#i'm so stressed man

[sehtoast]

me: MY HAIRLINE IS RECEDING OH NO OH FUCK

also me: full time student (worth noting i wrote stupid here at first without realizing), 20-30 hours in customer service every week, teaching myself 3/4 classes, teaching myself advanced algebra with a teacher (basically just a proctor) who shuts down any/all asks for help, juggling college financial woes, navigating dying relationships/people abandoning and/or attacking me bc i don't have time for things i used to anymore, none of my hobbies are making me happy when and if i have time for them,, i have no time for myself, i'm on my second all-nighter this week, i'm perpetually exhausted in a way sleep isn't fixing, my body aches because i'm so tired, and i'm barely able to stay asleep when i do get the chance bc the anxiety wakes me up

my hairline: two hops this time!

[schumigrace]

just opened the spenny af wine I've been saving since October bc is just that kinda evenin

[ride-a-dromedary]

"Halsin shouldn't be that big or muscular or look middle aged because he's an elf and the lore sa-"

I actually think he should be bigger and look more middle aged, personally.

[coffee-cait]

新年快樂!! 恭喜發財!! 身體健康!!

Happy year of the dragon everyone!

And to everyone celebrating that played lantern rite and found Gaming a little too scarily relatable with the fam experience... same 😂

(yes I'm still Gaming brained, don't tell the elders)

[scribblemakes]

Isn't it so cool how Wyll Ravengard invented romance, thank you mr Ravengard

[ID: Two coloured sketches of Wyll Ravengard and a player character from Baldur's Gate 3. The player character is a taller, muscled, elf with green eye makeup and long dark hair. The first image shows them touching foreheads. The second shows them together in bed, the player character kissing Wyll's jaw, with an acorn to the side. They look happy in both images. /End ID]

[uncanny-tranny]

It's very funny being like... a stereotypically (as in, straight masc) masculine queer person. Like it's frustrating because I would love to have cute moments where I share tips with a trans woman or maybe help somebody in that kind of way, but like... why should she or anybody else listen to me when I only got my third pair of jeans recently? 😭

[vimbry]

jumping off the back of the post about genres of song lyrics, another thing about tmbg's lyrics in particular is that even when they write about pleasant themes, they still manage to frequently do so through a sinister lens:

the experience of having children and looking after them:

a nice little nightlight protecting a child muses on the shortcomings it would have outside its assigned responsibility:

fantasising about getting high in the park with your crush:

[iwasbored777]

Me: Why are people obsessed with girlfriends wearing their boyfriends' clothes it's cute but not that cute it's overrated it's not that big of a deal

Also me when Gwen walked out wearing Miles' jacket:

[barksbog]

senior dog basking under his heat lamp

[rqg179]

kristen applebees has been fucking what

[gaywizardzone]

i like to put my drawings through line camera

[coquelicoq]

i've been dying for a poll option ever since i saw my followers' answers to that text post from february 2022 asking people whether they pronounce beloved as "be-lov-ed" or "be-loved". many people were emphatic about only using one option, and many others use both but were not always able to articulate when they use 2 syllables vs. 3. so out of the goodness of my heart and my insatiable lust for knowledge i have gone through the notes on that post and written down some likely contenders! you're welcome!!!!

BEFORE YOU ANSWER! think about how you would pronounce beloved in the following syntactic contexts:

noun, talking directly to the beloved: hey there beloved

noun, talking about rather than to the beloved: my beloved lives in a pineapple under the sea

adjective in a noun phrase: my beloved x lives in a pineapple under the sea

verb participle: x is beloved by y

okay poll time! there are no wrong answers!! and apologies in advance if i didn't capture your truth, i only had 10 options and life is a rich tapestry!!

