#this was an excellent ask

[hayscodings]

So I’m rewatching shameless scenes with svetlana and I’ve noticed she’s her happiest In family settings.

And gosh she was so happy at Fionas wedding. She likes being with people and that’s just sweet.

I’m assuming it brings comfort to be in a family setting now that she is no longer in Russia - away from her family.

With the way she grew up it would make sense if she didn’t like people, but she obviously likes being in big groups.

This technically isn’t a good ask but, I wanted to know if you had any thoughts surrounding this.

This is one of the things I find most interesting about Svetlana— she genuinely enjoys being around other people. She’s not even picky about who. She can get along with pretty much anyone, make herself at home in almost any setting. She’s an extrovert through and through. She takes an interest in other people, enjoys listening to their stories, and is always willing to help in whatever way she can. She is, by nature, a very nurturing and caring person.

She is just as happy tending bar and singing old folk songs with her own people as she is attending the bachelorette of some girl who barely tolerates her. She’s happy for Fiona at her wedding, gets emotional when Debbie gives birth to her baby…and these are people she hardly knows.

I think part of it is that she is, innately, a people person, and another part of it is that being in family settings reminds her of home. We know that family is important to her, but since all of her family (save that one aunt) is back in Russia, she tries to create her own in Chicago. And once again, she isn’t picky about what that family looks like. As long as there’s some sort of love or care there, she’s happy. Everything else is immaterial.

And you’re right, it would be so easy for her not to like or care about other people— she’s been consistently abused and mistreated by them her entire life. People who were supposed to love and protect her, no less. But instead of allowing herself to be consumed by bitterness and resentment, she actively chooses to grant them grace every time. And, honestly, that’s probably what saved her. In choosing to see the world as nuanced and to not take things personally or hold any grudges, she opened herself up to the possibility of being loved and meeting good people and creating a better life for herself.

For someone who has been through everything that she has to not lose hope is incredibly brave. And it’s so much harder to hold onto your humanity than it is to decide that you don’t owe the world anything.

[bluerosefox]

Her Astrophel and Sterling

hmmm

Hmmmmmmmm

You know what.

You know those AU's where the Batfam finds or learns about either hidden or thought to be dead Al Ghul Danny! with a deaged/daughter Dani (Ellie) (I should know, I created a few of those storylines) but what if, now hear me out, what if instead of them finding Danny first its Talia.

Do I want Talia discovering her thought to be dead son to be alive? Yes. Do I want her to find him while investigating Amity Park when the League gets reports of 'Lazarus creatures/water'? Yes.

DO I WANT HER TO KNOCK ON THE FENTON'S DOOR, fully ready to pretend/honey talk her way into the house to uncover what the Fenton's know, ONLY TO MEET A LITTLE ELLIE?!

YES.

Ellie whose eyes and hair look like a copy of her Beloved but she can see bits and pieces of herself as well. Talia knows the child in front of her was not fully her's though but everything makes sense when she hears a voice, a voice she hasn't heard in ages but as a mother just knows, speak out.

"Ellie! I thought I said do not answer the door my Sterling."

"But Daddy, yous was busy fighting the hotdoggys!"

Talia's eyes widen when she finally catches sight of familiar black hair and blue eyes.

and she could only lightly whisper a old nickname she hasn't dared uttered in ages, a name she secretly gave her son due to his love of the stars "Astrophel..."

[potato-lord-but-not]

Noel seems to be the one comforting people pretty often, I think he deserves a quick menty b (and some comfort from his boyfriends)

woagh ourthur comic be upon ye

Arthur probably spent 20 minutes trying to get this man to finally break for the night

[lady-harrowhark]

tamsyn muir really said "knowing who's narrating is a privilege, not a right"

[livwritesstuff]

Honestly, Eddie doesn’t know why it had taken so long for him to realize his and Steve’s children could understand the shit that came out of his mouth.

(It took an embarrassingly long amount of time).

Even when Moe’s third or fourth word was fuck, he didn’t realize it (and she was using it mostly correctly too, which should have been a serious flag, but nope).

What made him realize it was when they started repeating the shit that came out of his mouth. 

To strangers.

In public.

The first time Eddie had been really caught off guard by something one of his daughters said was when Moe, who was three at the time, had proudly announced to an unsuspecting grocery store cashier, “Daddy says my Papa’s a DILF!”

And, like, Eddie had just heard the term for the first time, and obviously he was goddamn delighted by it because…duh. Steve. 

It just hadn’t occurred to him that his toddler might have caught it too, but little pitchers have big ears, or so the proverb suggests, and Eddie had taken it as a wake-up call that Moe isn’t a baby anymore (tragic as it may be).

