conversation that we've had with the other companions, about Rakha's murder urges and bloodlust and memory loss. She also has a dialogue node labeled, "I need to talk to you about a private matter," but when I select that item, there's no dialogue options in it, which is weird.

We do, however, have the option to ask her about her opinions regarding the other companions, which is always fun.

"I'm curious to hear your thoughts about our companions."

"A disparate collection of vagabonds and strays. Did you have anyone particular in mind?"

-----

"I'm curious to hear what you think of Shadowheart."

"She is tolerable, but her faith in the Lady of Loss is poisonous."

"What do you have against Shar?"

"The Nightsinger has some admirable qualities - far more than her insipid sister - but her followers are repressed. Take the child, Shadowheart. She does not even know who she is, but still manages to pity herself. The very concept of Sharran worship is self-indulgent. They would have you think every whispered word and hidden thought is of value, but it is not so. I have performed a thousand interrogations, squeezing out the most-guarded secrets held in heart, mind, and soul. I can tell you this - when the trivial parts have been whittled away, and I have sifted through what remains, in most cases a person amounts to nothing at all."

This is a rather novel angle on philosophy for Rakha - but it echoes her own lack of interest in the religions that her companions are so invested in.

Somewhere in her past, she too has tortured people - she's had flashes of memory of it. Nothing concrete - but enough to know that her own experience was about pain and death, not about digging out information.

She wonders a little about the interrogations Minthara describes. What would that look like? Would Minthara, perhaps, be able to wrestle out the secrets hidden in Rakha's head that she herself cannot access?

Or would she, too, amount to nothing at all in the end?

-----

"What do you make of Astarion?"

"He's been deprived of freedom and strong blood for so long that he is addicted to both. While those addictions have their hold on him, he is still a slave."

"He'll be a slave to his blood-thirst as long as he lives."

"And while you live, you'll be enslaved to *your* appetites and hungers. We all feed on something, and if we are deprived of it, we will fight for it. But Astarion is not only bound to his needs and desires, he is still bound to something more powerful - his Master. He will only be free when Cazador is dead, and that is as it should be. When the time comes, we must hope that he does not only take Cazador's long life, but the power that has sustained him as well."

Fascinating.

The line about "appetites and hungers" obviously hits different for Rakha as a Durge, although Rakha has already long since equated her struggles with the Urge to Astarion's bloodlust.

More than anything specific about what Minthara is saying, I think Rakha is kind of just fascinated listening to her talk. In a way she is as blunt and direct as Rakha herself is, but still manages to project an eloquence and a sense of her words being informed by long experience in a way that Rakha simply isn't capable of.

-----

"How do you and Lae'zel get along?"

"I have encountered few githyanki in my life. Those that I did were raiders - they croaked out please for mercy in their alien tongue as they died. Meeting Lae'zel makes me wish I knew more of their culture."

"Why not ask Lae'zel to educate you?"

"I did. She told me she has nothing to teach that cannot be learned through observation of her prowess in combat. Perhaps she is right - she certainly cuts a striking figure in battle. There is a precision to her ferocity that I admire."

"It seems a rather brutal culture."

"To one who only sees the surface of things, perhaps. You should look deeper. In spite of her youth, there is a patience and precision in Lae'zel's thoughts and actions that I admire. Those qualities will strengthen as she matures."

I do like this quite a lot in the context of the drabble I wrote about Lae'zel and Minthara's initial meeting in Rakha's worldstate.

Minthara definitely sees a lot that she respects in Lae'zel and also sees that she is terribly young but has potential to be much more than she is currently. Clearly she sees right through Lae'zel's attempts at bluster. In this case, Lae'zel refusing to teach her directly was absolutely another bit of trying to puff up and look big.

Continuing to be fascinated by how Minthara really feels like a refined and sharpened and experienced version of Rakha's own thought processes. I feel like Minthara is in many ways a vision of what Rakha might have been like with a more solid amount of perspective and education to draw on.

-----

"Have you spent much time with Gale?"

"The wizard? No."

"Don't you like wizards?"

"Don't sulk. I admire your mastery of the Weave, but I have known many wizards. In my experience, they do not usually live long enough to make the effort of befriending them worthwhile. Either the enemy recognizes they are a threat, and kills them swiftly, or their curiosity leads them to combust while experimenting with the limits of magic." [Here she pauses and squints sardonically at Rakha for a moment] "Present company excluded, of course. I am sure you will live to a *ripe* old age. Gale, however, is already in a state of suspended combustion thanks to that orb between his ribs." [a humorless laugh] "I suspect it is only a matter of time before he goes up in smoke. I will reserve my social graces for those who might live long enough to appreciate them."

LOL. OK, it's official. I love Minthara.

