#like i have the gist of it

[t4llhum4n]

I'm fighting for my life rn. No one told me how hard it was gonna be to create an entire mythology to write a book.

[inkskinned]

okay i almost never address the very small amount of internet fame i have. and sometimes yes it sucks. people often repost my work, or clip it out of context, or flat-out steal it. but like it can be very funny. once a follower dm'd me to say a guy on hinge was pretending to be "inkskinned", and actually had even started his own insta. when she said "i've followed her for years i don't think you're her", he said - actually r.i.d is like seven people, we just made those initials up. (rude). when i found his insta and messaged him, he begged me to just lie and say he was r.i.d because "it's hard for men to date."

once someone said she should be allowed to plagiarize my work because she was a body-positive influencer and that if i "made a big deal" about this and "got her cancelled", i would be doing damage to my own community and i was never "actually" an ally.

i bear these things with the aura of a martyr, the way my catholic father raised me to. i message privately. i handle things quietly and quickly. i do not complain because i am very, very, very, very blessed and i know that. mercy and gentleness literally pour out of me every morning when i wake up, and then i have to mop the floors for how very Good i am.

however today is the first time i have ever had a very specific problem that neither requires me to correct this person nor throw them to the dogs but is somehow worse than years of hatemail, reddit thread death threats, and pinterest reposts:

someone quoted me and just got it, like, a little wrong.

[invinciblerodent]

Ngl, some people's "I wasn't allowed to be an irredeemably evil shitbird, ergo Veilguard is not an RPG" argument is extra funny to me, because I don't actually think there is a conceivable narrative in which, if your Rook did something as objectively amoral as selling people into slavery, they wouldn't wake up the next morning floating untethered in the raw Fade with Neve's bootprint on their ass, and the Lighthouse no more than a distant blip on the edge of their vision.

Like there is a lot to get into here that I just don't have the time or the spoons to go through, but I'd argue that one of the biggest strengths of Veilguard's writing is that the main cast are all very well-defined characters with their own sets of morals, ethics, and goals, and they collectively have more than enough of a backbone that if Rook did something that proved them incapable of leading the team to the story's climax and/or proved them to be of no benefit to them, they wouldn't fail their quest: they would just swiftly and efficiently get rid of Rook.

[darlinglute]

i think it's extremely fun to pair rook and solas together in any regard, no matter if he previously was being romanced because as clear narrative foils, having an enemies to lovers (and in tandem, bitch4bitch, hater x hater) dynamic feeds into that delicious 'whenever I see you I see myself and I hate that' and 'you are everything I hate about myself' soup.

I once saw a post with a collection of quotes that had this certain vibe, in the 'you and I are the same' (negative) way. if i had a quote to represent them it would be:

so shipping them feels very complex and interesting to think about, because, like in that one dialogue

(first of all, like c'mon) furthermore it's the cycle. rook is to solas what solas was to elgar'nan, there are several times in the game, especially the end, where they can see each other in each other. even if you dont see it in a shipping lenses (which you dont have to!) this is a juicy story.

moreover, at the end of the game if rook outwits solas by giving him the fake ritual dagger, solas not only recognizes that he was out played by 'wits alone' he also says that he's met his match. this mimics the several stories of fen'harel who uses his wits, wisdom etc to get out of a situation

(example: the story of fen'harel, andruil and anaris, solas goading them both into fighting each other so he could get out paralleling solas making rook fight the gods and in addition a thousand other enemies in order to get himself enough time to get out of the fade prison without rook getting ahead of it)

the betrayal too, i don't have much to say that hasn't been said already about the prison switcheroo, (evokes solas's betrayal of felassan yada yada) other then it's really tasty.

[ultravioletbrit]

“share” - Jegulus microfic - @into-the-jeggyverse - 376 words

James is just about to leave Regulus’ flat, but Regulus stops him just as he reaches the front door. “Wait. What’s in that bag?” Regulus asks when James picks up a duffle bag that Regulus hadn’t noticed sitting by the door.   

“Nothing.” James answers awkwardly as he tries, and fails, to hide the large duffel bag behind his back.

“James...?” Regulus says slowly as he walks over to him. Regulus takes the bag from James and gasps when he opens it. “My sweatshirts!” He yelps. “Why are you stealing all my sweatshirts?”

“Your sweatshirts?”

