#going to risk tagging:

[disregardandfelicity]

am in the only one who feels kinda weird about this...

[nastyquill]

some random TMA worldbuilding speculation about five years too late, but here it is anyway: I used to wonder what the practical purpose of Artifact Storage was supposed to be. like, I know the in-universe reason for its existence was that the Institute was "researching" the artifacts, but by the end we know the Institute wasn't researching shit; Elias (and presumably the people in charge of the sister organizations) knew exactly what was up with all that crap all along.

then I realized: it's Elias's home garden. hoard a bunch of extremely scary and dangerous artifacts with very specific containment requirements, then put a few stressed-out academics in charge of keeping it all in order so you can passively feed on their fear. people who desperately want to believe that learning and knowing the behaviors of every item will be enough to keep them safe. it's a less effort-intensive version of what Peter does on the Tundra.

[ludaroace]

idk thinking about the birthday party today and just . when ramon first brought up fits birthday ages ago i don’t remember exactly what stream it was but he told ramon that he would be happy with it being just the two of them . it took him a while to agree with ramon about inviting pac .

thinking about how today and how so many people showed up - like bad and phil weren’t even streaming, luzu was going to come but had to leave early, and pac left him a fucking trident of all things when he couldn’t make it . literally everyone online and their eggs showed up . dapper logged in after the party had started to show up !

i genuinely don’t think fit understood until today how much the others on the island actually cared about him . he STILL probably doesn’t fully understand . like he was even telling ramon that they don’t need to take up anyone’s time because they were planning on doing a dungeon (which was actually his party butttt he didn’t know that) DURING it .

idk and i KNOW there were some extremely emotional letters but empanada’s hit hard . thank you for protecting me but let us protect you sometimes too . i hope you feel as loved as you are .

[mochayoubi]

i was very surprised at how difficult it was to find (good) resources for learners that accurately describe how 部首 (in English we translate this to be the "radical") work in 漢字 (kanji). i pulled these from a very comprehensive guide of kanji from おじゃちゃん, a native speaker who is also a language teacher and if youre interested in learning more, you should check out her full overview here.

to a beginner this might not be as useful - but when you get deep enough into japanese i think it's worth it to understand how kanji is actually used by native speakers. understanding how the radical works can also help you guess at meanings and recognize common patterns that may make memorizing kanji easier

[redhoodie1723]

Yeah let's also cancel Lewis Hamilton for meeting and having conversations with Putin... Yeah... Also maybe Seb too because he was also there???? Yeah... Right...some of you have never had a job where you had to talk positively about someone you didn't like or approved just for the sake of keeping that job.

idk which time ur talking about hamilton and putin meeting up and making friends, as the only time i can find that they've interacted was at the 2015 russian grand prix where putin was giving out the race trophies. hamilton, vettel, and perez were all on the podium for that race. correct me if im wrong and theres another time theyve met, but thats literally all i can find.

now, first of all, there's a big difference between having to interact with a political figure on a race podium, and choosing to interact with them freely out in the paddock, taking pictures with them, and praising them in additional interviews. there's also a big difference between being polite to the current leader of the country you're in that is known for killing/imprisoning people who speak out against him, and actively supporting an ex-leader who has (as far as we know) never actually killed someone for not being supportive.

if you ask me, it would've been unsafe for hamilton or any of the drivers on that podium to speak out against putin at that moment or act impolitely. on the other hand, the biggest trouble norris could get in for not praising trump and taking pictures with him is maybe a talking too back at the mclaren HQ. like, lets be real, it would be ridiculous and insane of mclaren to fire norris after all the time/resources theyve put into his development, especially now that its finally starting to pay off. it would be like shooting themselves in the foot, a move thats generally reserved for ferrari's strategy team or sauber's pit stops.

furthermore, you are simply assuming that norris' job wouldve been at risk in this situation. not once has it been implied that he was threatened or coerced into this situation. its even less likely that that has happened since piastri hasn't made any comments or taken any pictures with trump as far as i can find. for all we know, it could've been norris' idea to do all that. so, not exactly the strongest defense here.

and even if he had been forced into the corner and told to take pictures and play nice, he also took it a step further to compliment trump in other interviews saying it was an "honor" and there's a lot to "respect" about trump. hamilton has never come out saying any of that about putin. in fact, he has come on the record since then condemning putin and his actions. can you tell me where norris has come out condemning trump and his actions? no? that's funny.

