#nothing about it is easy

[wanologic]

yo danny fenton he was just 19

[inkskinned]

the thing about art is that it was always supposed to be about us, about the human-ness of us, the impossible and beautiful reality that we (for centuries) have stood still, transfixed by music. that we can close our eyes and cry about the same book passage; the events of which aren't real and never happened. theatre in shakespeare's time was as real as it is now; we all laugh at the same cue (pursued by bear), separated hundreds of years apart.

three years ago my housemates were jamming outdoors, just messing around with their instruments, mostly just making noise. our neighbors - shy, cautious, a little sheepish - sat down and started playing. i don't really know how it happened; i was somehow in charge of dancing, barefoot and laughing - but i looked up, and our yard was full of people. kids stacked on the shoulders of parents. old couples holding hands. someone had brought sidewalk chalk; our front walk became a riot of color. someone ran in with a flute and played the most astounding solo i've ever heard in my life, upright and wiggling, skipping as she did so. she only paused because the violin player was kicking his heels up and she was laughing too hard to continue.

two weeks ago my friend and i met in the basement of her apartment complex so she could work out a piece of choreography. we have a language barrier - i'm not as good at ASL as i'd like to be (i'm still learning!) so we communicate mostly through the notes app and this strange secret language of dancers - we have the same movement vocabulary. the two of us cracking jokes at each other, giggling. there were kids in the basement too, who had been playing soccer until we took up the far corner of the room. one by one they made their slow way over like feral cats - they laid down, belly-flat against the floor, just watching. my friend and i were not in tutus - we were in slouchy shirts and leggings and socks. nothing fancy. but when i asked the kids would you like to dance too? they were immediately on their feet and spinning. i love when people dance with abandon, the wild and leggy fervor of childhood. i think it is gorgeous.

their adults showed up eventually, and a few of them said hey, let's not bother the nice ladies. but they weren't bothering us, they were just having fun - so. a few of the adults started dancing awkwardly along, and then most of the adults. someone brought down a better sound system. someone opened a watermelon and started handing out slices. it was 8 PM on a tuesday and nothing about that day was particularly special; we might as well party.

one time i hosted a free "paint along party" and about 20 adults worked quietly while i taught them how to paint nessie. one time i taught community dance classes and so many people showed up we had to move the whole thing outside. we used chairs and coatracks to balance. one time i showed up to a random band playing in a random location, and the whole thing got packed so quickly we had to open every door and window in the place.

i don't think i can tell you how much people want to be making art and engaging with art. they want to, desperately. so many people would be stunning artists, but they are lied to and told from a very young age that art only matters if it is planned, purposeful, beautiful. that if you have an idea, you need to be able to express it perfectly. this is not true. you don't get only 1 chance to communicate. you can spend a lifetime trying to display exactly 1 thing you can never quite language. you can just express the "!!??!!!"-ing-ness of being alive; that is something none of us really have a full grasp on creating. and even when we can't make what we want - god, it feels fucking good to try. and even just enjoying other artists - art inherently rewards the act of participating.

i wasn't raised wealthy. whenever i make a post about art, someone inevitably says something along the lines of well some of us aren't that lucky. i am not lucky; i am dedicated. i have a chronic condition, my hands are constantly in pain. i am not neurotypical, nor was i raised safe. i worked 5-7 jobs while some of these memories happened. i chose art because it mattered to me more than anything on this fucking planet - i would work 80 hours a week just so i could afford to write in 3 of them.

and i am still telling you - if you are called to make art, you are called to the part of you that is human. you do not have to be good at it. you do not have to have enormous amounts of privilege. you can just... give yourself permission. you can just say i'm going to make something now and then - go out and make it. raquel it won't be good though that is okay, i don't make good things every time either. besides. who decides what good even is?

you weren't called to make something because you wanted it to be good, you were called to make something because it is a basic instinct. you were taught to judge its worth and over-value perfection. you are doing something impossible. a god's ability: from nothing springs creation.

