#love me a good accidental renaissance

[scarskelly]

[silverwarewolf]

DUNGEON MESHI EPISODE 24 THOUGHTS

Oh, I had asked to see what the party's thoughts regarding the changeling situation were, especially when it came to their lifespans, but I didn't think it would turn out like this!

GOOD FUCKING JOB, CHILCHUCK. YOU'VE TRAUMATIZED MARCILLE EVEN FURTHER. Oh but I do so love the horrors of this situation of theirs. Marcille babygirl I would like to hug you and have a nice chat.

Anywya, on we go to think about Falin and any solutions that might help us here. Which is great! I love how much foreshadowing there is (in terms of what I've been vaguely told about the manga).

Laios Touden's problem solving skills, everyone.

That's honestly the SICKEST weapon design, I'm so on board with you Laios. This could be Kensuke's Halloween makeover. BUT DONT JUST TAKE THOSE MUSHROOMS WITH YOU OH MY GOD

... was this the opening sequence foreshadowing everyone was freaking out about? was that it? (don't actually tell me, though. if it was it, say yes. if it wasn't, don't say anything)

no comment here I just love them.

I just will never get used to elfshi's hands being Like That. But it's also kinda nice to see him and Izutsumi working along so nicely! Like, don't even get me started on how Izu is presented as the pickiest eater of the party (Marcille has been dethroned severely) and usually you'd see that presented as a Hassle, but here in DM, Senshi doesn't even bat an eye. He knows and respects Izutsumi's tastes and preferences and works his meals out around it! That's such a based thing for him to do. <3

This is a renaissance painting. (I love it when they adapt Ryoko Kui's visual gags and I LOVE when she does zoomed in faces like this. Truly one of the artists ever)

I did not have "Laios gets Pissed On" on my bingo card but every day I grow more and more convinced that the animators KNOW what they're doing and - OH MY GOD IS THAT SENSHI'S DWUSSY. ELFSHI ALTERNATIVE TO PANTY SHOT.

Ah, yes, Izutsumi sprawls all over them when sleeping, we been knew, again it's a little unexpected to see it front and center but I guess it works to demonstrate them returning to - THAT WAS LAIOS??? AND CHILCHUCK IS JUST LIFTING HIS LEG LIKE THAT?? OKAY THEN. SURE.

(and then there's a few more seconds of laiosfoot and laios bedhead)

BUT HEY THEY'RE BACK TO NORMAL

1) Yep, they're back to normal.

2) Laios I love you and I love Gothsuke but someone needs to be careful about biohazards and it's not going to be you.

3) Add this to the "Marcille Donato gets threateningly close to you in three steps" folder.

4) Truly only they can match each other's freak. When the NECROMANCER is telling you not to do something, don't do it! I know last time you smuggled a "normal" sword, it turned out to be useful, but I'm sure that's not the case here!

5) Poor Laios tho. I'll learn to blacksmith just to give you a cool sword. <3

I'm so glad they kept this. One of the silliest touden siblings moments. 10/10 no notes. Also, Falin is never beating the blunt force trauma allegations.

IS THAT CHILCHUCK'S WIFE. ARE YOU - MA'AM. HELLO?

"Why aren't you a twink like I thought you'd be?!" gets adapted! (I'm pretty sure that's the scene meant to be here, anyways)

I get it, girl.

Oh dear, they're going to eat Falin. And SENSHI was the one to suggest it! For a guy who was just fighting the doubts of accidental cannibalism a week ago, you're taking bold steps forward.

(I do love how it mirrors Laios' kindness back then, in truth. Even if it's an idea so shocking and dire at first, it comes from a place of reason and logic and love)

Marcille "I said I wanted to eat her OUT, not eat HER" Donato Izutsumi "That's going to taste gross as fuck" Izutsumi Chilchuck "If it brings her back..." Tims Laios Touden, the man with a thousand things on his head right now, two of which I reckon are "I don't want to eat my sister" and "Dragon-Chicken... what might it taste like?"

Yes, well. Valid as your concerns are, Laios, because how the fuck would five people eat THAT much meat, you can't just ramble on about what dishes you're going to make out of your sister.

(...I get it, though. I mean if you're going to eat, might as well make it good, right? I know no one wants to grill one of Faligon's ribs but I'll go ahead and say it would be worse to tell them to eat her raw)

FUCK! we DID lose those scenes about the twin bell that toshiro kept!! forever sad about that.

oh my godddd they're going back into the dungeonnn we're going to reunite with themmm

I know they're really fucking competent, I mean, Namari and Toshiro are already described as pretty formidable warriors (and we've seen it), and Kabru is... admittedly much more geared to fight humans but he's a decent fighter either way. And a good leader!

Speaking of, where the fuck is everyone else.

I know they're meant to be scary (and I suppose they are! If we have the reference that, firstly, marcille is an excellent spellcaster so these elves could be just as good in their own areas of expertise, yes?, and secondly, the canaries are Well Known)

... plus, Namari, Toshiro and Kabru are wary of them. Namari, Toshiro and Kabru are wary of them.

BUT damn it Lycion, I need to- (gets dragged off stage)

Anyway, while we wait for the next season (WHICH HAS BEEN GREENLIT! WOHOO!), have these wonderful images of chicken falin being a cathedral painting (...if cathedrals ever added dragons, i guess) and my beloveds, who have finally returned!

[seat-safety-switch]

Vans aren't "cool," but they are enjoying a sort of renaissance of sorts. The desirability of these boxy, cargo-hauling conveyances represents some admittedly minor hope for the future. If vans regain their ancient popularity, there is a chance that we can overthrow the dictatorship of the pickup truck and return to our traditional values as a society.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not some wacko van fundamentalist. Sure, I do get into theological arguments with Ford people about which generation of the Econoline is derived most purely from van theory, but that's on our own territory. Not something for the regular folk to see.

You have nothing to fear about me giving you a shank if you accidentally call a half-cut container truck the deeply unfunny slur that is "cube van." I won't even get mad if you prefer a hatchback. Anything that can haul cargo in an enclosed vessel, and does so often, is an honorary van in my book. And it's a good idea, before we proceed, to talk about just why vans are becoming more popular.

