#thanks for asking! these were both great :)

[storge]

I don't usually fancy a crowd, but I'm in a good mood today. I'll keep you company.

The Double (2024) 1.08

[agentc0rn]

holy moly guys I found a really cool az and volo encounter comic on Twitter (tweet is by original artist)…

EDIT: Updated with rough translation below!!

1st page: Togepi: Wow, so many flowers! Hmm?

2 page: You there, you seem like a strange person. You’re larger than Volo. Do you like flowers? Oh, Volo!

3rd page: Volo: so you’re looking for a Pokémon?

Az. …Yes, i’m in a journey.

Volo: You come from a faraway region, I imagine?

Az: from here, to the west…what is it. (Gonna split this into multiple parts lol)

4th page continued

Volo: oh no, it’s just…your belongings, and clothings are something not commonly seen in this areas. Yet you seem to have make great use of them for a long time. Is your journey a long one?

Az:…. Volo: my apologies! To verify such a rare person, thing, event is of a merchant’s nature! It was a rather ill-mannered question, please do forget-

Az: 3000 years. Nearly 3000 years I have been travelling.

Volo: You are kidding me! You hold some distinctive conversation techniques! You are very amusing! What sort of a Pokémon that a person like you seek to find is it even if it would take 3000 years?

Az: ‘so he asks many questions in the end….’ “…floette. A Pokémon said to appear with a flower. In my region it is not rare. It is one of them.”

5th page: Togepi: 3000 years? I don’t understand at all but he has traveling for a long time? Torkoal: you would believe such a tale, young lady?

Togepi: he doesn’t seem to be the type of person to lie.

Torkoal: ohoho, you are astute, young lady.

Togepi: and about floette? She likes flowers? I would like to meet her!

Torkoal: ohoho

Volo: ‘his way of speaking…seeking a Pokémon doesn’t seem to be a lie…’ “To say it is uncommon, yet for you it is the most special one, isn’t it? Spending eternal time traversing landmarks you in seeking the special one…that is a very dreamy story! Az:….

Volo: I myself will be supporting you! I too would…

AZ: don’t do it. The unending pain of not knowing when it will all end…it cannot be called life. It’s hell.

6th page: Volo: I apologize if I offended you. I cannot comprehend 3000 years but I just thought taking time to pursue your dreams is a fabulous thing… I mean, what is 3000 years? Is it in the form of a jest?

Az…I’m tired. I will rest.

Volo; oh my, is that so. Well then have a good rest.

Togepi: that person, did he get mad?

Torkoal: cohoho, no…..perhaps he was reminded of the past.

7th page: Togepi to az: you like flowers, don’t you?

8th page: oh, are you already departing?

Az: yes. You wanted to hear my story. To live a life longer than an average person chasing a dream means you would suffer longer than any other person. It means you are the only one cut off from this world. This body of mine…from the dream I sought…must be punishment. You must not overstep.

Volo: punishment I see… yet if I were to be able to live long…ha ha…yes..

Az: you don’t understand, do you?

9th page:

Volo: "even if 100 years pass, I would like meet you and hear your traveling stories again! It’ a matter of perspective, isn’t it ? After all, I wish to take time to know the world better! I want to chase my dreams!! If the world were to punish me for this curiosity then I wouldn’t want to live in such a ridiculous one. And if I am able to fulfill my dreams…even the world…! I can live for a long time so I can…!

Az: I don’t know what kind of dreams you have but it is impossible to expand lifespan! Volo: Well then, how did you became the way you are now? …wait please, I would like to talk little bit more… (Le epic Pokémon appears)

Togepi: hey, this isn’t fair/right! Torkoal: I’m sorry young lady, this cannot be known.

10th page: im amazed! I didn’t know how much Pokémon were hidden until now. It’s like trained soldiers, or a weapon. You yourself beyond a glance appear to be honest and complicated individual… (So many unknown Pokémon…should I used THAT to rout them? No we need to know this man’s secret by revealing mine.)

Az: if we were to meet again hundred years later, I will tell you.

Volo: understood! For that we’ll have to work on that! (An interesting method to expand lifespan …a thinking that sounds like an insurance policy!) now it is the best time for me to carry out my plan successfully!

