#have some more of my nonsensical rambles

[gingermintpepper]

In my Zeus bag today so I'm just gonna put it out there that exactly none of the great Ancient Greek warrior-heroes stayed loyal and faithful and completely monogamous and yet none of them have their greatness questioned nor do we question why they had the cultural prominence that they did and still do.

Jason, the brilliant leader of the Argo, got cold feet when it came to Medea - already put off by some of her magic and then exiled from his birthland because of her political ploys, he took Creusa to bed and fully intended on marrying her despite not properly dissolving things with Medea.

Theseus was a fierce warrior and an incredibly talented king but he had a horrible temper and was almost fatally weak to women. This is the man who got imprisoned in the Underworld for trying to get a friend laid, the man who started the whole Attic War because he couldn't keep his legs closed.

And we cannot at all forget Heracles for whom a not inconsiderable amount of his joy in life was loving people then losing the people around him that he loved. Wives, children, serving boys, mentors, Heracles had a list of lovers - male and female - long enough to rival some gods and even after completing his labours and coming down to the end of his life, he did not have one wife but three.

And y'know what, just because he's a cultural darling, I'll put Achilles up here too because that man was a Theseus type where he was fantastic at the thing he was born to do (that is, fight whereas Theseus' was to rule) but that was not enough to eclipse his horrid temper and his weakness to young pretty things. This is the man that killed two of Apollo's sons because they wouldn't let him hit - Tenes because he refused to let Achilles have his sister and Troilus who refused Achilles so vehemently that he ran into Apollo's temple to avoid him and still couldn't escape.

All four of these men are still celebrated as great heroes and men. All four of these men are given the dignity of nuance, of having their flaws treated as just that, flaws which enrich their character and can be used to discuss the wider cultural point of what truly makes a hero heroic. All four of these men still have their legacies respected.

Why can that same mindset not be applied to Zeus? Zeus, who was a warrior-king raised in seclusion apart from his family. Zeus who must have learned to embrace the violence of thunder for every time he cried as a babe, the Corybantes would bang their shields to hide the sound. Zeus learned to be great because being good would not see the universe's affairs in its order.

The wonderful thing about sympathy is that we never run out of it. There's no rule stopping us from being sympathetic to multiple plights at once, there's no law that necessitate things always exist on the good-evil binary. Yes, Zeus sentenced Prometheus to sufferation in Tartarus for what (to us) seems like a cruel reason. Prometheus only wanted to help humans! But when you think about Prometheus' actions from a king's perspective, the narrative is completely different: Prometheus stole divine knowledge and gifted it to humans after Zeus explicitly told him not to. And this was after Prometheus cheated all the gods out of a huge portion of wealth by having humans keep the best part of a sacrifice's meat while the gods must delight themselves with bones, fat and skin. Yes, Zeus gave Persephone away to Hades without consulting Demeter but what king consults a woman who is not his wife about the arrangement of his daughter's marriage to another king? Yes, Zeus breaks the marriage vows he set with Hera despite his love of her but what is the Master of Fate if not its staunchest slave?

The nuance is there. Even in his most bizarre actions, the nuance and logic and reason is there. The Ancient Greeks weren't a daft people, they worshipped Zeus as their primary god for a reason and they did not associate him with half the vices modern audiences take issue with. Zeus was a father, a visitor, a protector, a fair judge of character, a guide for the lost, the arbiter of revenge for those that had been wronged, a pillar of strength for those who needed it and a shield to protect those who made their home among the biting snakes. His children were reflections of him, extensions of his will who acted both as his mercy and as his retribution, his brothers and sisters deferred to him because he was wise as well as powerful. Zeus didn't become king by accident and it is a damn shame he does not get more respect.

[dootznbootz]

I really think it's important to give credit where credit is due but for example, on tumblr you can always @ someone...but then I feel like I'm calling for attention!!! Or like I'm coming off as "Oh I mentioned you!!! You have to reblog this!!!" when that's not it!!!

Like I know that's the simplest way to give credit. And when just tagging someone, most of the time I know it's a simple "I'm thinking of you" or "I think you'd like this!" and that's definitely how I see it but I know that I'm a chaotic lil gremlin who likes collecting everything as "I absorb everything in sight". I know other people are more particular about what they toss up on their blogs.

I usually just put url names so then people KNOW who's the person with said idea first and then link the specific post so then the person doesn't need to feel like they have to like or reblog my thing as I'm just trying to give credit and the source.

[icewindandboringhorror]

Lineup of all of the characters that appear long enough to need a visual representation of them in the game lol

[spikeisawesome456]

So, I'm proud today to say that I am now, very really and totally not exaggeratedly, a master carpenter. 😏

Ha. JK, obviously. But! I was able to fix two broken drawers in my room, one of which has been broken for well over five years, maybe closer to ten!

