#how to charge objects

[modernwitchsguidetolife]

Charging Objects is simpler than some may realize & truly a very practical bit of witchcraft most can easily master. Virtually any object can become magical & serve a higher purpose than originally intended ✨🧿📿🐚🎖️🎲💎🪬🧹🔑🎀🪭🪄📓🖊️✨

[a-compass-without-a-needle]

This is what happened after 3.1 isn't it?

[secriden]

This line. God, this line! It has been eating me up inside for 2 days now, because let's not forget, this line isn't about love, it's about trust. And that has implications that make me want to scream.

It's a direct reference to this moment earlier in the episode:

At the start of this discussion, Style and Fadel still have a kind of playful air about their conversation:

Style: Oh? Not even me? Fadel: You're at 80% at best. I feel like you're hiding something from me in the 20%.

In this exchange, though, there's a sense that Fadel is issuing a challenge, like there's something specific which Style can do to gain Fadel's full trust. And while Style knows there are things he cannot (yet) reveal to Fadel, I think a part of him is determined to be as honest as he can be, which is why he issues a challenge of his own by asking for more specificity:

Style: What do I have to do to gain your complete trust?

Part of this question is a simultaneously inquisitive and deflective - What (and why) do you think I'm hiding (something) from you? - but there's also a moment after Style finishes speaking where he stills and goes quiet that feels... genuine, weighty. Or, as @airenyah has pointed out in her meta on Style in episode 4, the "grounded[ness]" in Style's demeanour is a signal that Style means what he's saying in the moment. Maybe about his own desire to be worthy of Fadel's trust, maybe about how he genuinely does want this relationship to be real in whatever way that matters to Fadel.

I think Fadel sensed that too, because the moment looses all the lightheartedness it had before. Fadel pauses, and then gets a look on his face that just... breaks my heart. There's a sombreness there, like he knows he's going to have to say something that makes him sad. Fadel looks away, and then down, before he seems to steel himself and says:

Fadel: It'll never happen. No matter how much you love someone, I just don't believe that you can completely lay yourself bare in front of them.

Fadel says this like it's fact. Like what he's expressing is something foundational and true and irrefutable. It's not even about his doubt in Style's honesty, because this statement has no qualifiers or conditions put on it to connect it to Style. Rather this is what Fadel fundamentally believes about relationships and trust: he finds the very concept of being fully known and still accepted an impossibility.

Sure, maybe this is because of the falling out (or betrayal or disappearance) associated with the former lover; but I also think it might be because Fadel is acutely aware not only that he's hiding a rather big and dark secret (not to mince words, but: actual literal premeditated murder), but also about what it implies about Fadel. Because being able to kill another human, coldly and clinically and without remorse, takes a certain type of person. Because, yes, Fadel has lived through an absolutely harrowing and traumatising event (his parents' murder), but it's also undeniable that it changed him. Because there's something about Fadel that twisted dark and which he never quite got back. There's an anger, a hurt that colours every moment of his life; that enables him to look a man in the eyes, smile politely, and pull a trigger.

And at this point in their relationship, Fadel's understanding of Style is that he's... well, kind of innocent. Especially in comparison to Fadel and Bison, and even Kant.

Style, who easily reveals facts about his life which Fadel already knows (winning a car tuning competition), making Fadel doubt his own instincts about Style hiding secrets. Style, who also reveals the things Fadel doesn't know, like the tender and secret pain of a mother lost to cancer (which, now that I think about it, Fadel may also know) and his worries about a father who "lost his bearings for a bit" (which he probably doesn't). Style, who tries to comfort Fadel in his own loss by offering a safe space and a sympathetic ear.

Style, who doesn't just see Fadel for his tragedy, but is asking to be given the chance to accept all of Fadel as a person. Style, who not only wants but has the capacity, to be the only person Fadel needs to rely on. Style who, despite the sea of differences between them, understands Fadel on a level that is so very foundational.

I'm going to slightly segue and mention something that may not resonate with everyone, but really hit me in the gut this episode: because I lost my father when I was 16 after he battled cancer for 2 painful years. And this revelation about Style has totally shifted and coloured everything Style has done in a new light for me. Because not only does this totally explain Style's sometimes almost stubbornly childish demeanour (it's common in adults who've had to 'grow up' too early), but also why Style shows seemingly random flashes of insight and maturity when they are most crucial. Notably, Style has this almost instinctive sense of when he needs to back off a sore point with Fadel that I couldn't quite put my finger on until this episode.