Torkoal: farewell young lady and thank you. It was fun.

Togepi: I hope you meet floette again soon. Give my regards to floette! Torkoal: kohoho…thank you young lady, thank you: I pray that after a hundred years or so later…we don’t meet again…”

[stardustedknuckles]

Hot enby friend and I stopped by the sex shop and they knew one of the workers there and as they got to chatting I realized this person was a new worker and I had a good enough feel of the vibe to go "It was YOU!! You took the spot I applied for!" and they like, raised their hands real dramatic and were like "tis I! The superior candidate!" and I did a little bow in deference and anyway people here are pretty cool.

[punch-love]

🪐🍬🎨

🪐 ⇢ name three good things going on in your life right now

I don't usually talk about personal things on here but...I had the most delicious kona bowl today alongside a very nice lemon drop, I finished sewing a patch I embroidered onto one of my favorite cropped hoodies, and the new weed I got smells fruity in the best way.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

Odin isn't an abusive parent so much as a guy given maybe one of the most difficult children to raise in the universe. As someone who has worked with incredibly complicated trickster children before...I have some level of empathy for Odin trying to wrangle his bloodthirsty and self-absorbed nightmare child away from a throne that he could give him under no circumstances.

I don't think he was winning any dad of the year awards, either, but I do think that he loved Loki and ultimately saw his own terrible nature in him and was afraid of what Loki might do with it. In the mythos, they're blood brothers and I think that they are in many ways two sides of the same coin, and because of that I like to approach Odin with more nuance than "bad dad."

🎨 ⇢ link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it

I think this is actually my favorite piece in the entire fandom. I had it as my computer background for at least a month after I saw it, and whenever I think of "the end" I think of this. The idea that Mobius is the crux of Loki's choice while being forever separate from him is so perfectly replicated in this. The warm tones that convey a sense of loss, the silhouette of Mobius's back while we watch Loki looking him. It's so haunting, so tragic, so ephemeral. I don't often buy prints of things, but I would buy one of this.

[driftingballoons]

what's your favourite pokemon of each type??

struggled severely to find a working “favorite by type” generator, but here they are! Very much aesthetic based choices lol

[pelahnar]

I need this message to sink in for myself and probably other people do too:

The WORST thing that will happen if you apply to a job is that you won't get a response.

That's the absolute WORST. And if don't get a response the reason could range anywhere from "this is an awful resume/cover letter and they have no right to think they could get this job" to "this was a good application and it just missed the cut-off from getting an interview because there were several slightly better."

So dear self: there is no reason not to send in applications - especially to jobs you don't necessarily even want, as practice - just because you don't think your resume and cover letter are perfect yet.

[neroushalvaus]

I wanna ask you an important (not really) question, but don't feel like you have to answer.

Javert in epilogue Heaven: yes or no? Is he in hell or purgatory maybe?

Hey, as far as I am concerned, this is an important question ;D This is actually a discussion I have cared enough about to give a whole ted talk about it in my friends' musical theatre podcast (sadly the episode is in Finnish). But yeah, my opinion is a very definitive "yes".

Because I know people have conflicting views about this, I hope you don't mind me explaining myself, I don't want to end up on people's "bad les mis takes" blocklists before I get to justify my case.

So, when we talk about Heaven in the context of Les Mis, we can't ignore the fact that Les Mis as a musical and as a book holds Christian values. If we look at the main theological themes present in the book, it preaches hospitality, grace and forgiveness (and also liberation theology even though it wasn't called that back then but we are keeping it simple). That's why "Javert can't go to Heaven because he was a bad person" doesn't work for me, even though I absolutely agree that he is. If Javert is not in Heaven, I think having Javert's Suicide mirror Valjean's Soliloquy is a bad decision. The bishop shows Valjean kindness, Valjean looks within and Valjean gets a new life; Valjean shows Javert kindness, Javert looks within... And? I think it makes narrative sense that Javert gets a new life, even if it is after death.

