#the necessity of beauty

[mumblesplash]

comics as an art form make me insane. they’re so difficult to do well. there’s so many different ways to make sequential art work and most of them are deeply unintuitive. onomatopoeia that feels completely ridiculous to put down often reads seamlessly. panels on a page become a fractally nested image composition challenge that’s only possible to lose because if you do a good job no one will notice. you have to direct the readers’ eyes on a specific path across the page but also account for the fact that they won’t follow it. comic time isn’t linear. if the order of events isn’t crystal clear the story becomes incomprehensible. sometimes you need to do this on purpose. all this for a medium almost universally considered less effective than animation and less respectable than plain text. even its own name doesn’t take it seriously

[sanjiaftersex]

Favourite fishman island Sanji moments

It was extremely disappointing to see a beautiful complex character like sanji getting reduced to his reaction towards women. But at some point he reverts back to his old self and These are some of the things i loved the most about sanji during the fishman island arc :

(1) My favourite chivalrous knight in shining armor spitting fire as usual

(2) After the annoying exhausting excruciating nosebleed episodes, this is where sanji was back to his flirty loser boy personality and was immediately saying cringe pickup lines and preparing tea for the ladies

(3) This one gotta be one of my most favorite moments where Sanji again proved how intelligent and perceptive he is. He could guess who attacked hatchi, and why so, from hatchi's reactions to jinbe's words alone. He is sensitive to people's moods and reactions.

(4) the enemy understanding why sanji is so hyperaware of nami in the battlefield. He has always had the streak of looking out for the comparatively weaker crewmates

(5) Sanji coming through during the hitching between jinbe and Luffy. Even though Luffy's way of communication is IMMA BEAT HORDY UP and jinbe was trying to protect Luffy, that's when sanji piped in and explained his captain's words, working as the mediator in the chaotic conversation

(6) People say sanji was being condescending to jinbe here but I see this interaction as a "best friend who gets angry on your behalf" moment. Sanji is not a shrewd person but he was there in Arlong park to witness nami's sufferings, so it's normal for a friend to get angry(ier) at the person who may be the reason for the pain of ur friend. (Similar to how sometimes when we hate our friend's exes more than they do) But when nami said she was okay, Sanji didn't drag the issue anymore. Sanji was rightfully angry here but he knew when to step back

(7) This may be silly but Sanji really respects whatever food or drink is served and never wastes food ofc. I loved how he genuinely appreciated Camie's cold soup even if he was already cold from drowning in the sea. Even if sanji is a top notch cook, he immediately reassured camie that the soup is good and graciously accepted it. He's always humble, sweet and kind.

[dramoor]

"Much of the modern world sees beauty as a luxury (which it so rarely affords). I grieve deeply when I hear the modern sentiment directed towards a beautiful Church 'that money should have been given to the poor.' These are the words of Judas. And those who say such things rarely give anything themselves. Beauty is not a contradiction of generosity."

~Fr. Stephen Freeman

(Photo © dramoor 2014 Church of Our Savior on Spilled Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia)

[lazycranberrydoodles]

oh yeah hua chengs hair is NOT naturally curly btw if he didnt have 5 billion spiritual energy hed be spending an hour with the curling iron every morning

[fondofdawn]

so i just finished reading Babel by RF Kuang, and it was an inevitable 5-star from the very beginning. the same way it was also inevitable for me to cry over book IV and V.

[lvebug]

we've stopped for food & thank goodness bc driving is so bad for my knee actually. poking the dash while i wait for my eggs benedict (the biscuits weren't vegetarian ☹️ )

[mysticmothworld]

'blah blah moths are boring cuz they're all brown blahblah blah'

'no they're not! some moths are ✨colourful✨'

Oh. Oh you sweet summer children. What of texture, what of shape, what of pattern, what of refined elegance what of the beauty of things that existed before the tiny speck of dirt in the fingernail of existence that we humans are... that carry on with the tasks of their kin while you sleep in a city built on hubris that will topple because of the thoughtless destruction of all that benefits us... what of that??

[whatudottu]

I am endlessly entertained (perhaps that's the wrong word) by the concept that Knock Out was only ever doctor adjacent and just switched from a cosmetic surgeon to a full blown medic during the war, especially since apparently in human medicine you don't have to have a doctorate as a cosmetic surgeon, at minimum only needing their basic initial medical training.

But I've also been thinking of it shattered too, Shattered Glass specifically.

I mean, I could hypothetically keep SG Knock Out as a cosmetic surgeon, but why would a cosmetic surgeon not practice what they preach and at least look a little nice. Going with a literally shattered Knock Out, would you trust a bot that looks like he walked out fresh from a car crash to make your finish shine? Probably not, but he'll do it...

Though, not in the same way one might as a cosmetic surgeon do (beautician?)

If SG!KO is so hellbent on keeping every scar and only really fixing anything if it reduces the integrity of armour (Knock Out may scoff at scuffed paint but he isn't an idiot), what if frankly he's unused to working on anyone that was ever remotely alive, especially himself who would need to be alive to do anything in the first place. A scar here, a scrape there, battle hardened warriors on their deathbed might want to look grand and imposing even in death, no wayward medic is gonna make that body look pristine and perfect just to erase the story of what had happened.

So instead of being a cosmetic surgeon, Shattered Glass Knock Out may have been a mortician, perfectly adept at making a corpse shine without erasing the features the dearly departed so diligently requested, though gussying up a comatose body is a lot more living than he's particularly used to.