I've seen a few jokes about Style's awkward subject change, but I've actually got a friend who I hold very dear to my heart who was one of the only people to give me a sense of normalcy and comfort when my dad was on his last few days and then at his funeral. And part of that was the instinctive way she would know when I needed to just. Not be a grieving daughter for a few minutes. To get a small respite from the overwhelming hopelessness and sense of impending loss. To get a moment to breathe and gather my strength, because knowing I was never going to see my dad again, or hear his voice, or hold his hand was tearing me apart back then. Sometimes she'd talk to me about college drama, sometimes she'd introduce a new kpop video to me, sometimes she'd just ask me what I wanted to eat and take me to go have a meal with her. And sometimes there really just isn't anything else to say other than "I'm sorry." Nothing you say - nothing you can say - is going to ever, ever make this grief go away, and in most cases, it was better when people (especially those who couldn't really understand) didn't try.

And I think if you look at Fadel very closely, there's a moment of genuine surprise (Fadel wasn't expecting the subject change at all) and then... something that looks like fondness mixed with exhausted relief. Because I don't think Fadel was ready to talk about his parents yet. This was honesty he wasn't ready to give Style, mostly prompted because Style himself had willingly been so vulnerable that a part of Fadel wanted to reciprocate. But further down that path lies not only his darkest memories, but also the connection to the part of his life he is not willing to share with Style yet. So this subject change is a relief, it's a blessing, but it's also Style knowing when he shouldn't push any further with Fadel's fragile heart.

Which brings me back to how well the episode's theme of trust (both deserved and undeserved) was woven in this episode. This is true on multiple levels and characters but I'm not even going to attempt to touch Kant in this post because... Lord, that is beyond me at the moment. Someone else needs to do that, pretty please, so I can reblog it and scream.

It starts, somewhat unexpectedly, with Fadel asking for entrance into the intimate spaces of Style's life.

So, this episode was not about Fadel's fear of his own feelings, desires, or even affection for Style - that appears to be fully addressed in episode 4. I think that's why we see Fadel be so physically affectionate and indulgent of Style in this episode. He's come to terms with his lust for Style's body (hence his comfort in initiating sex), he's accepted Style as his boyfriend and so can enjoy Style's playful teasing (still reluctantly, but Fadel is still an introvert even if he's mostly enjoying Style's rambunctious nature), and give into Style's (and Bison's and Kant's) cajoling with relatively little fuss.

He's even comfortable toying with the edges of revealing his darker and more sinister side by reminding Style implicitly about how violent Fadel has the potential to be. Recall that Fadel knows Style knows some of his capacity for violence; he just doesn't know how very thoroughly Style is aware of the full scale of this truth. It does help that Style evidences no actual fear and, in fact, looks positively euphoric. Like, buddy, pal, dearest one... please control yourself.

And yet something very, very telling is the way the show makes it a point to depict Fadel very deliberately getting drunk during the double date. Even before the date has started, Fadel looks to be about half a beer in and we see him constantly drinking, drinking, drinking during the whole date. From the conversation about trust he has with Style while Kant and Bison are being off key and adorable about it, to after Kant leaves and Bison gets worried. And we've seen Fadel cope with emotional and mental distress with alcohol before, so we know that Fadel is internally fighting some kind of very intense battle even as he is also very clearly enjoying moments with Style on this date (most notably when they're dancing by the bowling lanes and when Style asks him to go home with him).

So here's my take: rather than being about love, this is about Fadel fighting to hold onto his own philosophy on relationships and trust. Because as much as I do believe Fadel believes he's telling the truth when he tells Style that 100% trust is "impossible", I think it's clear that's not what he wants.

What he wants is to finish this last job so that the only thing he can't be honest about with Style will finally stop being a factor in his life. What he wants is to fully and completely reciprocate the openness Style seems to be giving Fadel. What he wants is to switch off his brain and let his heart lead for once, to stop fighting a battle he has no desire to win anymore, only he can't. Trust (not love) is Fadel's final frontier, and one which he can't quite give up in spite of himself.

