#the whole of rw is so. so. so amazing

[arachnidanon]

another thing I think about a lot is whether the guardians are sentient or not. I personally think they are, knowing the iterators.

imagine seeing your creators collectively walk past you, to a fate you will never have and never know. you try to hold some back, sensing that they are still connected to this world somehow, and are immediately commanded to let them pass anyway by other ancients.

once your creators are gone, you spend years not quite alone, other guardians surrounding you, but with no way of communication. sometimes, creatures will attempt to take the plunge, only for you to stop them and throw them back to where they came from. rarer times, you have no power to stop them, for they have no tethers to this world for you to pull them back with.

imagine watching the void slowly consume the other guardians, knowing you will eventually be next. and you aren’t sure how to feel.

I’ve got an OC that is basically a guardian put in place of an iterator, so maybe I’m biased with the whole sentient guardians thing, but yeah.

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Radfems and Alt-right'ers aligning with each other is one of the most incredible things to come out of the 21st century lmao

[emperormoth101]

RAHHHH HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL THE RAINWORLD MOOTS/COOL PEOPLE!!!

tags and notes under cut!!!

@rubicons SO SO HAPPY TO HAVE MET YOU!! You are so cool!!! Tysm for introducing me to cherrypie I love them with my whole heart

@sugarr-moon And thank you for introducing me to bathbomb!!! You’re an awesome person and I think you’re ver cool :]

@tomfoooleryy YOU!!! You are amazing!!! I love your art and your rainworld designs and au is so cool :D

@cheddar-inq YOU TOO! I love your dark au sm I swear i’ll start sending in more asks soon, my last one was to moon about sacrifices (that was me yes)

@weeeeblr HII I’ve not known you for very long but I still am such a big fan of your designs and art :D

@pookapufferfish I may not know you that well but still drew your little guy!!! You seem like a really cool person and I love seeing your stuff on my dashboard

@draagu !!! You are so so awesome! All of your designs are so unique and amazing and I love seeing your pufferfish content!!!

@sleepinginmute Hello!!! I think you’re so cool and I also love seeing your stuff on my dash :] your art is awesome and I love seeing it all

@druidshollow Been a fan of you for awhile now, im so invested in your iterator story and I totally would’ve drawn Phrases or River if I could figure out how to draw iterator…still, i love reading your rw thoughts and comics

anddd @failed-inspection ! I only found you a couple days ago but I love your slugcat designs! Im also a very big fan of spearmaster campaign :D

If anyone wants separate images I can grab them!

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

Recently I refound a screenshot I took with a post from Twitter that frustrated me and seeing @kitkatopinions post reminded me about it and I kind of sort of ish touched on it in my reblog but I realized it would be a king winding tangent and I should make me own post but the thing that started all of this was the point about so called “irredeemable” characters and the post in question was talking about how we all think Ruby WILL save Salem. Not might or maybe. Not defeat Salem but SAVE her and between that and the comment about irredeemable characters I have thoughts.

As you hopefully know I am not against redemption arcs. I like them a lot. One of my all time favorite arcs is Zuko’s redemption and his reunion with Iroh. It’s an amazing arc amazing storytelling brilliant. However what frustrated me about fans of the show excited to see Ruby “save” Salem is that these same fans insist that their are other characters who are “irredeemable” and that is it “wrong” to even write fanfics that redeem them. And it continually blows my mind that fans can insist that no matter what Salem, the woman who wants to end the entire world and has killed at least thousands and possible more, will be redeemed and in the same breath insist that despite her heinous and vile actions, her victims are somehow WORSE and no matter what CANNOT be saved.

How has the fndm deluded themselves into thinking that if Salem can be redeemed their are characters who are somehow off the table on the whole redemption thing. She has killed so many, manipulated used broken so many people. But somehow, this isn’t a problem for them. It’s not a deal breaker for them while things like robbing stores or making a morally gray decision in the middle of a nightmare scenario….is?

Like if we’re going to be setting hard lines on what makes a person redeemable vs not Salem should be considered someone in the irredeemable category. Especially if we’re going to pretend that characters like James, Adam and Torchwick are irredeemable the person whose done worse and on larger scale bad thing then them should also be cool spidered irredeemable. Her being a uwu sad woman doesn’t erase the horrific things she’s done and the harm she’s caused.

However, if RW/BY wants to be a hopepunk….then it doesn’t make sense for anyone to be considered irredeemable. As I’ve said, what’s more hopeful, you or a loved one forever being doomed to be evil once you make a mistake or knowing that their is hope and goodness inside someone, no matter how buried and hard to find it is, it’s still their if you’re willing to fight for it.

I would much rather have a Ruby who unapologetically declares “I know you think you’re too far gone. I know you think the darkness has swallowed you so deep their is no way the light can even find you. But you’re wrong. I’ll be your light. I’ll guide you out of the darkness and back into the light because I refuse to ever leave anyone behind.” Over one who says “well sorry you passed your amount of evil things you’re allowed to do before I abandon you so…sucks to be you pal you’re forever evil now.

