#and there's some kinship in that

[nettleandthorne]

thanks for the last line tag @autumnalwalker! the last line i have written in my notebook is from a scene i've been very excited to write, so i'm happy to share!

Eventually, Maria breaks the silence. "Are you a witch, Gravedigger?" she asks, picking up their thimble in one delicate, lace-gloved hand. The silver of it glints in the light as she toys with it, turning it back and forth between her fingers, but her gaze doesn't stray from the Gravedigger's face. It pins them in place like a butterfly.

i'm tagging @dyrewrites, @starbuds-and-rosedust, and @jessicagailwrites! only if you're inclined, of course <3

[canisalbus]

hey! do you consider yourself a furry? if so, do you enjoy being in the community? if not, what label do you use, and why? (been wanting to ask this for a while:))

Sure, I don't mind being called a furry. My art certainly qualifies as furry art and my characters are furry characters. But I've never been that connected or active in the furry fandom in general. There's a lot of core experiences that I'm missing: I don't have a fursona, I don't own a fursuit and I've never been to a furry con. My online circles are very furry-centric but I don't think any of my irl friends consider themselves furries, despite our shared tastes and interests.

[thelostgirl21]

One thing I really want to see happen in Season 4...

Valdo Marx: Nice to see you again, Joseph!

Jaskier: *Heavy sigh* That's -

Yarpen: *Stepping in front of him protectively.* Julian Alfred Pankratz to you, you dying sounding beached whale! Only his friends call him Joseph!

Jaskier: Ah, actually, that's Jaskier.

Yarpen: *Dismissively.* Yeah, I KNOW.

Jaskier: *Getting all teary eyed.* I know you do.

[princeof-flowers]

Agott is not a Gifted Child like I'm sorry to (Former) Gifted Children who relate to her, like still do that if you want, but she's literally not a Gifted Child.

Like that's literally a significant part of her story- she's from a family known for producing Gifted Children and she Failed That Aspect somehow and was disowned by her own mother, publicy, for this. Which is why she has a complex.

Like all her skills are due to her constantly studying and practicing, which are things Gifted Kids don't have to do. No Gifted Kid would ever work as hard as Agott she's putting forth effort and instead of people recognizing that she's working so hard, they assume she's just that good because of the family she's from.

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Did you ever read the fanfic Technoblade wrote on the Hypixel forums?

I did, though it was a while ago. Good stuff -catnod-

[gatoraid]

Los Espookys S02E02

[shadfinite]

ok but the thing is shadow and infinite isnt a "healthy" or "good" relationship at first. it takes them years to be good for each other. they shouldn't have been together! they should have broken up years ago! but they didn't and they are working through it and eventually things work out. EVENTUALLY Infinite stops enabling Shadow's self destructive behavior and EVENTUALLY Shadow stops tolerating the admittedly unacceptible way Infinite treats him.

See, Infinite doesn't know what it's like to be with someone who doesn't want to hurt him even a little. Every relationship he's ever been in has been a really unhealthy and dangerous power dynamic (he's been the weak one and the strong one before). It takes him YEARS DECADES maybe even CENTURIES to realize Shadow is NOT LIKE THAT. Shadow didn't even really want to specifically hurt Infinite when they first encountered each other in the Mystic Ruins. He was just doing a job. It takes Infinite such a long time to understand that. He's so obsessed with Shadow but he has this one conflicting core understanding with Shadow that he simply cannot wrap his head around. He needs to stay in control so that "when Shadow tries to fuck him over he has a way to regain the upper hand."

Shadow thinks he's lesser than everyone, even Infinite. Even though Infinite literally started a war and wanted to destroy everything just because he was bored. If Infinite wants all the power over him, Shadow is okay with that because surely he deserves it for being such a miserable creature. When Infinite calls him names and treats him poorly he just lets it happen because Infinite is the first person he's met in a long time who will treat him in a way he understands. To Shadow, this is unfortunately what true love looks like. Being attacked is familiar, and Shadow knows that when people are kind to him he doesn't know how to deal with it. He thinks Infinite is giving him a form of stability that he can't live without.

What's confusing for both of them is that they do have moments of tenderness, and they do have inexplicable boundaries that they never cross with each other. They've never discussed their limits, but there are things they would never do to each other because it'd be too much.

