#(lol she isn’t beginner friendly!)

[hexsrealityarchived2]

What if Wanda was sold at a pet store?

[6leggedhorse]

Loki and Sigyn:Lessons on Chaos, Laughter, & Loyalty from the Norse Gods by Lea SvendsenBook Review

So I’m currently in Uni, bored out of my wits. So why not do a book review? Go ahead, get comfy, grab your favorite snack and drink and grab your pet too and let’s hop to it.

About The Author

Lea Svendsen, comes from a line of heathens and has a long standing experience with the Norse Pantheon. According to her blog she is incredibly fond of Loki and has written the book I’m currently reviewing. She went on what I can only guess is a hiatus and has recently posted to her blog on the 22nd of August of this year. To give you an idea of how much experience, she’s not just a devotee to Loki but a priestess to Sigyn and is currently with Llewellyn. Lea has also hosted workshops about Loki and Sigyn which has earned her not just the respect and reputation she worked hard to maintain but also very close to Loki and Sigyn.

Book Review

So here it comes: the brain dump. So I genuinely think this book is pretty good, but it’s heavy with information; but what do you expect from someone who has years of experience and has a high status within the heathen community? I wouldn’t ask anything less than from Lea as she has made a point in her work that she does, in fact, 100% knows what the hell she’s talking about. This isn’t a light read, this is kinda heavy on the readings which has made it difficult for my neurodivergent brain to clasp onto and keep my attention on. This is one I should’ve definitely got as an audio book as I am a slow reader and this more likely one of those books I can listen to and tidy up my room or listen to while showering. I want to read this more, I really do and I’ve tried, but my brain needs some help (Luckily I have Olly Lazed Focus Gummy vitamins that I can use to see if they work better with my medication).

I think this book is for more experienced people who want a refresher or want more information from an experienced practitioner/devotee/priestess. I can however see this as a beginner friendly book if you have a much stronger attention span than I do (thanks ADHD-I *eye roll*). Overall it’s a pretty good book, just heavy on the information. Perfect if you enjoy books with tons of knowledge though. I also feel as though it could’ve possibly been condensed wording wise, and I really want to love this book but it’s so heavy that I do get bored. I firmly believe that the audiobook would be much better rather than reading it normally. So I gave it the rating I did because the book is just so heavy and wordy however I don’t ask for anything less from someone of Lea’s expertise. However the information in it is really good, it’s immaculate and juicy with information for starving brains craving knowledge. The book would probably be better as an audio book rather than an actual text.

Rating

6.5-8.5/10

Epilogue

I’m still bored in Uni lol. I’ve been wanting to pump out a book review for a hot minute now but I’ve been busy as hell. I’m also on the pathway currently to burning out as well which sucks. I can feel it, and all I want to do is cry because of it. It’s hard having school, internship back 2 back, and then work on the weekends in the city hoping that traffic isn’t as cringy or even existent anyways, I hope everyone is doing better than I am! I hope you enjoyed this book review for today! I’ll post this upcoming Friday… hopefully lmao

References

[st4rvv]

VERY HUGE YAPPING SESSION

reminder this is still a concept

just me and my thoughts thinking how to write love so well because I'm a beginner at writing......

as I said they got this sort of love-hate relationship riiiiight? look man I'm just here thinking how can that works out ESPECIALLY for two psychopathic villains in love (fellas, how do I even write them developing feelings in the first place?)

I do have some backstory, but I feel SO ashamed to share it here- (ironic because I always tell myself to be cringe because it won't change the world lol)

so anyways ^_^!!! I found my old note about their dynamics lol:

Brains and Brawn

Birds of a Feather

Fire-Forged 'Friends'

Friendly Rivalry

Secret Relationship/Undercover Couple (temporarily a secret tbh)