Hopepunks are supposed to be stories that whole feel hopeless, refuse to give up on hope. They are determined to bring hope and joy to the hopeless. Hope in a hopepunk is even an act of rebellion. And what better world to have hope be rebellion then a world torn by war against what feels like and endless army of soulless monsters, where people are so desperate to survive they are willing to compromise their morals in the name of surviving. A world that have given up on kindness meaning anything. Let Ruby’s kindness be rebellion. Let her refusal to give up on hope and kindness show a world shrouded in darkness that they can still be kind and have hope.

One of my all time favorite redemption arcs is Zuko’s, and something about it I adore and gets me emotional every time is the reunion between Zuko and Iroh. At this point, Zuko is sure his uncle can’t and won’t ever forgive him and he’s certain that it’s what he deserves but he still feels he at least owes him an apology so he does. But instead of being angry and rejecting Zuko, Iroh hugs him, he loves him and assures him that he wasn’t angry, just sad he lost his way. And he was so grateful and happy that he found his way again. Imagine a Ruby like that who doesn’t hate those who’ve lost their way, who only wants to help them find their way back if they do get lost. Yes I’m channeling a fair bit of Iroh and Sora in my discussion of how I want Ruby to be but they are such perfect examples of what the show teased us Ruby would be like.

And no, it would not be weak or childish or whatever other insult you want to throw at her for Ruby to be like this. Maybe naive but….isn’t Ruby holding onto her ideals in the face of adversity so much better though? Her seeing the unthinkable and surviving a living nightmare but still having hope and still showing kindness is so powerful. Her offering forgiveness to those who hurt her because she believes in a United world and wants to be the change she so desperately wants to see. We where teased at this Ruby but it just didn’t happen.

The fndms insistence that certain characters aren’t deserving of redemption only serves to weaken Ruby as this simple soul who will save the world. A simple soul doesn’t arbitrarily decide who can be saved and who can’t. They don’t abandon people who need them the most. They just unapologetically help people. They show kindness and compassion to everyone around them. That is the kind of character RW/BY promised with Ruby, not this person who abandons people when it gets hard or who runs away crying and waiting for the solution to just fall into her lap. And I don’t understand why the fndm insists the Ruby we have is even remotely as good as the Ruby we where promised.

Give me a Ruby who believes no one is ever too far gone. Give me a Ruby who truly and unapologetically fights for ever life.

[battleofthewawas]

Creativity and Wawa admin here! Apologies for the belated response!

I said it on Creativity's but genuinely, thank you all so so much.

I never expected my silly joke oc to gain a little following! It still scrambles the brain whenever I try to think about it.

But it means a whole bunch! I was originally scared to participate in the community, so Wawa and Creativity were my first big steps into the wider RW fandom

even though this was just a silly little poll, I'm glad everyone was able to have fun!! Everyone's ocs were genuinely so neat and unique, and I'm happy to have found out about more people!!

I might be drawing them once I get some free time >:]

Sorry for the lengthier message but!! Yeah!! I hope everyone had a good time, and again

Thank you!!

Don’t apologize for the long ask! I’m very happy my tournament had an impact on somebody!

To think that people I had looked up to in this fandom had just casually joined my tournament and had a great experience is just…wow. It feels nice.

Congratulations on your win! You did amazing!

[asinkingfeelingao3]

Okay, to start this off, I want to say that the Omori orchestra concert livestream was absolutely amazing, and it was so cool seeing so many talented musicians coming together to really give the music from Omori the respect it deserves. However, I have one complaint about the whole thing.

There is no way these instrument choices are right!!! I mean sure Sunny playing violin and Mari playing piano is specifically canon, but Aubrey playing the double bass??? Hero and Kel on percussion??? Basil on flute is on thin ice for me. I already have headcanons for what instrument each member of the gang would play, and I'm planning on writing a fic some day about them putting together a chamber ensemble a few years after the events of the game, so this art drives me crazy! I just don't buy it.

Although, in hindsight, these are clearly the DW versions of them. My headcanon is for the RW versions, which are definitely very different. Hmmmmmmm

[demadogs]

(disclaimer i havent seen or read rwrb) heartstopper is a bit cringe but tbh i love it bc of that… i’ll never love wtvr nick n charlies ship name is the way i love byler but the show itself makes me so happy in a way st (usually) doesnt. maybe thats bc i havent been exposed to enough queer tv so i just love it wherever i see it but as a queer teen in a mega conservative us state it feels so hopeful/joyful esp compared to all the trauma will goes thru in st bc of his queerness (or wtvr various homophobic things happened in young royals i didnt watch the whole thing)

not that i dont love st (my blog is byler themed lol) but thats my unasked-for defense of cringe gay tv/movies. overall i just want MORE queer tv shows whether theyre cringe n saccharine or ultra serious n depressing :) would love to hear ur thoughts if u want to share or u can let this marinate in ur inbox or delete it w/o reading. peace and love !