They have moments of vulnerability, where they are just sitting beside each other and Infinite is telling Shadow how beautiful he is. And Shadow believes it because he's pretty sure that Infinite wouldn't waste his time being nice if he didn't mean it. Shadow introduced Infinite to a part of himself he didn't know existed, a part of himself that doesn't want to have to try to hard to reach for the top. But that vulnerability is terrifying at first and neither of them want to acknowledge it. It just happens and then its back to business as usual again. They don't talk about it.

They will do things to each other that cause conflict or anger, enable each other's worst habits, but they won't try to change each other's identities. That's the hard limit. They might have an argument where they harp on each other's bad behavior, but it's just talk. They'd never do anything to each other that would actively contribute to a crisis because one thing they both understand on a fundamental level is that changing the answers to core questions like "What is my purpose?" or "What do I believe is right?" is mind breaking. They never force each other to do things that challenge the status quo or threaten to shake their already deteriorating stability.

But this boundary is also part of the problem. They, for a long time, don't let each other grow and absolutely get worse! They break each other down, but they keep making excuses for why they should stay together. People who constantly fight with each other should not be together!

And when I say "together" I don't really mean together. Their relationship is a situationship at best, but Infinite still refers to Shadow as his boyfriend. Shadow insists they aren't even friends, but doesn't really passionately refute when Infinite says they are together. He just deflects. Of course he wants to be Infinite's partner, but that commitment is terrifying and he doesn't get how Infinite can be ready to commit like that even though it's been YEARS. It feels so impermanent because Shadow's perception of time is based on his immortality. That's one thing Infinite doesn't have (doesn't really think he has).

Two things jade them: time and people.

Shadow and Infinite won't challenge each other's core values, but time and people will. For Shadow, this comes in the form of his admittedly slightly larger support system: people like Rouge Amy and Big especially, but also Sonic to some degree. Infinite stagnates. His only support system is Shadow, really. He also has, like, Big and Sonic and Wave, but he isn't ever vulnerable with them in the way Shadow is with his. Shadow starts to grow, Infinite doesn't.

Infinite is definitely the worse off in this relationship. Shadow always knew that. They both knew it when they got together. Shadow has a savior complex. He thought he could fix it.

It in fact gets worse. Infinite is just bound to break that unspoken boundary they set, and Shadow has to put his foot down. Only then do they break all of their walls down and talk about those unacknowledgable moments. Only then do they get better. They can't work out unless they start to see each other as equals, but it's a really slow process for them to explore what that looks like or how its possible.

[karouvas]

Obviously mstief’s whole thing about confirming Blue as biracial a few years post the series being finished was… bombastic side eye. But I will say that the detail of the Vancouver crowd being mostly poc / ‘diverse’ students of Aglionby and Blue bonding with and feeling kinship with them she hasn’t experienced before is an interesting note through that lense.

[s1llyfreakx3]

ok so i was listening to this one radqueer playlist on spotify, and IT'S SO BASED

IT LITERALLY HAS WAS IST DEIN LIEBLINGSFACH (a bbc song made to teach kids german that's one of the catchiest songs in existence)

I AM IN LOVE WITH THE CREATOR OF THIS PLAYLIST /j

[finelythreadedsky]

idk if it's what kae tempest was thinking but the chorus of philoctetes absolutely should be a chorus of inhabitants of the island and all women-- because it's lemnos, the island where the women famously killed the entire male population a couple of generations before the trojan war. what does it mean that philoctetes is abandoned there, on that island?

[whispers-of-gallifrey]

Moment of silence for my favourite moment of aai2

[mihai-florescu]

I appreciate the dedication to preserving niches but im too bored with the concept of labels and ultimately uncaring towards circlejerk communities and maintaining a "lifestyle", perhaps at this point of burnout uncaring towards aesthetics altogether, to be able to meaningfully participate.

[sanguinaryrot]

oh very interesting. i just found a proposal of a new english pronoun standard from 2015.......the proposal was to differentiate animate beings from inanimate things in order to be more mindful that we share an earth with all living beings. (a third person singular animate to join the current third person singular inanimate, it/its) Invented by Robin Wall Kimmerer inspired from studying her native Anishinaabe language, and adapted to closer fit english grammar standards by Kara Huntermoon in May of this year.

