#i guess i don't know if this counts lol

[mermaidchan05]

Vesuvia Weekly: Smiles that Grew Rarer

Thinking about Asra’s relieved smile. The little glimmer of sunlight after the dark, a brief respite after waking up from a nightmare, a tiny laugh after a spell went wrong and frightened everyone, the teary-eyed smile when he found his apprentice was safe. Thinking about the way that relieved smile might still peek in every once in a while. But now he knows how strong his apprentice is. Now he can show all the other smiles he kept secret before: smiles of pride, of gratitude, of love. Thinking about how his relief has faded to a constant, comfortable feel of hope and peace.

Thinking about Julian’s theatrical, sinister smile. The sneer carefully created to shout: I am the villain of this story. The expression he used whenever he needed to, which became far too often far too quickly. Thinking about how he doesn’t need to play the bad guy anymore… not unless he wants to. Thinking about how nice of a change it is for Julian, to be a hero to those who love him.

Thinking about Nadia’s tightest, falsest smiles. The smile she gave whenever she was forced to pretend she knew exactly what was going on despite her lost memories. The smile that hid the building pressure of a headache that would have put anyone else out of commission, but that Nadia must push through. The smile that lied: “Why yes, I would love to continue this inane conversation.” Thinking of how whenever she gives a smile like that now, someone can reach for her hand, and the smile can grow more genuine. Thinking about how she doesn’t need to fake her knowledge or confidence anymore. She doesn’t need to pretend she knows what she’s doing… she knows, and she is going to show it.

Just thinking of smiles that have gotten more and more rare now… and how that’s a good thing.

[galaxygirl8880]

an au I thought up of where Cale does actually decide to run away and helps the roan Kingdom from the shadows and stuff-

It'd be funny if Cale just slapped all of the information from the five novels he read into a stack of paper and sent it to Alberu, his reasoning being "I don't wanna do shit, you deal with the war(s) :D" you could also have a moment where Cale sends another letter basically saying "your current commanders are shit not bad but could be better, have some war strategies (If you don't send me money for this I'll break into your office and move everything two inches to the left)"

Before running away, he collects enough allowance from Deruth to last him a while, gets the shield ancient power, and he gains the trust of the cats so they follow him. On the night that he's supposed to meet Choi han, Cale gives him something (a sandwich?) he bought earlier to eat and directs him towards the Henituse mansion with a letter that was mostly prepared beforehand so the guards (and Ron) let him in.

Cale saves the dragon with the rented devices from billos with a bit more difficulty (and injuries) but he manages to free him anyways.

Then he begins to head towards the capital (because as much as he'd like to go to the ubar territory, there's a chance amiru could see him-) and plans to stay there for a while before the plaza terror incident. He takes the healing ancient power, gives advice to Taylor while doing his best to avoid him and cage, and unofficially officially adopts the dragon into his party. Not exactly in that order but oh well-

---

Ron and Beacrox are mighty suspicious of Choi han because he's brought a letter that was obviously from their young master but without the young master. And shit gets worse when Cale doesn't come back home that night-

Choi han gets interrogated, fights Ron (only a lil), and sets out to find the person that helped him in his time of intense despair, memories of the kind stranger feeding the cats and handing him something to eat when he hadn't eaten anything in two days(Choi han).

He feels grateful, and chooses to ignore the rumors about a "drunk, trashy young master" because the person who helped him and the person from the rumors seem like completely different people. (Later, when he finds the redhead, he'll notice that he was, infact, completely correct.)

Ron and Beacrox join him because he smells like the organization that attacked their family and because Choi han is, unfortunately, the only lead they have on finding the young master that they took care of.

When they eventually find cale (new additions including lock and Rosalyn, yay) Choi han is deadset on repaying his meal and the help they received during the plaza terror incident

This Choi han is a tad more mentally unstable and latches onto the only source of somewhat warmth he's received since Harris village-

Ron is being a dad in the background and scolding Cale for not telling them his plan of running away and Beacrox is looking disapprovingly at the fact that the young master has gotten skinnier-

(Alberu is shooketh in the background because that letter he got detailing the bombing and a few other things days ago actually came true and is this person an ally or a threat-)

---

A draft from a while ago, with some things that were added-

[saline-coelacanth]

I wanted to make a little post about the shipping in the Mirage Memory Au just cause I like thinking about them. Because with the fake memories going on, they don't remember each other so things are a little off between them.

So yeah, Zane and Kai have this sort of "soul mates" thing going on meanwhile Cole and Jay despise each other, so that's fun for them :3

Also as a side note, I thinks it's just safe to say that all of my aus have Bruise and/or Oppo unless stated otherwise. I can't help it, I'm obsessed with these ships lol.