and im so glad it brings other people joy!! when i say my own opinions that is not me saying the show/movie is objectively bad. i totally see the appeal of a happy gay show like heartstopper, i personally just prefer things that arent lighthearted and romcommy feeling. like my favorite genres are scifi, horror/thriller, and murder. i like deep and dark shit thats not always boiled down just to a ship.

and also i wanna make it clear that when i say “serious tone” that does NOT equate to depressing!!!!!!!! i am NOT saying i dont like happy endings. it just means i want it treated in more of a real way and not romcommy. i dont like the cutsey stuff like the doodles in heartstopper and how they filmed the phone calls in the first bit of rwrb (i know you havent seen it but just trust me). for me personally things like that just completely take me out of the movie like i just want to watch it authentically like it would have happened irl and thats how more dramatic and serious toned shows/movies are always shot.

i also tend to like my gay fiction to be within a much huger story. a good example of this is the show, the wilds. that show is about a severly fucked up social experiment involving 8 girls and a staged plane crash that leaves them stranded on an isolated island and two of the girls end up together. i LOVED how they wrote that. amazing show highly recommend. this is also one of the reasons i love byler. its a part of a much bigger story and its treated seriously while still being cute and beautiful. plus im 10000% sure itll have a happy ending so again, serious in tone does noooot mean depressing.

thanks for being respectful in this ask and not just trying to change my mind or act like im not allowing anybody else to enjoy what i dont enjoy. and i will say since you do love heartstopper, youd probably love rw&rb and i highly recommend it! and if you want a list of more queer fiction recs i can def give you that (but obviously mine will be less lighthearted than heartstopper).

[ladychandraofthemoone]

❤️♥️🧡🖤5/5❤️♥️🧡🖤

HAPPY 5/5 DAY YALL(I know it’s like a day late but hey I’m sortave made it in time!! Select your player from:

🌹a splendid darling🌹

🧰a trusty hard maintenance worker ⚙️

🔎 a quiet timid detective🔍 

 RAMBLING UNDER CUT CAUSE IT GETS LONG LOL:

Hands yall the pencil sketch I did of James first, would probably inked it but I’m still proud of it (Shane and Rusty I did on the same page so they’re smushed together and it’s messy ahah)

James gave me the most difficulty cause I knew I wanted to be make him Latino(Filipino/Spaniard to be exact) so I searched up bull fighting clothing and I gave him the gilet-vest underneath his big coat of his cause he’s copying Gordon (to the point of absolutely antagonizing, blaming and arguing with Alfred for everything he has done though to be fair he did traumatize Thomas kidnap his sister figure Nia and almost broke Gordon but like the Rusty scenario that’s another can of worms to get to later) but also cause I’m on the whole him idolizing and copying him around bandwagon so things like similar coat patterns, his keychains, jabot/cravat,epaulettes,beret-like hat etc) and of course I had to make him eye-catching like he wasn’t you attention so lot of gold accents and of course roses (get it cause with his surname) with him having one on his coat and on his cuff pins and rings 🌹 for symbolism 

Rusty was actually the easiest cause I already had a design for them cause I already wanted them to wear a tool belt and hardhat for their job , overalls and the protection knee pads I actually got from glowynviator on Twitter, same goes with having those (forgive I don’t know exactly what to call them) circles that appear to release smoke from their radiator as little silver buttons on their collars and pockets for their jackets and I changed the color scheme to for both the tv and rws versions. They’re pretty much unwillingly involved with the supernatural shenanigans (though then again a lot of folks are here but considering when they first got here, they legit witnessed their coworker get nearly crushed to death, the treatment of Duncan, the Sudrian verison of Bigfoot, a possible immortal fallen king 👑 fogman and of course the Boulder, they can’t seem catch a break)

Shane Dooiney I was completely inspired by gloynviator by Twitter humanizations of the Culdee Fell Railway (seriously y’all go check them out they’re awesome 🤩 and amazing and just incredible 💕💞) but with some minor changes like more detective-esque, think Looker from Pokemon or Inspector Gadget/Zenigata cause I love them so much but also a chunk of their personality is from Crona cause I love the hairstyle . Their personality I based it off of The Trainz Adventures, he’s said to be shy cause of people constantly mock their name which leads to him keeping to himself but ain’t afraid to help others, LeatherBootlace and StarSearch1927 on Deviantart (where he feels out of place for being away for so long, suffers from Middle Child syndrome/the Black Sheep of the Railwa due to being away fro overhauled a majority of the time during important events of the series so they feel out of the loop, the latter being the main inspiration for the ““private investigator” persona they have since he has a eagle eye for everything and thinks of crime solving and a love for mysteries while former used he/they pronouns for Shane and we need more he/thems here ✨) of course the top hat 🎩 is their funnel.

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Thank you for your amazing answer. I would love to pick your brain on one other thing. My friend says the Strike Trio(TM) are Gordon's best friends. I think Gordon and James' friendship is sort of shallow so I say All three engines are now great friends(TM) are Gordon's best friends. Thoughts? 