Part of what makes this funny (in perhaps a horrifying way) is that Knock Out uh has no history with being a doctor OR as a licensed medical professional; you don't need a to worry about the hippocratic oath if the patient you're working on hasn't been alive for a whole month. What counts as an open wound fresh from stabbing versus an old wound one wears proudly is if there's any live wires or leaking fuel actively compromising the integrity of a bot's frame. Buffing and waxing a living mecha's armour is different when there are still active nanites working their way on and throughout the body giving their vibrant armour colours. Stemming the flow of actual liquid energon versus the congealed clots of cold dead fuel is an entirely different experience than what Knock Out had been doing over and over again before he had to be a medic.

Trial and error, where the errors lead back into KO's expertise, dealing with the dead and following the wishes of the deceased; a new term to agree upon came about with the war, to harvest what can be salvaged and be stored (for as long as they will live) for spare parts.

If baseverse Knock Out was a charming, outgoing, and sociable mech, SG Knock Out isn't used to bodies (patients, mecha) walking around and talking. One of the first time he was fixing a finish, first time using the stuff for the living, he nearly clawed off his own work when the mech made conversation; the ensuing joke of 'having a BREAKDOWN' didn't stop the groan and eye roll from being his next response. He doesn't so much as flinch at a dead looking finish, the kinda grey you look at an immediately associate with a corpse, but he can certainly tell the difference from a hue of nanites and the absence of their activity. At the cordial 'Doctor Knock Out' sent his way, he has to shut himself up correcting them, for as true as he may say he isn't a doctor it isn't particularly assuring for the bot in charge of your medical care states blandly he doesn't have a license; not many do, but saying it aloud doesn't help anyone.

Working during the war KO has accrued a few scars of his own, never makes it the end of the solar cycle with a pristine finish... and not just because he doesn't really care to start the day with a fresh coat. Armour often left dented though repaired when split, face and portions of protoform littered with nicks and cuts and sometimes gaping wounds, sealed shut not with welding but a mesh net he had once used as a mortician for those very same scars, whatever bleeding there long since healed. The missing optic is inconvenient, though not quite as terrible as losing a few parts from his fingers, their delicate work hampered with some missing tips, another near fully gone.

Some of them have stories, others a quick flash. There was a bomb in a body, that took his fingers. There was a welding torch, the light burned his optic. A wound on his side, that was from a lucky shot.

He is his own walking autopsy.

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

obsessed with their different reactions to being called starcrossed lovers

[missazura]

okay all jokes aside, looking back at my messages from years ago- good god i was a goddamn mess. i'm talking about constant breakdowns and vitriolic self hatred every single day, i've changed a lot since... i'm nowhere perfect but i've improved at least!

[merge-conflict]

every day I wake up and wish I had access to cyberpunk stuff written by someone who really truly absurdly loves computers

[wlw-cryptid]

as a service butch, there's nothing i'd love more than helping a femme princess with her end-of-day routine. my hands are rough but i'll be gentle, i promise 🧡

sorry for purring and melting under your fingertips

[jemmo]

i just finished the our dining table ep and heck… i cannot explain how my heart aches for minoru. like it’s been building up across all these eps but now that it’s finally at the point where he let his own feelings out and just as quickly as it happened it was over. in the same breath he confesses and asks to return to normal, and i know yutaka didn’t say anything to fight that or indicate otherwise, but just that innate inclination in minoru to shut it down, it just speaks to this overall feeling i get from him when he has his quieter moments away from his family and yutaka. that this is it. that this is just gonna be the extent of his happiness, and it’s not bad, bc he’s happy, but it’s just the feeling of there is nothing more out there for him, bc he gave that up for this happiness, and it’s not a regret, you just feel that absence. it makes it feel like him wishing for more with yutaka is asking too much, and it hurts bc now it does feel irreversible, and that doesn’t just affect him but tane too, the one he prioritized over everything else. you can see how the narrative in his head could go; i asked for too much and now that’s affected the people i care about the most. but that’s why the story works. it’s two people that have just blended into the background of their own lives finding a way to put themselves first sometimes, just in the smallest of ways, be it with love or with food. bc in the same way putting in time and effort to make a nice meal for you and others can feel special and indulgent, wanting love can feel like indulging yourself, but this show shows that both are the things that bring us joy, and wanting them is never too much to ask.

[yeonban]

PsyPass Tobias is already living a downright comical life bc wdym he's regularly receiving bouquets of red roses from Mya. (<-a criminal actively going against Sibyl btw)

[newathens]

i think i could write almost a book worth of content relating to body image and beauty and society and how it all interacts with each other and the body positive movements and what we deem beautiful and the entire industry of weight loss and how our images of ourselves are effected throughout adolescence in this modern day. and im saying this because i just feel i view things from a very different, albeit fucked up perspective. it’s definitely not the happy go lucky stuff people spew idk the way i view things makes me feel very alone but idt im the only one that does see it the way i do. this shit is hell

[tamis-fabulous-adventure]

Party Time!

Phew! I haven't done a juice keg since my uni days, but I've still got it!

I met Stella Striker in my first week working at the salon, and I had the pleasure of helping her pick out new swimwear. Tonight she invited me over for a house party! It was a nice break from the clubs. Intimate atmosphere, chance to meet new friends, good times.

One of the most exciting parts? Stella introduced me to Emmy Starr! I told her how obsessed I was with her style in I'm Dying, Lets Dance!, and she was impressed by my portfolio so far. I guess you could say I'm... Starr-struck!

Sorry for the lack of photos, friends. I was too busy living in the moment! So here's my tip for the week: Put that damn phone down and talk to some people! You have no clue who you might meet!

~ Love, Tami