#chime in with thoughts

[petricorah]

manga antics [ids in alt]

[artbyblastweave]

The trick to taking hostages? Is to take mid hostages. You take hostages who suck, the cops'll be like, "meet your demands? In exchange for those guys? Get fucked!" and then you're fucked. You take really great hostages, before you know it, their charm wins you over and you've bonded over your common humanity, reverse Stockholm syndrome, and you're like, man, I don't want to kill this guy, and the cops call your bluff and you're fucked. So you stick to mid hostages. Absolutely middle-of-the-road hostages. No tens, no ones, stick to the fours through the sevens and you're in the goldilocks zone. Pick guys who look like they've got families but not like. Interesting families. Virtue Ethics, Baby

[miifu666]

I think its a bit funny how many kids see Suklha as a maternal figure they could cling on to, but the adults CANNOT see her like that. Wdym this centipede lady who turned 2 dragons into blocks of minecraft is your "auntie" ??? Crazy.

Also a mix of lost kiddos that accidentally went into Suklha Universe, MK and ChiLiang ( @mehiwilldoitlater ) 😋 i made this fast, ik it looks bland shhhh.

[laauranenn]

Can we talk about chapter 60? I'd like to talk about chapter 60: A Place I Belong.

I specifically want to talk about the sections with the tightrope. It's one of my favorite parts of Wind Breaker and I could praise it for ages. I know it's a kind of common metaphor for struggles and isn't anything too special, but I really do adore it.

And whoever decided to add that anime only scene to the start of the first episode? Absolute genius and I love them for it. It works beautifully without it in the manga, but I think it's going to add a little extra something to the anime!

But for the tightrope section in the manga? It's so good and so well executed!! I absolutely love the way the style changes throughout the chapter!!

We start with white lineart on a black background. The lines are messy, sketchy, and even the boxes don't have clean lines.

I also want to point out how the only clean lines we get from this section are from the adults in his life, as well as the wind chime and the sprout pushing out from the ground.

The wind chime and the sprout clearly allude to Furin and the way both Furin and the rest of the town have shown that he, too, can be loved and accepted as he is.

The wind chime is also the thing that seems to be the transition to Sakura going from walking along the tightrope to considering that there might be another path for him.

I'm going to be real here and say that I don't have a lot to say about the other adults also having clean lineart. I'm sure there's someone out there who'd have something really smart to say about it, though. If I were to say something about it, it'd be that I think it might represent his shaky sense of self, compared to other people who have it figured out.

After that we get to the middle section, with Sakura in the "real world" again and with the rest of the class. I won't focus on the dialogue itself too much, but I'd like to talk about the way we go between the tightrope and reality.

I really like how the panels with the tightrope are woven in. They show us what's going on inside his head while also showing us how it looks like in reality. We see visual representation of how this feels like to him.

It's shown in how before he speaks, as he's gathering the courage for it, we can see him changing his stance on the rope. We get shown the way this is him preparing for that leap. He also mirrors himself with the way he's clenching his hands both in reality and around the tightrope.

A little later, as he's talking, we can see him directly mirror himself in both realities.

We see the way he's holding on preparing for that leap, as well as the way his face is split in two here. It doesn't directly match up, but it doesn't have to, because it already works so well here. I'd maybe even argue that I prefer it this way around as opposed to if this was a direct split of his face.

And then we see the leap itself, the way he throws himself into the unknown.

And then he gets called out on his bullshit, gets told that he's insane for thinking they'd cast him out. That they love him as he is and that they want him around. They actually want him. For maybe the first time in his life, he's wanted, appreciated, and needed.

And it's just this "Oh." moment for him. You can see the way it just clicks for him.

And after this we get to an absolutely beautiful scene, the part that makes me love this chapter so much.

We see that it all isn't so terrible after all, that there is hope. The tightrope isn't a drop to certain death, just a drop.