The Only One I Trust

of course they have their flaws :) for Evolt, like, according to the canon, I *think* he's a bigger-picture conceptualist which MAYBE explains why Sento used to say "humans aren't that simple" to him right??? right??? (seriously PLEASE tell me his flaw I'm not really observant)

meanwhile Eigou, she, uh, can I call it a sickness where anger can't get her Hazard level high? instead of the more powerful attacks she's able to tolerate, it helps it going up. however, when she can't keep up with it, it possibly results Eigou in a berserk mode/mindlessly aggressive state or she just flee away

what's similar about them? their shared goals? well, it seems like both are ruthless and manipulative, I personally think Evolt can be/is an adaptable schemer, Eigou is also a schemer but she mostly works at the backups (my point: both are adaptable). yes, both are brain and brawn. enthusiastic.. can be laid-back and chill as hell... yeah that can do I guess.. (I am trying to NOT pull up the typology move bro I need to learn how to write personalities correctly :sob:)

as far as I can think of, their shared goal is just, the- the box. that Pandora's Box, screw the world and let people see their (failed) victory!!1!1!1!! (I hope these two trips and fell into a sewer bro I swear I hate them so much /affectionate)

I THINK I USED TO TYPE THEIR DIFFERENCES IN A DOC LOL UH WAIT

Differences between Evolt and Eigou:

Evolt: mostly chill evil :] / Eigou: mostly chill as well, but when she's getting impatient; STAY BACK PLEASE??

Eigou: “LOL wait, let me see u suffer first before I finish u off bcz I like the view here, so 'sad' you're useless now” / Evolt: “L + cope + skill issue + shut up + ciao!!*kills when that subject isn’t useful anymore

Evolt: shows off his cool new powers / Eigou: suddenly, she regained her powers (and use it anyway)

Eigou: your typical ‘the maverick’ villain / Evolt: typical comedic man with a role of ‘catastrophic mastermind’

I should've know how to do the romance between these two bro, maybe I'll see what you guys think and take it as a feedback and idea for them :/ sorry for such a request

[lavender-annd-lilac]

Ok I kind of don’t understand how this is worse than going home and calling out her husband for being a cheater cheater pumpkin eater, but I’ve never had to choose btwn these two scenarios so what do I know lol.

Is she getting paid rn? Or is her “pay” basically coming off what she owes him for the car expenses?

😵‍💫

The amount of time and effort the jackass put into tormenting you is extra, almost desperate. You put that thought away.

Ya… hide it away and sharpen it occasionally… then pull it out and stab him 86 times when he least expects it!!! Like when he goes to the senate meeting where people usually don’t bring knives!!!

Hung from the wall is the kind of art that holds meaning only to those deluded in their own pretension

Me, super self conscious about my basic bitch taste in art: hahaha like what kind of art, for example???? 😅😅😅 asking for a friend 😬😬😬

(I have the following prints in my apartment, feel free to heap judgement upon me and/or eye roll at this “I like art!” starter pack lol 🥲: Warhol Campbell soup can AND banana, the Van Gogh cherry blossom painting, the drowning girl Lichtenstein, a fucking old timey looking map of Europe even tho I’m Canadian and it serves no practical purpose, that black&white photo of Audrey Hepburn in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” 😫😫😫 I will draw the line somewhere though… idk like not quite at Banksy, but before it gets to Damien Hirst and definitely before it gets to Jackson Pollock 😅)

"Really fucking impressive, huh? Not a single Ikea screw in this place," he mocks.

U know what….if someone can assemble IKEA furniture from the instructional diagram that could basically be a visual captcha, the. it actually is very impressive!!!

Like, I EARNED this rickety ass shelf, bitch!!! I built it poorly with my own hands instead of dropping like $7k on some overpriced restoration hardware couch!!! 😤😤

labels listing designer names proudly

Lmao so Marc Jacobs isn’t rly designer but whenever I think of labels I think of this:

You back up and bend to untie the worn laces.

She has boots with laces 😯😯😯The heck?!? Is this the early 20th century or…

I know I just recently admitted to not having tied my shoes in probably over a decade (tie them once, double knot those suckers. Pull them off when you’re done, and jam your foot in the next time u need them 🥲) but BOOTS seem like something that should be zipper mandatory or u just step into them like moon boots.

