#conrete's stuff

[timdrakesstaff]

i get tv time but not much

shut up about your list of boys and petty anti Timness i wanna wqtch tvvvvv

[ichikalvr]

[🎸🎹] the grim reaper's waltz

project sekai ; leo/need + ichisaki focused ;

2nd person pov

When Saki first went missing, you along with Honami and Shiho would spend every day handing out missing posters to strangers that would pass by the market, sticking those posters onto houses and stone brick walls that bordered the bustling streets. Toya and Tsukasa would stop by to occasionally help out with the posters, but they mostly did stuff on their own. You respected their privacy.

A fight broke out between the three of you once the kingdom presumed her dead. You continued to plead to them to never lose hope, that there's still a slim chance of her possibly being alive, that she can't be dead unless they find conrete evidence of her death, but Shiho refuses to buy any of it. She storms out of your house in a fit of frustration, with a teary Honami following shortly after. That would be the last time you saw them for years.

After you graduated from the academy, you decided to try your luck at the 'Institution of Royal Guards', hoping to seek the truth of Saki's whereabouts. You blaze through the trials and bid your family a bittersweet farewell as you set out for the institution's training grounds.

Immediately, the moment you stepped into the dorm that you would be in for the rest of the year, your eyes meet with a familiar face. Your roommate has short grey hair and sharp green eyes. Your roommate... was Shiho Hinomori.

It was awkward during the first month or so, the two of you simply exchanging glances before doing your own things. But as the year went on, glances turned into short-term conversations, and short-term conversations turned into sincere talks that would last into the night. You two would often be paired together in group training by the instructor due to your coordination during team fights, and you would always share notes about the upcoming tests that required too much critical thinking for you to handle.

As you both lay in bed during your last day of training, you exclaim that when all four of you finally reunite, you would watch the stars in the sky alongside them once more. Shiho shares the same sentiment.

When you wake up for the ceremony, you were officially recognized as a loyal knight of the kingdom.

"For the kingdom, for the people!" the paladin shouted with pride. You and the other knights followed in unison.

—

As you patrolled the castle's walls, you and Shiho stare in shock as you notice a certain someone escort the prince down the hall.

Honami Mochizuki.

Right after you were dismissed, you approached a higher-up asking for permission to enter the castle. When both of you found Honami, she was apprehensive to acknowledge you at first, but eventually gathered the courage to see you both face to face. She apologized for the fight that put a rift between everyone, with Shiho also regretting the behavior she displayed that fateful day. You promptly apologize as well, and the three of you finally get the chance to sit down and chat.

Honami explains that she studied magic after she graduated and was accepted into the most prestigious magic academy in the kingdom, somehow managing to nab one of the top spots once she finished her studies. This would eventually lead her to become the prince's sworn shield, vowing to protect her alongside Mafuyu; who's her sworn sword.

You ask her if she would be able to hang out with you outside of royal duties, but Honami shakes her head and turns down the offer. Due to tensions rising higher between the kingdom and a rebellion group, she needs to be by the prince's side at all times, so she wouldn't have any free time until it's peaceful again. You understand her circumstances, and as night falls, you bid her farewell and return to patrolling the kingdom.

A few days pass, and the general in charge requests for immediate backup. Your unit alongside a few others are called into the front lines.

The rebellion has started. It's an all-out war.

—

You didn't register anything that was happening until a dragon flew overhead, flaunting its shiny scales and massive wings, baring its teeth as it ignites the sky with a deafening roar. It scorched it a shade of dark red, and the town you knew all too well bursts into flames. Chaos rapidly erupts in the kingdom, a stampede of citizens fleeing the vicinity in a panic. You hoped that your parents were among those crowds as you ran the opposite direction. Towards the chaos. Towards your friends.

(You'd never forgive yourself if something happened to Honami or Shiho.)

The town square had quickly become a place for battle, bodies of your allies and enemies alike scattered all over the cobblestone, their blood seeping into its cracks. You winced, resisting the urge to vomit at the sight of the martyred that once stood alongside you, now lifeless and unmoving on the ground. Yet you gulp up the bile in your throat and continued forward, because they did their job. They devoted their lives to the kingdom until the very end, and soon enough, you'll do just the same.

You arrive at an open field located at the forefront of the castle, the source of all the conflict. You don't spot any of your friends, but in front of you are your allies battered and bruised, struggling against the opposing faction attempting to invade the castle. So they're after the prince, you thought. You come to their aid, slashing down a knight in black who nearly stabbed one of your fellow companions in the stomach. He thanks you for your assistance—

—before both of you are slammed into a wall with full force by the dragon.

You cough out blood as it spills out of your mouth. Crimson drips from your scalp, your head throbbing as the world spun around you. Looking to your side, you notice that the knight from earlier was knocked out from the sheer force of that blow. But before you can do anything else, you feel a menacing presence as the smoke clears. You hastily stand up, sword at the ready.

...Your body falters once you lock eyes with the enemy.

She wore white beneath the brown leather, completing the look with a black cloak detailed with intricate motifs and gold being the finishing touch that brings the outfit together, indicating that she's the enemy. And yet, that doesn't matter. None of it does—as you know exactly who this is. You recognize the shoulder-length, yellow hair that faded to pink, tied into a set of pigtails and curled at its ends. You recognize the eyes that stared back at you; a bright, bubbly pink that's hard to miss.