The colors have changed and we're now looking at Sakura on a white background with black lineart. Though at this point Sakura himself is the only part of the scene with messy lineart. The field of flowers and grass, as well as the edges of the panels, are all cleanly lined. Except for Sakura. Even if it's still messy, I'd say it's definitely a little cleaner than it was before.

You can see the way he's a little more faint, a little less solid than the rest of the lineart.

And then we see Bofurin, the rest of his class specifically. They're all there and they're all cleanly lined. And as Sakura reaches out to grab the hand he's offered, his lineart becomes clean. His lineart is no longer messy, it's no longer a sketch. This is him finding and accepting himself.

And as he grabs that hand, his clothes also change. Before all he was wearing was a plain shirt with plain pants, nothing remarkable, just plain clothes. But as soon as he takes that hand, his clothes change to a Furin uniform.

This entire chapter is so beautiful and I cannot wait to see it animated. I really hope the anime does it justice. From the lineart to the colors swapping around to the dialogue, it's an amazing chapter overall. I know I didn't really talk about the dialogue, but it's also good :)! I don't have much to say about it, though.

Moral of the story is that I really love this chapter and just wrote around 900 words about it.

[stephaniedolen]

Heracleum persicum (hogweed) / Reine, Norway

[commonmexicanname]

Good Omens and the Miracle Chimes

Don't say anything... Just... Watch this please? It's a compilation of some miracle sounds throughout the show. For EVERY Miracle Chime, come this way...

This has been my Roman Empire since my first viewing.

What I'm hearing is...

Aziraphale's miracle chime is distinctly different from other angel's miracle chime. Makes sense, main character, and all. His has this "singing" to it.

Crowley's miracle chime is just a hissing sound. However, I have no other demons to compare it to.

When they perform their half miracle, it starts with Az's chime and ends with Crowley's. They overlap ever so slightly, but you can clearly hear them both.

As for the last miracle sound(s?) of the show, I first hear Az's miracle sound, and after a few seconds, Crowley's. But, they're both distorted.

I just... Can't stop thinking about that last miracle sound(s?). What does it mean? I mean, I have theories as to what it could mean, and maybe I'll make a long post about it one day. I'm not a writer though, so it would take me a long while to write down all those thoughts of mine. For now, I'm just glad to have finally made this madness into a thing I can share.

Inspired to make this video thanks to this post by @noneorother.

And here's hoping @embracing-the-ineffable also finds it interesting enough for their post.

P.S. I'm on the fence about making a super cut of every miracle sound in season 2. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I'll just need help making a list of timestamps of all miracle sounds as I know I'll miss one otherwise. Update: Supercut is in the works! Update 2: If you missed it, the supercut is done and pinned on my blog!

[sebastianshoelace]

Some speculations

Sebastian going "What is it this time!?" at Mr. Lopee before being sent away. Makes me wonder what else Mr. Lopee has been contacting Sebastian about and if Sebastian was aware that Mr. Lopee would stop him.

Like, we know that Mr. Lopee made the rules for how much Sebastian is allowed to reveal in the files he shows the player when they die and that Mr. Lopee more or less forced Sebastian to deliver items to the player in the starting area.

So I wonder how much of this is them working together and how much of it is Mr. Lopee forcing Sebastian to do things against his will here. Mr. Lopee sided with the player so he can't be that sympathetic to Sebastian and his goals. But then again, he didn't stop Sebastian from killing the player either.

So like, what's Mr. Lopees plan in all of this? He's working with Sebastian but he's not against killing/teleporting him away (still a bit unclear as to what happened there) if he gets in the way of whatever plans Mr. Lopee has. (I can't help but wonder if Sebastian knows the scope of Mr. Lopee's powers, since he seems more annoyed/frustrated at him than straight up afraid. So either Sebastian doesn't know what Mr. Lopee is capable of or he just doesn't care) I'm curious as to how their cooperation started and what they're both getting out of it. We already know that Sebastian's goal is to escape the Blacksite, but how does Mr. Lopee fit into those plans? And what are Mr. Lopee's plans for Sebastian?