To Quote Robin Wall Kimmerer, "In Anishinaabe and many other indigenous languages, it’s impossible to speak of Sugar Maple as “it.” We use the same words to address all living beings as we do our family. Because they are our family."

the proposed set was ki/kin/kinself and if you want to use it here is a little aid:

Third person singular inanimate, it/its/itself:

it is a pencil. it is on the desk. please put it away before its paint chips.

vs

Third person singular animate, ki/kin/kinself

ki is a dogwood. ki is my favorite tree. you can sit under kins branches for shade. OR What is that? Oh, that's a goose. I'm surprised to see kin all by kinself, since geese usually travel in groups.

and if you're wondering like i briefly did, the third person plural animate would probably remain "they/them" as that is the only current (standard) third person plural in english, human or inanimate (they are the painters we hired / they are my stuffed animals / they are called dandelions, etc.)

extremely cool!!!!

*** i also recognize that there are people use it/its pronouns as third person singular personal pronouns and they are animate but this post is only speaking in very broad strokes :3

[loremastering]

thanks to the encouragement of friends <3 i've had an idea for a story heavy but also low key, non committal rp kin i'd like to share to gauge interest.

Premise: Brigand kin with a mostly man theme (original I know but bear with me) but other races will be welcomed. Open to characters considered outcasts, trying to make ends meet, or just want to live on the edge. Perhaps others. Probably set in Bree-Land for its accessibility and richness of landscape. But moves to other regions could happen. Initiation would require a trial or three. Assignments will be given by the leaders such as reconnaissance, getting money (by whatever means necessary!) and other stuff.

Discord: I'll be making a separate discord for it as I want to encourage creativity beyond the game. I have an idea to do a writing or art prompt each month to connect with your characters more.

Mechanics: Very story focused. Plots would happen every few years perhaps, with bi annual mini events (or one) and a meeting hosted by the leaders every other month. Each event will have something to drive the story, whatever that ends up being.

Availability: I want this to be low-key and not something that people feel like they have to commit to, hence the long times in between plots and events. And adding things you can do on discord on your own time. If enough interest happens I might put a cap on membership too. That's all I got for now but i'd love to hear feedback or just emote reactions even to see if this is something people think might be fun. I'd like to set the story for it at least sometime next year.

[bucephaly]

Hello ! I am not from the US, so forgive my bad English . I am wondering if you could help me understand something . In my country (France) a show I like has a character who is Oglala Dakota - and Native fans in the US do not like two things about her . One, they do not like that she is not voiced by a Native woman in the English dub . Two, they do not like that she is adopted by a white woman . The first thing I understand completely, it is simple . The second, I do not understand as much . Do white people in the US still not treat Native children well ? I do not understand - if you have adopted someone then they are family and must be loved, that is how families work . But I understand from reading your blog that I don't know much about the history of how the US treats Native people and I must keep reading and learning from Natives about this . So I was hoping you could explain what the problem is with this ? I do not want to ignore problems and go, "oh this show is French, I am French so I will defend it" because that is wrong . I will listen to Native voices . I just need someone to explain why it is wrong beyond "it is" as I do not know enough history to understand it right now . Sorry again for my English .

Hey! So the problem isn't just that the white family won't love them, it's more involved with the history of Turtle Island and the Native culture.

The US and Canada have been trying to destroy native community and culture for centuries now. It's important for a child to grow up within their community in order to learn their culture from a young age, create those ties to their families and community, hear the language, etc. Speaking as someone who is disconnect and didn't grow up around the native community, it's much harder to reconnect later in life.

One way the US and Canada has been trying to undermine native culture is by taking native babies away from their families and adopting them out to white families. This was a big problem around the 60s in Canada, it's called the 60s Scoop. These babies were raised away from their cultures as part of an attempt to destroy the cultures and communities. This is still an issue today, just in the past year or so the US tried to overturn ICWA, the Indian Child Welfare Act, which requires native children to be kept within their communities. They wanted to get rid of that and allow native kids to be given to white families again. It's a serious threat to our culture and sovereignty

I hope that helps! Im not an expert on this so if anyone has any more info / sees something i got wrong, feel free to add.

[emotinalsupportturtle]

no because he was my role model as a child

I literally watched the first Harry Potter movie as a child and thought Snape and his long cloak was the coolest shit ever

also I don’t know who this meme belongs to (to credit them) I’ve seen it so many times and have had it saved in my screenshots for the longest time