Amidst all the chaos, there was her.

Saki Tenma.

And she's donning the clothes of the opposing faction.

You freeze. That can't be her. It just couldn't. Everything about the person standing in front of you looks so... wrong. Her pigtails, a hairstyle that she's always adored, was messy and unkempt when it's usually combed to perfection. Her eyes were dull and devoid of life, the spark she used to have seemingly lost to time. Yet somewhere in your heart, you know for a fact that this is still the Saki you love from all those years ago, because her radiant smile that could rival a thousand suns hasn't change a single bit.

Even though you just witnessed her brutally stab someone in the chest without an ounce of mercy.

...Are you really Saki?

Saki widens her eyes in surprise, her demeanour changing when realizing it's you.

"Icchan...?!"

She gasps at the sight of her childhood friend, nearly dropping her weapon just to run up and hug you, but when she approaches closer, you can't help but take a step back and keep your distance. Yes, this is your childhood friend who's been missing for years. And yes, you are extremely relieved that she's alive after all this time. But you're scared. Terrified. You clutch the sword in your hands, demanding answers for how things turned out like this. Her body tenses, then quickly recovers.

"...I did what I had to." she said. You furrow your eyebrow at her answer.

Saki clears her throat. "B-But anyway! I really wish I got to see Honami and Shiho as well... Are they doing okay?"

...You hesitantly nod.

"Phew, I'm glad to hear that..." she smiled. (God, she smiled—and it's still the same warm smile that she's had since the beginning. It pains every fibre of your being.)

More questions than answers continue to pile up in your head as time passes. There's scars all over her body. You swear that you remember reading from somewhere that wielding a magic imbued scythe was illegal. You want to catch up with her and ask her how she's been and so many things and... no. No, no—there isn't any time for this. Her kingdom needs her. She can't waste any more time dilly-dallying with the enemy.

You point your blade towards her. "Drop your weapon, and we can resolve this peacefully." you insisted. Saki blankly stares at the sharp tip of your sword.

"Hey, c'mon now." she snickered, practically taunting you as she dragged the blade of her scythe against the grass. "Isn't it better the other way around? You can drop your weapon, and we can all live happily ever after. Simple!"

A scythe, her weapon of choice. It was enchanced with some sort of dark magic. She couldn't tell. If only Honami were here, considering she's more well-versed in magic than the majority. But... you're glad that she wasn't here at this point in time. She was spared the pain of seeing her childhood friend.

You narrow your eyes. Happily ever after, huh. "This is what you call happily ever after? Your people are killing my people, Saki. You're taking their precious lives away..."

Saki. Saki, Saki, Saki.

(...You don't recognize the girl standing across you.)

"I'm sorry, I just—" she trails off, apologetic. "I'd... be executed if I don't do this, y'know? And then... then they'll take someone else. Maybe they'll take Toya, Tsukasa, or Honami, maybe Shiho, maybe even you. I couldn't possibly bear the thought of that...!"

"...So I signed a contract. I work with them until I'm deemed useless, and they won't lay a single finger on the people I love until then, unless necessary. There's no turning back now. I have to do this."

You look at her, dumbfounded. "But then you're... you're practically allowing my—OUR people to roll over and die!" you screamed. "The castle has gone up in flames, and the streets are in shambles! All of our memories are currently being burnt to a crisp right now! Why did you even sign that contract...? How could you have possibly agreed to such a horrible fate, fully knowing that you would be the main reason for the kingdom's downfall...?! ISN'T THIS THE VERY KINGDOM WHERE YOUR LOVED ONES RESIDE IN?!"

"IT WAS EITHER THE WORLD BURNING OR YOU DYING, ICCHAN!" Saki huffed out. Her palms were sweaty, her breathing was sporadic. She felt her grip on the scythe slip.

"As long as you and the others are alive, I'm perfectly fine with suffering a thousand times more. And if taking an entire kingdom down with me is what it takes to keep you all safe, then I'll... I'll gladly watch it burn."

...I'll gladly watch it burn, she says. Yet her voice cracks when she says those words, and you can see a hint of remorse in her glinting eyes as she held back tears. She doesn't want to, but she has to.

In short, your best friend is hurting.

But you can't do anything about it, because she's the enemy.

'For the kingdom, for the people', right?

The two of you have a stand-off. Both of your weapons are drawn, but neither of you refuse to deal the first blow. Neither of you want to fight. For a moment, you wander off into the past, the four of you sneaking out to watch the stars just outside the Tenma household. You all laugh together and run up the side of a hill, lying down on the damp grass as you cheerfully point at constellations and twinkling stars, promising to never leave each other's side. You're then sent back to a world where the night sky is barely visible, covered in ash and smoke, as a dragon and its army wreck havoc on the kingdom you reside in. The distant screams of your comrades fill your ears, swords colliding, and spells being cast. Saki snaps you out of your trance.

She laughed. "It's so selfish of me, isn't it? That I'd trade everything I've got so everyone I care about would be able to live... it's stupid. But the only other choice was to helplessly watch you all die. So I alone will bear this burden. As a traitor of this kingdom."

"I couldn't care less about what happens to me next, so here's a proposal," she swung her scythe over her shoulder. "We battle to the death, and last one standing wins. Wouldn't that solve all of our problems?"