a few months ago i found a piece of sidewalk chalk and started drawing. within an hour i had somehow collected a small classroom of young children. their adults often brought their own chalk. i looked up and about fifteen families had joined me from around the block. we drew scrangly unicorns and messed up flowers and one girl asked me to draw charizard. i am not good at drawing. i basically drew an orb with wings. you would have thought i drew her the mona lisa. she dragged her mother over and pointed and said look! look what she drew for me and, in the moment, i admit i flinched (sorry, i don't -). but the mother just grinned at me. he's beautiful. and then she sat down and started drawing.

someone took a picture of it. it was in the local newspaper. the summary underneath said joyful and spontaneous artwork from local artists springs up in public gallery. in the picture, a little girl covered in chalk dust has her head thrown back, delighted. laughing.

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

Someone: *mentions doctor who*

Me, vibrating with the effort it’s taking to not talk about something no average show watcher would even have heard of: oh yeah cool show

[ionomycin]

Low tide

[stil-lindigo]

the machine.

a comic about being a 'creator' online.

creative notes:

[mobius-m-mobius]

Lokius in Loki 2x02 - "Breaking Brad"

[nelkcats]

Dead Language Expert

Danny never thought that he could "major" in languages, and get a job as a translator. But apparently knowing all the dead languages ​​by default and being able to time travel with the help of your ghost tutor was pretty useful outside of Amity.

It happened purely by chance, he was walking through a museum and started laughing because of a mistake in one of the sentences that completely changed the meaning of the text. The museum manager, of course, did not believe him, since many people had said that the piece was "impossible to translate". But he study it anyway.

Days later they were looking for him to translate all the things from that time. And he just carried on with it, in many more civilizations. In some cases he even asked for a few trips to the past to Clockwork to verify.

It got to a point where the wizards, heroes and villains over the world knew him as "the translator of dead languages" and some of them even tried to kidnap him to perform a summoning ritual. Danny rolled his eyes and easily freed himself, but the League assigned him an "escort" anyway.

Exasperated, the halfa escaped from his escorts and continued his work as normal. Superman almost fell out of his chair at the Watchtower meeting when he was informed that the boy had translated the language of Krypton and other missing planets. Besides having managed to lose both the Flash and Green Latern, what the fuck?

[24hrsoda]

GhostBat fusion…Khoa is not used to Tim yet…

[tubbytarchia]

@mcyt-yuri-week Day 5, Rose/Thorns I never stop thinking about SL episode 8 never ever

[lucabyte]

Hmmm just gonna spit this headcanon out in text post form since A. I don't think I could exposit it well enough in image form and B. It's not actually textually/thematically substantiated and I don't like actually staking my stuff on just vibes alone*

But anyway. I'd say it's pretty evident that all the islanders forgot their names, right? King obviously. Because why the hell else would he do that, but also Siffrin No Middle Names No Last Name.

They're 'pretty sure' they've 'always' been 'Just Siffrin' 'as long as they can remember'. It's a pretty cruel twist of the knife to say that they don't even get to keep their birth name as a memento, which is why I'm saying as such.

My utterly unsubstantiated claim is I think it'd be cute to say that Sisyphus *is* the name Siffrin initially picked, assuming the myth of King Sisyphus is recontextualised as idk, just a play or something in the setting. But I like the idea of Siffrin going 'oh shit 🫵 he's just like me fr' at a tortured fictional character long before the irony kicks in.

As for how Sisyphus -> Siffrin. I think that chronic mumbler and emotional doormat Sif just did not correct people who misheard the name during their time travelling, and went through enough places with incompatible phonologies (pronounceable sounds in the language) without ever really writing it down that it just got kinda. Changed until it was unrecognisable, and Siffrin just went with it until the earlier pronunciations slipped out of their swiss-cheese brain. And they just kinda don't remember any of that.

Also, something something the horrid realisation that Siffrin also named themselves after a King. Just not as blatantly.

*(though I think there's something here about Siffrin, a guy from a belief system that seems to thoroughly disincentivise autonomy and self-motivated choice continuously having their hand forced to make changes/choices they don't want but have no choice but to... It's not solid enough to really back this up tbh, but it informs it.)