Another argument I have seen is "Javert wouldn't want to be in the epilogue, there is a barricade there", and I don't agree with that either. Like. I don't think it's a literal barricade, it is a metaphor for how the equal world the Amis wanted exists after death. I'm not saying it's not a bittersweet ending – I think Karl Marx would absolutely hate it –, but that's what it is. It's not a very revolutionary ending. For what it's worth, I don't think the literal character of Enjolras would actually be comfortable singing about how everyone will be equal once they're dead and that's fine. It only works if the barricade is a metaphor.

Aside from being Heaven, I think the epilogue has two purposes; to gather all the characters on the stage once more, and to give the audience some catharsis. This is why I think Javert should be there, and in fact, I think every character in the show should be there. The book and the show are called Les Misérables for a reason, every character in it is wretched and has been left behind by society. The musical is pretty vague about Javert's wretchedness, but I think he reveals just enough for the audience to see that this is a miserable bastard and if he were to sing in the end with the others, that would bring the audience some catharsis. Especially seeing him together with everyone the society he has served has harmed, and he himself has harmed. I personally would really like that. "We will walk behind the plowshare, we will put away the sword. The chain will be broken and all men will have their reward". I also like how that would prove Javert wrong. As he sings in Stars, he thinks that "those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward"; then he, in his own mind, fails to follow that path; and he gets in Heaven, where everyone who has suffered in their life will be rewarded, no matter the bad things they did. Not to quote the book too much, but "This door does not demand of him who enters whether he has a name, but whether he has a grief. You suffer, you are hungry and thirsty; you are welcome".

I think that would be the correct way to end this musical. The ending may not be revolutionary, but at its best it is cathartic, hopeful and gentle. So in my opinion it should be as gentle as possible.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

God. One of my little sisters is such a bitch. She's done me some genuine damage in exacerbating my already social bad anxiety. But when I have dreams where she's been hurt or killed, it's so horrible bc she's still my lil sister :-(

[sailforvalinor]

15, 16, 18 for the random asks!

15. tell me about a childhood memory you’ll never forget.

I remember my last day of kindergarten very vividly (I remember waking up very early and laying in bed and watching the sun peeking through the blinds), as it was tinged with the knowledge that I was moving for the first time. I was going to be moving nearly ten hours away, and I knew I likely wouldn’t see most of these people for a very long time, if ever, so it was very bittersweet. But when I got to school, I found out that my teacher had gotten a little rocking chair for me and painted it, and had had everyone in the class sign it. I walked into the classroom, and there it was, sitting smack-dab in the middle of the carpet. I still have it to this day!

16. what is the first “big kid book” aka chapter book that you remember reading after learning how to read?

I believe it was The Little House in the Big Woods—my grandma gave me her copy right before the first time I moved. I think it may have been read to me first, but it’s still the first book I remember reading on my own.

18. name a smell that makes you nostalgic. (for a time, a place, a house, a person, etc.)

Elizabeth Arden’s Red Door—it’s a perfume that my grandma used to wear, and when she used to babysit me when I was really little, she used to “do my makeup” (in reality, I would watch her do hers and then she would put a teeny bit of blush and eyeshadow on me) and then she would spray me with a little bit of her perfume. During my first year of college, she got me a little roller version of it along with some other cutesy doodads, and I’m not sure that she knows it’s my favorite gift she’s ever gotten me—it was one of the only things keeping me together during that year, as my school wasn’t allowing anyone to go home that semester due to the pandemic. I used to open it up just to smell it.

[toushindai]

Do you think something happened between Ganondorf and Rauru before the events of Zelda's memories? I've always viewed them as something like exes cause their dynamic is pretty tense in the flashbacks that Zelda gave us. ┐⁠(⁠´⁠ー⁠｀⁠)⁠┌

Exes is such a widespread thought about Ganondorf/Rauru and I absolutely see why—very obviously there is something between them that makes their interactions resentful and deeply personal, and it goes a long ways towards explaining the malice in Ganondorf’s accusation that Rauru has shacked up with a Hyrulean woman. That particular dig is the only one Rauru responds to visibly, not even the “hey do you ever think about how all your people are dead and it would be super easy for me to finish you off?” one, which to my ears is a much weightier and more pointed threat. So I think exes is a delicious dynamic between the two of them—having been close once, having thought themselves in sync once, their philosophical conflicts were too great to resolve and they fell apart, each resenting the other enough that their aftershocks played out on the land of Hyrule.