No, no it would not. I'd never want to hurt you, you wanted to say. The words get stuck in your throat.

Your inner voice yearns for her to come back, to set all of these knight duties and contracts and wars aside and embrace each other, but the world is a harsh place. You can't turn back time, and you can't live in the past. You're living in the present, with your friend on the opposite side of the war. Absolutely nothing would change that fact. So you fixed your stance, ready to swing, tightening your grip on the handle of your sword.

"...Step aside. You know you don't want to do this." you demand, a sense of finality in your voice. "Please."

Saki firmly holds her scythe in both of her hands. Its curved blade gleams in the moonlight, already painted red from her past encounters.

"I'm sorry it has to end this way."

A tear slides down Saki's cheek. "Let's dance, Icchan."

[psychosophy]

Stuff about knight of time? That’s my classpect and I wanna know more abt it

Another toughie, mainly cuz (unlike most aspects) time is incredibly open ended, I wouldn't even necessarily call it multi-faceted it just straight up can be about pretty much anything, since time in this case is more of a concept than an actual personality.

The way I differentiate time is that it's about the conrete, physical reactions and stimuli. This includes things like death, the passage of time itself, etc. While time is more about observing what is real, space is about making what's not (terraforming the literal space around them)

In this case, a knight of time would probably be "out of it" so to say, having a hard time with physical realities. This doesn't mean they're dissociative, they are just insecure physically, they probably fear death for themselves or might even just not realize the full scope of death itself. They wouldn't really know their place in the world, preferring to blend into the background and not be noticed (since time is an incredibly "warm" aspect to use the words of a different classpect analyzer who's name I forgot ? I think Optimistic Duelist but I could be wrong).

Another thing is that knights fundementally lack their aspect, or at least feels like they do. A knight of time would feel they lack common sense or groundedness, this is most likely an insecurity for them but not always. In the case of Dave, though he is incredibly insecure he's not insecure in his aspect, actually he's quite confident, but doesn't notice how much it lacks in his life. He's able to weild it like a knife, but (unlike an heir) it isn't a fundemental part of his life. He uses it, and that's about it, he doesn't want to understand it more, he actively dislikes it due to insecurities hidden deeper in his psyche, if that makes any sense? Kinda got off topic but, basically what I'm saying is -> Knights are insecure but not necessarily BAD at their aspect, actually they're quite good at weilding it but only know how to USE it, not understand it

[koipalm]

(good morning how are u, same anon still) you're making me so unwell with all that hypnos theorizing, i want to bite into conrete. i'm about to regress back into the period when i was scouring thru hell and earth to find any good hypnos fanfics </3

GO READ PEPSIS FIC to be seen (and to see) ITS SO FUN <3 also all the ones in the latreía mou zagnos collection are soooo good they were my favorite.. also if you like it arenos is so wonderful and so beautiful AHEERM... AND sensationalsunburst made the beautiful beautiful perchance to dream based on my art wow.. im sorry i love showing off peoples stuff and adding links. i have two of my own but one of them is only on fanfiction.online which is apparently going down so ill have to figure out smth for that.. ALSO THANK YOU im soooo glad when people get into hypnos its like a dream come true to me . luckily there are enough people that are not normal about him that there is so much interesting content to see.. hold my hand.. we can do this. we WILL get that hypnos romance route

[conretewings]

-”Tch...let’s head home guys...it’s not like I wanted to be Trial Captain anyway...”

[ronanvespertine]

Instead of debating the morality around Hawks, how about we at least recognize the absurd strength of his resolve? :3

[of-a-chaotic-mind]

Party Gone Wrong

Summary: While at a party on the hunt for a ghoul, Reader gets trapped under a chunk of ceiling after a couple of explosions.

TW/CW: Dean Winchester x Reader, explosions, Reader gets trapped under a chunk of conrete and has a pretty nasty wound but it’s not graphically described, other than that just general injuries and concussions type stuff.

Requested?: Yes! An awesome Anon said, “Will you pleaaase write a Dean one, where during a case he and the reader are in a ball or something just like when he was with Bella, but suddenly the whole building collapses, he gets a little injured but the reader gets severely injured and she's bleeding a lot and he's trying to get her out as soon as he can. I looove angst but I would looove a fluffy ending. Pleaaase and thank you!!”

Word Count: 1,193

A/N: So, for the sake of this imagine Bella either didn’t die or this is set before she did. Reader, Dean, and Sam needed her to get into the party, and because I have a love hate relationship with her character. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! Requests are open! Thank you in advance for reading and love to all!

Your POV

    I observed myself in the mirror as I smoothed my outfit out and added the finishing touches. It feels beyond weird to have to dress up after wearing jaded jeans, faded flannels, and beaten boots, topped off with random t-shirts and a threadbare leather jacket for so long. This outfit almost seems like it doesn’t belong on me. I notice in the mirror that Dean has entered the room and turn to look at him properly, “Does this look okay?”

    “Yes baby, you look fantastic as always,” he answers as he pulls me close to him for a hug. I lay my head on his chest and take few deep breaths but then we hear Sammy calling us from down stairs to hurry up so we won’t be late. Dean takes my hand in his and tugs me towards the door.