¿Por que no los dos?

Ultimately I think you guys have to define what "best friend" means here.

I do think you raise an interesting point about Gordon and James but there are still... a lot of caveats to consider.

(The tl;dr is gonna be point 6 out of 7 under the readmore.)

1. I would emphasize that, overall, Gordon's most important circle is the other five original engines. In the RWS timeline, Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, and Percy went through the Depression together. They went through World War II together. They went through Henry's wreck and rebuild together. They saw the beginning of the RWS books' publication together. They faced the huge unknown of nationalisation together. The only other engine acquired by FC1 was Toby and even Toby arrived late in his tenure, after all those formative experiences. I suspect there are others of the Nameless Eighty who were actually there pre-Toby but it's probably no coincidence that we don't know them—I'm sure they haven't broached Gordon's circle of trust.

It's not that I think Gordon is on the whole ill-disposed to newcomers from Toby on. (That's James's job!) Like I'm sure he counts the other characters we know of as friends too but I doubt he ever bonded with any of the newcomers on the same level. (BoCo is a bit of an exception but there is also some ambiguity there as to how much BoCo is humouring him. I hope it's more than that because Gordon really puts himself out there in that relationship in a way that always amazes me but it's hard to be certain from the text that BoCo is doing more than just being polite.) Almost all the other original six are seen to really be able to integrate comfortably with new characters. But I'm not surprised that Gordon struggles because he has that aloof quality. It's going to be hard going for him to emotionally "overlook" a missing twenty years or more of developing trust...

So I think it's better to think of Gordon's relationship in terms of tiers. The original group is all of a tier, and we are in danger of splitting hairs if we try to rank his relationships within that tier. I'd say these relationships are different but they all very important to him.

2. That said, Gordon's "best friend" is pretty obviously Henry. Like, we all seem to agree on this, yes? Beyond that, you guys seem to be trying to rank James and Edward... And again, I fear it's too easy to start getting into splitting hairs. Like to me ranking all your friends is a bit middle school, you know? There are friends that give me different things, that bring out different parts of me, while not necessarily being better or worse than other friends...

That came out more accusatory than I meant, heh. I just like emphasizing this part. Gordon and Henry's friendship is so THERE and so important. Moments like "Henry's not going" and "That's settled, then" and "Tugboat Annie!" are just. I can't. Literally one of the best and most consistent things about the series. ♥

3. On your side, there is something particularly important about the ATEAGF™ (lol) group. It's just a vibe that is obviously felt pretty widely. I mean the original line came from the first RWS book, with all its Pilot Episode Weirdness, and it would have been easy for Awdry to memoryhole it as he introduced, well, James—but he very much didn't. In Henry's and Edward's later books, there is a story in each dedicated to revisiting the Three Railway Engines dynamic over the years asdfk;ladsf; (Arguably Gordon's book at least flirts with it too, though in that case James is also always in the mix—but we'll tackle James in a moment.) In these showcase stories, there is conflict but they're also still undeniably tight. In the Christopher Awdry books he doesn't focus on this relationship but he does throw in one line showing Gordon speaking of Edward warmly, deliberately assuring us that it lives on. This is also why Gordon's panic at Edward and Henry's departure in "Forever and Ever" will always be Andrew Brenner's most iconic moment (even if it's also his most controversial, lol). Like, we the fandom viewers may not have been on board with the concept, but despite our resistance we felt it. It's not like other TVS what-the-hell moments where you can ignore it—Gordon's characterization there DOES resonate.

As I've discussed before—way back when—he can be really brutal at times to Henry and Edward even after he's supposedly their long-time friend and I diagnose this as Gordon just... letting himself be messier with them, essentially? His crushing commentaries at the beginning of "Gordon's Whistle" and "Edward's Exploit" are totally inappropriate. But I don't think he's conscious of any malice in either case, I think he's scared because he's thinking of his friends' mortality and he doesn't know how to handle it, but. BUT. For whatever reason, in these cases he doesn't choose to put on his usual mask of the gallant hero dismissing danger. Instead he's more... honest, I think, than he usually is. (And frankly, when he is being honest I think we can see why he normally keeps all his shit buried because he clearly does not know how to deal with these emotions.)

Anyway I think the significance for all of this is that Gordon (the Loftiest Creation in All Existence, Doncha Know) has, in his heart if not always in his head, bestowed upon Henry and Edward a sort of honorary equality. Like, he relates to Thomas, Percy, and even James in the role of a benevolent patron (whose long-suffering benevolence is sometimes justly tired!) For Whatever Reasons, Gordon seems to really see Edward and Henry as friends in the sense of the engines that he is the most willing to be vulnerable with. And even that degree of vulnerability is... not a lot. But it's something.