Which is why I think Fadel intentionally gets himself drunk here. Because he wants to let his guard down around Style. He wants to open himself fully, he wants to "lay himself bare" for Style, he wants Style to know the full truth and accept him anyway - and he gets so close, but can't quite get there - because he doesn't know that Style already has.

When Style says this, Fadel thinks it's empty words, not knowing that Style has long passed the bar Fadel thinks is insurmountable. And just like Style was able to offer safety and reassurance to the vulnerability Fadel was showing in episode 4, Style instinctively gets to the core of Fadel's darkest fears again:

Style: One day, I'll be your 100%.

This isn't (just) a promise that Style will wear Fadel's stubbornness down, or that Style will be worthy of Fadel's 100% (which, already, has me in tears, ngl). Beyond that, this is Style promising Fadel isn't ruined for this; that it isn't too late, that whatever hurts and wounds Fadel has can be made whole again. That the kind of honest and all-encompassing and unconditional trust which Fadel says is impossible can, in fact, be his. That Fadel still has the capacity to trust and be trusted the way he so desperately, painfully longs for.

I know a lot of people have said Style in this episode is writing cheques he has no ability to honour, but I think it's more layered than that. Because in a very significant and profound way, Style is wholly deserving of Fadel's trust. Because in all the ways that Fadel has ever known he should want, Style actually IS worthy of his trust. Style knows the truth Fadel is hiding, knows what this man is capable of, knows the danger of being in his arms, knows the likely nonexistent future Fadel has to offer him -- and wants him anyway. Style is a man who would stare into Fadel’s darkness and reach out first. Strip away the complication of Kant being blackmailed and dragging Style into his mission, and Style is literally perfect for Fadel. He is exactly what Fadel wants (and possibly has wanted for a very long time). He is, in fact, exactly what Fadel needs to ever experience anything beyond the shadow of a life he's had so far.

But oh, the cruel narrative means that Style is also, simultaneously, painfully undeserving of Fadel's trust; and this is something Style is very much aware of. I think that's why he's trying so very hard to be worthy in all the other ways he can be. Style's awareness of what Fadel is hiding enables Style to (counterintuitively) be completely honest about his feelings for and about Fadel even as he cannot reveal his motivations. So he gives Fadel as much honesty as he can: offers the vulnerability of his own pain and hurts; the comfort of his true understanding and acceptance.

And just as Fadel's vulnerability in the abandoned factory was met with Style choosing a form of physical connection that prioritised Fadel's pleasure (it's made very clear that Style is jerking Fadel off and that all his focus in that moment was on Fadel, not his own pleasure), so too is this moment met with Style very intentionally choosing to worship Fadel's body with all the tenderness and genuine emotional weight that Style wanted Fadel to have in their first time in the storeroom.

Because, crucially, this was Style giving Fadel the chance to lay himself at least physically bare. This is the closest either of them can get to full honesty with the secrets they both are keeping. It's why Style tries so very hard to show the care and adoration and genuine feelings he has for Fadel. Why he makes sure that the vulnerability of Fadel getting himself as drunk and as relaxed and as trusting as Fadel can allow himself to be is tied only to gentleness and tenderness and pleasure.

Because Style actually knows that Fadel can't (and shouldn't) trust him in the way Fadel truly wishes to.

And as much as I believe that Style genuinely means this from the bottom of his heart, the horrifying full truth is that it is Style that has the metaphorical knife hovering over Fadel's chest. He is the one with the capacity to actually give Fadel a new scar that would truly matter. He is, in fact, the only one Fadel wants to fully trust -- and this, along with Style's compromised heart, makes it so that the circumstances will doom them both.

[fumifooms]

What if we were both magic prodigies and it otherized us in different ways and we devoted ourselves to protecting a family member who has general other goals & priorities. What if we both did self-sacrifical devotion in opposite ways.

What if we were dark mirrors of each other and where I've grown overcontrolling you've grown complacent. What if, bought as a servant into a pretty loving home, ownership and control is what love looks like to me, and to you neglected and lonely growing up, love is gratefully taking any scraps of it you’re lent.

By belonging to someone, even if she comes back injured or fails at finding Delgal, she feels like she belongs and is cherished, by owning someone he feels safe in them not leaving him.

She’s what’s tethering him do you see… And he’s the only thing giving her direction and purpose in her state. She needs a compass and he needs a support.