    As we pull up to the posh manor under the night sky a half hour later, Bella straightens Sam’s tie and gives us our reminders about how she thinks we should act, etc. She gives us very little credit, granted she’s probably correct in doing so because I don’t think I’ve ever been to anything more formal than a funeral, the normal person kind not the hunter kind. Dean and I step out of the car and follow Bella and Sam into the giant house. She handles the bouncers and in minutes we find ourselves among some pretty fancy people.  

    I never knew that mingling and dancing could take so much energy out of me but I feel more drained than I did after taking out several vamps by myself. Unfortunately, the night is still young as we have yet to spot our target and reason for being here. A ghoul has taken to the luxury life and has been throwing these parties every weekend so he can stock up on groceries for the week. Finally, just when we’re about ready to call this trip a bust, the man of the hour makes an appearance.  

    It makes me sick to my stomach to see him schmoozing with so many people who are none the wiser to his true nature, with a girl on his arm nonetheless. In just a few short moments, Bella and Sam mange to get close to the guy but then all hell breaks loose as something explodes. As we run and duck for cover, something else goes off pretty close to us. Next thing I know, the ceiling has come down on us and I find myself pinned under a big chunk of it. Then, my senses are bathed in darkness.

    I don’t know how long it’s been before I’m being roused, but it must not have been long as the smoke and dust is stilling hanging thick in the air. I try to move but the chunk of concrete ceiling laying on top of my lower half is too heavy for me to lift. I feel what part of my body I can but don’t feel anything too serious. I’m almost scared to see what’s under the concrete, however, because that’s where most of my pain is coming from. I hear the rubble shifting nearby and then see Dean and Sam out of the corner of my eye. “Guys,” I say to get their attention even though it hurts to speak, “I’m over here.”

    Dean hears me and immediately rushes to my side, surveying the situation. I notice that Sam was carrying Bella who is out cold but, “Hey, put her down and help me get this off of (Y/N),” Dean instructs. Sam gently lays Bella down on a couch after cleaning it off as best he could before joining Dean in lifting the concrete off of me. I can finally catch my breath as they toss the concrete carefully to the side as not to hit anyone else with it.

    Dean drops to his knees beside me and puts pressure on what I’m sure is a huge wound that was under the concrete. “Shit,” Dean swears, looking around before grabbing a curtain from a pile of rubble, “This will have to do until we get you to the hospital.” He helps me sit up before trying to tie the shred of curtain around my waist to stop the bleeding but swears again and shakes his hand, “Sammy can you help me? I think I broke my hand.” Once they finish with the makeshift bandage. Dean carefully lifts me up using his good hand and the forearm of his other. Sam grabs Bella from the couch and we make our way outside and join the rest of the crowd gathering.

    I can hear sirens in the distance as Dean sets me down on the steps outside. Sam sets Bella down beside me as she begins stirring finally. The four of us wait patiently as ambulances, fire trucks, and police cars arrive. As soon as the EMTs step out of the ambulances, Dean is attempting to drag one over to me but I have Sam pull him back over to me. “Baby, you’re bleeding pretty bad, I gotta get them to come look at you.”  

    I shake my head and place my palm against his cheek, “It’s alright, Dean. I’m okay for now. Let them take care of the ones that need it more than I do.”  

    Sam looks around, “(Y/N), I think you are the one that needs it most. Everyone else looks to be about like the three of us,” he says referring to himself, Dean, and Bella, the last of which is currently hurling in a bush to my right, she has a concussion for sure.  

    An EMT makes his way over to us, as my head starts to spin, “Alright, what have we got going on over here?” he asks before noticing my curtain covered wound and dropping his bag beside me to gently tug it away.

    “I think she has a concussion and they probably do to. His hand is broken,” I say pointing at Dean, sitting behind me, “and he was limping on his left leg earlier,” I finish pointing at Sam, who’s sitting on Dean’s right behind me.

    The EMT chuckles, “Well, those things sound like they can wait. We need to get you fixed up first.”

    A look of confusion crosses my face, “What do you mean? I’m fine. See,” I point to my waist where I thought the curtain was, “Hey, where’d my curtain go? I needed that.”

    “Baby, I think you have a concussion of your own. Just sit tight and let him fix you up and then we can get us sorted out.” I roll my eyes but do as told and soon the EMT has me bandaged up.

    He looks to Dean, “You guys should probably get to the ER, especially this one,” he says motioning to me.

    Sammy speaks up, “I can drive us there, I don’t think I have a concussion.” The EMT nods as he leaves to tend to other people. With this, Dean lifts me up to carry me to the car and Sam helps Bella make her way there as well.

Masterlist

Taglist: @akshi8278 @emiijemii @deandaydreaming​

[frost-moons]

@chemistfail I agree with you that it’s really hard to pin point Nny since he can be pretty inconsistant and lacks control. I don’t think morally grey should be counted as a separate category from the rest though? My understanding of morally grey is just that your morals aren’t perfectly virtuous nor perfectly villainous. I think that anti-hero/anti-villain/villain can all fall within the morally grey category since those lables tend to be more influenced by their actions. You can have a morally grey character act as a villain or a hero for different characters depending on their perspective of the former. So Nny is definitely morally grey, if not morally inconsistent? He doesn’t seem to have too many concrete ‘i believe in this and nothing will change that’ morals and that seems to be at least a factor in why he lacks much consistency in his actions. He sways between character types depending on what in that moment is influencing his actions, rather than him ever having a strong moral creed to influence it.