I say for "whatever" reasons as I'm not convinced that just pointing to the events of The Three Railway Engines explains it. Then again, perhaps it does. Perhaps it all comes down to Henry and Edward, elated from their success, were very nice about it when they came back to take Gordon home and it was just the first time in Gordon's ultra-competitive life that he was down and another engine didn't kick him while he was there. I mean, we have a sense of what the other Sodor engines were like and honestly it could well be that the Doncaster Prototype Circuit (Gordon would not have been the only one) was pretty cut-throat. So yeah, maybe that was enough. But then again, maybe there's more to it—not least of which, I don't think it hurt that Henry and Edward were not competition for him at the time the way the other Sodor tender engines were—and, ofc, Gordon melted down a bit once Henry was rebuilt and he was, and come to think of it Duck did cite jealousy of Edward as a reason for everyone acting like asshats, and hmmmm... yeah.

Okay, so in short: Perhaps Gordon let his guard down, way back when, partly because Edward and Henry didn't have a go at him after his burst safety valve and were just generally pretty decent, and also they were safe for him to relax around because it's not like they were going to challenge his primacy.

Not the way that, in a couple short years, James would.

4. Which brings us to James, and therefore to Strike Trio.

But I want to note the foundation of the Gordon and James relationship. Because here there is jealousy from the start:

In 1925, James comes back from overhaul. He's new and improved and in a shiny new color and he immediately starts getting attention from passengers.

We do know that Gordon starts in on James right away—in the RWS version of their double-header, James is already fretting a bit about Gordon, to the point where Edward tells him the story of Gordon getting stuck on the hill as a way to reassure him that Gordon's kinda full of hot air. But Gordon doesn't appear till later in the book, where "[he] and Henry would talk of nothing but bootlaces." But this is brought up in relation to the fact that James is rising again in the Fat Controller's estimation. And Gordon in particular feels the need to talk down to him. "You talk too much, little James... A fine, strong engine like me has something to talk about... [boasting continues]... What are you doing? Odd jobs? Ah well, we all have to begin somewhere, don't we. Run along now..."

It's enough to make anyone want to commit murder tbh. But also, as is pretty typical with Gordon, it's not outright insults. It's patronizing.

And then of course James becomes only the second Sodor engine who can pull the express on his own.

And Gordon immediately—while still being patronizing about it!—switches gears into treating James like a chum.

I am not here accusing Gordon of conscious politicking, especially as I don't even think he's capable of it (certainly he isn't in 1925). I think when he expresses warmth it's because he damn well feels it. He's capable of simply being impressed, and he was. But I said all this to sketch out how, throughout James's book, James is clearly a threat to Gordon.

This makes it hilarious how Gordon never seems to quite get over treating James like a junior friend. "Never mind, little James. I'm going to push behind." Like. In this book, James is clearly in the same category as Thomas (and therefore the same category as Percy!)—"protege" or a "little brother"—a little engine who is needlessly rude and disrespectful but whom Gordon grandly forgives.

The dynamic painted so far—Gordon taking James under his wing; Gordon bestowing on James the honor of being his friend, and furthermore James agreeing to this dynamic—continues in Brenner-penned TVS. The scene in S3 "Trust Thomas" comes especially to mind—Gordon pulls the same evil-mentor shenanigans on James that in RWS he did with Sir Handel: "Now, if you were ill, you couldn't push trucks here, or go to the quarry there, now could you?" And again! James is comfortable with it! "What a good idea, I'll try it..."

I guess this point actually circles back to All Three Engines Are Now Great Friends™. James could challenge Gordon's primacy—I mean he'd probably lose out, but he could—and so it seems to me that Gordon never, ever lets his guard down around James. Puts James in the "little engines I've adopted, to save them from themselves" category, because that allows a version of intimacy... but without Gordon risking the loss of any face. Henry I and Edward could not challenge Gordon's primacy, and therefore I'm inclined to think Gordon did let his guard down around them, in the early years, in a way he never had with anyone else before, and wouldn't again for a very long time—if ever.

Gordon can and will verbally savage Edward and Henry if he starts to feel Feelings when they're at their weak points. But when Thomas and Percy and James are at their weakest points, Gordon would never.

It's just two different kinds of intimacy. But I'm eternally amused at the mental and emotional gymnastics Gordon went through to put James into that second category, back in the '20s.

(And why are we focusing so much on the '20s? Well, because I think Gordon grew from there, but at the same time he's very emotionally conservative so whatever dynamics and habits he fell into in the 1920s are still going to be going pretty strong even now in the 2020s.)

5. All this said, I gotta say, on the other side of things: I would not, I would not, underestimate the strength of the Strike Trio™ friendship.

It's a different kind of friendship but I hesitate to go so far as to say it's "shallow." Actually I think it has a very strong foundation—their friendship was forged in fire (I will never believe for a second Henry and James had even really begun to do more than tolerate each other before) when they took collective action against the Fat Controller, who (as he had already demonstrated before, in pretty dramatic terms) has power of life and death over them.

It doesn't matter here how shallow their reasons for doing so may have been. I'm talking here about the way they came together over their complaints. They shared them, they fed into each other's sense of grievance, the sum of their discontent was much more than the individual annoyance they all brought to the table. They banded together and together they faced the lions.