They’re both so out of it 😭 It’s the weirdly intense and unearned mutual trust and reliance on each other?? They’re each other’s weird little comfort codependent teddy bear. Or at least they were headed towards that before SHE DIED THEN HE DIED THEN THEY BOTH FORGOT ABOUT EACH OTHER AND NEVER MET EVER AGAIN. Though she’s also the guard attack hound keeping him safe… And vice versa he heals her and can rewrite her very being with just one wave of his hand. They’re both so so mentally and physically vulnerable both but they cling onto each other. They can’t perceive things accurately but despite it all someway somehow they stumble into something closer to resembling companionship just before they both die. Falin is just that kind and Thistle is just that lonely. Overworked.

We both haven’t lived for ourselves in a very long time, haven’t we.

They both have a similar devotion to the people they love but again the difference is that Thistle starts overtsepping while Falin is self-effacing. The other difference between them is that people care about Falin <3 People have given up on Thistle long ago, and he has given people reasons to, while people refuse to give up on Falin. Yaad has a mini arc about it dw about it it’s ok he’s not all alone in the end 😭😭 He reached out for Marcille’s hand but they already all wanted to help him, they just had to be given the chance to, Yaad just had to be given the chance to, it’s okay I’m okay

Hey what if we learned to get in touch with our own identity and the world around us and living in the present again through being in the worst codependent situationship ever.

Falin and Thistle sitting in a tree, sucking on flowers together because they’re h-u-n-g-r-y 💕💕💕

I bet he’s only ever thought of flowers as useless ornaments. Weak weeds. But she shows him they’re tasty and useful and good and pretty in their own right too and deserve existing without proving their worth and waaa <33 Thistles…... Did you know thistles taste sweet if you remove the thorns and eat them?

"Even as a chimera, her kind nature remains" you can’t suppress her in the way that matters. You can’t soothe him in the way that matters. It’s doomed. You’re doomed. It’s all doomed. Save me.

[romainlettusdinnerparty]

questioning "coming out" as the culmination of will's character arc

i just had this thought of just like,, what does coming out mean for a characters arc? like is that really the final goal in a queer person’s life/ story? i mean, i think in some cases it makes sense like if a story is about a character’s queerness and also their relationship to their family and how secrets can affect relationships but i feel like there’s this idea that if there is a queer character their goal should be to reveal said queerness. i think that 1. kinda makes them a caricature of queerness, dumbs their character down to just one aspect 2. centers other people way more in the narrative - things that have fs been said before. but i really like the scene of will “coming out to jonathan” because its not like a “coming out scene” - will doesnt come to him with a confession - instead jonathan comes to him with support because he can see will’s sadness and longing and most importantly, the distance that has grown between them. queerness isnt necessary to this scene but we know its there so this support, this kindness, this connection means so much more, defies expectation - especially in this time period when such acts would not be at all expected of someone encountering a queer person. we dont expect cruelty from jonathan but its important that he is the one to reach out to will. idk if i want there to be an emphasis on will telling people he’s gay despite the agency it may give him - with both of the “coming out scenes” we’ve had in this show neither of them were necessarily voluntary or on their own terms. robin came out to steve because he told her he liked her and she Couldn’t like him back. jonathan shared his support for will without will ever voicing the monstrous desire jonathan offered comfort for. that feels so much more true to the time period and the lives these characters are leading - queerness is not the biggest issue rn, theyre being haunted by an evil dimension or whatever. idk what it would do for will’s character to tell joyce that he’s gay - i dont like that the idea of coming out to her would just be motivated by wanting to Come Out in that situation, i dont think thats a good enough motivation for will - i dont think he wants to be known necessarily, i dont think that his goal or his overall thing,, mike however? maybe? because of the more societal pressures and hiding and “forced conformity” his character deals with i feel like sharing that secret with someone and having them react well could be really important for his arc - like revealing his true self and not hiding behind what he thinks is expected of him is really important character growth and a huge thing holding him back in his relationships over the last couple seasons. he’s performing - taking the mask off, finding out that it was a mask all along, is important for him, his relationships (with will and el especially), and us as an audience to forgive him. will obviously dealt with bullying both from lonnie and his pears surrounding his sexuality which makes being Accepted for said sexuality so so important for him, i just don’t know if the Telling People part is as important for his character? telling mike he’s in love with him? yes. absolutely. hes hiding that from him and it affects their every interaction. but i don’t think will is hiding from joyce in this regard - i dont think its important for him to reveal it to her much like it wasn’t necessary to reveal himself to jonathan - they already know - or even if they don’t, they know nothing will ever change the love they feel for Will, they just need to show their love and acceptance. i wouldnt be mad if there was a scene almost identical to will and jonathan’s with joyce and will, at least in sentiment. ik it can be very important to say it out loud but if thats the goal then That should be the goal, not informing joyce. im curious why other people want a joyce and will coming out scene so badly - is it just for the ensured emotionality? is it for will’s agency? is it for the show to say the word gay? what is will’s motivation here and why is his tactic to come out?