(I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on this as I'm still relatively new to the fandom and there might be stuff I've missed, not known about, so please let me know if that's the case <3 )

[saints-who-never-existed]

So we all know that Blanky is cool and badass as fuck. That goes without saying. There's a sense, right from the get-go really, that he pretty much always knows what to do in any given situation.

Blanky knows when humour will lift a mood, and when seriousness is required. He knows when to give grace and kindness, and when to dole out much-needed tough-love.

I think it always worth repeating, though, that none of that would be possible without an extremely high degree of empathy and emotional intelligence. To me, that's Blanky's real greatest strength. It's the root of what makes him so cool and badass as fuck so I want to ramble more about some examples of it.

-

In Episode Two, for instance, we have his nighttime conversation with Crozier where Blanky matches the captain's energy beat for beat.

He laughs with him first about the erstwhile reindeer and while he remains optimistic throughout the rest of the scene, he's also honest, both acknowledging Crozier's various fears and drilling down to the root of them immediately - "Aye. You trusted Ross and you trusted Parry."

When Crozier remarks on his perceptiveness, Blanky's incredibly tactful and kind too - a casual "No, it's just that I know you." when in reality Crozier's been doing a horseshit job of concealing his thoughts and they're visible from fuckin' space.

-

In the following episode, I think the response Blanky gives to Little's fearful teatime diatribe is great.

In contrast to Crozier's vague and even condescending reply which only seems to rile him up further, Blanky shuts Little down clearly and firmly but without being unkind. I think a simple, factual response was the right tactic for the lawful-good sort of guy Little is.

I think his accurate judgement of Little's character is further confirmed later in the episode vis a vis the clandestine rescue party. He's right when he says "Lieutenant Little will never agree to it."

-

Another example that's very special to me personally is in Episode Five and it's not Blanky delivering his warning after Crozier punches Fitzjames, or even when he lightens the mood with jokes and toasts before having his own fuckin' leg sawn off (although I could talk about those forever).

It's actually a wee almost throwaway line Blanky utters to McDonald right before he heads up on deck:

"He's ill with it now..."

Crozier's behaved abhorrently to everyone around him up until that point. He's been vicious and manipulative, cruel and thoughtless. Threatening to throw Silna out into the elements and actually following through with Blanky, ordering him out into weather he knows full well is so cold that it literally just killed a man.

It would be so easy for Blanky to decide that that was final straw, that he was done with Crozier's bullshit. But no! Even then, even then, Blanky seems to be able to take a step back to some degree. To recognise Crozier's alcoholism for what it is - a debilitating illness and not some great moral failing.

It used to confuse me to some degree why Blanky would greet Crozier so warmly at Carnivale (other than the fact that the absolute mad-lad is drunk off his ass). Like, that's the man who made the decision that lead to you nearly dying and losing a limb - how can you just hug him as if none of that happened? But the more I thought about that earlier line, the more clearly it spoke of the incredible depth of understanding and feeling Blanky has for Crozier and the more beautiful that relationship became. He can forgive him so quickly because he can see so clearly the true person under the difficult surface.

-

We talk so much about Blanky remaining outside of the horror story the rest of the characters come to inhabit, refusing to dignify it with his presence. And, again, I just think an important part of the reason he's able to do so is that he sees the world around him and the people within in it for exactly what it is and for exactly who they are. It's just a lot harder to jump-scare a man who sees the mask you're wearing from a mile away, and understands precisely why you've donned it.

[kapturkaptur]

slowly preparing for artfight

[jaynovz]

Listen. A lot of John Silver meta posts are like 75% there. And the part that gets on my nerves is the *intent*

Assertations that this character is constantly purely calculating and self-aware and consciously scheming and in control are the things that really rub me the wrong way. It discards the strength of the performance and editing and script and the things that that performance indicates as far as expressing vulnerability or lowering the mask.