Can u imagine having to tie laces for footwear that goes above your ankle every time you put them on??? That’s like, at least 2 shoes worth of laces per boot 😩

And if you like the aesthetic, fine. Put dummy laces on the front like they put fake pockets in women’s clothing, and then put the zipper on the side. There. Best of both worlds

My therapist: … would u describe this as a typical thought that runs through your head during the day? How often would u say these types of thoughts occur?

“let’s start… easy. I’m easy. Really. I’m sure you can handle me.”

The “beginner friendly” horse that’s about to buck u off and fucking trod over ur ankle like a nicotine fiend stubbing out a cig with their boot😓 (I witnessed this and it was horrifying lol)

snakeskin, tacky as fuck

Shit, I feel attacked 😂 😳😳. Is it the snakeskin material that’s tacky, or the print? Or both?

Idk haha I love the Python print stuff from Stella McCartney. I’ll stomp around in these fugly mofos all day 🐍🐍🐍

You swallow your disgust, just do it.

This should be Nike’s tagline to better market to those of us who hate exercising tbh

You slap his thigh as he doesn’t let up.

What a heel move 😡. Gonna generate a lot of heat with this…She tapped out of the submission manoeuvre and he kept going!! Where’s the ref huh???

BONUS CONTENT: (mini medium anatomy TED talk)

⚠️ warning, I discuss the penis and the structures within it, as well as what happens during an erection.

“Hey, don’t fucking break it.”

No one:

Me: so actually, it is possible to “break” a penis, and when this happens it’s called “penile fracture”!!(pls note, although the term “fracture” is used, this is not the same as breaking a bone.)

Think of the penis as an elongated maki roll. Now, if you took a transverse cross section of a California roll, you would see the crab, avocado and cucumber in the centre, surrounded by a sheath of seaweed, which is then surrounded by rice.

Similarly, a cross section of the penile shaft will show 3 main tube-like structures inside.

The smallest of these 3 is the corpus spongiosum. This is basically erectile tissue that surrounds the urethra (tube through which urine and semen exit the body)

The other 2 larger structures are the corpora cavernosa, which also contain erectile tissue. When a male becomes aroused, these two vessels will become engorged with blood, causing the penis to become erect - think of a garden hose becoming stiff when it has sufficient water pressure inside.

If the penis is suddenly bent or otherwise subjected to a sudden force, these vessels will burst under pressure much like a balloon overfilled with air. Yet, although one can bend/squeeze/fold a ballon without causing it to rupture (think: balloon animals), this is not possible with the penis.

The outer rubber of the balloon is elastic, so when forced is applied, the air can be displaced to other areas of the ballon, which will stretch (to a certain extent) to accommodate its new shape.

The penis, however, does not have the same elasticity. Remember the seaweed surrounding the filling of the California roll? The equivalent structure in the penis is called the tunica albuginea, and there are actually two layers that surround the corpora cavernosa. This covering is quite fibrous (eg a garden hose - it is stronger and less elastic than a balloon).

When the corpora cavernosa become engorged, they expand and “fill out” the inside of this covering; this is why the penis becomes erect (again, imagine the garden hose uncoiling and becoming a straight line when filled with water). Thus, the tunica albuginea is responsible for the rigidity of the penis during an erection.

Now, when a sudden force is applied, the corpora cavernosa will be subjected to increased pressure, but since the tunica albuginea surrounding these vessels is inelastic, it cannot stretch to ammodate, causing it to rupture/burst (sometimes with an audible “pop” sound). This is referred to as a ✨penile fracture✨

(I had to repeat anatomy one summer. 😵‍💫)

Unsolicited 8

Warnings: bad self-thought/talk, bullying, insults, low self-esteem, money problems, oral/noncon, coercion, cum, some untagged sexual and dark elements.

Wouldn’t mind some feedback! Lloyd was driving me nuts so I had to do it. Thank you in advance 💜

Masterlist

You scoff as you look around. The car ride was long enough to make you think, to make you wonder. The amount of time and effort the jackass put into tormenting you is extra, almost desperate. You put that thought away.

Keep reading

[teacup-tai]

Hi! You're currently the only HP blog I follow (I've been out of the fandom for several years), but I'm wondering if you have the time/inclination if you could point me in the direction of what might be considered some quintessential drarry fics? I have a craving to jump back in but no idea where to begin!