Vans are in fact the only houses that many people can own. Sad but true. You could live in a pickup truck, too. Nobody is denying that, but that's like living in one of those strange Arizona desert homes where there's only enough roof for your bed, a novel about libertarianism, and a small overhang to keep your ammo and canned beans dry. Just not enough enclosed area. No sense of security. Throbbing paranoia at all minutes that if you stop at the Home Depot just for a minute that someone will steal your groceries out of the bed.

Me, I like to have a nice personal space which will be largely protected if I roll the thing into the ditch doing triple the speed limit. It's bad enough already without having to walk half a kilometre back from the impact site, picking up all your strewn possessions from the roadside. Better to keep the sleeping bags, provisions, and pet chickens on the inside of the vehicle.

If there can be said to be a downside to the growth of van popularity, it is that they are more popular than ever. Demand means resale value skyrockets, which means I can't easily get a new van to replace my old one when it gets towed by the cops or love-taps the bollard in the Tim Hortons drive-thru. That's why I've started investing in motorhomes, which are the van for people who can't afford vans or houses. They just so happen to come with big-ass V8s, too, like all of the other places I've ever lived. It's like I was never evicted at all.

[fictionadventurer]

Top ten fairytale retelling novels/novellas you've read.

I've already answered my top 10, so here's my shot at listing 11-20.

11. A Long, Long Sleep by Anna Sheehan: Would probably be higher on the list if I'd remembered it in time. Sci-fi story that's a very loose retelling of "Sleeping Beauty", but so rich and emotionally devastating.

12. Maid and Minstrel and The Beggar Prince by Kate Stradling: Putting both of her short "King Thrushbeard" retellings in one entry. The first is more of a "Beauty and the Beast" tale that makes both leads decent people caught up in a misunderstanding, but I appreciated how it (probably accidentally) made me see the Christ-imagery inherent in the original. The second gives King Thrushbeard some character flaws and a good arc, and has an excellent explanation for why the princess didn't want to marry any of her suitors.

13. Fairest by Gail Carson Levine: Snow White retelling set in the world of Ella Enchanted, and retains that book's creativity in adapting the fairy tale elements. Has an excellent full-cast audiobook.

14. The Stepsister and the Slipper by Nina Clare: Georgette-Heyer-esque Cinderella retelling. Very rushed ending, and not the kind of romance I'd advise anyone to pursue in real life, but very fun.

15. Soot and Slipper by Kate Stradling: Cinderella retelling with an excellent twist, adorable characters, and a convoluted ending.

16. Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey: Short and basic Cinderella retelling that gets on the list because I have extremely fond autumnal associations with this book.

17. Unseen Beauty by Amity Thompson: A "Beauty and the Beast" retelling from the point-of-view of one of the invisible servants. Since I'd had that idea for years before finding this, I was thrilled to find that this story does a pretty good job with it.

18. Exile by Loren G. Warnemuende: The first book in a trilogy that retells "Maid Maleen". I haven't finished the series yet, so maybe it's unfair to put it on here, but I loved the section of the story that takes place in the tower, so I couldn't leave it off the list.

19. The Seventh Raven by David Elliot: A retelling of "The Seven Ravens" that does a decent job of retelling the fairy tale, but I mostly love it as a very well-structured novel-in-verse that structures each POV character's poems with their own poetic form.

20. The Tales of Ambia by Allison Tebo: Fun, slightly Wodehouse-ish retellings that are a breath of fresh air in the romantasy-dominated world of indie retellings

Honorable Mentions:

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer: Objectively as stories, these should be pretty high up on the list. It had great characters and adapted the fairy tale elements in some amazing ways. But I'm not a fan of a lot of the worldbuilding elements here, so I couldn't bring myself to rank it above some of my beloved, but more-flawed indie retellings.

With Blossoms Gold by Hayden Wand and Sweet Remembrance by Emily Ann Putzke: Both contained in Once: Six Historical Fairy Tale Retellings. The first is "Rapunzel" set in Renaissance Italy with an agoraphobic Rapunzel, and the second is a beautifully devastating retelling of "The Little Match Girl" set during WWII. I haven't read these in a long time, but I remember them both being very good.

Masque by W.R. Gingell: An excellent "Beauty and the Beast" retelling with a very lively Beauty, a Beast who works as a police detective instead of brooding in a castle, and some clever adaptations of the fairy tale elements. Unfortunately, I've decided a couple elements of the magic go beyond what I'm comfortable with, so I couldn't put it on the list, but I had to give it credit.

[vroomvroomwee]

Goddamn all of you lovely Good Omens artists are fucking incredible do you know that? And I don't just mean the skill and talent and range you all possess in drawing cute adorable comics all the way to renaissance masterpieces because I won't be able to shut up if I start talking about that.

No, I mean who you are as PEOPLE.

You are all absolutely wonderful. Every single piece relays the refreshing and comforting views and opinions you have as well as your kindness. Drawing Aziraphale chubby and big but as well as soft and sexy and desirable and magnificently ETHEREAL. It has made me love my belly and thighs. It's made me view them as adorable and cute. The utter ADORATION you have for Crowley's nose. I went from despising mine (which is slightly crooked) to flaunting it and being PROUD of it. Because, guess what? ITS FUCKING CUTE.

As a result of all the love you all show towards these characters and the traits that society would call "unattractive", the ones that people should be ASHAMED about and try to hide, I have genuinely started to love my body. Traits that would cause me to feel inferior and pathetic are now causing me to feel giddy and affectionate towards myself. Went from "ew" and "uhhgg" to "tehe" and "eee" every time I look in the mirror.

If there's anyone that feels that their art isn't being appreciated, therefore that means they aren't good enough, I want to remind you that there's probably a person out there somewhere, too shy to like and reblog, who accidentally stumbled upon it and now has a smile on their face. There could also be another individual at a different corner of the planet who comes back to your art when they feel down and need some comfort and happiness, their confidence receiving a momentanious boost, and to be reminded how lovable and worthy they are.