Discuss:

Would Nny be an anti-hero, an anti-villain, morally grey, or just a plain villain?

[connor-draws-things]

// this Marble Hornets stuff is w e i r d

// and I do not like it at all

// but i’m going to finish watching it, because i’m an idiot

// anyways, i’m on entry #13 and the vid started out without any context besides “Entry #13″, then the guy recording finds this circle with an “X” in the middle

// I would’ve already been running out of the friggin STATE if I had been seeing this strange tall man without a face and then this circle with an “X” in the middle and what looks like an abandoned conrete house besides it.

// And he was, like, five feet away from Slenderman at most this time, he bolted out of there. If I were him, I would’ve run too

// This guy Alex was d u m b he decided to stay to film Marble Hornets instead of leave, he didn’t even tell his crew what had been happening. His room had the “He’s watching” pictures all over the walls

// If his crew walked into his room, they would’ve thought he was crazy, at least that’s what I would’ve thought if I didn’t know about Creepypasta

// And someone told me to wait for entry 18 and i’m worried

[busyfish]

i’m so glad you got it to work!! :D and hehe atleast you made progress!!

and yeah midterms are here and i am quite exhausted from school and life in general

and that’s cool that you’ve had football and chess throughout uni! :] i’m glad you were able to take a break from uni though, it is a lot! (when u said football i thought you meant american football but your shoes look like soccer shoes haha)

did you enjoy playing football? and i would ask about chess too but it seems very obvious that you really enjoy it :D

(side note: super sorry that this conversation seems all over the place haha, i’m not very good at staying on topic for long or some other questions always seem to pop up)

- :D

oh yeah haha soccer, football. omg i cannot imagine playing american football. we actually have canadian rules football up here too but i'm too small. i grew up with an english parent so i'm just conditioned. i liked it a lot actually, i enjoy watching it too. I enjoyed playing futsal more though because flat ground is more fun to me? i only played for a season though but it was really fun and i actually prefer now to like practice on the conrete and stuff in our driveway more than actual grass. i really enjoy chess a lot too but i have gone through phases were i feel like my brain is too much like soup. when you get really serious about it, there's a lot of like managing mental fatigue and stuff as well as like studying to play well and all that. it's A LOT of work. also it's totally cool if it's all over the place it's cool to just talk about whatever. it's fun to answer your questions and stuff :D

[greatwyrmgold]

Maybe I should clarify.

This post was prompted by a PM discussion with someone who will remain nameless unless they wish to identify themself. They started arguing that Tattletale is actually bad aroace representation. They made a bunch of unsubstantiated statements, I asked for substantiation.

They made a lot of noise about being misunderstood, and substantiated a few of their claims. And also made more ubsubstantiated claims. Arguments included:

The idea that lots of people were pissed off about this, which vanished from the discussion once I pointed out that literally nobody else had made this argument. And that a bunch of people had PM'd me to express their agreement. (Given the kind of anonymous "asks" I've started to get on my main and Worm-RP blogs, I'm not surprised the're PMing me.)

The idea that Wildbow introduced Lisa's sexuality specifically to stop people from shipping her with Taylor or (in Ward) Victoria.

The idea that Lisa is just a token ace character, a term they don't define.

The fact that Lisa's sexuality doesn't factor into the story of either Worm or Ward, which I see as a positive aspect which makes her less token-ish.

That Lisa's sexuality is just a plot device, which directly contradicts the above claim.

The idea of "betrayal," which when pressed they admitted was just "Wildbow betrayed you by writing bad representation," even though the "betrayal" thing was lumped in with arguments for why Lisa was bad ace rep.

"[I]t feeds into a pattern of wildbow stifling or shitting on sapphic behavior." The only conrete, substantiable argument made...and it's basically just asserting that Lisa is basically a lesbian.

Okay, after I pointed that out, the person specifically said they didn't think Lisa was a lesbian. They just made arguments which only make sense if Lisa is basically a lesbian with a layer of inconvenient aroace on top.

The person insisted that they were supportive of aroace Lisa in fanfics and stuff, that they just thought it was badly implemented in canon. But the only argument that went further than wild accusations and contradictory nonsense is that Wildbow making Lisa ace is shitting on "sapphic behavior".

The person got mad when I interpreted this as "Writing aroace characters is homophobic". But they also didn't explain why it isn't. I don't know how I was supposed to interpret it. How does that not sound like "Lisa is basically a lesbian in canon, saying that she's aromantic is homophobic"?

They performed the act of a good ally, someone who likes aromantic representation and stuff. But if you critically analyze their arguments, the foundation is the same as people who come within inches of saying that writing aromantic characters is homophobic.

The fact that they never quite say what they imply out loud is what really gets under my skin. If they admitted that they don't see aroace identities as being as valid/important/whatever as alloromantic ones, that would be straightforward. But they don't. They just make arguments that make no sense if you don't mix a little aphobia into the foundation.

The idea that Lisa and Taylor's interactions are sapphic enough that Lisa's aromantic identity is invalid...is bullshit. It implies that writing an asexual woman with close friends is homophobic.

...

I missed this during our conversation, but they also argued that Rachel was more aroace than Lisa, despite the fact that Rachel casually talks about wanting to sleep with guys in Worm (and enters a sexual relationship with Biter during the timeskip). Aromantic, maybe, but she is textually not asexual. Did this person even read Worm?