[storfulsten]

Whitty And Bf Personality Swap? Lovely Art By The Way, Truly Inspiring. ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

hm I guess k, not feeling the most creative but here lol

idk lol

mostly based on this bc idk thought the vibes looked fitting in theory lmao:

[fromtheseventhhell]

Arya watched them die and did nothing. What good did it do you to be brave? One of the women picked for questioning had tried to be brave, but she had died screaming like all the rest. There were no brave people on that march, only scared and hungry ones. (Arya VI, ACOK)

--

The night she was caught, the Lannister men had been nameless strangers with faces as alike as their nasal helms, but she'd come to know them all. You had to know who was lazy and who was cruel, who was smart and who was stupid. You had to learn that even though the one they called Shitmouth had the foulest tongue she'd ever heard, he'd give you an extra piece of bread if you asked, while jolly old Chiswyck and soft-spoken Raff would just give you the back of their hand. (Arya VI, ACOK)

Arya: *restrains herself from acting out when captured by the Mountain and his men because she knows fighting back/being brave wouldn't accomplish anything*

Arya: *takes note of the temperments of several Lannister guards so that she can learn how to navigate around their behavior*

Fandom: Arya is a feral idiot with no self-control uwu 🤗

[chrisbangs]

hello... (and bye ig 👋)

[octopus-doctor]

this with msm 2017 Otto. Well, all versions of Otto tbh but i never see anyone else talking about how like tssm and comic and etc otto should have some pretty horrific scars.

[koumeowkami]

so i came to the conclusion that

[coquelicoq]

it's interesting, a few people on my post yesterday about the dandelion dynasty told me they were taking it as a rec for the series, but i didn't actually recommend the series in that post. it's making me think about whether i would rec it to people, a question i hadn't fully considered yet (as it is a very different question from "do i like this book?"). so this is me figuring out the answer to that question. i'll keep it spoiler-free (though i make no promises on brevity).

i just finished book 3 (of 4) and each installment has left me more invested than i was before, but the series started out very slow, and i didn't really get into it until halfway through book 2. i wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people bounce off the first book; i didn't, but only because 1) i almost never give up on a book that i've started (it's a character flaw of mine 😕) and 2) my trust in ken liu is ridiculously high because the other stuff i've read by him is so beloved to me. so my reaction to feeling kind of meh about book 1 was "okay, let's see where he's going with this" rather than "i guess this just isn't my cup of tea."

i should say that the problem might just be my own ignorance/lack of familiarity with the form. i don't read a lot of epic fantasy - in fact, lord of the rings is the one series that i have given up on reading a couple of times because it just left me totally indifferent. so if you like epics, you are starting out way ahead of me and can maybe just ignore the rest of this post lol, but i think i had to adjust to what the form is asking of me and what it's best suited to accomplish before i could get fully on board.

the main thing i struggled with is the writing, like the actual sentence-level mechanics of voice and style. this surprised me, because i usually find his writing very beautiful, or, when not beautiful, i can get a sense of the effect he means to achieve by employing a certain style. but in this series, the writing came across as kind of awkward and one-note to me at first, and i couldn't see a reason for it to be that way.* the dialogue especially - different characters don't really have different ways of speaking, they all feel pretty much the same. this was one of the main things i had to adjust to, but i do get it now. i don't just mean that i got used to the style and it doesn't bother me anymore, though that is true; i mean that i now understand the effect he means to achieve by employing this style, which gives it purpose and inextricably ties it to the story he's telling (this becomes especially clear in book 3, as it's directly related to a major theme of that book). if the style were different, he would be telling a different story; that's the sign of a successful execution, i think.

i said in the tags on yesterday's post that one reason the series doesn't have much of a fandom on here might be that the characters aren't natural blorbos. of course every character is probably the blorbo of somebody somewhere, but i don't know that these characters were designed to be blorbos, if that makes sense. not that they're plot devices either! every single one of them is conflicted and complicated and compelling, and most of them are followed over a period of many years, so we see them develop as people over time. but there is no protagonist, for example. you could also say that every character is a protagonist. the "list of major characters" at the beginning of book 3 is six pages long, and there are stories to be told about each of these characters, and none of them are told in isolation. but in a way, the characters themselves are not the point, or if they are, it's in aggregate - it's in the ways they're all complex, the ways they all have motivations that make sense to them (and that make sense to us, once we get to know them). and it's about power and the roles that the characters play in their society, rather than the roles the characters play in the story. or maybe those are the same thing! because ultimately, the main character of this story is the society. and the plot is the history of this society, rather than the journey or life of a single person or handful of people.**