And what's even more amazing is how we don't have this revelation: "My body/face is ugly, but I love it anyway." NO!! It has the "My body is a body. I'm human. There's no such thing as an ugly body. " And that's so so so so important.

People always talk about how Good Omens completely warps your view of gender and sexuality and makes you realise how abstract they both are. But it also has that effect for bodies and facial features.

Changing your opinion and feelings on something doesn't usually happen in the blink of an eye like they depict it in the movies where the characters have this memorable dramatic revelation. In real life, it happens gradually. Because we're human, and we need time to process things. So the Good Omens artists doing this to so so so many of us is incredible because they pop up these gorgeous pieces of art constantly. Over and over and over and over, and it's such a breath of fresh air and freedom from being suffocated by the media and society everywhere you go. And I say this with 100% seriousness, Good Omens has some of the most wonderful people in its fandom.

[asegunda]

Accidental Study Session

PJO

Pairings: Annabeth Chase x GN!Reader, I wrote this with a platonic relationship in mind, you can do whatever you want but I was craving platonic ones so I wrote one.

Summary: Annabeth always goes to the library when she has free time, mostly when she is trying not to die aka not being chased by monsters who want her dead or when she is at camp, and one day she meets other person with the same interest.

Notes and Warnings: Well this is my first work so I would be very happy if there is no bullying 🙏❤️, and English is not my first language, as you see at the description of my profile, and I just wrote this for my enjoyment so dont expect for me to start writing normaly.

You were in the library two days in a row and Annabeth has been glancing at you. Not for the weirdo reasons of course, its just that you are holding one of her favourite books about architecture, more specifically, about the Renaissance era.

She just really wanted to talk to you and maybe hear your opinion, you didn't look too far from her age, maybe 2 years older at best...but she just couldn't, what if you just looked at her the wrong way, or if you really didnt want to talk and you just wanted to be left alone.

Annabeth sighed, and then made a decision.

She wasn't a Daughter of Athena for nothing. She had the courage to do this.

She aproached your table when you are reading and taking notes.

She sits at the chair in front of you and when you see her there you close your book (with the marker of course).

"Hmm. Do you need something?" You ask, making Annabeth almost jump.

"Oh, its just.." You can do this Annabeth. "I saw you reading that book and well its one of my favourites... so I wanted to know your opinion, since..well..I saw you taking notes." Did I talk too much?

"I see..well. This is a good read but Im just studying this because of my history classes. The next test will be about the Renaissance art and.. well Im very good at the history kind of topic but art isn't my favourite of all." You tell her but when you see that she is becoming a bit more tense you smile and say. "But Im glad someone likes this type of topic."

None of you talks for some seconds.

"Well if it isn't too much, could I read your notes?" She responds with a light of expectation.

"Sure, and its good that someone that understants this more than me sees it." You smile at her making her a bit embarassed for the compliment.

-♥︎-

You shared your name and Annabeth shared her's, and for the rest of that day she also helped you for your test and you two talked about other topics, eachother lifes (of course without all of that "Greek Gods are real and I'm a demigod" thing).

At the end of the day you were packing your things when you heard.

"Is it possible to do this more times?" Annabeth asked.

"I would love too." You smiled at her and Annatbeth couldn't almost contain her exciment.

Finally she could have a place to think about other things, things not related to being a demigod. She could even have a mortal friend, she interrupted those thoughts when you placed a paper in her hand.

"My number. If you want to contact me about these study sessions." You tell her and say again. "What's your number?"

Annabeth made the first excuse she could think of. "Well I dont remember it and I dont have my phone here."

You make a quick glance but just has it is there it disapears and you smile.

"Well, then you can always contact me trough that."

You two get out of the library and you make a quick wave.

"Goodbye Annabeth."

"Goodbye Y/n."

As you start walking away Annabeth just yells at you.

"Good luck on your test!"

You look at her and give her a thumbs up.

-♥︎-

The next time you are together you show her your result: 100%

Annabeth smiles.

[kimpossibly]

@kolsmikaelson : headcanons for peeta mellark comforting the reader after a bad day (300 followers celebration)

hiiiii........so this took me twenty-eight million years to write.....pls ignore that.

i'm so sorry, after spring break i had to hit the ground RUNNING with directing my one act and finals, so thank you to all my followers for being so incredibly patient with me. i really am doing my best but just...bleh. i have gotten through 12 hours of graduation practice this week and i have three more tomorrow!!!!!! as well as starting a new job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but i DO feel that i am doing this at a good time with the fnaf teaser dropping and the josh hutchinson renaissance being upon us :)

i love you caitee. and i deeply apologize for the fact that this took me millenia to write. i hope you still enjoy it ♥

peeta comforting the reader after a long day

We all know Peeta...he is the Softest Boy literally ever

He's also such an empath. Suuuuuuuuch an empath.

And thus I believe firmly that when you've had a bad day, he knows immediately. The second you walk through the door, he can sense that something is wrong.

He will stop whatever he is doing (he's actually accidentally let things burn in the oven before) to come over to you and ask what's going on

And if you're not really in the talking mood, he's good with that too

He won't prod, he won't press for details, he'll only ask what he can do to help

If you want time to yourself he'll 100% respect that. He'll leave you be and go back to whatever he was doing before you got home, probably making dinner or doing some other odd chore here and there. When it's time for dinner he'll bring it to you and you'll eat together in bed if you're up for it

If you want company he's totally up for that. Even if you don't want to talk, he'll sit with you, hold your hand, run fingers through your hair, let you cry if you need to. Every once in a while he'll check-in and ask if you feel up to talking.

If you want to talk, Peeta is a great listener. He will let you rant and vent as looooooong as you need to. He won't interrupt until you're done and he'll hold your hand the entire time.

If you want advice, I have a feeling that he's not the greatest at that sometimes? I feel like sometimes he mentally lives in a world that's very optimistic and sunshine-y, so sometimes he thinks problems can be solved wayyyy easier than they actually can be. But his overall message is that he is there for you 100% and he will be there to support you through whatever.