[bookrat]

Pretty sure my little man has a case of abundism affecting the marble tabby coat under all those white splotches

[ladsofsorrow24]

(x)

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

So I was rewatching Nimona with my Mama

And I don't know why watching movies with other people always makes my brain focus on the little things but this time around my brain was focused on Ambrosius. Mostly because my Mama was super confused about why they put so much weight on his and Gloreth’s names. After she brought that up I noticed a lot of little things like how the announcers chose to introduce him as “the most anticipated knight of a generation”. Then I remembered the other things like how Bal was described by the Director as “the biggest threat we’ve faced in generations” and how “thankfully we have a descendant of Gloreth to lead us”. After that, we see everyone looking to Ambrosius to fix the situation as soon as possible while knights like Todd consistently undermine him. And the Director is encouraging him to stay strong the second she senses a moment of weakness. And that all results in this 

This poor man has had the weight of the entire kingdom on his shoulders for the whole movie. What's supposed to be an exciting and happy day is overshadowed by the reminder that the entirety of the kingdom expects him to be the best knight simply because he is a direct descendant of Gloreth. He watched as his boyfriend “killed” the Queen and then chopped off his arm out of reflex and was probably under the assumption that he killed him. When he finally does show up again he’s screaming at a kid about “killing everyone” while said kid is calling Amrbosius his “nemesis” and then they go on a rampage and destroy the institute. And after that, he steps up to find Bal because let's face it if Todd was in charge Bal wouldn’t come back alive. No one says things like “Treat Ballister like the Queen killing Monster he is” “I’ll hunt him down. I’ll make him hurt I’ll-” With good intentions at heart, he wasn't gonna say “I’ll throw Bal a tea party” You know it was going to escalate and the next step was pretty obvious.

So he now has the entirety of the institute pressuring him to find Bal and is constantly reminded that the safety of the kingdom rests on him. The next time he sees Bal he’s LITERALLY KIDNAPPING SOMEONE. We have the a little moment when we get to see inside Ambrosius’ head and we can see that everything it taking a toll on him he’s stressed and conflicted and freaking out. And the Director knows this and tells him to “stay strong”. And after that, Bal is confronting him in front of all the knights pulling the rug out from under him and putting even more stress on him. He has two paths he could take and both are uphill battles. He could let Bal and Nimona go free and arrest the director with literally no proof which no one would believe. Or he could arrest Bal and Nimona which is unfortunately the easier path.

Cause think about it there is concrete proof that Bal killed the Queen and he just found out that Nimona is a “monster” something they’ve been trained to fight since they were kids. So he makes the first easy decision since the begging of the movie and decides to arrest Bal. And the thing that rips my heart out and makes me sick to my stomach is his face. This poor baby looks like he is in physical pain. Nothing about this situation is easy nothing about this situation is okay he looks like he’s about to break down and sob during this entire scene. And if you pay close attention his eyes don't stay on Bal. He is scanning the crowd to ensure no one tries to move to hurt Bal when he knows he’s vulnerable. Even though it doesn’t seem like it he’s always looking out of Bal in one way or another.

[factorialsotherfandoms]

Richarlyson is still here. It is only that knowledge that drives Pac from bed in the morning, shoving a knife he remembers Mike sharpening where his wrench should go, and his axe over his back. He has already lost Mike; he will not also loose their son.

It should be Cellbit's turn to take care of Richars; Pac should tell him what happened last night.

Pac is not sure that he can.

Cellbit - Cell - without Mike present... Pac will not use their child as a shield. He will be brave, he will be strong, he will deal with the ache in his missing leg and the tension in his spine if it will save his companion.

But that is for later. First, he must feed Richarlyson. He does not think he himself can stomach food, but that is no reason for his son to go without.

At every noise his fingers trace the knife, more than ready to fling it into the first sign of danger, the first thing that might take what little is left away from him.

The noise is only his son, sprinting downstairs after he saw the empty bed, and clinging to Pac's legs.

"I'm sorry, Richars," he manages to say. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The shake of Richarlyson makes could mean many things; Pac pats the top of his hat, and goes back to measuring out a glass of juice.