(sidenote, there will be a period during book 1 when you will think to yourself, "wow, all the women characters are super one-dimensional and the narrative doesn't seem to respect them." this is on purpose. just keep going.)

the plotting is intricate while also feeling very organic. he's got dozens of plates in the air at once, he's maintaining them over a long period (these books are MASSIVE), and he's somehow making it seem like a real history, not like an author pulling strings. i haven't finished it yet, but my guess is that he's going to pull off a very satisfying conclusion that's at the same time very open-ended. definitely looking forward to it.

and the worldbuilding. oh, the worldbuilding. this is some of the most detailed, complex, realistic*** worldbuilding i've ever encountered, and he covers SO much ground. you want linguistic worldbuilding? you got it. philosophy? it's here. psychology of empire? coming right up. the nitty-gritty of everyday governance? buddy, pull up a chair. mechanical engineering? how much time you got?? (it better be enough time to read 3504 physical pages, because that's how long this series is.) and he's drawing on chinese history and cultural narratives rather than slapping lipstick on a tolkien clone (see his comments here, but stop reading at "In this continuation of the series" if you want to avoid spoilers). he WILL go on for a hundred pages about a single invention, but it's SO interesting that he is allowed. this is a story about how technology (including language, and schools of thought, and agriculture, and...) shapes, and is a product of, its time and place and people, so again, this is all to purpose. but it's also just. really cool.

the last thing i'll say, and this is mainly for other ken liu fans, is that one of the things i most love about his short stories is how they tap into emotions i didn't even know i had, as though they're reaching inside of me and drawing to the surface ways of experiencing consciousness and love and mortal life that i had no idea were in there. this series is not causing emotional revelation for me in the way his other stories do, which isn't a bad thing - i don't mean to say the series is not engaging or that it inspires no emotions! i just mean, iykyk. if you've read the paper menagerie and are expecting that experience, you will have a better time here if you leave those expectations at the door. i am invested in this book because it's engaging my intellect, curiosity, sense of wanting to find out what else the characters will learn and what's going to happen next...less because it's turning my heart inside out inside my chest. and like thank goodness, because i don't think i could survive four entire 900-page books' worth of that! but anyway. word to the wise.

tl;dr: yes, i recommend it, especially if you like epic fantasy. if you're a fan of ken liu's other work, this is quite different, so just know that going in!

*this opinion is of course subjective and not universally shared. for instance, see this review of book 3 (full of spoilers, so don't actually read it lol) which says "There's Liu's voice to hold onto, though — beautifully deployed here and fully in command of the language of his imaginary universe." so ymmv. maybe it's an epic fantasy thing.

**this is making me realize that the story is commenting on this very thing through a tension between bureaucracy (founded on interchangeability) and monarchy (informed by a specific personality). dude. that's so meta!

***though sometimes i'm like, "really? you scaled up that invention to use untested on the battlefield in the span of like two weeks? sure, jan." so sometimes he falls down a little on translation of ideas into logistics, but it makes for such a great story that i'll allow it.

[r0semultiverse]

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake finale spoilers without context

[lord-squiggletits]

I know there are as many religious good guys as there are religious bad guys in IDW, but I think I pinned down the reason why it feels like the most prominent religious figures are all bad guys and it's pretty much due to the worldbuilding.

Maybe my memory of the comics is just really bad, but the religious worldbuilding in IDW is....kind of trash honestly. I'm not sure there's a single religion or religious custom that doesn't exist solely to further the plot along. Like, it's one thing for the Camiens to worship the Primes and that causes a lot of stuff in exRID/OP, but what does that worship actually look like? What are their holidays, customs, religious texts? What about "spectralism" which basically the only thing we know about is the Festival of the Lost Light and some hippie color coding and aura shit? Like sure, there are characters who are religious and their beliefs come into play sometimes, but it honestly feels (especially in MTMTE) more like their religiousness only exists when it's relevant to the plot and it's just kinda. Disappointing eh. Lacking in worldbuilding. Plus the more religious a character is the more it's written as their entire personality and the driving force making them evil so it just kinda made me cringe to read honestly.