[scalpelsister]

dark justiciar shadowheart is genuinely so interesting to me as like... a facet to her character. like it really hammers home how desperate she is for shar's love and affection (+ the validation and love from other worshipers of shar). like in a lot of ways I get that it seems shocking to others / some fans because it really does contradict some of the morals we see her express BUT imo that just speaks to the level of desperation she feels. her comments on how shar "must" love her for her to survive the shadowcursed lands, or the bit where she talks about shar nurturing her and loving her and sounds... almost more like shes trying to convince herself more than shes trying to convince you. theres a bit about other sharrans not thinking she had earned her name, and of course the mother superior not thinking she was ready / worthy of being a dark justiciar. like shes just so completely desperate to feel unconditionally and securely loved, and to earn the approval of others that shes entirely willing to injure herself in the process (as well as.... the people who actually love her, of course).

not to mention that mechanically, afaik, she can only end up there if shes encouraged to by the player. ie... she needs to know someone else approves.

[hooid]

Polylute appreciation post

[bigboysteveharrington]

Steve giving in and letting Dustin talk him into playing D&D with Eddie and his friends. Dustin helps him make his character beforehand but Steve doesn’t totally understand a lot of it so when they get there and Eddie asks what his alignment is, Steve doesn’t realize he’s asking about his character or what an alignment even is and he’s like “both I think”

Eddie pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger and takes a deep breath and resists the urge to snap out I thought you said you prepared him for this, Henderson because he doesn’t want to scare Steve off five minutes in so instead he takes a second to calm himself and his eyes are closed and he’s focusing so hard on trying to keep himself from shouting but there’s still an edge to his voice as he lets his morbid curiosity get the best of him and asks “both of what?”

And Steve’s like “What do you mean? There’s only two options, isn’t there?”

And now Steve’s confused because everyone’s looking at him weird, but he’s heard of guys being into guys and obviously he’s heard of girls being into girls considering he’s best friends with Robin and he’s told her about him liking both and she never said that wasn’t allowed or that there was some other option? How do you like more than both? (Steve lives in Hawkins in the 80s so he still hasn’t found out about gender not being a this or that deal)

And now Steve’s less sure of himself so he asks “Why are you all looking at me like that? What option would there even be outside of girls and guys?”

And Eddie catches on first while everyone looks so confused, but it takes him a moment of just staring open-mouthed at Steve and he’s not even sure if he’s more surprised that Steve isn’t exclusively into women or that when he thought that was what Eddie was asking, he just announced it in front of the whole Hellfire Club before he manages to find the words to say, “I asked your alignment, not your orientation”

And Steve furrows his brow and tilts his head a little and his “oh” sounds more confused than anything so Eddie adds “your character’s alignment, Harrington” and Steve says “I don’t know what that is” and turns to Dustin for help because he made the character so he must know but Dustin’s just gaping at him so Steve asks “dude, what is it?” But Dustin’s still stuck on the fact that in all of their conversations about Steve’s love life that Steve never once mentioned being into guys so he asks “what the hell, Steve?”

And Steve has a moment of panic while he can’t tell if he’s in trouble for not remembering his character’s alignment or because Dustin has a problem with him liking both (which Robin has warned him could be a possibility if you tell the wrong person, but this is Henderson and he really didn’t think that after the bullshit they’ve been through so far that that would blow things up and he didn’t think it was all that risky bringing it up in a group that literally formed because the people in it are different than and don’t fit in with the average high school student and when he shares way more deadly secrets with the majority of them) but he finds out pretty fast that neither of those is what Dustin’s annoyed about when he glares at Steve and complains, “Come on, man. We’re best friends. How have you never brought this up before?”

And Steve just shrugs and says “it never came up” and Dustin says “oh, sure, it’s never come up but you tell Eddie just like that?” And Steve’s confused because he said it in front of all of them so it’s not like he wasn’t just as willing to have Henderson know or like he wouldn’t have told Henderson on his own if he’d had reason to, so Steve just says “he asked”

And Eddie raises his hands up in a show of innocence as he says “I definitely did not, but that’s… good to know” and Eddie’s never just casually thrown his sexuality out there because he’s well aware he would not win in a fight and he’s terrified of getting hate crimed but his friends are giving him looks like they’re wondering about it from the way he said it and how tense he suddenly went but even if no one is harassing Steve for liking guys, he’s not about to just throw his own orientation out there five seconds after finding out Steve likes guys just to make himself look desperate and have everyone know that it must have happened when he’d inevitably (in his mind) get rejected so he focuses back on the game and snaps his fingers petulantly as he asks “Henderson, what’s his alignment?”

[mirai-desu]

On the MSATD News

I didn't have time to post a knee-jerk reaction (which those of you from the Downton days know I was apt to do - thank you to all my long term mutuals of my side blog for sticking with me through those days), as I saw the news as I was getting ready to head out for work and it's been… a bit of a day.

Suffice it to say… I am devastated. And my initial reaction was (well after cursing), that it should have ended with S4, but with a different (happier) conclusion. It's called Miss Scarlet AND THE DUKE for a reason. And after all that happened in S4… it really feels like… what was it all for?? Especially if they knew WHEN FILMING THIS?? "Goodbye for now" is NOT "goodbye forever." They really, really really fumbled this.