At the end of the day, he just wants to do whatever he can do to make your awful day a little bit better :)

[valeriianz]

Robert Gadling is a character just BRIMMING with possibility. The lives he’s lived, the cultures he’s been a part of. The turning points in history that he’s witnessed! He’s into printing in 1489, imagine he was in Germany when Gutenberg invented the printing press? Why not! (He probably still owns a copy of Gutenberg’s Bible). Hob goes through an art phase and is there for the unveiling of Michelangelo’s David (imagine how fucking immaculate that statue looked in 1501). And then, Hob stays in Italy, obsessed with the renaissance and maybe befriending Michelangelo, gifted with the privilege to witness him working for 5 years on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Hob’s life is rife with history, with experience. He’s traveled the world, I bet he joined Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition to circumnavigate the globe (because Hob would, HE WOULD). He lived on that ship and drank piss ale and rum and stepped on land he never dreamed of exploring. 

Hob’s there for the steam engine. Can you imagine him ranting and raving to Dream about how they managed to remove water from flooded mines and convert it into energy? “The power of steam!” Hob raves, gesticulating at Dream with a huge grin on. The birth of rail transport, the invention of the telegraph, the suffrage movement “women are finally fighting back!” I’d love to read something where Hob gets smacked with an appreciation for women, because you know he must’ve been some kind of problematic womanizer, back in the day (century). On and on and on it goes!

He's lived dozens and dozens of lives, different names, shifting personalities. Everything you can think of, Hob’s done it. I love when fic writers just let their imaginations run wild with Hob, the deeper the introspection the better.

He strikes me as a man of adventure and consequence. He’s smart, so fucking smart. Imagine the schooling this man has had, imagine the life experience. Imagine the people he’s taken to his bed too. This man is a literal definition of “fuck around and find out.”

Imagine the loneliness at times, knowing each relationship never develops. He makes friends, lovers, and has to break their hearts. Hob probably starts accidentally falling in love with Dream because he’s his only constant in life. He probably bites his tongue every time they meet, wanting to beg for more than one visit a century. By the 1600s Hob’s desperate for companionship. He loves the gift of immortality freely given to him, he treasures every second on this green earth, but god damn can it get lonely. 

I want to read Hob speaking foreign languages, communicating effortlessly and fluently with anyone. Striking up a conversation because someone catches him reading a worn copy of The Odyssey in its original ancient Greek or something like that. Can you imagine the tracks he has to switch in his brain when he has to converse in Yiddish? Turkish? Japanese? It probably takes him a full minute to rifle through his metaphorical filing cabinet, like a slow Internet connection because you have too many tabs open.

Imagine all the work he’s done, the jobs he’s taken up, good and bad. Morally gray or just immoral, so bad Hob can’t bear to remember. (He’s been in the mob, he’s been in a gang, he's been a marksman, he’s been a private investigator, he's been a doctor and an archeologist, on and on and ON). I can see him loving a position as a museum curator.

Oh man, this got long. 

TL;DR: I go absolutely insane for a Hob character analysis that explores his time through history and how it has changed him as a person.

[electrificata]

here are my house observations, im in season 3

some of the shit house says to foreman is genuinely unforgivable

foreman as a character i generally like. omar epps is giving a good performance of an even-keeled-but-not-without-effort kind of guy, i do like the plotline of a guy who came to learn from an expert whos the worst guy in the world and trying to figure out how to do the same thing without being the worst guy in the world. i also think they way they keep him out of hospital love triangles is racist, foreman is not currently hot but could be with 15% more attention from the writers room.

really sexist as a general rule. i have not encountered the idea of "jailbait" this much in literal years.

hipster racism. its the 2000s. funny to talk abt this because "hipsters" were younger at this point and the character of house is, im assuming, in his mid 40s at the start of the show, but thats the general logic that seems to be on display. "well you know that he's a good guy so its ironic and funny that he's threatening to use the n word as a joke."

a) stupid logic to begin with, doing something ironically is also just doing it, b) doesnt even work on its own terms here because house is widely acknowledged to be an awful person in the context. the entire show is built around the question "how much deliberately annoying, dangerous bullshit will we endure from this dickhead to maintain access to his unique skillset"

i still dont "get" house/wilson. like i do see it, like i can see that theyre a little obsessed with each other and they have a fun mutually manipulative dynamic, and they make sense as foils (guy who's self-consciously awful and often ends up doing noble things accidentally/guy who's self-consciously noble and often deliberately does awful things). but i cannot feel myself going insane about it. if anything i like him better with cuddy

cuddy really really hot. really really really hot. cuddy.

so like yeah i see house/wilson im just not going insane about it the way i thought i might. altho tbh it took a global pandemic and a extended, byzantine renaissance of tumblrina supernatural scholarship to make me have a destiel spiral. i need infrastructure for these things.

cameron's character is such an old school token girl character. i hate how they treat her "niceness" almost as much as i hate how they treat her crush on house.

a better show (written by me) would have some more cuddy and foreman "managing" house plotlines (foreman being a protege allows focus on the legacy of house's medicine, how to replicate it, how to contain damage), probably give him some of the cuddy and wilson time. the three of them together would be good i could do that.

cuddy/foreman. hm. in the remake.

like, i do get how this happened. house is troubled in a durable, interesting way. the writing is good enough to support his layers, the way his snap-judgement psychoanalysis of everyone he meets curls back around to shine a light on his own issues. good balance of competence and patheticness. laurie is giving a masterclass in the niche field of "british comedian comes to us tv drama, grows some stubble, becomes a sex symbol." i read an old review that referred to his "sourpuss charisma" i really like that turn of phrase.