Hello friendly nonnie. First of all, I'm very curious to know why am I the only HP blog you follow, and very honoured at the same time. Thanks for reaching out, I hope I can help you with it!

So here we go. I have a few favourites and classics that I believe everyone should read. I hope you enjoy them :)

Buckle up and jump back in with our drarry squad!!!

Turn by Saras Girl - 306K, E

One good turn always deserves another. Apparently.

Grounds for Divorce by @tepre - 122K, E

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter. A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

Little Compton Street (One Rainy Night in Soho) by @writcraft - 65k, E

Draco is lonely, Harry hates the press and it won’t stop raining in London. Harry discovers a magical street that’s close to disappearing forever and Draco realises he’s one rainy night in Soho away from finding everything he’s been searching for.

Modern Love by @tackytigerfic - 61k, E

Harry Potter, of all people, knows that life isn’t always fair. And no one gets to be happy all of the time. But surely there’s something more—something better—than a rubbish Ministry job, and a lonely old house, and that feeling that everyone out there is doing a better job of living than Harry is.

If an Injury is to be Inflicted by @shealwaysreads - 44k, E

If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.

Here's the Pencil Make it Work by ignatioustrout - 44k, M

Harry thinks "Why is Malfoy working in a coffee shop in muggle London?" is a much simpler question than, "Are you going to accept that auror offer and, if you don't, what will you do?"

I bet you look good on the dancefloor by birdsofshore - 27k, M

Harry felt lit up from inside as soon as he entered the bar. There were blokes dancing together, their bodies close to one another, not keeping a wary distance as Harry was always careful to do when he was near another man. God, he wanted this – wanted it so much he could taste it, a metallic tang of heat and desire. He suspected nothing would ever be the same again – especially when he saw who else was in the room.

Running on air by @tinyhistory - 74k, T

Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

Little deaths and how to avoid them by @greaseonmymouth & art by dustmouth - 94

Malfoy is way too interested in coroner reports for somebody who's definitely not looking for ways to die, Harry wants to be friends with him, and Ginny wants to break up with Harry.

Shibboleths by @lol-zeitgeistic - 109K, M

Muggle Immersion co-Professor Harry Potter spends his days hanging with his son, reading to his "dog," teaching magical kids about the internet with his cousin Dudley, and irritating Snape’s portrait. He’s understandably annoyed when his cosy life is interrupted by the Headmistress hiring on Draco Malfoy to be Hogwarts’ new Ancient Magical Cultures and Spellcasting professor. But then the explosion happens, and it turns out they'll all need Malfoy's knowledge if they want the magical world to survive.

The Ordeal of Being Known by @lou-isfake - 146k, M

When Auror Potter is anonymously cursed with silence by being forced to hide his own voice inside his mind, there's unfortunately only one person in the country with the qualifications to fix it: Certified and Licensed Healer Legilimens, Draco Malfoy, specialist in Mind Curses and Afflictions. It's obviously a terrible idea, a disaster waiting to happen, but Draco's never been able to back down from a challenge... especially from Potter.

Dwelling by aideomai - 83k, M

Curses, James and Lily Potter ride again, several Ministry balls, a teenage Summer of Love, a grim young adult dystopian winter, a few different Draco Malfoys, secrets and the problems re: not having any, alternate lives, impossible lives, real lives, allusions to Dirty Dancing, and just because it's not called the Mirror of Erised doesn't mean you shouldn't know better.

Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by @waspabi - 93k, T

'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

In the Shadow of your Heart by @lqtraintracks - 51k, E

And thus began the very strange circumstance of their fake dating in public and real fucking in absolute secret. It was, with no comparison, the weirdest relationship Draco had ever been in – which was to say, it wasn't one.

Freedom to be by @quicksilvermaid - 169k, E

Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived. 12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends. Only nothing feels perfect. Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.

I believe 15 is a wrap. lol, I'm sorry I went overboard xD I could keep on going forever ;) I'll add here @sitp-recs list of Drarry for beginners. She organised a very nice list of tropes and their classics, it's brilliant!