There's a lot of theories going around, and I will admit it's too hard for me to listen to Stuart's new interview, but going off what other's have said and the parts of the transcript I did manage to read… I just cannot feel like this was actually his decision unless there's something else going on with him (either in his personal life or maybe he has some secret role he's got, because supposedly he hasn't worked since he did ADR on S4). He's been the captain of the ship, and he has always been enthusiastic with discussing the show and had just great insight into playing William. It doesn't feel like he himself was ready to move onto other things (and that's not even how it's worded - some BS about how the show needed it him to be gone for ~longevity~ of the show), like I've seen with other actors are on shows (e.g. Dan Stevens). He still promoted S3 (which came out in the UK after they filmed S4), he still even promoted S4! He was an executive producer for S4!!! Nothing makes sense!

So if it's due to RN… why keep having the other characters say William was only going to be gone a year? Why bother to have the flashback? why bother to have him stay at at Eliza's to recover?? hell I'm surprised they just didn't keep in the coma then--

But really, why even bother to have Eliza write to him? Or have Ivy say what she said to her?? The time apart was supposed to be them looking at their options. They literally foreshadowed him joining Eliza at her agency upon his return. So… what happened?

If it was actually for personal reasons that Stuart left, he has a right to his privacy. But then they should have rewritten S4 to be the end then, since they knew all this time. I can't believe we are getting the full story on this, one way or the other. The more and more I think about it... I do think it was RN's doing though.

Just two nights ago I drafted up a whole meta extolling how one of the best things this show has done has been how they developed William and how he grew as a character. The progression he made as he not only accepted Eliza having a career but encouraging her. His mentorship of Fitzroy. How he came from nothing, from a teenager living on the streets, to become an inspector at Scotland Yard. But they have chosen to toss that all out the window.

Who knows, maybe S5 ends with Eliza deciding to go to New York. But it doesn't seem like they are handling this like Babington's absence in Sanditon. They will make Eliza quickly fall for someone else, and slap fans in the face who have been following their friends to lovers slow burn for five years (because we had to wait for S2 in the first place thanks to the pandemic). And what sucks is that we still got promo saying they are in love with each other. From Stuart, from Kate, from Rachael New herself. We have still gotten promo promoting the romance. Why not have them have a big fight then or something, idk. They gave us hope. And you know what Fellowes says about false hope.

So I'm just supposed to believe that William gives up on Eliza and doesn't return…? No, I cannot. As much as we hated the deaths on DA when they wrote out actors, at least those characters still died in love with their spouses. And while I'd still be foaming at the mouth in anger if they killed him off… yeah.

William's last lines of the show is a flashback including him saying "is it all worth it?" And the answer is… no it's not.

[grandcovenant]

carlo's inherent tragedy as a character means that if he hadn't died young he would've gone through something worse. the horrifying realization that he inherited his father's personality <3

[angelbesideme]

oh he was feeling it

Tong Thanayut | Kinnporsche World Tour

[aro-culture-is]

Not an Aro-culture-is thing but I do have a question you might be able to answer? Is there an aromantic/asexual term for this: AroAce but if I wasn’t I would be gay? It might just be homoplatonic or homoaesthetic but idk if there was a term for it that relates to being AroAce. Thanks! <3

possibly you might vibe with oriented aroace labels, like gay aroace? i'll put this out there for other folks to consider as well, but I feel like oriented terminology sounds the most applicable from my POV.

[dxscmfrt]

i know this is my blog and i can post whatever tf i want but i feel kinda bad about suddenly being obsessed with my own ocs right after having quite a few people follow me (presumably) for fanart lmao. so. have these guys again. this one was started on 29 feb (although finished a little later but still oldish), i have so many other drawings of these two that i plan to share but haven't because Fear Of Being Perceived By The Wrong Audience so this is all you get for now lol

[sortanonymous]

I kinda got a fic involving one of these two to focus on (spoiler alert: it's the cooler one, and I don't mean the one HAL tried to make look cooler), but I'll just drop a meme like this and maybe save any possible rant for another day. Or hopefully someone else will beat me to that.

[idunnowhattowriteheretbh]

Soooooooooo I finished the weapons :D

I don't have much ideas for what to write in here so imma just drop the designs and continue suffering in school skkskskksk

First we gooooot

Bear Axe 2

@beartitled (apologies for the puns I couldn't help myself)

Then we have the comically large hammer

Le Bonker 1000

@insomniphic I'm kinda curious to see how would you lift ot ngl

And then we have the last weapon for Captain! :D

Captain's Staff

@braisedhoney

The staff was the most fun to draw tbh

Also I was this 🤏 close to fully shading the axe and the staff lmao

Anyway time for me to skedadle back into my cave before COL finds me /silly

- CR2868

[hillerskaroyals]

love that simon went from you expect me to sit around and wait for to for two years??? to i’ll wait

not bc his feelings changed but bc wille and wille’s actions changed