[fourswords]

rambling about thf zelda and impa for a second. the fun thing about the original legend of zelda is that zelda's parents are literally never mentioned (in both the first game and zelda 2—aol zelda's father is mentioned, but never thf zelda's), but also the manual states that when ganon's forces attacked the kingdom he successfully stole the triforce of power, which begs the question of "did ganon murder the king and/or queen when he first invaded and is that why zelda got desperate enough to shatter the triforce of wisdom and run around hiding the pieces on her own". ANYWAY about impa. impa is explicitly stated in the manual to be zelda's nursemaid (which makes sense; she's really old in this game and can't act as zelda's protector like in ocarina of time or skyward sword or others. she had to be rescued from monsters by link, who was teeny tiny and didn't even have a sword on him yet. She's Old) and given that zelda is (ALSO) teeny tiny and "the world was in an age of chaos" (and zelda's parent(s) would have needed to DEAL with said chaos before ganon invaded and fucked everything up), i think it's safe enough to assume that impa pretty much raised her. like, in all the ways that mattered most. (also the impa in the oracle of season/ages games is also referred to as that zelda's nursemaid and she's stated to have been looking after zelda since birth and i don't see why that wouldn't also be the case for the original game. y'know)

and that assumption adds a really fun flavor to their dynamic to me! because on one hand, no wonder impa was willing to hobble out into the dangers of the land to look for a hero capable enough to stop ganon at zelda's behest even though she was completely defenseless, but on the other hand. you HAVE to wonder if zelda's whole "alright i'm going to shatter the triforce of wisdom and go hide the pieces" plan was something that she actually. consulted impa about beforehand. or if she was like (in all her ten-year-old wisdom. do we remember what happens when children make plans from ocarina of time) "hey impa can you go check on something for me real quick. Yeah just around that corner there. Yeah no don't worry about the triforce of wisdom behind my back. Everything is fine" and then impa came back two minutes later after hearing a massive explosion of divine power and zelda's sitting there surrounded by the pieces of the triforce going "OKAY i have a Plan. here's what i'm going to do and here's what you're going to do." and i LOVEEE to imagine that after everything's said and done and she reunites with impa after the events of the game this just becomes a character trait of hers.

like you have to remember that per zelda canon her ancestor was aol zelda's brother, and he was...rash. impulsive. did not stop to think that maybe his father hid the rest of the triforce from him for a Reason and then the second he found out from his father's magician that his sister knew where the triforce of courage was he immediately went to question her (with the magician. Great idea man). again without stopping to think "hm okay maybe there's a reason he told her and not me." and i really love the idea that this impulsiveness just became a generational trait of sorts and it was passed down all the way to thf zelda. HE learned his lesson regarding impulsiveness because his sister got cursed into an eternal sleep. SHE learned NO lesson because her desperate half-baked plan actually fucking worked. sure she got captured but she did manage to hide all the pieces beforehand and impa did manage to find someone capable of killing ganon once and for all. so naturally this manifests as her continuing to be impulsive. she's obviously capable of stopping to think her actions through but i think if her Previous Stunt proved anything it's that she is more than willing to put herself in the line of fire if she thinks it's necessary and i think that this would lead to...a lot of arguments with impa. like, out of love. and this iteration of them is funny because clearly zelda was able to win over impa with her Schemes once and i have no doubt she'd be able to do it again. and again and again and again. like there's a lot of arguing but eventually impa lets her go because she truly has no way to stop her and i think deep down she's fiercely proud of the woman zelda is growing up to be. but GOD does she worry. especially since the state of the kingdom doesn't get any better after thf (again, aol's manual literally starts out with "hyrule was on the road to ruin" and that's YEARS down the line from the original game).

ultimately i truly think that zelda is always going to be impa's little girl. but she is the little girl that looked impa dead in the eyes and told her that she would go off on her own to hide the pieces of the triforce of wisdom while impa went off on her own to find someone capable of slaying ganon. do you get me.