Basically, the bottom drawer of my dresser, where I hold my T-shirts, has been broken for almost as long as I can remember owning the dresser. Like, I honestly don't recall a time it wasn't broken, though I don't think it always was. Regardless, the drawer had been sagging down to the ground for years, but since it was near the floor it never fell out. I always just figured that it was broken forever and that I'd have no hope of fixing it, since I'm not really into carpentry or woodworking or anything, and just lived with it. It wasn't getting in my way, so it wasn't a problem.

But then, a month or so ago, the drawer under my bed that held my pajamas broke, and it's been kind of annoying, creaking and making me fear it's going to completely break off. Still, I figured it was just... broken for good, something I'd have to deal with and hope it didn't get worse.

However! I recently built two thin dressers for my room, since the plastic drawers I used to have for storage were breaking and I didn't have enough space for everything I own anyway. At first, building them seemed impossible, but once I got into the groove, I realized it... wasn't that hard?? And I actually was pretty good at it??? I'd also built a large metal storage container for my outdoor art studio on my patio a few months before that, and had had a similar experience, where it was hard at first but once I realized what I was doing (and stopped having my brother help me...), it was actually kinda easy.

So, today when I saw my broken pajama drawer, I randomly wondered if maybe I... could fix it? So I took it off, saw that it wasn't attached to the metal slide-y thingy at the bottom (I don't know what it's called, it's the thing that lets the drawer slide in and out, ha), and I tried to reattach it. And... it worked?? It took a couple tries, and I was afraid that it was broken for good when it didn't work at first, but I kept trying, and it just... worked????

With the PJ drawer fixed, I then turned to my T-shirt drawer, and was like... could I possibly fix this, too??? I thought surely not, since it's been broken for legit YEARS. Since I was a teen, easily. I've lived with it broken for so long it was almost a feature of my dresser, really. But I was curious, so I took the drawer out of the dresser to assess.

And it was clearly more damaged than my PJ drawer. It had a wooden slide-y thingy, and the part that was supposed to be attached to the dresser was, uh. Not attached anymore and was on the drawer itself. I saw that the two screws that had initially held the wooden slide-y thingy on the dresser were still at the bottom of the dresser, under where the drawer had been, so I set about taking the slide-y thing and reattaching it to the dresser itself. And then I tried putting the drawer back in.

Which... did not work. The drawer refused to go back on and it was just... not working right. It was actually leaning to the ground more than it had been before, which was frustrating, and I was annoyed with myself for making something that hadn't been a problem worse by trying to "fix" it. But now here I was, with this new problem, and I had to try to fix it at least to the previous level of broken, or else I'd go nuts.

So, I kept trying. I even got on the ground and used my phone flashlight to try and see what I was doing to get the drawer reattached properly to the slide-y thingy. And, guess what?

It worked. I now have a properly working dresser drawer for the first time in literally YEARS. I thought it was broken for good and just... never even thought to try and fix it. It legit never occurred to me before today that that was a thing I could even do. I'm not a carpenter. I don't build things or fix things. I make art and things, yes, but that's a different process entirely. And, quite honestly, I rarely make my art "properly," I just do things my own way and hope for the best.

But I had built a few things, and I realized that hey, maybe I can build and fix things. Maybe... maybe that is a thing I can do? And now I have two fixed drawers, something I never thought I'd have again, not without getting outside help.

I know this was ridiculously long for something very simple. But this really impacted me. I thought these drawers were just... broken for good. That I was helpless to do anything to fix them, because I'm "not someone who fixes furniture." I let myself deal with a broken t-shirt drawer for YEARS because I just... never thought I could fix it. And yet I did. On a whim when putting away my laundry, growing annoyed with the broken PJ drawer.

So. I guess the moral is... just because something seems broken for good, and you don't think you have the skills needed to fix it, doesn't make it true. Sometimes you just need to try, and trust that you can do something to fix something that has broken. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[saturfied]

kimhan theerapanyakul and regulus black give out the same vibes.

[inkwingsinc]

~hee hee~ I'm behind on my posting promises because I had to jiggle around scenes again. I uhhhhh don't write scenes in a linear fashion so sometimes piecing together a chapter is sort of like making a patchwork quilt. Gotta make sure everyone necessary gets their lil square...

[abluehappyface]

I'm going to post what is I guess a story relating to my personal experiences being on this earth. This is mostly for my benefit. Look if you want I guess, but just know that there will be some potentially triggering stuff, but I don't know what it is, so I can't tag it right now

My Life as a Monster

You stare at me like I'm some sort of beast, a thing merely meant to be caged. Something you feel the need to be protected from. You watch, knowing that I can't get you from your bedroom window, at the spectacle you think I am. You aim your camera at me, the flash reflecting off the glass I sit behind, as you film and photograph me for no other reason except that I'm here. When I'm among you, you stare at me with mocking gazes, your eyes becoming yet another set in an endless number of pairs that make their way to dig into mine. No matter how well I think I'm camouflaged, you always sniff me out, and then you let me know how I'm unwelcome here.