(i was also into josh on the west wing when i watched that last year, i have a type i love antagonism. no im not dating anyone right now, who wants to take me for a candlelit dinner and tell me i smell good and my voice is sexy) (you cant just compliment me, ill be bored or uncomfortable, you have to bury it in a disagreement and make it clear youre kind of mad that youre into me)

that said i think the show kind of misunderstands house's sex appeal. it feels very written-by-men. women characters throw themselves at house in a porny kind of take-me-now way. in my observations guys who are arent traditionally hot but attractive in this antagonistic, talky was dont really get that kind of treatment, but they do get the main cast wilson/cuddy/cameron "i hate this guy but im obsessed with him and i will never make a move or i will and itll go badly" kind of stuff. my phantom house reboot does have cameron and house hook up and its a really mean and destructive fwb thing with like 4 false endings. does this make sense.

right now im in the middle of the plotline where leighton meester plays a 17 yr old girl stalking house because shes so in love. like thats not the vibe. at least from what ive seen. im not omniscient.

lol it turns out she has a spore makign her hypersexual lolllll i literally have this on in the background rn ok i take some of this back.

whenever i mention to someone im watching house theyll recount to me the plot of the one episode they can remember and it always sounds insane and its never made up.

"the one with the intersex teen model who fucks her dad to manipulate him and has testicular cancer" like yeah. yeah thats real. if you talked to me 3 weeks ago thatd be the one i recounted to you.

yes house does leer at her in that episode and its treated as logical and normal for a 45 year old man.

i hate chase, he's awful but boring.

im curious how long im gonna keep watching this, i know the later seasons get kind of soapy plotwise and i dont know if thats what i want out of this

[andrea-lyn]

If you know one (or two) things about me, it’s that I am occasionally chronically late to a fandom (sometimes accidental, sometimes on purpose), so I missed the ATLA renaissance, but I found my way around to it, which means! Recs! 

This is going to be majority Sokka/Zuko, with a couple others in here. There’s def a second post coming as I make my way through the tag. As ever, master rec post can be found pinned on my tumblr here! 

Zukka ATLA Recs

Wooing the Water Tribe by lenaballena (ALL TIME FAVE RIGHT HERE)

Zuko is courting Katara, and with every passing day finds new and insane ways of showing that he would quite literally move the spirit world and earth to make her happy.

In hindsight, it probably would've been better if Sokka had realised he was in love with Zuko at literally any time before this. Or preferably, never fallen for his best friend in the first place.

exothermic reaction by blueconsequences

When Sokka is temporarily blinded by Fire Nation soldiers, the members of the Gaang take turns to care for him.

One pair of hands is warmer than the others.

Love's Such an Old-Fashioned Word by drvcos

When invited to the 100th anniversary of his father’s company, after 15 years of radio silence, Zuko decides to show how happy he is to all the people from his past. There’s only one (fatal) problem.

Or,

Zuko is a frazzled single dad, Sokka is an absolute flirt, and the “fake” that comes before their relationship doesn’t feel all that fake.

like real people do by verdanthoney for bleekay

Sokka knew he would be dealing with a raging case of baby fever during their annual vacation on Ember Island. What he didn’t expect was to discover that he was also hopelessly in love with Zuko, and had been for years without realizing.

Spirits Help Us, There's Two of Them by hopepunk

Sokka and Zuko are both weird guys. Fortunately, they're the same kind of weird as each other.

(do you take this jerk to be) your one and only by jatersade

Under the leadership of Fire Lord Iroh, the Fire Nation has made every attempt to restore peace and make amends for the harm they inflicted during the Seventy-Year War. Their newest proposal is a literal proposal: a marriage to unite the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes.

The Fire Nation offers Prince Zuko’s hand.

The Water Tribes offer Princess Yue’s.

Sokka is apparently the only person in the world who has a problem with any of this.

isn't this the vision that you wanted by nebulastucky

Firelord Zuko - ender of the Hundred Year War, ruler of the Fire Nation, payer of respects and reparations - takes advice and counsel from representatives of every nation, division, and specialty.

But teenage boy Zuko - friend of turtleducks, wielder of fun looking swords, stumbler over words and feet in the presence of cute boys - only listens to two people, and they are conspiring together to ruin him.

or: Iroh just wants what's best for his nephew, and Katara just wants to know everyone's business.

we had a moment, we had a summertime by nebulastucky

Sokka shrugs. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You get captured and killed by the Fire Nation,” Toph provides.

“They won’t execute me in a tea shop,” Sokka says around a sudden lump in his throat. “That’d be bad for business.”

or: the one where sokka falls for a tea shop and a boy with too much charm for his own good.

Ignition Point by Yuu_chi

Most people know they're a bender since birth. Sokka just had to discover it at twenty when he accidentally burns his own house down.

Alchemy by mindbending

Sokka (a.k.a the Silent Knight, a.k.a. the sharpest detective in Caldera City) has three cases weighing on his mind.

1.) Zuko, son of the mob boss Ozai, has gone missing under sinister circumstances. 2.) Lee, a teahouse waiter with the face of an angel, wears a scar of mysterious origins. 3.) The Blue Spirit, a lithe and enigmatic cat burglar, keeps stealing into the Fire Nation’s storehouses (not to mention Sokka’s dreams).

Sokka sighs and takes a swig from his special bottle. It’s hard solving three completely unrelated mysteries at the same time...

[a-door-to-somewhere]

Ok watched spiderverse 2 again here's some thoughts in no particular order (spoilers and long post ahead):

- peter b is reading a book called "how to talk to kids" at the very end. Presumably because may can't speak yet and Gwen and Miles were zapped away I choose to believe he was reading this so he can go talk to Miguel LMAO

- I fucken love the way spot, after he powers up, move around via just like... sliding around in the air basically with his bad posture like he's hung from strings like a puppet

- when gwen is drumming at the opening and when spot gets zapped both are intercut with frames from later in the movie and also later in the future. I'm guessing spot got a glimpse of canon events but when Gwen was doing her intro it was phrased like a retrospective- but unlike most intros it didn't have a shot of a new spiderman comic being thrown on the pile. So when was she doing this retrospective? I hc she'll pick back up at the end of the third movie