Does he still keep like five different layers up even while trying to lower two of them? Yeah, of course, we see that on screen.

But for me where a lot of these Silver takes fall short is failing to acknowledge that the character himself doesn't even realize that he's lying half the time because he's the best at lying to himself. And that it's self-defense mechanism and survival instinct and that it's just like breathing. It's a default state.

For many of these interactions, especially with Madi and Flint in s3 and s4, he often thinks he's being truthful.

Anyway, it would be good for people to keep in mind that John Silver is not actually a malicious super villain and is in fact a deeply traumatized and tragic figure.

[books-and-cookies]

I keep thinking about this, because so, so far from me criticize people for what they're reading, but the current tiktok trend of reading only spicy books, or dark romance books, frustrates me so much sometimes. People are missing out on so many amazing novels, by passing on them because they have no spice. When did the spice level become the thing we judge books on? And most importantly, why? I know people sometimes read dark romance to deal with their own trauma (not saying that all dark romance readers do this, it's just something I've seen mentioned) and these books have their literary value, but... there are so many amazing, wonderful books out there. Better written, that offer more intellectually. Yes, everyone is free to read what they want, to do what they want with their free time, but... it just frustrates me sometimes.

[ambicutiebutt]

Just SO straightforward and easy to understand!

For instance, if you treat her with kindness and tenderness (her dislikes) it makes her uncomfortable and is kind of a turn-off. HOWEVER if you treat her with kindness and tenderness BECAUSE it makes her uncomfortable, or while not giving her a say in the matter, it will work for her.

Also, she will always be making mental notes of what you do and do not like. She will keep this knowledge for later use. For better or for worse.

Lastly- Honestly, getting off is not important for her. Regardless of if she's topping or bottoming.

[remxedmoon]

“the cautious ewe. the chime of its bell begets its strike.”

hooved

🛎️ power - 3 health - 3 blood

bell ringer - this card’s power increases the closer it is to the combat bell. power also increases for each chime on the field.

bellist - when a card bearing this sigil is played, a chime is created on each empty adjacent space. chimes have 0 power and 1 health.

hidden trait - insulating coat

this card cannot be transformed into a frozen creature. frozen creatures have 0 power, 5 health, and the frozen away sigil.

mirewebelle… she’s one of my favorites out of all the cards i’ve made. anyways!! writeup time!!

ding ding! yeah this entire card is themed around that one interaction on the first floor where mira talks about the bells on her brooch. she might be trapped in a card but i can’t take away her funny noises

the bell ringer + bellist interaction is so cool but it’s so hard to achieve ingame. with optimal placement, mira can do 5 damage on turn 1. hence why she’s a 3 blood! she hits harder than a grizzly. those funny noises are dangerous

i know female sheep don’t usually have horns but like. shsshhsshhhhh. she looks cooler with the horns. she’s like. one of those breeds where both males and females have horns. it’s fine.

i wanted to make the eyes in her alt art look like the change symbol!! because it’s fun!! every alt card has something special!

unlike sif, mira isn’t a talking card! none of the party is actually. as always siffrin suffers alone broken heart emoji.

also! that card trait huh. what the hell is a frozen creature? it’s. a reskin of the frozen opposum. i’ve got a king boss fight in the works and one of the mechanics of it is that he’ll target spaces and turn the cards within them into frozen cards. the frozen away sigil makes the card release a creature upon being killed. in this case, it’d probably return the card to the state it was in prior to getting frozen. and it’s called insulating coat because sheep teehee.

her patch’s sigil is armored/nano armor! which prevents the card from taking damage the first time it gets hit. since transferred sigils also affect the chimes, her chimes can tank an extra hit in battle! looking back though, i think leader would’ve synergized with her kit a bit better. since she can’t get an attack buff at campfire events (without glitches, at least), she’s basically capped at 5 power without that sigil. oh well! armored still works.