It's unprecedented in the series, and there's never anything quite like it afterwards. It was gutsy, it was seismic, it was huge. They were also willing physically to turn against Edward, whom they had all been friends with before, and again it's not their shining moment as individuals but let's be for real, dramatically excluding others is a very powerful group-building exercise, it's why so many groups wind up doing something like it, it works so far as establishing a collective identity.

Then they were all basically thrown in locomotive prison for a while, together. It must have sucked but also? It would have also really put the final seal on things. Prior to this James was punished in this way by himself, Henry was tunnelled for a very long time but also by himself, Gordon in particular is noted to have been on hand watching Edward's tenure in the sheds and putting allllllll the distance between that and his own reality. Now the hammer falls again on all three alike—but they face it together.

I'm not the least surprised that they would be firm friends after all this.

There's one other factor that I think gives your friend a very strong case. For all I agree that there's a special, particular bond between 2, 3, and 4... 2 isn't around. Not regularly, at least—not every morning, every afternoon, every evening, all night. 3, 4, and 5 live together. That degree of intimacy, that sheer number of face-time hours—multiplied over what is by now one. hundred. years.—uhhhh yeah. That's going to be hard to overtake. There is going to be a Strike Trio closeness that Gordon will not have with Edward and that's about that.

We have been talking lately about the possibility of the Strike Trio drifting apart over the years, and to what degree they did, and what it signifies... those posts were after your ask, but I'm sure you saw them. And to some degree felt vindicated! But I think it's the same phenomenon of The Three Railway Engines after 1923(?) or whatever—there is a drift, there is distance, the relationship itself is not erased. And if that was true for them, it would be even more true for Strike Trio after decades living and working together so closely.

6. So I guess ultimately I agree with your friend, bwaha.

Mostly, though, I think they're all just really lucky to have so long to grow and develop, and to have newcomers arriving to mix things up and help them grow even more, but most of all to be in a position where no one has to lose touch with the friends who have touched their lives. We should all be so blessed, honestly.

7. (Also, the more I think about it, the more I realize that Wilbert Awdry was kinda full of it. Like, yes, I sympathize with his frustration in that 'Thomas isn't the main character! it's an ENSEMBLE SERIES.' But also, this discussion makes me realize '... yeah, buddy, sure, but it IS amazing how much of your series and its beats we preserve even if we boil down the whole RWS to just 'Gordon the Autistic Aristocrat Engine's Lifelong Adventures in Forming Healthy Relationships with Others and Himself 💙'. )

[giantjupiter]

Indian Politics isn't like American Politics at all... and it's a bad thing

I was watching somewhere that people were criticising Trump, which is a common thing. Many usually criticize Biden too. Having political discussions is fine though.

In India, we're doomed either way... we don't even know whom to vote. This is one of the greatest tragicomical situations the logical common people have ever faced.

Let me tell you why:

Both parties lack when it comes to women empowerment; search Sandeshkhali and Hathras if you want to ascertain...

Both parties have got vast amounts of money from the electoral bonds. See for yourself:

The State Govt. doesn't even give all the beneficial schemes of the Union Govt.; the Union Govt. doesn't even care about the good suggestions given by the State. For your reference, I need to inform you that India is a parliamentary democracy, much different from the federal system in the US.

If I say that Bengal Politics is going towards a very dark path, will I be very wrong? The politics in West Bengal (a state of India; that also happens to be the State where I live in) is extremely crucial to Indian politics as a whole. There's a whole Wikipedia article on this... not linking it right now...

As we are talking about American politics too, let's talk about Jordan Peterson. Peterson, even if his inherent logic is faulty, knows very well about his own beliefs. Still, it's quite minuscule compared to the scene in Indian Politics.

Pratik Borade, an Indian film reviewer, initially posted amazing reviews. He even posted reviews on animes such as "A Silent Voice." But nowadays... he even tried to criticize Pathaan, a film which had a big collection in the box office. Even a layman can understand his BS.

In India, these RW and LW spaces are being more toxic than the Reddit echo-chambers. The people of a certain political party are saying so much BS that they should be fined with laughter.

One thing I like about Indian politics though is the multi-party system, not just the two-party system. There are various parties contesting the elections, compared to the scene in America where the party system is very much binary. This promotes the "Us vs Them" game...

Politics is indeed very weird... we don't even know whom to vote...

[hyacelyn]

𝐊𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒

Was it the look on your faces when we first met or the sounds of your laughter that brought us together in this mundane world?

It would be ironic if the answer was the latter since Noel's laughter got no sound at all.

Looking back, life was unpredictable, and stepping into the SHS phase was full of uncertainty and doubts.

𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞

Senior high school is not what I imagined it to be. I had initially thought that the SHS phase would be something out of comic books, romance or teen fiction books, but I was wrong.

However, senior high school with these amazing people was better and more exciting than the novels I've read.

𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞

This feels just like the first time, the only difference is that I came as a trainee the first time. But that day, I came to train, encourage, and inspire people.