Smugbug shippers get through a conversation about Lisa's sexuality without implying that writing an asexual woman with close friends is homophobic challenge 2023

[thefoodiesfithome]

I’m SO excited to share that we’re coming to you live from our new patio! *queue the band and parade*

We weren’t originally planning to take on any more larger scale projects this season given that we not only moved, but got our fence, installed five ceiling fans, changed out 3 kitchen/dining room lights and made the switch to a riding mower. But the cards aligned for us and here we are.

The timing and price were right, and we went for it. Our patio guy, Tony Farrell, came highly recommended to us by not one, not two but three unrelated sources, so we knew we had to look into him and entertain the idea of getting this big project done prior to the weather turning. Plus, with the addition we’ve moved our grill and smoker back here so we’ll definitely be using both of them well into the winter months. We’re the type to still grill in the chill 🙂

Picking the colors and design

We knew nothing about stamped concrete aside from the fact it’s concrete that is stamped to look more like pavers. Pavers allow in weeds between them (read: extra work) and are super expensive, and regular concrete slabs just don’t have the character we want.

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Thankfully, Tony brought us booklets with information on all our options. When he stopped by to drop these off we discussed overall sizing with him live. We decided on a 20 ft x 20 ft square design, offset to the right when you walk out the back door. After taking some us-time we knew pretty quickly we liked the Ashlar stamp for the pattern because of how big the patio would be and because we didn’t want anything circular – we’re geometric and modern all the way at our house. Tony recommended the Majestic Ashlar based on our large 20 ft x 20 ft size, versus the Ashlar Slate which was the same print but in smaller stamps.

The colors took us a little more time to finalize because you need to pick a conrete color and a release color, and we went back and forth quite a bit. The concrete color is the color of the mix and the release color is sprayed on top of the finished product to give the print an even more dimensional textured look. We always knew the final product would be gray-based, but there were a LOT of gray options in the pamphlets so it took a hot minute to settle. The winning combo turned out to be a softer Gull Gray concrete and a darker Storm Gray release color. The Storm Gray color complemented our siding color especially well so we knew it’d match nicely, and with a slab of concrete this big, a darker color would make a better statement. While I’m not even sure patios fade (do they??), if they do, I figured we were also better off going darker so it didn’t lighten too greatly over time.

Before

Pretty basic, yea?

My biggest before pet peeve was the stoop. Why is it so small and unbalanced? #woof

Construction

The crew came at 6:45am on Saturday morning… an hour I didn’t previously know existed on a Saturday. Thankfully, all our neighbors are up even earlier thanks to their tiny humans, because we felt bad waking anyone up that early on a long weekend.

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Early steps included surveying the perimeter and jackhammering out that unbalanced stoop. #YASS It was pretty loud so Bickell hid upstairs while Kev and I tried not to stare. The one guy used the hose to keep sparks from building… interesting stuff for home owners nerds like us!

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Scheduling Hiccup

Kevin’s aunt was coming in from Florida to go to Frankfort Fall Fest with my mother in law and myself the day the crew was able to come and do the job. While I really wanted to be there to check things out every step of the way, I also didn’t want to cancel long standing plans (for one of the most fun events all season, nonetheless).

The scheduling wasn’t the most opportune for us, but we also understand the crew can’t move their jobs on our accord, so we went ahead with the Saturday install and Kevin took several photos for me so I could be in the moment even at the fest, he’s such a gem!

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Change of Plans

We wanted the patio to start a few feet beyond the house to leave room for mulch, stones to place the grill and smoker, decor, etc. but that brought some questions about how we’re going to make a gorgeous focal stoop work. The patio is offest to the right when you walk out the backdoor also, so the step would not be your typical wrap-around-three-sides like I’ve seen in a lot of neighbor’s yards or in the pamphlets, so I was having serious trouble imaging what our end product would look like.

I described in [probably WAY too much] detail what I was concerned about to Tony and he didn’t even break a sweat. He said he knew exactly how to make a focal piece that worked with mulch on two sides, covers the full length of the sliding door, and has a patio on just one side. The only catch was, we’d want to either move the patio over so it didn’t quite reach the end of the house so it could go a foot or two beyond the stairs on the far side, or we’d want to extend the patio a little so it still reaches the end of the house and extends past the stairs for a solid look.

While no one loves spending more money on a project Tony said he’d only add the cost for the extra concrete it’d take because he really believed we’d want that look in the end, so how could we go any other way? I threw up my hands and let the professionals work their magic. It’s all you can do sometimes. But I’ll tell you what – it was the right call.

Spoiler alert: it turned out MAGNIFICANT.

After

The photos don’t even do it justice (probably because these were taken super quick after the finish so we hadn’t cleaned up at all)! The second photo above really shows you where the extra concrete past the stairs paid off. You wouldn’t want your patio just plain ending at the doorway and shoving the beautiful, focal point staircase into a corner, essentially.

Tony gave a solid recommendation and Kevin and I are thrilled we put in the relatively little bit extra to make it truly perfect. We’re very big on doing things right the first time to avoid regrets or going back and ultimately spending more to fix it.

We really mapped things out ahead so there wasn’t much that went array or much extra spending aside from the slight extension past the door. But as always, I recommend budgeting a little more than you expect as a just-in-case fund so you’re not left sweating relatively smaller decisions.