There is no need to be exact when measuring a glass of juice.

Pac finds comfort in it anyway.

Food is placed down for Richarlyson, who continues to look expectantly at Pac.

"Yes?" he asks, knowing too well how much is wrong - there's no need to ask that.

Mike isn't here, Mike is gone, he should be out there looking, searching, fighting for him just as Mike surely did for him, but-

But the only lead Pac has is to the void. And Mike would never forgive him if he threw himself recklessly in.

So what he needs instead is someone he trusts, and a very long rope.

(Who would he trust enough for that? Not Cellbit, perhaps Forever but then Mike was worried..., Felps? Wouldn't be there. Fit? Would Fit even care?)

Richarlyson hits Pac's leg, jarring him back to the present. He is pointed to look at a sign, in his dear son's blue.

'Where is your breakfast?' it asks.

Pac cannot say he is not eating, he cannot do it to the egg, he cannot scare him even more than he must be scared. Pac must be strong for Mike, for Richarlyson - once Cellbit has their son he can worry about these things, for now... For now he must make sure that Richars will stay okay.

"I'll just go get it," Pac says. "We got up a little late, so I wanted to make sure you'd have yours in time for Cellbit to pick you up."

It's a weak lie, and they both know it.

Pac escapes to fetch himself something before he can be called out on it.

He hears the sound of someone entering the labs and tenses. He abandons the fruit knife in favour of his weapons waiting one moment, and a second, before hearing Cellbit call out a greeting from a few rooms away.

"Just having breakfast!" Pac calls.

He abandons the rest of the fruit - he does not think he could eat it anyway - and darts back to join Richarlyson on the sofa.

As soon as he sits down his son shuffles into his side, clinging tight, pressing close. Pac puts his fruit bowl on his lap, and uses his freed up hand to hold his boy.

They have a minute, maybe two, in which Pac manages half of a slice of apple and three raisins, while Richarlyson finishes his juice but not his food, before Cellbit finds them.

"Pac, Richars!" he calls. "Good morning!"

Neither of them answer; Pac's fingers just tighten around Richarlyson.

He sees Cellbit pause, reassess, look at Pac's fingers, his weapons, his eyes, and watches his expression fall.

And then he watches Cellbit glance around the room, looking for someone they all already know he won't find.

"Pac? Where's Mike?"

Richarlyson's bowl of fruit falls to the floor, splintering into a hundred parts; Pac dives to catch it, and only succeeds in dislodging his too.

The angles are all wrong; his prosthetic gives beneath him and Pac, too, is left sat in a pile of broken crockery and ruined fruit. He knows Cellbit is saying something, and that Richarlyson is panicking, but all he can do is look at the floor and see the blood slowly leaking from his hands, his leg, his-

Hands touch him.

Pac slaps them away, taking a shaking breath, and then another. He refuses the hands as he pulls himself up, not quite finding strength to stand, but managing to get himself back onto the sofa none the less.

"Pac...?" Cellbit is now holding Richarlyson.

It does not help the panic, but Pac swallows it none the less.

"Richars?" Cellbit says instead. "Go find Roier, please. Let him know what's happening, and stay with him today, okay? He should be at the castle."

Richarlyson hesitates, even after Pac nods his agreement to the plan. Roier is not stupid. He will understand.

Cellbit waits for Richarlyson to have left before he turns on Pac. There is a clear struggle in his eyes.

"They took him, didn't they?"

It did not look like a Federation building, but Cellbit will see that for himself soon enough; Pac nods.

"... I'll go get a broom and some bandages."

And then Cellbit, too, is gone.

Pac knows he only has a few moments to collect himself, and knows this is the best plan: Cellbit has proven time and again that he can be trusted with them, and so too has he proven himself the best to deal with the strange problems of the island.

All Pac has to do is trust him.

And for Mike? There is nothing that Pac would not do.