𝐫𝐞𝐝

One of the many performance tasks in RWS (Food Blog) that I found quite interesting and amazing. I also found it quite funny and ironic that I ate Japanese food during a Chinese New Year celebration.

This was the first time I ate the famous Wagyu Beef and I loved it.

𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧

A very heartwarming movement we did as part of the Supreme Student Learners Government (SSLG). It was also an eye-opening opportunity for me to become a more kind-hearted and giving person.

𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Solace. Comfort. Tranquility.

One of the reasons why I hurry when class is over.

𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐲

An end and a beginning.

𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝

Truly a dream come true experience! I was tearing up the whole time I was there, thinking 'This school has really one of the best things the world could offer'.

Although this wasn't the first time I went to Sacred Heart School - Ateneo de Cebu, I was still so excited with all the festivities going on.

𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞

Amazing experiences that required the united action and collaboration of each and every single person in our class.

𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐧

The perfect exam-ender moment for all of us; eating pizza together.

And a photo with Dane since she's always missing every time the four (Noel, Shams, Dane, and Me) of us take a picture together.

𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞

A moment of hesitation and doubt & a moment of determination ready to take my own path, conquering all the hurdles fate gives me.

Everything that happened was like a whirlwind of emotions resulting in a kaleidoscope of memories which I will keep like a photograph deeply etched in my heart.

[sephtissss]

my rw&rb movie takeaway except i’m actually nobody 🤪🤩

<‼️slight spoilers ofc‼️>

I think while watching, I was very distracted by how sad I was at the absence of the whole group dynamic, but I understand that it was physically impossible to have everything. The movie was about Alex and Henry, we could not have all the subplots and character dynamics from the books.

So noting that, I think the movie was fucking fantastic. Alex and Henry’s dynamic was so wholesome, so perfect, and just—alsjfksjdhds. I think Henry’s character specifically was done so beautifully, Nicholas Galitzine fucking KILLED that. For Alex, Taylor Zakhar Perez was amazing, I just have one complaint for how his character was written.

We get a lot of the darkness within Henry, but the movie never goes in depth into Alex’s anxiety with having to do something meaningful as soon as possible. Like he says it, but we don’t see him up all night, desperate to achieve more, scared of ever standing still and staying in the present. I feel like that could’ve been included more and still helped progress Henry and Alex’s dynamic. That’s my only main critique.

Long story short, I love my silly little gays go watch the movie they killed that shit.

[fadebolt]

Alrighty, art month is half over, so here are some takeaways I've had so far:

~ Preparing for it with a bunch of Nightcat x Spearmaster art was a good idea. Obviously, I did end up making very different kinds of art for most of the prompts, but it still removed that awkwardness of trying to draw after a really long break that I had to take cus midterms.

~ I'm actually a lot faster than I used to be. I'm still pretty slow overall, but I can make something look decent within 2-3 hours, which would have been completely unthinkable a year ago.

~ Burnout sucks. It's been getting harder and harder to do the prompts, and I feel like the quality of the results is slowly but surely decreasing.

~ Folks seem to like 'em just the same, though I did refrain from posting days where I was unhappy with what I ended up making. Dw, this is not me being self-loathing or anything, there are just some things I simply cannot do well within such a short timeframe. Plus, I'm often very tired. (But I did end up posting everything to Pansear's emote server, due to the whole challenge thing going on there, so if anyone's looking to see all the days, they can do so over there)

~ Speaking of folks, holy crap, I'm actually getting notes! It's not a very high amount, of course, but it still means that some people actually like and care about what I make, despite me being a no-name traditional artist that doesn't have enormous art experience.

~ And that's more than enough. After all, if I was making art to try and compete with people like Pansear and Northflowo, then the whole thing would be pretty pointless, would it not? There are hundreds of other RW artists out there in my exact position, and they are just as much a part of the community as the big names. (Plus I've seen many amazing pieces with very low numbers, so using them to determine quality is frankly dumb)

That's pretty much all the thoughts I've had so far. Everything is going way better than I expected, and let's hope that stays the same.

Peace!

[drbtinglecannon]

Hey there, friend 💖 You've got pretty amazing fics so...

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💖

;___; you're so sweet! 💖

Legit I think my favorite fic rn is the one I wrote for the Titan's Zine, I'm very proud of it hahaha, but I can't post it yet 🫠 you have read it tho so I know you can appreciate why it's my favorite haha! so I'll pick from my other stuff

1. Precision. Listen. I was possessed to write out the first chapter after listening to the Post Hoot with Darius' VA, like it was originally a goddamn tumblr post that was just gonna be a short joke, then suddenly I was writing a whole ficlet and just posted it like that. Obviously it didn't end up as canon compliant but I still like how I wrote Darius & Hunter's dynamic. The second chapter is extremely indulgent for me because I still lament the loss of the rebel trio having more screentime, I have soo many thoughts on how it would've gone, so I wrote out Darius, Eber, and Raine's dynamic how I think it would've been and had a lot of fun with it haha. Still very fond of that one

2. You April Fool! Legit I think this was slept on. I did so much research on April Fool's in Victorian England and I wrote gold for it with the dgs cast haha. Ryunosuke's prank was genius.