Anyway.

[insomniac-ships]

I wish more people understood that you can have hard limits and boundaries when it comes to fictional content you enjoy without insinuating that anyone who doesn't share similar opinions is some kind of freak/pervert/monster.

[offkilterkeys]

Being a Jane liker is so hard cause you go to her tag and it’s just a bunch of people lamenting how overhated she is and then continuing to ignore her, and being a Jake liker is so hard cause you go to his tag and it’s just tons of people making the most demeaning comments about him cause his character committed the crime of being annoying (unforgivable.)

[dailyloopdeloop]

DAY 75: onehat

[stagefoureddiediaz]

Thing about just clicking with someone and not having to put in the work is finding not making and those relationships - whatever form they take rarely last or manage to develop past a surface level.

Buck is such an all in or nothing kind of person that has had to fight for pretty much everything (when it comes to relationships of any form) he just cant comprehend that other people experience various levels of friendships or relationships more widely.

We see it in his training of Ravi, it comes out in his father son reltionship with Bobby, it’s part of the underlying reason the lawsuit happened and stems from his childhood abandonment issues. We even saw it in the other sneak peek where he’s with Tommy - he’s trying so so hard to make a friend that he comes across as slightly intense and focused. And while the worthwhile people will stay (the fire fam, his sister, Eddie) those who can’t take that level of focus will pretty quickly drop away, Abby and Ali are prime examples of this and even Taylor to a certain extent - she just didn’t care enough to be bothered by it.

It’s one of the reasons he’s oblivious to the fact his relationship with Eddie is different on multiple levels and it’s part of what makes Buck so interesting and why so many of us think he’s neurodivergent.

[naffeclipse]

Hey, Naff! I was thinking of the AU where y/n is a dolphin mermaid and Sun, Moon and Eclipse run a mafia pod, and then I thought of the alternate scenario someone sent asking what would have happened if y/n had a kid with them, and then I had a thought! XD Not to contribute to the baby fever but!

What if the initial encounter went the same, y/n is chased, caught and forced to accept the deal of working for them, but in this scenario they are already expecting. Like super early pregnancy stage. Y/n does know about it, but it's so early that it's not outwardly visible or noticeable to anyone else.

And since that first encounter was so rough they are hesitant to ever mention it to the trio because they don't know how the mafia works and they are afraid either them or the future baby would be seen as a liability (unable to tell that's not actually the case). So they do the jobs they ask, while trying to hide it to the best of their ability. And thankfully for them (at least they think so), it's one of those pregnancies that doesn't really show until much later, but there comes a point where they can very much not hide it anymore.

But what if that point comes when there is a lull between jobs for them, and the trio of bosses is pretty busy, so they are left alone for a while and they are like "Great! Maybe I can have this baby unnoticed!" But then just as they approach the due date they are finally summoned back, but at this point they know they can't go to them. So when they don't respond to the call it causes for one (or all three) of the boys to get suspicious and come looking for them. And that's all I thought about gkjfhgkfh No idea what happens next XD

Chaotik, I'm rattling you so hard right now! It's a sweet little twist on dolphin Y/N dealing with the mafia sirens + baby, and I'm entirely here for it!

Continuing where you left off, I like to imagine that Sun and Moon are the ones to go look for Y/N.

They can't have one of their own go rogue, especially without consequences. They make no exceptions as they explained what would happen to those who aren't loyal, but Sun and Moon are especially sullen. Dolphin Y/N is all three of the bossess' favorite, and to have them try and think they can get away spears their pride (and hearts) when they've been so good to them. Of course, that's not to say they haven't taunted, teased, and grabbed Y/N mercilessly, as they have full rights to do within their territory and those under their protection, but they thought Y/N was growing closer with them in return. Regardless, they're on the hunt.