“Fine, our sweatshirts.” Regulus corrects himself and James raises an eyebrow. “They’re not our sweatshirts?” Regulus asks with a little pout. “We share them so doesn’t that make them ours?”  

James takes the bag from Regulus and puts it on the floor so he can wrap his arms around Regulus’ waist. “Sharing implies that we both get to wear them, love. You steal them, and I don’t see them again until I run out and I have to sneak in here and take them all back. Then we start the whole process over again.”

Regulus blinks at James a few times. “You…? But I…?” Regulus fumble the huffs. “How long have you been doing that?”  

“How long have we been dating?” James smiles sweetly.

Regulus gives James another small huff with a little pout but after a moment something flashes across Regulus’ eyes and he narrows them at James.

“Do you wear them when you take them back?” Regulus asks.

“Yeah…?”

“So, we both wear them. Doesn’t that imply that we share them?” Regulus asks with a little smirk.

“I… But you…” James fumbles his words then huffs. “I guess we share the sweatshirts.” He says with a resigned sigh.

“Our sweatshirts.” Regulus corrects him.

“Our sweatshirts.” James agrees with a fond eye roll. He leans in to give Regulus a quick kiss before he picks up the bag.     

“Wait.” Regulus puts his hand on James’ to stop him. “Can I just keep one of them?” He asks in a shy voice as his cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink. “I like to umm… sometimes I…”

James smiles and leans in for another kiss. “I always leave you the one you keep under your pillow.” James whispers.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

My only one // I'm not the one

My smoking gun // Two graves, one gun

My eclipsed sun // A moment of warm sun

This has broken me down // Just how low did you think I'd go before I'd self-implode

My twisted knife // My spine split from carrying us up the hill

My sleepless night // My friends said it isn't right to be scared every day of a love affair

This has frozen my ground // Wet through my clothes, weary bones caught the chill

Stood on the cliff side screaming, "Give me a reason" // You say that I abandoned the ship, but I was going down with it

Your faithless love's the only hoax I believe in // You swore that you loved me, but where were the clues?

Don't want no other shade of blue but you // You sacrificed us to the gods of your bluest days

No other sadness in the world would do // How much sad did you think I had in me, how much tragedy?

My best laid plan // I didn't opt in to be your odd man out

Your sleight of hand // I founded the club she's heard great things about

My barren land // And I'm pissed off you let me give you all that youth for free

I am ash from your fire // I died on the altar waiting for the proof

You know I left a part of me back in New York // I left all I knew

You knew the hero died, so what's the movie for? // You left me at the house by the Heath

You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart // I'm just mad as hell cause I loved this place for so long

You knew the password, so I let you in the door // I stopped trying to make him laugh, stopped trying to drill the safe

You knew you won, so what's the point of keeping score? // My white knuckle dying grip holding tight to your quiet resentment

You knew it still hurts underneath my scars from when they pulled me apart, but what you did was just as dark // Every breath feels like rarest air when you're not sure if he wants to be there

Darling, this was just as hard as when they pulled me apart // Stitches undone

My only one // Pulled him in tighter each time he was drifting away

My kingdom come undone // I kept calm and carried the weight of the rift

My broken drum // I stopped CPR, after all it's no use

You have beaten my heart // The spirit was gone, we would never come to

[luanna801]

One of the things I find very endearing about Wei Wuxian as a protagonist is he's so earnestly appreciative wherever and whenever he sees skill or excellence on display. Even when it's from someone he doesn't particularly get along with, or in a situation where you'd expect him to have other priorities.

He's in middle of rankling Lan Wangji, but he can't help blurting out "Wow!! Great calligraphy!" because he's just so sincerely impressed. He's on a Top Secret Spying Mission but he's like "Wow!! Look at those amazing paintings on the wall! Gotta take a closer look!" He's watching Jin Guangyao's whole Villain Origin Story Flashback Sequence and forming an increasingly negative opinion of him, and he's still like "Wow!! You have to admire his self-control!"

There's this sense of almost wide-eyed innocence about it, like he goes through the world with such a love of beauty and skill wherever he sees it. And yes in the case of LWJ's calligraphy he's gushing over his not-so-secret crush, but it's a consistent trait of his pretty much across the board. He'll give credit wherever it's due, dangit! He gets so excited to see People Being Good at Stuff!

[futuristicdoormats789]

My beloved is mine, and I am his. | Song of Solomon

Inspired very loosely - and I mean loosely - of the King Solomon painting done by Gustave Dore, specifically Tozer's pose.