[sysig]

Still normal don’t even worry about it (Patreon)

[tenok]

The point (one of them) is that both Aziraphale and Crowley actually think they the smartest one in any given situation. And since I relate to Aziraphale much more today I get fixated on his brand of superiority. He starts his journey with rebellion from pretty tame "I don't get why they makes this desisions and it's look horrible on surface evel but I'm sure that they get best ineterests of everyone involved in their hearts and it's probably me the one that didn't get some oblivious detail" to "oh okay I'm sure it's some kind of misundestanding and we can all talk it out as adults because we there work on same goals" to frustrated "they won't ever listen to me and I will get in trouble for arguing and it will be better for everyone if I will make my desisions in secret and go behind their backs because I just can't let THEM make desisions that will destroy everything". It's not straightforward, I'm 30 and still circulate sometimes between "what if it's me the one that wrong aout everything" and "god HOW people can be THAT stupid", but I remember going throught this stages first as good and obedient kid with really stupid parents making stupid desisions and later with school, govermnet, activist spaces etc.

And the problem is, I was the smartest person in the room enough time to develop issues, and Aziraphale lives like his for 6000 years at least. I can only imagine how many times he thought "if only Starmaker listen to me and didn't Fall", "if only God listened to me and didn't make an Apocalypse happen", "if only Heavens listened to me and didn't did this or that that thing", "if only Crowley listen to me and understand in what kind of danger we can get", "if only that human listened to me and haven't dig the body", etc etc. It's awful, to be the one who always gets to say "I told you so", especially when there's such awful consequenses you can't even feel satisfaction, and you will be the one to clen this mess up (and Aziraphae will clean, or better try to prevent). Now, it's of course leads to issues. BIG issues.

1) It's really hard to stop being plotting and maciavellian and communicate things properly when you expect that person will at best argue with you, at worst punish you and double down on their stupid desisons and you will clean this mess up. It also really hard to stop trying to control everything because you already accepted that everything is your responsibility and everyone else would just make things worse. (as someone that relates to Aziraphale I think he did so much progress there, the levels or trust he shows Crowley are amazing for two beings that probably last time heard of psychotherapy when Freud was alive. but such trust is fragile thing, one misstep and you back on your "it will be better if I do everything alone" bullshit. I'm not saying it's good. I'm also not saying that it's bad. it's just how things work)

2) It makes you overstep other people authonomy, because, again, it would be better for everyone if they did what you think best for them. It works funny wih Aziraphale because yes he's all for free choices for humanity!! NOW GO AND DO SMART CHOICES DAMN YOU!!! WHY YOU DON'T PICK THE THING THAT WOULD BE SMART TO PICK I HATE YOU ALL. That's where me and Aziraphale difer a little because at least I somewhat good at stepping into other people shoes and understand why they do what they do. But angel there is autistic (or bad at this specific thing for other reasons), so I think when people he consider reasonable doesn't agree with him for their own reasons he ge's really baffled, like, there arE correct opinion and it's mine, WHY are you being difficult?? to spite me?? And I'm sure that half of the reason why Aziraphale's so comfortable with Crowley is that he perfectly happy to let him buly or manipulate him into doing things Aziraphale picks as right. Usually Crowley know where pick his battles and how to play long game to make Aziraphale agree for really important stuff he wants from him, but otherwise? Sure he will complain how he hates Hamlet but they will watch Hamlet, and Aziraphale will be very pleased with himself. (and than there goes final fifteen and we back at "but WHY won't ypu agree with thing I pick or us IT'S GOOD AND RESONABLE THING" and we should be happy that consent is something that imporant for our angel ok? he would be angry with Crowley for picking wrong but he won't make him do what he doesn't want. they respect each other like that.)

3) It makes you really really tired and tense. You control everything, unfortunately the longer you do it the more things starts really depedend on you, you can't let go, you don't know anyone that can share this burden with you because first they should prove that they won't blow his up and for this you should share at least something with them, but what is they would blow it up? Better be safe than sorry. And look when it's my problems it's credit cards and doctor appointmens and with Aziraphale we talk about people dying. Crowley dying. Now, as I said, he actually shows Crowley so. much. trust. for someone with such issues. Because Crowley was there for 6000 years, and he proved himself capable enough times. But still there's areas where let go and not worry would be impossible for Aziraphale, Crowley's safety being one of such things (you see, you can risk with your life when you deal with your problems because whatever you will clean shit up if needed, but if someone close to you hurt themself?? it's YOUR problem too but it will be SO MUCH HARDER to clean. I think when Aziraphale points to Crowley that hell would be harder on him than he can expect heavens to punish him, it's partially because he believes it's true and partially because he knows how to minimize harm when heavens angry with him but HOW can he do this for Crowley??). Anyway. Lol. The more I think about it the more I sure that Crowley without Aziraphale would be a miserable angry dick, and Aziraphale wihout Crowley would be dead, because it was the one person that kept him one tiny slip away from total burn out.

