#things to ponder

[infinite-orangepeel]

trying to wrap my head around the fact that i will ACTUALLY be seeing steve harrington on my tv screen come november & that he’s not just some random character i made up…

[bunnieswithknives]

Sam will never stop growing because the visitor will never stop thinking about them ♥

[rapselsstuff]

This is what Pyrrha looks like on her way to work every morning btw

[jeksburyofficial]

HEYYY REMEMBER THAT TGS SIREN AU YOU MADE IN MARCH? ...please make more Siren!Jekyll and Siren!Hyde art... I've been surviving on that one image for the past several days...

When you discover your closest friend and love of your life is part siren in possibly the most traumatic manner possible.

[sillyassboy]

yo i gotta ask, does bugbo have like a specific music taste ? or does he even listen to music lmao

whenever people ask questions like this i have no idea what to say because i don't think I can imagine these characters doing stuff like listening to music or watching movies and shows . like I cannot fathom this happening for some reason . but imagine how funny it would be if i said some shit like Yea bugbo listens to Sub Urban Cradles all the time

[nabi-unveiled]

My Stubborn, I appreciate many things about you. I really do. But I particularly love how you always leave me with questions to ponder on.

Whether they are mundane and not plot relevant, like...

Are these white sleeves as much of a nightmare to clean as I think they would be?

Do they get in the way of his typing?

Do these wine glasses come with stems of other colors? Is the red to represent their love? or just because it looks pretty with the wine?

What does Joojai mean? And can I have one please?!?!

To the questions that are really tangents, like...

Who does this heart necklace represent for Put?

After all, he wears it all the time.

And how exactly did this become Jun's "office mug"?

To the questions that have me questioning myself...

Did I interpret this "banana" joke correctly?

I just don't know.

And the ones that have me hopping into clown cars, like...

How much does Tai actually know? Because that's a very pointed threat.

And does Tai and his dad have anything to do with Sorn's previous disappearance act?

After all, we know Sorn went abroad before.

Just what is Penny's game? Is she trapped between these bars?

And why is Sorn complying? Because even with Penny in the car, he was making sure his man got fed by handing him a discount coupon.

And my newest clown car...

Who is this girl's mom? And why do we need to know about her?

I don't know anything for sure...

But I certainly have thoughts.

[secretlifeofvalentine]

it’s a dangerous cycle ㅤ♡ྀི

[doostyauditalkz]

What would weed in cookie run even be. Or do they have actual weed there

[tf2heritageposts]

wondering what would happen if prior to being hired any of the mercs had their appendix removed; would exposure to the medigun restore it? same with wisdom teeth, Scout's tooth was shown growing back in Meet the Medic

good question honestly, i would hope medic could be selective about what gets healed but hm..

[the-mpreg-guy]

so do we think that dean spent every birthday that sam was at stanford alone or did he spend them getting torn apart on hunts with john

[killwoelf]

Time lapse on Instagram!

[whirlwindwonderland]

Another fun commission piece, I loved the color palette on this one! A big thanks to @lavenderelixir for ordering this one!!! I'm always a sucker for sunset colors, stars, soft scenes, and good designs!!!

[buddiesmyship]

So I have been devouring everyone's takes on Buddie after Confessions and there is something that I haven't seen anyone mention yet.

As Eddie finishes his dance and flops on the couch, completely alone in the house, he pulled the blanket down to cover himself because he doesn't have pants on. From the first time I watched the episode, I thought that was kind of odd. You danced in your underwear around your living room. You're sweaty and have to be warm, why cover yourself? No one can see you.

Then Buck rings the doorbell, Eddie goes to the door, sees it's Buck and pulls the door open wide, still only wearing his underwear! And when he sits down beside Buck then on the couch, he did not reach for the blanket again....

So... Eddie seems more comfortable being in that state of dress IN FRONT OF BUCK than when he's completely alone....

I find that interesting.

[shallowseeker]

I have just been struck by the weird realization that I've never heard "elevator music" on any elevators

[cel-aerion]

The MadMare fic I wrote a couple months ago: "What if I took this fucked up dynamic and made it end up weirdly wholesome."

My brain the last few days: "What if I went back and wrote a new version where instead things end up even more fucked up than they started."

[nabi-unveiled]

Tonight I'm pondering how easy it is to miss the mark as a parent sometimes.

I often feel like a broken record at work. I'm constantly reminding people that we need to consider how ALL people interact with our products when creating them. It seriously happens at least once a week.

It's why I love shows that call out some of the issues people face in a realistic way. Scenes like the one in I Hear the Sunspot (2024) where Kohei asks Taichi to repeat something quickly steal their way into my heart and most-watched scenes. It's these types of scenes that build empathy and awareness. I'm always grateful for them.

Because empathy is not a natural thing for me. Emotions are hard to understand and process, but I am constantly trying to improve. It may seem odd, but I've learned a lot about myself and others from watching shows. I've processed and learned to identify a lot of my own emotions, and I'm a lot better at reading other people now than in my younger days.

One of my sons once summarized my "beliefs" as kindness and respect when someone criticized my "lack of (religious) beliefs". But I don't think that's always true. I can be really mean - especially during a liveblog 😅. I can often be too blunt or get stuck in my own head. It's just that inclusivity and accessibility are two things that are incredibly important to me (as well as personal autonomy and identity).

It's why I adore characters like Shao Peng from See Your Love that are treated with respect within the narrative. It's more uncommon than it should be.

With that in mind, I've tried to expose my kids to and teach my kids about all kinds of differences in people - physical and mental abilities as well as differences in culture, religion, gender identity, etc.

But bias is a bitch. It rears it head when you least expect it. And it sometimes hides itself so well you don't even notice.

As I was getting ready to put my daughter to bed tonight, she went "Hey Mom! Guess what I learned in school today? (pause) People use hearing aids to help them hear!"

I chuckled a little thinking she was being sarcastic. "Well baby, guess you already knew that one huh."

She responded, looking confused, "No, I didn't."

It was at this point that I was confused. Why?

Because I WEAR a hearing aid. I'm hearing impaired. I should have two, but they're expensive. My daughter KNOWS I wear a hearing aid. This is the same child that has known since she was a toddler that she had to whisper into my "good" ear or walk on my "good" side if she wanted me to understand her. The child who knows to tap me and get my attention before talking. The child who, unless her dad is joining, automatically puts on subtitles for me if I'm going to watch something with her on television.

So I asked, "Huh? What do you mean? You know I have a hearing aid."

Her response. "Yeah, you do. But I just thought you were weird. I didn't know OTHER people wore them too."

And now I'm shook. Because she's right. I've never taught my children about OTHER people having hearing impairments. I've never sat us down to watch a show or read a book with a hearing impaired character together. It had never occurred to me to teach about that explicitly since they obviously deal with it daily. It had never occurred to me that the running jokes of "your mom's weird" and "your mom's just different" would be transferred to that aspect of me as well.

So apparently I've missed the mark. It's okay. We can remedy this. I'll cue up the burger scene and maybe one of the hearing test scenes from I Hear the Sunspot during our next bedtime snuggle.

But now, I'm also wondering. Where else have I missed the mark? What other gaps have went unnoticed?

And moreover, which characters or scenes speak to other people? Obviously Kohei and Shao Peng resonate with me personally. But what characters or scenes are other people's examples of "representation"?

That feels like a very important list tonight.

(Side note: Back in 2017, the movie version of I Hear the Sunspot was my very first Asian BL. It's far from perfect, but it is special to me for a lot of reasons.)