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[cosmicaces]

something something rody has a crush on deku and is scared that it'll affect their friendship if he finds out

[lady-tortilla-chip]

Oh ALSO I am thinking about how Laurent saw Nicaise as the strongest one to have been toyed with by his uncle and how he viewed Aimeric as the weakest. How seeing both of them succumb to his uncle in one way or the other started to shatter his confidence in his ability to beat the Regent exactly because he saw himself in them. He saw how strong he could’ve been and could try to be in Nicaise. It’s the part of him he wanted desperately to save personified. And then Aimeric is the part he wanted to destroy, to get rid of. The part of him that loved his uncle as the last remaining family he had.

[korkorali]

The Misogyny of It All

So a lot of Della Duck Discourse is rehashed all the time, points are made again and again, but one thing that I almost never see people defend -and conversely, see people attack all the time- is The Line.

You know what I'm talking about. The Line from Glomtales.

"Your plans, your schemes, they only lead to bad things for your family. If you want to be a part of this family, you've gotta stop."

That one.

Now, what exactly Della was trying to get across with that line is a whole other can of worms that deserves its own post (basically she -and also the writers- horribly failed her Speech check).

What we're going over here is how that mimics a certain line from the last season, said by a parental figure to a child, that gets so much less flack. That, in fact, often gets paraded around as 'an interesting twist on a character.'

"You are not family!"

I have never seen people attack this line with the same amount of vitriol as they attack Della's, which is funny when they're the exact same line.

Actually, not even that- Scrooge's is worse.

It's more direct, it's literally yelled at Webby, it doesn't even attempt to address the issue Scrooge had (Webby blaming him for what happened to Della) and instead just straight-up attacks her as a person.

Now, to be fully honest- I like this line! I do genuinely think it's an interesting route for Scrooge to take, and is quite realistic to the grumpy old bastard. It's just funny that nobody ever comes to Webby's defense the same way they do for Louie.

Because the thing is- between Webby and Louie, one of these two has genuine, canonical issues with feeling like they're not a part of the family, like they're an outsider amongst those they love the most, like they don't belong.

And it's not Louie.

It is a consistent part of Webby's characterization that she feels like she doesn't belong. This gets touched on in all three seasons (and honestly, it could be argued that it gets worse after this moment).

Conversely, that just is not a part of Louie's canonical characterization. Even in the first episode of season 2, the one where Louie gets the closest to an 'I don't belong in this family' moment, it's less 'I don't belong here' and more 'fuck me I am terrible at adventuring'. And! It gets resolved in that episode!

(Of course, there is absolutely something to be said for how it's resolved- specifically by Scrooge encouraging him to be a scheming little bastard, which then thusly becomes the thing that threatens his family the most. Which would, logically, be a pretty big blow to his self-esteem. This isn't what I'm here to discuss right now but it is genuinely interesting.)

Louie never really shows an issue with feeling like he doesn't belong in his family. He shows a disconnect with his family at times, but in canon that never really evolves into a full-blown feeling of displacement. It does get close in Glomtales, but never quite reaches it.

So it's 'interesting' (read: not interesting) that Scrooge's fuckup here gets brushed away pretty easily. A lot of the time the line just straight-up isn't addressed, and when it is, often times it's about how "Oh he apologized to Webby offscreen, obviously."

Which.

Not he did not.

I mean, let me be clear: I don't mind it when that's the answer. It works for me to just brush it away if it's not meant to be the focus...

But Scrooge almost certainly didn't apologize for it.

As 'New Gods on the Block!' Showed us, Scrooge is downright awful at realizing when his actions have hurt people.

More likely than not, Scrooge would just assume that everything is fine and would avoid bringing it up at all costs because he'd feel awkward about it. Because he is, very importantly, not good at talking about things he doesn't want to talk about.

So why is it that Louie is always the one feeling like he doesn't belong? Why is it Della who is always a terrible parent for what she's said? Why are Webby's feelings of disconnect never really given the same gravity as Louie's? Why is Scrooge's blunder let off the hook super easily?

It just feels silly to me.

And, well.

Kinda like the fact that, since Scrooge is a guy and Webby's a girl, and Della is a woman and Louie's a boy, has something to do with it.

I'll happily give the benefit of the doubt and assume it's not deliberate, but quite frankly it is a double standard.