So yeah there's a lot of posts about how angry heartbroken etc Crowley will be with Aziraphale (I don't agree but that's for other post), less posts about how sad and heartbroken will be Aziraphale, but I hope to see Azyraphale being angry too (it they will be angry with each other at all). Not only for not picking him or leaving or making everything messy and emotional and wasting their first kiss at their fight etc, but also because Aziraphale was trusting him! Trusting that he get another resonable adult in team with him! Someone who he can trust to make resonable desisions and see his ideas as clever and him as capable and being willing to go to the end of the world with him with mild complaints and than!! When he did trust him to understand!! He was like everyone else!! Unresonable and emotional and angry with him and why he asked him at all he should've do it secretly and alone as always and it would've be as usual and it wouldn't hurt but it was Crowley that taught him to trust and to ask him for help!! Breaking his perfectly fine coping mechanisms!! It's all his faut if you think about it huh?? (but of course he's already forgiven. but also Aziraphale would do what he needs to do alone this time, as one and only capable adult in the world.)

Anyway it's not a meta it's just some late night thoughts. And it's in no way whole analizis there's so much more problems inside this angel. It's just something in particular that resonated with me today. Also it's not in any way critisizm of him, mind you, because a) he does really the smartest person in the room most of the time and b) I LOVE how fucked up in the head he is!!! I think he needs to become even more fucked up actually!!! and Crowley should love him for that and I will cheer for him from sidelines!!!

[fitgothgirl]

Pro tip: if you want to get a bunch of blood tests and a urine test and a chest x-ray done for any reason, just casually say you were wondering about doing some bloodwork since it's been a little bit plus you've been having some night sweats recently, and then you get everything thrown at the wall...

Looking at the lab bill, the tests are for: a “general health panel," CRP levels, HIV, tuberculosis, HGB levels, glucose levels, and a urinalysis. And then the chest x-ray is separate.

But also, even with insurance, my estimate is over $100 for all that lab work lol. (yay american healthcare...) And I think the x-ray will be about $37 if it's the same price as the one I just got for my rib injury less than a month ago... But she said she wants a different type (angle?) since she's looking at my organs rather than bones.

[coockie8]

How, exactly, does Issun's glow work up close? 'Cause I know in-game, they kinda just fade it out, but like... He's got a bright fucking glow; like 800 lumens at least bright, and sticking my face really close to a light bulb has not caused the light it's putting out to "fade", so I'm just... Confused.

Can he dim it on command? We know the colour can change depending on his emotional state, to at least two different colours; red for when he's pissed and yellow for when he's trying to get attention (I think, this one's not super clear). But exactly how the Poncles work, biologically, is not something that's ever really covered in-game in anyway that really matters.

We know they're bio-luminescent and the colour of such can change. We know they have ant-like strength; they can jump wildly high, and Issun is shown lifting a full Sake jug at least 100x his size, and yeeting it several feet upward at one point. We know they have a close spiritual relationship with the Gods, a relationship they cultivate through artwork.

And... That's pretty much it. And I have so many fucking questions.

[aprofessionalwithoutstandards]

I HOPE YOURE HAVING A GOOD DAY genuinely . i also feel it would be funny to mention that getting into tf2 actually did make me discover a piss kink. thank you sniper team fortress 2 i will actually never be the same.

but to ask, do you have any weird headcanons about the mercs you havent told anyone just yet? i have a few about medic specifically, but some could get me hate esp from people who enjoy erasing any sort of bisexual coding in characters (i say this as a bi person myself)

THRILLED FOR YOU tf2 offhand made me discover a whole bunch of shit about myself I won't divulge here but like if you know stuff about me you can probably guess

Uhh kind of I guess! I have a ton of posts that kinda just hit the cutting room floor, I don't post everything I think of bc I like to think I run a tight operation over here lmao. A lot of hcs I come up with in conversations w friends or w my siblings and I consider that already "telling someone" so I'll forget to post it even if it's good lol. A lot of my ideas will go thru my mental Quality Control process where I don't wanna post anything too generic or boring, which is why for smth like the McDonald's post I cut out all the characters I couldn't think of anything funny for and only left in the jokes I like. Also ofc some of my hcs are really really really horny and I don't necessarily feel like I need or even want to share those. If you want some headcanons I've never posted but have workshopped for a while, here are some:

Scout will actively kill people but won't litter in front of a cop

Sniper says he doesn't litter out of environmental concerns but it's actually because he eats everything out of his hands or off the floor

Soldier doesn't litter because when he finishes something he eats it. This includes styrofoam

Engie doesn't litter out of genuine concern for the environment

Medic litters on purpose