I'm especially afraid of women. All humans my same age startle me, but women more so. Women have always been more scornful to me. They told me how unwanted I was for me to hear. They shunned me from their groups, leaving me an outcast as a child. Women do not like me, I know this as fact.

Their actions are always deliberate. Humans make it a point to leave me out, to the point I feel I'm not one. I may have lost my humanity, turned into a beast, or maybe both at once, but I know for certain that there are times where human is something I'm not. I may be the monster stuck inside a human husk that I think I am, or perhaps I'm an outcast being overdramatic, but I know that humans do not like me. I do not fit in. I am but a beast.

As if being ostracized as a child wasn't enough, you continue to gawk at me. What have I done to receive your judgement? Why must you hunt us beasts? Mother doesn't understand why I don't leave the cave, as if I ever could. If I leave the cave, the humans will stand watch, waiting to scout me out.

My existence is a worldly secret, and a secret I shall stay. If I seek out a place amongst the humans they will reject me. No human will want me as a partner or friend. I am a beast in a world where existence is a joke. To avoid their mocking eyes, the cave is where I stay.

I know humans are resilient beings, that they can choose to change, that acceptance of us monsters is not unheard of, but I do not depend on it. When you've lived the life of a beast, you prepare yourself for scorn. Your hopes mustn't be up too high, else you'll fall and break your horns. I wish I was the fuzzy, colorful beast that humans love, but I am not. I am a dark, shaggy beast, with curled, antler-like horns, fangs, claws, and eyes that glow white in darkness. I am not a friend to them, I am something to be hunted.

As much as I love being my beastly self, I fear being myself is what's causing my downfall. I don't want to change to make myself palatable to the humans. They do not deserve it after what has happened to me. Even so, a monster like me still wonders what connection can feel like. To think some humans tolerate me, like me even, but they live too far away... I wish I could be with them.

However, this is no longer the case. Past human friends have betrayed me, apart from one. I have no true desires to befriend humans. As my grandmother once told me, I'm "too monstrous and hostile" for friends. I'm to monstrous for everyone. I'm too monstrous for myself. The human body I reside in is just a defense from the humans around me. I feel no true, meaningful attachment to this body.

I am the metaphorical version of a kitten that wasn't socialized. I cannot connect with others. I do not connect with others. I'm not meant to. I am designed for solitude.

I'm just a creature who's strange. I know I should care not of what others think, and yet I still do. I care because I am afraid. I am still afraid of humans my own age, especially women. If I could get everything I needed without leaving this house, the world would never see me again.

I am such an irrational thing. Here I am, a potential gynephobe who's a lesbian being encroached upon by a beast. Here I am, knowing most people don't care about me, yet I still care enough in case they press record again. Humans could be nice, but I must distrust them for my safety. They'll never know me well enough to know this. I must make sure of it.

I feel it has gotten so hopeless that my younger sister feels that she needs to intervene. She does a lot of talking for me. She pulls at my arms to try and get me to speak with humans. Even if it was a joke, it made me realize how hopelessly helpless I am. She feels I speak to no one, and she is right.

Worst of all, I know that I must change. Eventually I'm going to have to provide for myself. I don't wish to tell mother of my beastly affliction, though I have no reason not to. I suppose I am a cautious beast. How cautious is too cautious I wonder?

The beastly affliction is affecting major parts of my life. I remain in the cave all day. I speak to no outsiders. I rely on my little sister too much. My mother says she feels she has failed me. I do not wish to be a defective child. I do not wish to be a beast. I wish I could cry beastly golden tears until I'm washed clean of my beastly essences.

I am a pathetic beast. I am not strong. I am a lowly creature. I am a strange thing that cannot be understood. I shall forever remain a beast, and society shall forever hate me.

I feel I am stuck in place. I don't often think about my beastliness, but when I do it feels paralyzing. I don't know what to make of it. I don't know if it will change. I turn 20 in three days and I'm still the beast from when I was 16. I'm still the monster, I feel I forever will be. I feel the world has gone one without me, but I'm fine with that. I know nothing else at this point.

[bilbao-song]

my two favorite ads i have received on tumblr recently

[overdevelopedglasses]

tell us more about essence 🙏🙏🙏

starts vibrating

GOD as much as I wanna talk about the story, I need to do just a little bit more exposition. Want it all to make sense, ya know?

So, assuming people have seen this post and this post, I've got what you're looking for under the cut.