Unfortunately by the time I saw that this was a pattern in Ganondorf/Rauru thought I was already neck-deep in my own thoughts, which did not involve them being exes and were broadly incompatible with the thought, and it was too late for me. Everyone else, please carry that torch proudly ✊😔

And it’s not just a backstory thing that makes it incompatible with my thoughts… I said above, if they are exes, their breakup becomes much larger than something between two people, effectively underlying if not causing the Imprisoning War. Absolutely a fascinating dynamic, but in some ways the opposite of what I found myself interested in writing, in which the affairs of state—these larger-than-life considerations with their own, slightly off-from-human sense of ethics and responsibility—are jammed into two tiny bodies and performed on a scale far too small for them. Does that make sense? Rauru is Rauru and he is Hyrule and he is the last of the Zonai. Ganondorf is Ganondorf and he is the first Gerudo male in a century and he is the Gerudo. Everything they do two each other is at least three things and there’s no room left for the people involved even as the people involved hate each other and want each other so much.

So, when I say “here’s what I think,” I’m not making any claim to canonicity; this is just what I’ve built to serve as the background odor the story I’m telling with them.

What I think is, Ganondorf and Rauru met seven years before the time of the flashbacks when Rauru got himself an invitation to visit Gerudo Town. This comes up in UAWTATR. Ganondorf loathed Rauru before they even met—understandably, as he and Sonia had already been around the region setting up shrines without permission from the Gerudo—but Rauru was hopeful for some kind of friendship with the Gerudo’s prince. His hopes were dashed to pieces when he met Ganondorf in the Northern Temple (what is now the Northern Ruins—where we find Riju training in TOTK). Ganondorf was curt and antagonistic with him, exuding with every exchange an air of we don’t want you here. This stung Rauru quite badly and he did not very much reflect on how his attitude might have led to Ganondorf’s—especially after, at a banquet that evening, Ganondorf orchestrated an opportunity to demonstrate his own strength (and thus the superfluity of Hyrule to the Gerudo) by having a molduga sicced on the party and taking it down single-handedly. This did not really have the effect he hoped on the royal couple and they left with the impression that Ganondorf’s vibes were rancid.

Then they didn’t really hear from each other again until Ganondorf’s predecessor stepped down and Ganondorf came to power, and at that point “hear from each other” is a very generous phrasing because what happened is Rauru started sending his Repeated Invitations and Ganondorf decided that Gerudo’s new foreign policy, at least when it came to Hyrule, was simply to Ignore.

So all in all, the way I’m writing them, Ganondorf’s time at the court of Hyrule is the first time they’ve dealt with each other extensively, but they already have this enormous history of antagonism built up between them. How refreshing it is to get to hate each other in person! While fucking.

[the-white-soul]

(Kara) "Finally, great job Flowey. That should teach them something they'll never forget." (Clover) "You just did 19 HP. Hah, don't you understand I have 99." (Kara) "Check your HP one more time. =)" (Clover) "It says… 98 hp. But I've seen that attack before. What the hell is going on?" (Kara) "Flowey has a soul, dumb-ass." Clover starts to sprint away (Kara) "The good Clover!"

(Clover) "R… real showdown. Their voice stutters. They felt fear for the first time since Flowey got the determination extract. They started crying. Not fake, real crying. Please…" (Kara) "Oh, how the tides have turned. You expect me to give you mercy? I'm going to enjoy this. Any last words?" (Clover) "I just have one piece of advice. Advice that would've helped us both. Merg shows up and gives them a healing item. Don't savor your victims. Shoots right into Kara's knee. See you. Runs into the nearest door and then is gone."

[pynkhues]

Have you watched the artful dodger on Hulu? I really enjoyed it! I thought of you bc it takes place in Australia. It’s really interesting to think of how Australias history impacts the culture there even today 🩷

I haven't yet! I actually didn't even know it had come out yet, haha - I knew they were making it as they shot it in Sydney and my sister did a few dailies on it before she went onto another show, but I didn't really know that much about it beyond it being an Oliver spin-off set in Australia. It looks fun, and I quite like Thomas Brodie-Sangster, so I'll definitely check it out.