I briefly thought this was sorcerer-specific dialogue but then I remembered Rakha has a couple levels in wizard; luckily it works regardless, because Rakha was definitely about to get sulky about he implications. I think she's gathered that the nuances of distinction between wizards and sorcerers tend to be lost on most people.

Minthara was absolutely being WILDLY sarcastic about Rakha living to a ripe old age. She's only seen Rakha in combat once so far, but she already knows her new traveling companion has a tendency for, to put it mildly, recklessness.

Historically, Rakha tends to be a little sour towards people who are mean to her companions. However, Minthara now is a companion as well, which in Rakha's eyes gives her a little more room to speak her mind. And, deep down, Rakha has to admit she has a point; after all, Gale himself insists that he has no choice but to let the orb do its work in the end.

-----

"You and Karlach seem to be friendly."

"I have never known anyone so ferocious and unassailable in battle, and yet so fragile and impermanent in their very being. I often think of mortality as a curse. In time, all that I am and all that I have known and learned will be lost. In time, our cities will be dust. Karlach does not seem to have such anxieties. Perhaps because she cannot afford to. She exists in the moment, and she will burn out and be gone in a moment. There is something very beautiful about that."

<3 Everyone loves Karlach.

Rakha didn't have any further comments to make about this one. I think she's just kind of listening quietly. This conversation has already been enough to show me that Minthara just utterly fascinates her. Everything she says feels like something Rakha might have thought but would never have been able to find the words for - a blunt and pragmatic view of the world touched a deeper understanding and near-poetry. Her words are informed by history and memory, where Rakha has none.

She wishes she could speak like this to Wyll.

Speaking of which...

-----

"Any thoughts on Wyll?"

"He is exceedingly self-righteous. Amusing, considering he bound himself to a devil."

"Wyll is a good man."

"I will take your word for it. I only care that he is a good soldier, and he has not disappointed me on that front."

Hah. This absolutely reads to me as Minthara getting herself revved up to roast Wyll like nobody's business, and then belatedly remembering Rakha's obvious feelings for him and just deciding to keep her mouth shut. XD

I don't think, at this point, Minthara could talk Rakha out of caring for Wyll; he's had too much of a formative impact on her worldview. But it would have made her uncomfortable, certainly, to listen to Minthara talk derisively about him.

-----

There are a few other quick dialogue options outside the companion discussion; most of them are things we already know. Ketheric is invulnerable, which she witnessed in person in battle, and while her oath of vengeance on Lolth's behalf is now broken, she has a new one - revenge against the Absolute and all those who follow it.

But one bit was particularly interesting to me as part of Rakha's story:

"Do you remember all that you did in the Absolute's name?"

"I was the Absolute's dagger. I remember every throat that it held me to, and every drop of blood it forced me to spill. I take no responsibility for the lives I took. I did nothing in the Absolute's name - I was merely a weapon that it wielded."

This is the first jarring note in the conversation, really. Rakha, too, has felt at times like her body is merely a weapon for the beast in her head... but she is all too conscious, especially lately, of her own feelings of guilt at what she has been made to do. "I've lost control of myself before," she mutters harshly. "I hate it."

Surprisingly enough, Minthara's expression softens slightly. "You have my sympathy. The tadpole... the Absolute... they work together like a drug. I did not feel I was compelled to act against my will. I felt ecstatic to serve. Every action seemed a deliberate choice - the best choice - even though I could no more have resisted its commands than flesh can resist decay."

"Even rational minds like ours cannot reject such a powerful influence. The Absolute can make the impossible seem inevitable."

Rakha remembers the moments where the beast has won. It is not exactly like what Minthara describes - more like watching her body puppeted from a distance while she is torn out of her own control. But it is still close enough that it makes her shudder.

Then again... with Rakha's help, Minthara has found a way free of the compulsions that the Absolute drove through her. Perhaps, with Minthara's help, Rakha may yet find a way free as well.

[flaming-toads]

I'm a no good rotten liar! I decided to spend more time on the drawing and I'm so glad I did!!!

[gagakareem10]

A request gift for @caulfield-ley cause she found the hidden detail xD

I love these two together, it makes me cry 😭💕✨️

I was Inspired by this cutscene (the outfits, not the scene itself)

And BONUS! (pregnant Elena and idk why did I do this😭):

Uncharted © @naughty-dog

[kirby-the-gorb]

[doodleodds]

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN..... WE GOTTEM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you so SO much to everyone who commissioned (read: enabled) me!!