Alright it's time to talk about spirits.

So throw what you know about spirits out the window, because "spirit" in the Essence world refers to the entities that can manipulate elements and energy.

For a bit of hierarchy, there's the first spirit (who's kinda lost to time, but we meet them in Essence), and then 3 different spirits who are dubbed the Creation Spirits: Soros (spirit of darkness), Uradata (spirit of abyss), and Illumi (spirit of light). In the olden times, they came down to the human world and made friends with some humans. As a bit of a token of friendship, some of the humans beared children beacuse of them (consensually!). We'll get to those children later.

After leaving the humans, these spirits got busy, and started making spirits to control elements. There's a lot of them, and we'll touch on them in a second. A few years later, something happened: the spirits and humans found out that the elemental spirits and the human children of the spirits could form a symbiotic bond with one another. These bonds... are just called bonds, but they are still a very common occurrence in the present day.

Anything beyond that delves into Essence lore, and I fear I'll ramble incoherently, so we'll stop there. For a conclusion, the new "terms" and characters I can introduce:

Bond: the link formed between a vessel and a spirit. For shelter and some nutrients from the vessel to the spirit, the spirit would grant the vessel usage of their powers, and if needed, armor and a weapon, whose form is decided by the spirit. There's some nuance to bonds, but I'll save it for another post.

Omega: spirit that controls plasma (limited control, but still pretty powerful). Bonded to Lily

Zephyr: spirit that controls wind. Bonded to Alex

Ravi: spirit that contols fire. Bonded to Percy.

Geoc: spirit that controls earth. Bonded to Enzo.

Vergals: spirit that controls ice. Bonded to Robin.

[silvery-stars]

would it be sacrilege of me to say that i am kinda hashtag Underwhelmed by the percy jackson show

[13eyond13]

.

[hylianengineer]

I mostly like living with other people but if they don't stop stealing my food I will explode.

The worst part is that no one will admit to it, but there are only so many people who have access to our fridge. We've also had stuff mysteriously appear in there that no one will admit to putting there. I almost wonder if my roommate's friends she invites over sometimes are to blame, because surely she wouldn't lie to me about this? And she doesn't have much of a motive to lie about who the moldy tupperware belongs to, considering we've all made that mistake and no one gets mad about it.

I'd just really like my food to stop disappearing, okay? It's always the good, expensive food too. Regular food thievery is bad enough, but stealing food from someone with food restrictions who A) can't easily get more and B) has to pay three times as much for food as everyone else? Really fucking uncool.

Yes, I know the mature responsible thing to do about this is have an actual conversation with my roommate. But I'm not going to do that, I'm going to continue quietly seething.

[insertsomthinawesome]

Sometimes I think now and then about uploading more speedpaints of my art on here... I haven’t for the longest time cause I didn’t know how to watermark them 😂 but I recently took the time to figure that out (and if I forgor already I can figure it out again asdlfkjSDLKJSDGS) I keep going back and forth on it because most  of them... well the quality is kinda crunchy? Its not going to be some 4k looking masterpiece, and especially some of the smaller details might get lost in translation (Clip Studio’s Speedpaints especially are always crunchy 😔) IDK if I’d still upload them very often, cause If I record them raw with OBS i actually have to. ya know. VIDEO EDIT (Sometimes I listen to the same songs on loop for 3 hours and I gotta silence their screams of pain xD) But eh I think it could be fun. If i did they also probably wouldn’t have any music. But IDK if ya’ll have any braincells about it I’d be interested to hear. I make no promises either way because I could just decide its not worth the effort ^^;; but I felt like rambling about this on main so *throws this down like a cake on pavement*

[lenievi]

MCCOY: Look, Jim. I know what it means to you to lose a crewman. KIRK: That's only one down, Doctor. 

love how apart from seeing that Kirk is angry with McCoy in this moment, you can also tell by him calling McCoy “Doctor” three times in like one minute

and then he has time to cool down (and honestly the few seconds where he kind of awkwardly walks toward McCoy and prepares himself for an apology are so funny, but also so true and real) and he stops being the captain for those few seconds and

and switches back to “Bones”

but now McCoy is like

“Yes, Captain?” because he doesn’t know what to expect

and Kirk smiles and tells him “I shouldn't have chewed you out. I'm sorry.”

and all’s well~

[sysig]

Your Weekly TV Guide

On Monday you can expect:

2:30 PM: Star Control II - Helix

And Tuesday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Wednesday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Thursday:

2:30 PM: Just Desserts

Friday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Saturday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Sunday:

2:30 PM: SCII - Helix

Thanks for tuning in! (Patreon)

[arolesbianism]

Guys why is rain world so good (<- rewatched some scenes and teared up on all of them)