He’s not the only problem though – Steve is just as bad, (if not worse, because he really doesn’t bother to check where their kids are before he starts running his mouth).

One particularly damning incident was at a restaurant, which is something they don’t even do all that often because, seriously, going to a restaurant with very young kids should be an Olympic event or something.

(The last time they all went out to eat, Nancy and Robin had made a drinking game out of all the times Steve and Eddie had to take a child to the bathroom and ended up so far gone that Eddie had needed to drive them home).

The incident started with the waitress asking, “Can I get you started with anything to drink?”

And it had ended with four-year-old Moe confidently announcing, “My Papa needs a fucking margarita.”

Thank god, the waitress had been a twenty-something college student and thought it was hilarious, but Steve had still been completely mortified.

[hellsitegenetics]

This blog feels like if every so often a wizard showed up to your party or gathering, silently listened to your conversation, and then very loudly summoned a creature or a plant based on whatever was said

String identified: T g t a a t at gatg, t t t cat, a t a cat a at a at a a

Closest match: Caldifermentibacillus hisashii strain FSL W8-0983 chromosome, complete genome

[sirspeep]

[frownyalfred]

You know the "all osha regulations come from blood" thing? I like to imagine the exact thing happens with the Justice League. The list of protocols and rules goes on so long but every single one has a story behind it.

Some of them seem out of place, or down right useless. New members often scoff at the trainings they're tasked to attend.

One of the regulations involves a required emergency survivalist kit on every space craft the Leauge owns, and requires routine inspections of said kits. New members get stuck with that bit of maintenence, and often complain "there's no reason it'll ever be needed." That is, until a begrudged Batman plays a video from the time Aquaman, Flash, and Wonder Woman got stuck on an ice planet with no vegetation or wildlife and they nearly froze to death.

Those who can fly ask why they need to attend trainings on emergency landing procedure. Any founding member gladly points to the framed front page Daily Planet article on the wall. It documents the island-sized crater Superman made after being super-punched back into the atmosphere a few years back.

And so on.

If you kill a civilian, knowingly, out of outright negligence, Batman will be out for blood. You'll be kicked off the League if you're lucky. You're an adult and you should know better. Every single rule and contingency he has in place is either because someone fucked up once, or they're like to fuck up someday.

Over time, those same cocky new members slowly realize that Batman is the one cleaning up after those incidents. He's the one who pays off the families and replaces the equipment. He quietly settles lawsuits and pays for future medical care. He repairs buildings and offers grants to displaced civilians. And then he goes up to the Watchtower, writes up the new regulation, and has to live with that kind of responsibility all over again. Because now they know better. Now there's a rule, and god willing, this won't happen again.

Being stupid, being cocky, just simple ignoring the rules briefly -- it all has a cost. And usually, that cost is borne by the flesh-and-blood humans, not the metas, aliens, or gods. Humans.

[ilovepannacotta]

Ling and the baddie he pulled out by being goofy and silly.

(Doodles after the cut)

They are just two dorks in love

[aubeezz]

you officially got me to play cult of the lamb (and also to immediately be a leshy fan)

[soracities]

i HAVE to ask, as an essay reading enthusiast, WHERE do you find essays to read?

going through the 'essay' tag on your blog was a time well spend

lit magazines babes!!! Lithub, Electric Lit, Guernica, N+1, Devin Kelly's Ordinary Plots, Longreads, Quanta Magazine, Aeon (my beloved!!), The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings), Nautilus, Poetry Foundation, Paris Review's redux archives!!! i also tend to look up essays / authors mentioned IN the essays I'm reading which also introduces me to new work! hope this helps and happy essay reading anon 🤍

[buddygrouse]

my pacific rim uprising rewrite

[howgalling]

hi. my two moods for ultrakill.

[velidewrites]

What is Lucien reaching for?

a) A glass of faerie wine

b) A book

c) Elain’s face

[jeeaark]

I have something that my brain is like "Hey, this is an Ask!" So let's do this! Did Greygold ever encounter Ansur? How would they respond to him making his very (very) messy breakup their problem? Especially with most of the pre-fight being Ansur and Emps using the inside of their head to bicker like an old (very bitterly divorced) married couple.

Hell yeah they did! Had this Ansur of a question (hweh) pre-prepared~

And bonus:

Greygold had one million questions for the Emperor.

Now Greygold has two million!

[canisalbus]

Just had to share that the perfect stiletto stilettos for Machete showed up on my dash right after your post.

.