- someone needs to make procreate brush packs for each universe/character PLEASE

- ok the "watercolor" effect being a mood ring is incredible but I havent seen anyone talking about the sort of abstract animation?? It almost reminds me of like experimental film from the impressionist/dada/supremetism eras, you can see it synced to the drum in the intro and also in some of the backgrounds during her big speech

- also during the Guggemheim fight when the Renaissance Vulture was like "you call this art?" And Gwen was like "well we're talking about it aren't we" YOU'RE SO RIGHT GWEN I AM KISSING YOU ON THE LIPS

- the shaky 1st pov cam when Gwen's dad sneaks up on her both times reminded me of when Miles accidentally watched kingpin kill perfect Peter? Idk if it was exactly the same I'd have to go back and rewatch but UGH it really gets that Gwen's dad has two sides too and the cop side isn't really human almost, lurking in the shadows, silhouetted

- also Gwen's dad just being a shit cop, giving her mixed instructions, raising a weapon at an unarmed person who is trying to communicate, firing warning shots, yelling the Miranda rights over her which is not how its supposed to be given

- contrast that with Jeff who literally never pointed a weapon at anyone and went charging after spot with his bare hands, is casual with his spiderman. I mean even when Jeff was talking about Miles not capturing Spot correctly it was lighthearted and joking, he's actively not going by the book, he's keeping the squad off of Spiderman's back, he apparently talks to spiderman about his family troubles???

- have I mentioned I LOVE MUSICAL MOTIFS????? Seriously they’re always good (fuck Wagner everyone knows Toby Fox invented the leitmotif) I mean everyone noticed the horror style Prowler stinger but even more characters got some: Gwen got a Little Rock theme with a guitar lick that echoes the ‘spi-der-man, spi-der-man’ song, Miguel’s distorted synth whine, the interesting mouth and bells percussion that Pav gets (good job Hollywood avoiding the exotic Asian pentatonic lick for once), at the end when the 42 prowler reveal slowly changed the prowler stinger into a human scream???? There’s probably more but I’d have to go back and watch it again again lmao

- I really love how Miguel is kinda goofy. He’s aloof and over serious but he makes mistakes and shows other emotions despite his best efforts. His flaws are shown off in his very first interaction, with his unwillingness to ask for help despite the fact that he knows he needs it. He’s frustrated. He’s got group object leader energy. It makes it so much more lovable that he’s susceptible to quips and he also gets knocked down and messes up and shows up and has his quirks that everyone puts up with. THATS how you make an interesting, relatable, lovable antagonist. Perhaps it worked too well LMAO

- I am an Oscar isaac simp I gotta go rewatch moon knight

- when miles was swinging around with gwen he passed a truck called "redex" bc gwen rejected him lmao

- theres an 8 clearly visible in the background of earth 42? Wacc

- the Spread Your Wings, Man scene focusing on the plastic wrap on top of the Alchemax flowing in the wind like it’s an ocean?/??? I really hope they call back to that imagery later because it clearly means something and I need to know what

- I’ve got an inkling of something that specifically revealing one’s spider-dentity to a loved one is some kind of anti-canon event, like maybe it’s the thing that fixes the destabilization? I mean we’ve seen that it’s ok if loved ones figure it out themselves (or if they then die, like uncle Aaron) like it’s a clear theme that miles keeps trying to tell his parents, and then Gwen tells her dad, which causes him to quit the force, thereby averting the canon event of him dying indirectly??? Also, it’s implied that the MJ of 1610 sold out Perfect Peter Parker to Fisk, leading to his death, ALSO also, gayatri probably figured out Pav’s identity right before HIS world destabilized??? Idk lmao

- I hope spiderbite/Margo and Jess get proper intros I can’t wait

- the background spider hockey girl has my heart, I couldn’t stop looking at her during the chase scene

- God I need to watch moon knight again

- when mj moved into mays room to greet them she lifted a picture frame back up as she moved in the door? What's up with that???

- not Spanish originally starting as a too-relatable joke that Miles gets a B in despite his mother speaking Spanish at home as well, not living up to his expectations, and then 42!Miles presumably speaks more/better Spanish due to being closer to his mom because his dad died???

- not miles aceing ap physics and ap studio AT THE SAME TIME in his SOPHOMORE YEAR free my boy from grounding he’s done nothing wrong

- btsv’s main villain is gonna be the sat I’m telling you

- most importantly: what was up with the Comic Code Authority’s seal being shown after the studio logos at the beginning??

Did that happen in the first one??? Why would it be there??? The cca has obviously been defunct since before superhero movies were really a thing. Famously, the cca seriously censored a ton of content, causing Marvel to be unable to portray darker stories involving drugs and other more mature themes, which they wanted to do with many superheroes including Spidey??? Is the Spider Society secretly the cca, censoring storylines that they think shouldn’t be portrayed, including darker timelines like 42? There was also issues with the convoluted Spider-Man comic lines going through unsatisfying ‘resets’ to keep Spider-Man relatable, without evolving the character into anything too far away from the OG Spider-Man, ie young, relationship issues with MJ, nerdy, tragedies etc. this is the detail that had me wondering the most because it was so clearly displayed right at the beginning, and the cca was generally a shameful part of comic book history in which publishers submitted to satanic moral panic. Like, not really something that reads as a cute little callback to an era of comics like he use of Ben day dots or misaligned printing or the onomatopoeias??

[dirtytransmasc]

@fatherforgivethem has infected me with thoughts of Aegon/Helaena/Aemond and their kids, and I have an idea, and I sorta mentioned it in my last HC post, but I just need it out of my skull for the sake of my well-being

the parents taking the kids to courts/dinners/events.

an agreement that if the kids fuss or ask for them to a certain point, they be brought to either of them, no matter what they're doing, if they're in front of a lord or nobleman or one of the god forsaken Seven. they will always come before the court, who can blame them for wanting some sort of out.