We also highly recommend Tony Farrell for your patio/paving needs if you’re in the Chicagoland area. Contact me for his info or shoot me a DM on Instagram. His web pressence isn’t big but he is very responsive via phone and text.

What’s next?

Since the install on August 31 we’ve purchased a few patio lounge chairs (on suuuper clearance), edged the entire perimeter of the patio with a mulch bed and lining for planting, and moved our outdoor furniture and equipment to it’s permanent backyard home. All on the DIY plan. I can hardly wait to show you the progress we made in just one quick week!

The landscaping and decor is it’s own story and will be coming Friday this week as part two of the patio saga. Talk soon!

Stamped Concrete Patio Reveal I'm SO excited to share that we're coming to you live from our new patio! *queue the band and parade*

[conretewings]

Hey @guzcast, here's your samurai ice-armor Mega Golisopod!

[handlewithkara]

No one wants to believe they were wrong about him. No one wants to admit that they were immoral in supporting him.

Absolutely, it’s a very frequent thing, sunk cost fallacy and everything. 

And it might be that your uncle is not reachable or at least not reachable by any of you. (and I firmly believe that sometimes if it is family and it gets too bad that yes cutting off contact “till after you have changed/only if you are willing to change” can be the most sensible thing) 

My belief is just that in a larger context, both approaches, a combination of approaches, don’t just have the same goal (less of the bad thing, fewer people who believe bad things, fewer votes for Trump), they actually are both useful. Good cop/bad cop. Carrot AND stick. 

Like the question of Caity seems to be, even if you have seen that your aunt’s attempts didn’t work, does it make sense to be angry at your aunt for trying? I can see getting angry at her for hurting herself and not cutting the line for self protection. But isn’t there value in trying from either your aunt or other people? 

In the end, I think there are different types of people who react to different things. For some people the only thing that works is that they have to crash and burn before they see the truth. But others, precisely because of that sunk cost fallacy, I think it can be important to offer them some sort of lifeline exit strategy that allows them safe face. 

Basically, “you have spent so much time living in this biotope, with this identity you built up for yourself, but I’m offering this other identity elsewhere that you also find appealing”. “this is the story you have been telling yourself where you are the hero, how about I offer you this other story to switch to.”

The thing about reasoning with Nazis is, it’s one thing if one is an active war. Because after the war was done, of course there was “reasoning” with Nazis/former Nazis, there were people studying why is happened, there were people having debates on how to deal with different aspects of the past, there were people trying to build a new identity for Germany, building blueprints on how to behave etc. 

In the end, no matter how it might feel, this isn’t an actual war-war. American bigots have been around through hundreds of years and through many generations and didn’t catch on to wrong side of history. Because this is not a war-war where somebody hands in a formal surrender, where there is a conrete one guy you can kill or put in jail. 

Heck most “actually kill people” wars these days don’t even work that way anymore. Most of them are more like “well I will go and try to take a little bit of additional land there, maybe it works or maybe I have to give it back, no biggie” rather than let’s say somebody marching on Moscow or Beijing and getting them to admit they were wrong or alternatively shooting Putin or Xi Jinping in the face. Instead usually it’s more like phases of different politics. A political actor has a phase where they are aggressive and try to start stuff and maybe they get stopped and realize behind the scenes it’s kinda expensive and so they save face and maybe do some other policy for a while. 

(and heck even the “find the central guy and kill him” doesn’t necesasrily work, Saddam Hussein was actually caught and killed and I bet there’s still people around somewhere who think things were nicer under him)

Let me give you a different example. Isis. 

I hope we can all agree that the ideology of Isis was abhorrent. I’m pretty sure while Isis was still holding their central territory most people would agree that trying to reason with Isis-Isis would have been pretty pointless. In that case, there was something akin to an official declaration of war on their side, an actual kill people type war confrontation and people marking on their territory and dismantling it, killing their leaders, putting their soldiers in jail. 

They were trounced in a traditional military confrontation, the way Germany and Japan were trounced in WW2. And I do think that it did fundamental damage to their specific Isis brand of ideology because it showed their ideology didn’t deliver what it was promising. 

But now that that part is done, there are very concrete, legal and societal questions for the Western countries on how to deal with those Isis people now that Isis is not a current, concrete military threat for those countries anymore. And there is A LOT of people who just think “If you ever had an association with Isis, you are obviously a piece of shit, you should lose all citizen rights and be killed” (often with a tag of “since they are muslim they are obviously immigrants and not a real part of our country”). 

And again those are conrete legal questions. 

- “there is a guy with a Belgian/French/UK/British passport” in a kurdish prison camp slowly starving to death. Should we let them shoot him. Should we let them starve him to death? 

- Okay, now it’s an Isis bride with a Belgian/French/UK/British passport in that kurdish camp with small children, asking to be extracted. Plus the kurds kind of don’t feel like shooting her? But it’s also kind of expensive for them keeping her locked up?  Should we extract her and put her in jail over here? Should we at least extract the children? 

- Then you have those guys who wanted to go down to Isis, but never went because they failed or were stopped. 

- Or those guys who wanted to but changed their mind. 

- Or those guys who tought Isis was cool but were always too lazy to want to go down there. 

- Or those guys who posted “Yay Isis” on facebook. 