3. The Language of Flowers I am gonna finish this I fucking swear 😭 I've always been a fan of flower language for romance and have had this exact fic idea for many a ship over the years, so finally writing it and it's for a period accurate cast of repressed men? Amazing

4. A bonding exercise involving fists This was a fun piece to write, it was good exercise on writing fighting and for writing characters I wasn't confident with. I'm not a fan of rw/by anymore, but I still have fondness for Qrow x Clover and all the stuff I wrote for them haha

5. 5 times Hizashi made the first move, +1 time Shouta did Not only was it the first longer fic I wrote, I pumped that thing out so quickly at a speed I can only dream of having now haha. It's wonky and self-indulgent and my writing is significantly better now and I don't even like bnha anymore, but pieces like that one helped me get where I am now y'know!

[lokiiied]

Have you seen the Red, White & Royal Blue trailer? It looks amazing!!

hello, sorry for answering this so late. the movie is now out and this was my letterboxd review on it:

i feel like if heart stopper was a bit more like rw&rb i would like it more and if rw&rb was more like young royals i would’ve liked it a lot more. but it was fun. and we deserve corny fun

i also never read the book so.

also here’s an opportunity to self promote my letterboxd y’all should follow me my reviews are usually funnier than this

wow that did a whole thing. anyways. ✨

[acompassrosa]

Decks I Used in January 2023

I thought it might be interesting to take a look back at what decks I used last month and what stood out to me-- especially since one of my goals this year is to spend more time with more of the decks in my collection.

Decks I Used Only Once:

Golden Lenormand Oracle- I used this for a Grand Tableau reading for the first quarter of the year. If you’re familiar with Lenormand, the readings are often relevant for 3-6 months. As such, I try to do them quarterly. This was a really fun deck to use, I happened to have a free day when my floor was completely clean so I could use HUGE deck. (A grand tableau consists of the whole deck and these cards are oracle sized) I’ve always wanted to do this and I have zero regrets about it. I feel like this 100% justified my having this deck in my collection. The images are charming, Victorian style images with playcard insets. 

Augenblick Tarot- this is one of those decks that I always want to spend more time to but just have not been able to make time for. It’s a square deck on a nice stock and the images are all cropped down tourism photos. It’s definitely one of the coolest decks I own and I love the readings I get with it… but it takes time. I would honestly love to spend a month deep diving into this one, but I have not really had the headspace for that recently. So, I just pull it out now and again for one-shot reads. 

Heavenly Bloom Tarot- A newcomer to the collection, an absolute stunner. I definitely want to work with this one more but there are two obstacles: slippery card stock and a weird, overly long, card shape that makes shuffling difficult. I’m already working with this deck more in February though, so hope is not lost!

Star Seeker Tarot (Pocket Edition)- This was a repurchase that arrived at the very end of the month. I had the full size first edition and passed it along to a friend the moment the pocket edition was announced… and then forgot to actually buy it until now. I love pocket/mini decks and I am thrilled to have this one. I am sure I’ll have more to say on this one later in the year! 

Decks I Used Lot: 

Mystical Manga Tarot- This was such a stand out for me in January! I love it! I got this sometime in the last two years, having looked at it for ages before purchasing. I got the Traditional Manga Tarot at the same time and at the time that stole my heart and shove the Mystical Manga Tarot to the sidelines. I am so glad I gave this deck a change to shine– the colors are so fun and I love the literal framing of the cards so much. It’s a great, fun deck to play around with and the court cards in particular are a lot of fun.

Phantasma Tarot- Gods, this deck is beautiful. I love all of Paulina Fae’s decks but this one is perfect. It’s borderless, which is how all her decks ought to be, so you can really see all the intricacies of the artwork. This was a close second to the Mystical Manga for favorites, falling short only because I feel like I need even more time to fully appreciate this beauty. 

Traditional Manga Tarot- As mentioned above, when I first got this and the Mystical Manga Tarot it was the immediate standout of two similarly themed decks– and I stand by that! In general it’s still my preferred of the two, but it just didn’t stand out as much to me in January. 

Tarot by Caro- I feel like this deck needs more love from the tarot world in general. It is such a fun, funky alternative to the RWS. The art style is amazing, the shuffle is flawless, and it reads like a dream. It’s only lower on this list because I used it less than the other decks. 

Le Beau Monde Tarot (Standard and Mini Editions)- This is an old reliable for me and it is always a joy to work with. I actually read with this one a lot in January, but because I already expect good things from it… it just didn’t stand out as much as the others when I look back on the month as a whole. This deck is not for everyone, being both regency romance themed and a pip deck, but something about the suit choices (candles, parasols, fans, and reticules) just speaks to me. I get such clear images from working with this deck and I love her dearly.