Jaehaera being brought to Aegon during one the few court meetings his mother actually got him to attend, meaning he can't leave, even for his daughter, or his head will end up on a spike. so instead she insists she will be quiet, taking his sniffling baby girl into his arm, assuring the nobles that he's listening and that she won't spill any of their secrets, cooing at her a little, while walking off s bit to the side. he rocks her till she's mostly asleep before returning to his place at the table, not sitting down, but rocking back and forth in front of his seat. he's kissing her forehead and stroking a finger over her little nose and chubby cheeks, smoothing her hair. he's so clearly infatuated with her and it catches everyone's attention. her presence also seems to make him act a bit wiser, like a proper prince, so he's loving on his baby while quipping into the meeting every now and then (he's got to be a good example for his girl)

no one can necessarily get mad, Jaehaera is adorable and they had all hoped and prayed fatherhood would settle the prince, which now they fear it's settled him too much.

Aemond stopping his sword training to lay out a blanket for the twins to sit in the grass and watch, goading Criston into putting on a show for them, imitating whatever story they come up with. letting them take up wood swords eventually and starting to incorporate them into his training.

Helaena having her lunch with Mother and a lady in waiting interrupted by her son being brought to her. he's huffy and tired, most likely woken from his nap by dreams he didn't understand, wanting nothing more than to just cuddle up with his mum. he's sitting against he glumly, clearly wanting his mum all to himself, to go up to her chambers and cuddle while she sings him the lullaby she has since he was born. but between his grandmother and the lady in waiting coaxing him to giggle, his mum trying to cheer him up, be comes to enjoy himself a bit.

The family having to go to some dinner for some noble and having kids on their hips. they don't like letting people take them from them, especially not little Maelor, so they're in guard all night. having to play nice when Lords and Ladies would reach out a finger to play with the babies, acting as if they don't want to snap at them.

Aegon carrying Maelor around the event while Helaena and Aemond keep the twins together.

trying to get them to sit nice at the dinner itself but finding themselves caring more about messing around with them than keeping up appearances

the 3 standing together, babes in their arms during some court meeting in the throne room, looking very accidental renaissance.

having matching outfits. Aemond and Aegon looking especially nice in the lighter colors for once.

they're just too cute and infecting every waking moment I have

(repost cause I accidentally posted it privately at first and tumble sorta ate it.. I don't know what happened, it was weird)

[silviakundera]

Empresses in the Palace notes

ep 10-11

Finally our milquetoast protagonist's bestie is almost drowned in a pond and then she's poisoned, so they wake the fuck up and start making aggressive moves. Play the emperor like a fiddle and get! that! death! decree! 👏👏 Realizing that her attempted murder wouldn't be enough for a kill shot and "accidentally" revealing that Yu fooled the emperor - that's right baby, he's 200% ego, now you're ready for the hunger games!

lmao, I sentence her to suicide.

Concubine Yu's death was majestic, 5/5 stars. Truly unhinged, gonna MISS HER. ❤ Nice touch how that mistreatment of eunuchs came back to bite her. Ling Rong is a bad bitch and these girls don't appreciate her.

Hua Fei, absolute love of my life, the entire damn episode:

But is there ANYTHING that Zhan Huan's head eunuch Xiao Yunzi can't do? The true renaissance man.

As much as I'm loving all these shenanigans and Zhan Huan finally doing a thing... I have to admit that it was probably short-sighted and a misstep to take a shot at Hua Fei with her general brother this much in favor. If you come at the king, you best not miss. And in the current political situation, she could do just about anything except injure the emperor and she'll get away with it. So all you've done is (a) entertain yourself & give Xiao Yunzi a chance to do community theatre and (b) enrage a powerful, bloodthirsty enemy with great skin and captivating hair ornaments.

Zhen Huan is clever enough to not directly bad mouth Hua Fei to the emperor's face. She's very good with the elderly.

oh that's RIGHT. Our protagonist has a dark secret (cough) i mean, half-sister! who is her servant. Because... everything is awful for everyone. Nice to see them setting up half-sister's inevitable betrayal

Every cautious, calculated-not-to-offend conversation a concubine has with the emperor is like watching paint dry. This is why they say fear is the mind killer. Their fear of that man is anesthetizing brain cells and PUTTING ME TO SLEEP. How any of this ever gets him in the mood for sex, I'll never understand.

tee he he I said I'm not talented but obviously I am. What whimsy!

[heleizition]

characters with white hair and characters fighting with needles are SUPERB DESIGNS much agree there. im holding it all so very gently in my hands while spitting on danzo fuck that guy. also??? eden just chefs kiss. traumatic kinda immortality is my VIBE. hows the ability work? can he ever die? hows he get along with belly??? good luck at whatever ya gotta GO to!! byyyee

THANK YOU needle fighting is jst so cool im not rly sure where i picked it up ? bunch of things ... katara in atla in that one episode where she seeks revenge... yeah it stuck to me ...

and this group of oc is a bit of like. "cringe renaissance" like im allowing myself to have fun without thinking abt waht others would say... yes this oc has heterochromia (vik) yes this oc has white hair and incredible powers (eden) (also cody) yes these ocs are twins that barely look anything alike but im doing MY THING im so happy. im free

SO GLAD U LIKE EDEN tw for drug use, overdose and suicide + rest of the answer

i care him sooo much. whats dramatic abt him is that in his past life (in the angel/demon au) he had. a very shitty life and ended up taking lots of drugs as a mean to get on with life until he finally just. decided to stop trying to get on with like. also hes trans :) . so um killed himself by overdosing on drugs. its always a similar past/history with him so i think it's a bit tragic that while he suffered so much he can't just. end it like he did before because his power wont let him. as a human he would die of old age, but his power , while letting him suffer through any injury or subtence, won't let him die. i mean in the end he does find that living is pretty nice when you're surrunded by people you love and who love you so !!!!

im not quite sure how the ability works yet... i think it's a molecular manipulation of the flesh and any thing that compose it, so it would heal injuries, help fight infections, but it wouldn't be able to revive someone if life has already left them/if it was too far along. eden's power being inside of him, it unconsciously protects him from everything and anything as it happens, fixing the damage almost instantly.

it takes a lot out of him to use it on other people (to fix or destroy) and after the beheading incident he fears it so much he's unable to use it until he's about to lose someone precious to him....

belly and him get along well !!! they're in the angel squad together in the angel/demon au and they're supposed to be the two "level headed" ones (they're not they're barely adults with age being between 20 to 25) and work nicely as a team. im not very good to talk abt relationship between characters im sorry !

for reference btw,

demon squad : abel, cain (no art of him yet im sowwyyyyyy), nell, titania, jasper

angel squad : cody, eden, lena, belly, vik, noah

i have pinterest boards of all of them also btw...

i have a lot of old ocs that are in this au as well as secondary characters im very <33 abt this au.