I think that people would be less upset with the Della Duck Discourse if Scrooge was held in a similarly critical position over what he's said and done. If it was acknowledged that Della isn't uniquely awful in what she says and does, and that a lot of the others have fucked up in extremely similar ways.

(I mean for fuck's sake, everybody goes on and on about how Della left her kids for ten years -which, for the record, wasn't what she wanted to do- but nobody ever criticizes Donald for taking the kids away from their family and never talking to them about Della- which is something he actively and deliberately chose to do)

TL;DR: The fact that Della gets intensely criticized for what she's said and done, but Donald and Scrooge are conversely celebrated as 'interesting' and 'complex' for what they've said and done, even when it brings harm to the kids, is a blatant double-standard. And if you don't think that this double-standard is bad or wrong for existing (or even that it Doesn't Actually Exist), instead of immediately claiming that it's a non-issue, maybe try to look inward and figure out why you really think that is.

[biggestwilliamfinnfan]

There aren't words to describe how heavily I feel the loss of Bill Finn.

Nothing but talented and underappreciated. His work changed the lives of surely thousands, and changed the environment of musical theater in the 80's (and modern day) for the better. He made being gay and Jewish seem normal, because it is. He shone light onto the AIDS epidemic.

Not only that, but this storytelling and composing is truly that of wonders. His music alone is enough to shape a person. His music has changed me forever. His stories have changed me forever. I will always be grateful for the fact that he never stopped writing, that he wrote and wrote and shared his beautiful music with the world. Finn was truly a blessing to the theater community. I will forever miss him.

I hope he's resting easy.

[quibbs126]

Random stupid fic idea that came to my brain just now

So you got Optimus and Megatron, post TF One, both being sad about the whole breakup

But they’re like, so sad and mopey that basically everyone on both sides is like “okay this can’t go on, we need to get them back together”, to the point they basically secretly meet up and agree to do this and live in peace afterwards because they can’t take this anymore

But also they can’t exactly just tell them to get back together since Megatron’s technically still a war criminal and Megatron refuses to outwardly admit he misses Optimus. So basically they have to get them back together without letting them know they’re doing so

But also the two are idiots who refuse to admit to anything, and everyone is going crazy and trying to come up with increasingly elaborate ways to get them to make up

I don’t know, I thought it was funny

[seventeenpins]

ok but have we talked about transmasc!joel?

transmasc!joel, who found out he was pregnant with sarah, way too young and scared absolutely shitless

transmasc!joel, whose boyfriend left him when he came out, his baby girl not even a year old

transmasc!joel, whose baby brother may be an idiot, but that kid loves him and always has, and he sure as hell won't hear a bad word about his big bro

transmasc!joel, who had always been a tomboy growing up, navigating being a whole ass adult with a fully developed brain, finding comfort in his gender identity while doing everything he can not to let the scars of his adolescence affect sarah, letting her flourish however she will

transmasc!joel, who gives sarah the BIGGEST hug (and tries not to let her see the tear in his eye) when she casually mentions starting a GSA at her school

transmasc!joel, who's the heartthrob of the cul-de-sac, but surprisingly private when it comes to his dating life. but from the few bored housewives that he's had encounters with all agree, he sure knows how to get the job done (whether it's the one he's hired for or not)

transmasc!joel, who sees a whole lot of himself in his adopted kid, and if ever Ellie decides she wants to try out a different name or pronouns, he'll be right behind his kid in a way no one but tommy was for him

[butterysalt]

Ahhh thoughts about Laios Touden who would love you regardless of who you were. Your species, your race, your gender, your sexuality, none of those things matter in his eyes. Because to him, what makes you so wonderful and easy to love is that you’re simply just you. And there’s no other combination like you.

I get especially sappy thinking about it if you’re a tallman, too. At first, it seems like Laios couldn’t care less about humans. He always talks about how boring he finds his own race in comparison to others but it’s all heavily influenced by his own experiences growing up and being ostracized and bullied by those around him.

But just think about what it’s like when he meets you, another tallman. Yes, you’re human, but when he realizes that you won’t treat him differently for the way he is, he sees you as so much more than that. So what if you’re a tallman? A little thing like that doesn’t matter to him.

It’s not just that you’re “different from other tallmen”… it’s because you’re you. And he’s him.

Nothing more than that.

In an odd unlikely twist of fate, it seems that this time, the mundanity of it all is what completely captured Laios’s heart.

Just… you.