Thanks for the rec and for thinking of me! ❤️

[dorkicon]

ASK GAME 5, 6, and 7

5. Is there a relationship (romantic or otherwise) between tf characters that you find interesting?

...i like a few romantic relationships in tf 👍

actually im gonna say that whatever octane and sandstorm have going on is really funny to me. doesnt matter if you see it romantically or platonically.

^sandstorm is just walking around autobot city or whatever with his decepticon friend and nobody seems to care because octane is such a fail cringeguy that i guess nobody really thinks hes dangerous enough to bother shooing away. theyre forever entwined as a lameass duo in my heart and soul. forever.

6. Which tf character do you relate to the most?

i had to consult the council on this one (pals on discord) and i return to you with: g1 hound and ratchet. thank u.

7. Which relationship (romantic or otherwise) between tf characters do you relate to the most?

^well um. primes my dad too....

[boyswanna-be-her]

Ok phew im pleasantly exhausted with this person, and relieved that there's a limit. I'm still second-guessing myself after manicgate and had been carefully asking myself "am i unnaturally 'funding' energy I don't have because someone is paying attention to me?" but today was a balanced day where I STILL spent ~7 hours with them, in addition to like working on other projects! Spending time alone! Developing my program for Saturday! Got a chip repaired in my car windshield (thanks for nothing louisiana) and went on a walk in a weird park. Took care of all my responsibilities, ate three meals, etc.

My friend slotted nicely into the other things I was doing. We had an extremely chill morning as a duo at the clinic with 3-5 protesters throughout the sessions, all of whom were intimidated enough not to talk to us OR approach any clients, which I've never encountered before. Wonderful. We literally sat in camping chairs with our feet up in my trunk reading for the majority, although I feel like when we both have the energy, we never run out of things to talk about. Then we co-worked this afternoon a few hours after the end of our clinic shift at their favorite spot to work (which I'd never visited before). I came back to the beach and resumed normal life. They pinged me after dinner to ask if I wanted to voice chat (??? idk, that's new) and I said thank you and that I was catching up on TV.

it didn't feel clingy or anything, it feels like when you're a child and your best new friend from class wants you to come over to play and how nice and validating that is. but I'm just like... respectfully, no, I'll be seeing you in person in <12 hours at the clinic again, and then we're coworking (finishing a major project together tomorrow! Phew glad to be done) and then after dinner (where im committed elsewhere), I'm going back to their place again for stronglifts.

I'm enthused that they're enthralled by my... friendship (or whatever??? If it's not something beyond friendship, they're intellectually very down to clown in a way that i've never experienced before without it leading to something distinctly non platonic) and it's nice to be where I'm at in this dynamic (an equal give and take of time and resources, reliance and support, jokes and down to work shit, and reassuringly i'm almost never the one initiating).

Anyway, I'm just like. Okay! I'm sated. We good. Would love to talk to you tonight but I'm also not at that "let's chit chat with irl voices while I'm sleepy" stage yet, although the potential for that is something I would've def hardcore jumped on before I was concentrating on centering and more eager to define things. I don't wanna do the co-dependency thing again any time soon, even when somone has planted many green flags, even with someone my community has verified independently as a good person who isn't just love-bombing me, even with someone cute and smart (and unexpectedly significantly stronger than me? holy shit??). Reaching an organic limit of energy I can set aside for them feels like a really healthy place to be with it right now.

[omarfor-orchestra]

Sometimes I get a random memory from highschool years and I'm like damn girl you used to live like that?

[atvbs]

i def see and understand why people can see akty as romantic and i respect and still like it too dont get me wrong. but the reasoning people tend to use is that theyre super close, always together, and have immense respect for one another. and just. that can also be seen in platonic and queer platonic relationships too right? RIGHT? friendships and the like carry all of those characteristics too. people can have a very close knit relationship and it doesnt have to be romantic. maybe its bc im aroace and am just. sick of seeing romance slapped onto so many dynamics that are Just as great as platonic and/queer platonic but yeah.