AND THANK U SO MUCH i was meeting up with friends i havent seen or talked to in FOUR YEARS life connected us together again accidentally and i had a lot of fun it was a sweet evening ! i am going to eep now zzzzzzzzzzzzzz snork mimimi

[localcryptidsteg]

Tracing, Style Theft, and the need to be Unique

A comment chain on Instagram got me thinking about these things earlier. Someone asked what common art advice is actually bad advice, and I left a short list that Ive heard, among which is "dont trace."

Naturally, this ruffled some feathers, but heres the deal: so long as you arent line-for-line copying the majority of someone elses work and passing it off as yours? Theres absolutely nothing wrong with tracing. Copying and tracing are two different things; think back to the old "how to draw" books. How they blocked out anatomy and taught you the relative distance of things with lines and joints. Tracing... is essentially doing the same thing. As a learning tool for personal use, being able to take a picture and draw the skeletal frame over it helps you with perpesctive and anatomy immensely! It even helps in stylization. Tracing develops the skills you need in order to replicate something, replication develops the skills you need in order to stylize.

Which brings us to our next issue.... style theft isnt a thing. It doesnt exist. Unless youre forging paintings and passing them off as the real deal, there is absolutely zero reason not to look at the techniques and stylization your favorite artists use and replicate that. Again, it helps you develop skills like shading and coloring and lineart. And having your own "style"? One that has to be completely different from anyone elses? Thats bullshit! Most artists dont just have ONE style. The best artists have several and go out of their way to continue learning more!

Think of it this way: we wouldnt have 2d animation if actual artists gave a flying fuck about their "style" being copied. The Renaissance artists would never have risen to prominence if their teachers hadnt sat them down and told to paint how they did. Bob Ross would never have had a tv show if mimicking how someone else creates mattered in any way at all.

The way you develop your own style is simply this: you look at your favorite artists, you analyze what elements of their work make your brain happy and what are enjoyable for you to do, you mash them all together and voila. Your very own (not really at all) "unique" style.

I think this frankly terrible and counterintuitive art advice trend is killing artists. When you go online as an artist and preach to a bunch of younger aspiring artists that invaluable tools for growth are inherently bad and wrong and theyre evil for using them, you do three things at once:

First, you make them fear creation. "I want to draw or sculpt or knit or what have you, but what if I accidentally copy someone? Then Id be a bad person!"

Second: you kill the joy of creation. They become too focused on the end result and never really learn how to make for the sake of making.

Third: you block their avenues of progress. In order to get better at your craft, you really do have to try everything. Trying to make certain techniques into something "off limits" only serves to hinder that progression. It causes stagnation which in turn causes frustration, which leads us back to issue 2.

When I was a kid, my grandma would drive two hours to my city every year for my birthday, and every year she would take me to the art museum. My grandma loved art with every fiber of her being. She was thrilled when my mom went to art school. She was estatic when my sibling and I took up drawing. But she never, EVER tried to make anything herself. See, when she was in school, her art teacher had told her she wasnt very good. And she, being a kid, believed it. And she stopped trying. She would never color with me and my sibling, would never try drawing with us when we begged her to join in. Shed chuckle and say "oh, I couldnt draw a straight line with a ruler!" And sit and watch us work and rave over how good we were at it instead.

When she hit about 80 or so, her memory started going. But she still loved the museum and she still loved art. One of my aunts talked her into taking one of those "how to paint" classes at a little studio near her house. She painted a cake. And you know what? It was a really friggin good painting! Itd be hanging in my room right now if my aunt hadnt called dibs!

My point is this: anyone of any skill level can learn to draw or paint or whatever. Im a major proponent of this; I always have been. But shaming creatives for how they do it, for how they learn it, for what they make? That destroys the drive to create, and it can last a lifetime. Who knows what my grandma could have made if not for that teacher? Who knows how many young artists felt nothing but shame and guilt over their work and quit because of bad-faith art advice?

[klainelynch]

Tag game for fanfiction authors!

Thank you for tagging me @the-blue-eyed-firebender !

Tell us:

The story you're proudest of: what will you leave behind? [for the fact that I wrote 71k when usually I stay under 10k, and for how personal it is]

Your story that's gotten the most love online: the men who hold high places must be the ones who start [accidentally hit the ATLA renaissance at the right moment with the dad!Zuko feels]

Tease a current WIP or idea you're working on: I have been working on a "5 times Jean realized that Hawkeye was just as country as he is" fic since September 24, 2022. I remember the exact date because it was the Vols v. Gator game and I had finally figured out how to turn a half-baked filk idea into a proper fic. I finished the first time pretty soon after...and have not finished a single other time 😭 I have one time almost finished, but the ending just doesn't work, and another time that I know how it will end, but I can't figure out the beginning at all. The other day, another idea came to me, and I tried to start writing it, but I got stuck. When this fic finally comes into existence, it is going to be so ridiculously niche lmao.

Your top 3 fandoms: Avatar, Fullmetal Alchemist, Good Omens

Your top 3 ships: Riza Hawkeye/Roy Mustang, Sokka/Suki, Aziraphale/Crowley

Rec someone else's fic: Idle Lips are the Devil's Mouthpiece by @bookgirlfan [I recently read this for the first time and ADORED it—such an excellent use of outside POV for Aziraphale/Crowley!]

Pick one!

Fluff or Angst

Oneshots or longfics

Canon compliance or canon divergence

AO3 or FF.net

Tagging @kindalikerackham @cyborgartalchemist2 @theaceofdragons if y'all want to play!