[magnetic-dogz]

MP100 x Chainsaw Man crossover AU where there's a paperwork mixup and Reigen is running public safety while Makima's in charge of Spirits and Such

[musical-chick-13]

Regarding the previous post, I think the way I approach trying to evaluate a piece of art is asking "Do I think the positive things I get out of it outweigh the parts of it that I don't like?" And when I call something a "guilty pleasure" song/show/book/piece of media/etc. it's really more in the sense of, "Given who I am as a person, the flaws I've found in this should be complete dealbreakers for me, but somehow they aren't, and it makes me feel like I'm having an identity crisis."

[lord-squiggletits]

After I write that new IDW Optimus meta, the next one is gonna be a post of "why I really hate that theory about Rodimus being a better Prime than Optimus and how it doesn't even match the themes of IDW OR canon fact about how the Matrix functions."

But the TLDR that I feel like encapsulates where a lot of this fanwank comes from, is that I feel like ppl don't properly appreciate that the context of Optimus and Rodimus' leaderships are extremely different.

Like, Rodimus only led a ship of about 200+ people. This means that the scale of his leadership responsibilities and the risks/consequences/stakes of his actions as leader were much smaller in scale. However, it also means that just because he only led one ship of people doesn't mean that his choices weren't important/weren't indicative of his personal character (that is to say, just bc it was only one ship doesn't mean that it had no meaning or significance at all).

On the other hand, Optimus led an entire freaking army over a 4 million year war that arose from political tensions that began even before he/most of the people in the war were born. That means that the consequences of his leadership had extremely far reaching consequences no matter what he did, which grants him a large degree of culpability/blame for his actions. HOWEVER, it must also be said that under the pressure of fighting an impossible war, just because OP wasn't able to "stop it sooner" doesn't mean that he was a morally bad/incompetent leader, because a whole galactic war is such a huge burden that one person can't possibly stop it or influence/control everything to make the most morally correct and peace-causing decisions.

TLDR can we please stop pitting Optimus and Rodimus against each other when the contexts of them being leaders was so vastly different (and they had such different leadership styles in general) that you can't really say "who's the better leader" without minimizing either of their accomplishments/magnifying their respective flaws.

Also, canonically speaking the Matrix can be wielded by anyone who's confident/at peace/self-righteous enough to believe they're worthy of it, which was shown not only by the ending of LL where a bunch of regular ass crewmates were able to use copies of the Matrix, but by the fact that the first Prime/ruler of Cybertron Nova Prime was a massive piece of shit who colonized people, yet was still a Matrix bearer who wielded the true/original Matrix.

And also Primus is literally Just Some Guy and not some omnipotent god who's an objective arbiter of morality that can point at a guy and go "YOU are the Specialest Boy Ever and are Divinely Mandated To Be A Good person"

So the entire premise of why ppl even make theories and debate about this is beyond me lol. In IDW1 the Matrix is more of a social/cultural symbol than it is an actual measurer of morality, which is in line with IDW1's consistent themes of challenging the inherent rightness of authority

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

late Carlo and Moretti (during vinci-moretti war) are like Luca and Clemente to me. Moretti will never raise his hand on Carlo but! will he drive him into guilt in ways that are not direct? insult him in passing? convince Carlo that he's doing everything wrong, when in fact it's the opposite? of course such a painful kick to Carlo's ego, it's unfair, he doesn't deserve it. and it's not a father-son relationship, it's a professional relationship and he can't say anything back & defense himself in any way maybe Moretti's more favorable to Eddie in this period because he's more blindly loyal and Carlo feels he's about to explode

[victorluvsalice]