On the farthest northern edge of their territory, where it was confirmed that Y/N was summoned back but did not follow through on the command, they come upon a thick Arctic ice pack and towering, roaming glaciers. Sun catches sight of Y/N first. They're hiding behind a sizeable outcropping of ice, flukes flitting anxiously. Moon swims around to catch Y/N from behind should they decide swimming away is a possibility.

Y/N is panicking, doing their best to keep their now very visible pregnancy concealed while also pondering their fate. The due date is close but the ferocious bosses are upon them. How useless will the two orca sirens decide they are while carrying a child?

Sun calls out to Dolphin Y/N to come out before he has to make them, and though Y/N reluctantly answers, they still keep their belly hidden. Moon, however, sees them entirely from his position, baby bump and all. Caught off guard, Moon slips behind Y/N while Sun is still interrogating them, and he takes their arm and firmly but gently pulls them out into open water. Sun stops midsentence to stare at Y/N while they flounder internally, deeply unsettled by their reactions—or the lack thereof.

After Moon and Sun silently stare at Y/N and process the new situation, they share a sharp look. Sun asks where Y/N's mate is. Y/N says in a small but no uncertain voice that they have no mate. They intend to raise their baby alone. Both sirens seem to relax at this. Y/N begins to babble about being able to care for the baby and still perform their work but Sun and Moon have made a silent decision together. Sun softly takes Y/N's other arm to guide them back to the center of their territory, where they belong.

Of course, Sun and Moon now recall certain moments from the past few months, such as Y/N being especially skittish whenever they or Eclipse grabbed onto their hips or caressed their sides. Another siren under their pod commented on Y/Ne eating better for they're a little thicker around the middle, and Y/N quickly brushed aside the remark. Of course, Sun and Moon see now how much softer Y/N's face is and that their movements are slow and careful, not as slipstreamed as they were when the brothers first chased them down. They're a bit bewildered (and abashed) that they missed the signs.

Y/N is still panicking at how closely Sun and Moon guide them back into the heart of their territory before taking them to a sizeable ice cave, carved out by claws. Sun darts away once they pull Y/N inside. Moon asks Y/N more questions about their pregnancy: how are they feeling, do they need to eat, are they tired, do they know when they might have the baby, and so on. Y/N grows increasingly anxious by the grilling but answers truthfully. The due date is soon, very soon. That's why they couldn't answer the summons. Moon dismisses Y/N's stumbling overexplaining with a wave of his head. He's already pieced that bit together.

Then Eclipse arrives with Sun. His burning eyes immediately land on their big belly in plain view, and Moon tending closely to their side, his claws curled around their hand. Y/N finally asks what the bosses are going to do with them. They don't want any harm to come to their baby but Y/N is well aware that they can't fend off three orca sirens. (Eclipse remembers a time he noticed a slight swell to Y/N's belly but attributed that to providing well for their Dolphin Y/N after they've been so loyal and hard working in return.) Eclipse is silent for a long heartbeat before he flashes his teeth and chastises Y/N for not telling them earlier. They could have protected them more, allowed them to rest and stay closer to them, and given them less dangerous work.

Y/N stammers for a moment before falling silent. Did the terrifying eldest boss just say what they think he said? Sun leaves to retrieve a fish before Moon speaks low into Eclipse's ear. Sun returns and gives all his attention to Y/N while he ensures the fish he caught for them won't trigger any nausea. After Y/N says the fish is fine, Sun caresses their cheek once. Then, the twins disappear, leaving Y/N with Eclipse as he watches them eat. He explains that their child falls under the orca sirens' protection because he and his brothers already protect Y/N. They will see that Y/N is given whatever they need to rest and recover. Y/N is struck dumb, but the fish is delicious and they haven't been torn apart yet, so that can only be a good thing. Right?

Eclipse catches Y/N's chin in his hand, lifting their head to hold their gaze as he grins. It will be lovely to have a little one around, he says. Y/N believes he's sincere, still wrapping their head around how they started the day off terrified and somehow finished it with devotion and support from the three orca sirens.

[forcedhesitation]

astarion origin playthrough worth it just for all the extra moments where he does the "sad wet cat" face