speaking of that patch. FUCK that patch. i had to cut out a jpeg of that thing by hand for every card because oops! i couldn’t find a png of it! only one of the card generators lets you add patches and it’s the less game-accurate one. so i had to manually cut it out for each card that had a tribe. which is most of them. hhhh at least i don’t have to deal with it anymore. it sucked.

and i think that’s all my notes on this card! here is a mirewe. observe her

[tgtbata]

this question might seem a little weird, but I'll ask it anyways. how come youre not afraid to put your wincest art on social media? theres a lot of people out there that hate incest pairings even though theyre 100% fictional etc. like sure those people wont do anything except complaining online but how do you get over all that judgment/ hate? have a good day!

not a weird question!

i think i never really learnt to be afraid of it or to find it wrong. i don't come from a family/context where it's weird to engage with "problematic" topics. like, you can read books about murder, sex, incest, torture, whatever, it's fine and it's mainstream tbh. one of my mom's favourite books features incest and that's normal. it's a classic and read in many schools. the white lotus has incest on general audience's tvs. so why'd fandom be different?

and i entered online fandom when i was like 14? in the 2010s. there was a lot more of a YKINMKATO culture back then. there was hate, sure, but the word 'anti' didn't exist yet in the meaning it has now. i used to share a blog with my sister back then (still do) and we talked fandom offline too including incest and rpf ships and it was chill. and then the whole anti/proship debate got bigger and bigger and i just always made an effort not to listen to the pointless guilt-tripping.

i don't want to omit the fact that yes i have been told everything from 'ew' to 'kill yourself' over art i've posted (people especially went crazy over my dean/jack art on twitter lol and that one made me see exactly how performative it all was) and sometimes there's a bump to get over when i post something 'new' but the single most important thing to always remember is that it's literally just fine. and that you gotta surround yourself with people who also know it's fine.

[casscainmainly]

What do you think Cass's thoughts on mercy killing are?

WHAT AN INTERESTING QUESTION. I'm honestly not sure how good an answer I can give, though I think Cass wouldn't mercy kill herself, even if someone were asking her to do it. Her stance is very much 'nobody dies tonight,' and I think she could never bring herself to kill someone no matter what the circumstances.

Could she stand by and let someone else mercy kill though? I think she'd be able to read how much pain someone is in, but she so thoroughly believes in the value of life that idk if that would be enough to sway her. We know from Batgirl (2000) #19 that, while her morals are generally inflexible, she can step aside sometimes (this is the death penalty issue). But #19 is also pre-Shiva fight, and that issue is her grappling with her guilt - the guy must die, she must die. I wonder if post-Shiva fight she would've reacted differently to the dilemma. (Also that was on the anniversary of the night she killed Faizul - even a different day may have changed things).

Overall I think she'd be against it. Cass' anti-killing stance is not circumstantial - it doesn't really matter why someone is killing someone, all that matters is the act itself. She'd be sympathetic to the person suffering and the person wanting to end the suffering, but she wouldn't disregard human life for any reason.

(But Cass did mercy-kill Harvey Bullock in DCeased so??? I guess she would??? Bullock was being actively turned into a zombie so it might also be like a timing thing, if someone is 3 seconds from death she might ease their way, but if it's someone who willl die in a few months I don't think she would).

[violent138]

Bruce is just hanging out at Clark's place, and watches Clark as the alien busily fixes his sink. Bruce has definitely slept rough, travelled all over the place with minimal resources and trained in some of the worst conditions, but he's never had to do any of this.

Simple things like maintaining a flat, paying rent, arguing with a landlord, buying groceries, decorating a house, these aren't really a part of his life at all. When he catches Bruce staring, Clark defensively declares he likes making the repairs himself, and Bruce replies that he's just fascinated by all the components that make up Clark's life.