- Or those guys who went to the sermons, weren’t particularly convinced, but also didn’t tell on them. 

- Or those guys that basically believe in and preach like the non-kill-y version of the Isis ideology. 

- Or those that practice it within their own families but don’t actively preach it. 

Again, these are concrete people, people sitting in jails and the country has to decide what sentences to give them and what kind of re-education to give them. And there’s already the people who were in jail and those sentences have ended. 

I personally lean very heavily towards “I get the instinct of just wanting this people magically gone somehow, but it’s bullshit, these are part of US of our society and we have to come up with strategies on how to deal with them”. 

I’m not an expert on how Isis deradicalization works. I’m sure it contains elements of telling them their ideolgy is wrong, but I don’t know how many outcomes are to turn them into staunch christians or atheists or to be the kind of people who marches in the front line of a pride parade waving the rainbow flag versus how many outcomes are more like “maybe try to be slightly less actively nazi?” or how many outcomes are “how about hold your head low and try to find dignity in doing a good job at work”. All I know is that deradicalization does contain copious amounts of people talking to them and communicating with them rather than just putting them in jail and refusing to talk to them. 

And again, Isis and Nazi-Nazis, these things worked because there was a military confrontation, because you can actually put these people in jail and force them to listen to deradicalization expert, because in those conflicts the winners could control the physicality of the losers and often have a lot of control over the media and the picture painted by the media and the messages sent by those media outlets.  

As long as your uncle does not build a bomb, this is very unlikely to happen with him that somebody will lock him up and assign an actual deradicalizaton agent to him and then release him to a world where really 100% of what he sees confirms to him that his assumptions are wrong. That’s why one needs different strategies in this more abstracted war for votes. Espectially as long as the concept of free speech is still being upheld ( In the case of German Nazi-Nazis saying something nice about the Nazis in public was just made flat out illegal. In the case of Isis media channels who said stuff for Isis were actively hunted down and bombed.) and “Trumpism” or “Bigotism” or “Jingoism” or “Anti-immigration sentiment” just haven’t graduated to the level of being considered instantly criminal the way “being part of Isis” is. 

(and as much as it might feel like maybe “Trumpism” should be legally on the same level as “Isis-ism”, for now there are concrete legal reasons why it isn’t, that’s why you need different strategies)

Which in all does not mean that the message here is “you should ne nicer to your uncle”. Carrot and Stick. Stick is still important. It’s just that Stick shouldn’t get mad at Carrot for existing when they both work towards the same goal. 

And I fully get why people get mad at Carrot and think bad people shouldn’t deserve carrots. I just think that there is good evidence in history that some carrots have proven useful in reaching concrete goals of making the world better. And I think making the world concretely better and safer for people is more important than revenge or ideological purity. 

Not everybody is made out to be a carrot. That doesn’t mean that carrots are necessarily evil. Sometimes they are necessary to form a complete strategy. (just like let’s say offering holed up criminals or war opponents options for dignified surrender might be a genuinely sensible strategy in a stand-off rather than a 100% “give them no quarter” approach)

(as for Caity, I don’t know her politics concretely. And I think criticizing her post based on timining (really the best time for this when we are right in the hot phase of the war for votes to tell the other side it’s okay how they vote, there will be no personal repercusions for them [since I doubt that she posted it as part of a superior next level strategy to signal to her trump voting family members that they can come to her and confide in her and be welcomed with open arms if they want to express trump doubts]) and making her take it down for now, might make some sense? But to me that is different than criticizing the sentiment in itself and thinking she is a bad/cancel-worthy person for that sentiment.) 

Anyone know why Twitter stans are mad at Caity Lotz? I think she tweeted something and then deleted it, what did she say?

That she loves Americans no matter if they vote Biden or the other dude.

[basiainlecce]

A few conrete but completely unrelated points

From this day on more concrete stuff here. I do not apologize for the last “poetry” because licentia internetica allows a lot, but to keep things balanced (and not to lose these few but faithful readers of mine) the scenario for the closest future is concretness. For today just some points. 

About horses. Horsemeat is quite popular here in Italy. I had some last week. It was good. That’s all about horses.

Answers to relatives’ fundamental questions. Yes, I study a loooooooooooot (see the attached Fig. 1). No, I haven’t found a husband (no figure attached)

Fig. 1

About wine. Each Friday we invite people for dinner to the Very Italian Home. With each Friday our bottle wine collection, launched as long ago as at the beginning of Erasmus by Dimi and then passed down to me and Żeniuszka, is growing. Three or four dozens of bottles estimated. Negroamaro, Primitivo, Negroamaro, Primitivo, Primitivo, Negroamaro, Negroamaro, Negroamaro.... When it comes to wine production, Apulia is one of the leading regions in Italy, with Primitivo and Negroamaro being the two most popular strains, producing dry wine of high alcohol percentage - 14% circa. Primitivo is a little more intense, well-defined and pronounced. Negroamaro a slightly more trlanslucent, balanced, calm.... Both quite astringent and serious. Yes, astringent and serious are the words.

About self-criticism. To my few but faithful readers: do you have any suggestions as for the blog content? Any desires? Any praise? Any criticism? 

And that’s all. Soon more.

[conretewings]

“Ninetails”

A digital painting I did on my tablet with a new program I downloaded. It was a nice way to get a feel for the program and I hope to do more and better projects with it.