-->With the selling day finally done, I had Smiler take a moment to tune up Marm (whose durability was slowly failing) while Victor and Alice cleaned up all the out-of-stock signs around the store, then sent everyone home at 9 PM. An exhausted Victor was promptly sent to bed, while Alice finished off the final bites of her spinach frittata from lunch before it went bad (as she could super-speed her way to it faster than it could spoil) before joining him. Smiler, feeling flirty thanks to the nearness of their partner, wandered into the living room to sculpt the bonsai there into a heart, while Marm cleaned up Alice’s plate for her, took a moment to pet Shock (making friends with the cat, aw), then flew outside to rake up all the leaves falling around the property, with a quick break to feed Toothy. *nods* Good robot. I thus sent Smiler to play chess once they were done with the bonsai (mostly because they’d swapped moods from Flirty to Focused, and they could use the Logic) and prepared to end the day –

-->And then I noticed that the ENTIRE FUCKING WIND FARM was broken again. *sigh* These turbines, I swear... Cue me waking Victor up to Repairio the lot of them, and Alice waking up in turn to react to his magic skills. Which would have annoyed me more if they weren’t already both at full energy thanks to their amazing bed. XD So instead of forcing them to go back to sleep, I sent Alice downstairs to read a werewolf book (she wanted to read a book as a want, and I figured I might as well try to unlock the werewolf power that lets her read secret werewolf writings), and set Victor on upgrading one of the upstairs bathroom sinks with an automatic soap dispenser. Meaning the session actually ended on Marm stopping his raking to get in some more recharge time in the backyard, and Victor completing the sink upgrade and getting maxed Handiness skill in the process! Yay! :D

And that is that! As you can see, Marm is still having a little trouble finding his place in this family. Partly because I'm still adjusting to having four Sims to take care of, not three, and partly because he spends a good portion of every day unconscious for one reason or another. *shakehead* But he is still part of this family, and we will make it work! Perhaps a family-focused holiday will help him fit in better? Join us next time to see how the gang handles Harvestfest!

[tricornonthecob]

I am inordinately proud of this expression.

[christinaroseandrews]

If you're going to blaze your AI-generated celebrity wankfest, you're going to earn a one-way trip to my block list.

I mean, come on people, if you want celebrity wankfest, do terrible Photoshop manipulation or oddly proportioned drawings like the rest of us.

[junietuesday]

"Ghost Goodbye", for WIP Wednesday?

He fumbled to light the lamp near the door; when his hand finally found it, he flicked the switch and soft firelight flooded the room. The bed was pristine as always, given that no one used it. In the back corner of the room, his empty hammock hung limp.

[thelawfulchaotic]

When I am appointed to represent a child, my first action is to separate them from their parents and tell them the following things:

1. I am their attorney. I do not work for their parent or the judge or the cops. I don’t care what any of those people want.

2. My job is to listen to them and try and make what they want happen in court. (At this point I make a joke about how most people want me to get them out of trouble but if someone wanted to be in trouble I would do my best.)

3. What they tell me is confidential. It goes nowhere unless they agree to it. (If old enough, I talk to them about mandatory reporters, and how I’m a mandatory non reporter.)

4. I will give them lots of advice because I’ve been doing court for a while and I know a lot about it, and they don’t. It’s all really complicated, and if they don’t understand what’s happening it’s my job to help them figure it out.

5. They will make the decisions. (At this point I usually have to reassure them that I’ll help, I’ll speak for them in front of the judge, and I’ve got their back. It’s scary to have an adult say you’re in charge, most of the time.)

6. I tell them I know it’s absolutely wild to have some stranger come in here and say “hey, you can trust me!” and that I get if they don’t believe everything right away, because I plan to show them through my actions and my words that I’ll fight for them.

7. But nonetheless, I will treat them like a person who can make decisions, because they are living their life and I am not.

I do not:

Pretend to be cool.

Try to be their BFF.

Overwhelm them with detail.

Let their parents in the room until the kid asks for them. (I provide openings for this, and ask if the kid wants their parent to help them remember and understand.)

I want to emphasize I went into this job knowing nothing about how to interact with vulnerable populations, especially children. The training was minimal, and my role means that I can literally walk into a facility and get an unmonitored visit with a minor client one on one.

In my years of practice I have never felt threatened by a child, even one that was “violent” and “unstable.” It turns out just saying “hi, I think you’re a person with thoughts” is wildly successful? Now people treat me like I have special Child Whisperer powers. My powers are that I ask the child what’s up and I’m not scared to say things that are objectively awkward. I know nothing about anything.

[thechainsawsmileofthemortician]

id say im so severely athiest but i confessed to trees and stars