Now that I've reached my goal of +10ing my boy, and since my time is (unfortunately) still quite limited due to work, I'm going to be closing comms tomorrow! So, if you have an idea and haven't decided if you want to commit or not yet, now's your last chance for the time being! ;) And to all those who have already paid, I know I do still have quite a few to get through- I was a FOOL to think I could just bang these out in 24 hours, lol, but please rest assured they will be coming within the next few days!! I'll get through them slowly but surely. Admittedly I did take a break to draw this guy because I was so pleased to get him, but I'll get right back on the horse tomorrow lol. Thank you so much again everyone!! ^O^

Ferdinand went to a tea party and came back Different

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Your bosses better let you have the day off so you can take all the naps you want and eat pie.

My rescue lieutenant was texting me to work a twenty-four tomorrow instead of just my night shift and we had this great conversation that essentially went:

Lieutenant: Hey, can you work a 24 tomorrow? Me: I'm allergic to sunlight. Lieutenant: It's supposed to be cloudy.

...It made me laugh, anyway.

But I am off today! I hope you are too! :)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! <3 <3 <3 I'll likely just be vibing here, already did the family dinner yesterday.

[after-nine-at-the-oasis]

So this episode was about teachers committing to and caring about their students, and district people too, and I love that :'). Sometimes all you need is a district person who will keep putting in the effort like that, and I love when it happens for people <33

Anyway! I'm so glad they got the interpreter for Amani, she so deserves it :'D. Everyone does :').

I'm glad Gregory decided to let them stay :') I think he can really help these kids out and be a good place for them :)) :D

Also proud of Tariq for finally calling Nick his name :'D hope they do get close :)

Poor Barbara though xD

And once again proud of Janine for fighting through it to get the ASL interpreter :')) and the way she did it was so iconic xD same for the parents lol, going to a reporter that already doesn't like the district LOL, but yeah I am so happy for them :D

Also I love Jacob and Janine <33

With going out for drinks at the end, I hope Janine doesn't leave them behind :((

Btw the reason for the boys being in Gregory's room being that the Mortons are in couples therapy is hilarious xDD

And lol hopefully it's just like, upkeep, because they just got married xD

Anyway!! I am distrustful of districts but I hope it works out (with the issues obviously) on the show :). And even though I am I know this side of the story needs to be seen as well so it's nice to see, switches it up on me a bit more than usual. Like, makes me a little more uncomfortable and see it a different way more than usual. Which is good :)

Loved the episode!!! I'm so excited for next week :D

And also terrified :')

But I almost definitely won't be able to watch it lol so, I'll see y'all a little bit after that lol

Bye y'all!

[idledreams4]

I improved my morning alarm

[meiloorunsmoothie]

-sneaks in through your air ducts-

What is your tumblr origin story and how have you/your blog changed since then? 👀

-oh-you-mean-the-air-ducts-i-purposefully-left-open-

ohooh! funny you should ask.

to start, i've always been extremely anti-social media—i don't have personal accounts on basically any platform, and if i do have a "fake" account, i'll mainly use it as if it's youtube/very targeted searches. it's pretty much the same on here—sometimes i'll look at my "for you" page (but mainly cause searching on here scares me).

moving on, i actually happened upon your "starring opposite you" recap while i definitely wasn't looking for bootlegs of it a while back and that may have been the first time i realized that there were people on tumblr who were similar me and that it wasn't just full of, uh, stuff that i shall not name here and gifsets 💀. anyways, i was definitely a lurker on here for a while, but one day i think i just decided that maybe i would try blogging myself after seeing all the ✨positive✨ online interactions on here (also the jeremy jordan, among other, obsessions were not being engaged with enough irl 😆).

so yes! i joined tumblr relatively recently after decided to give social media a go and in some ways was inspired by your (and a several other) blogs, so thank you :D

since i'm pretty new, i don't think it's changed that much...it started as a jeremy blog and has pretty much stayed that way, but i definitely have started to branch into my other hyperfixations/lifestyle stuff as well!

[adore-gregor]

soooo

[satanfemme]

being both gnc and trans is so hard sometimes. it's like, I'll face adversity for being gnc/trans/whatever-strangers-read-me-as, and in addition to the normal base-level difficultly and pain and fear of these experiences, I'll also feel on some level like it's "my own fault" too because this is what I purposefully decided to be.

I often dress/act like a girl but have a deep voice/facial hair/flat chest -- and I opted in for all of those. I spent more money than I can conceptualize in order to medically transition in those ways. while, in theory, I could've saved the money, not transitioned, continued dressing/acting the same way as I do now, and the problem would no longer exist... in theory. ofc logically I know that's not at all how it works. if I hadn't transitioned I would feel even worse. and the way I'd experience & express gender would still be intrinsically different from "cis girl" -- that's true regardless of how my body looks or sounds. which should all go without saying, because I very obviously don't conform to my CAGAB either. if I did I wouldn't be in this mess!! u know?

...but the self-blame is still there, because for better or for worse I did go out of my way to become myself. <- feels like a truism.