Welcome back to Drarry, lovely nonnie! :3 Love, tai

[therovingstar]

I haven’t been playing as much cuz I randomly got back into comics (Starfire, my beloved, how I’ve missed you), and have since been held hostage by them for the last few weeks, BUT

It’s looking really good that I’ll have both Odzaya’s canon jobs and the Scions all at lvl 90 in time for 6.1 (the two personal goals I set for myself), which I’m buzzing about. Apart from the new main story, I think I’m most excited for the Alliance raid. The music sounded amazing, the bosses look like so much fun, and I can’t wait to see what story and lore we get. I was hoping we’d see Azeyma in particular and she looks fabulous, looking forward to her throttling us with her pretty fans. And the gear sets look yummy.

Though it’s not coming with this immediate patch, I’m excited for Tataru’s questline, too. From the recaps I watched (missed the live letter despite requesting the day cuz work sucks and I ended up having to go in) it sounds like it’s meant to be a giant homage to all the folks who helped us in 6.0? Which sounds great, I’m a sucker for that stuff, power of teamwork and friendship all the way. Also looking forward to the Arkosodara tribe quests (it looked like our new Xaela buddy will be part of it, which’ll be cute, I liked her a lot) and, weirdly enough, PVP? Mostly cuz the Garo sets are coming back and I’ll finally have a chance to get ‘em, but also WHM death laser lol.

I’m anticipating the continuation of the role questline simply for the fact that Hien (and others) will be present, quality of the quests themselves mostly a non-factor. While I agree the ShB quests were definitely superior, I wasn’t outright offended by most of the goings-on in these (and genuinely liked at least two of them), so I’m cool with seeing how they wrap up. I’m a simple hoe, I see my pixel man my brain goes brrr and all is right with the world.

For the job adjustments I was hoping for more for WHM, though I know the ones they listed are works in progress and they’ll continue adjusting well into the future. I’m honestly (and vainly, I know) hoping for something like a borderline rework for the job, cuz I agree that at this point it doesn’t really seem to have much of a unique identity, it just kinda screams “basic” at this point and not much else. I have no problem with it being the easy/beginner-friendly healer job, and I still manage to enjoy playing it, but I’d still like to see more for it, both strength and ability-wise. Like right now I’m not seeing how White Mages went toe-to-toe with Black Mages during the War of the Magi lol, the difference in quality for both jobs is pretty staggering right now imo. The gameplay isn’t matching up with the lore and it’s bothering me. They should let us have the death laser we’ll apparently get in PVP.

Miscellaneous stuff: Yay for hrothgar and viera and their steadily-increasing hairstyles, but why do the hrothgar styles not show their ears? Speaking as someone who, playing a non-human race, loves to show off those features that distinctly make them non-human, I don’t think that’s gonna go over well, and I hope they’re able to adjust/fix that without too much trouble (or backlash). The adventurer plates are super cool, can’t wait to waste hours on that. And the fact that we’re getting literal gingerbread houses (and a whole jungle gym) added to housing is adorable. Also, that cherry blossom canopy bed? The cherry blossom bed?? The canopy bed. That literally rains cherry blossoms??? Yeah I got ideas from that. Ideas. Thank you, dev team. Thank you.

[klug]

ok im gonna pester you about puyo. i dont know anything about puyo! give me some info on a few of your faves! and where i would start to check out puyo and see what its all about!! >:3c

oh my god THIS IS LIKE SOMETHING I'VE BEEN WORKING ON ON THE SIDE... because people do like..write beginner's guides on how to get into the series but the Language Barrier is kind of fucking insane. I've been into it for a long time and even I'm not sure about everything, mostly because a lot of extra materials, esp. older stuff, isn't...actually translated

The TL;DR version of the series' history is that it started as a Japanese dungeon-crawler called"Madou Monogatari" (or Sorcery Saga in English) for like personal computers developed by Compile. Not many of these games are patched into English, but there are a few! Which you can find here. They're actually really fun and super retro so I do recommend checking out the patched stuff. So...since this was successful, the developers made an action-puzzle spin-off, akin to Tetris, of this dungeon crawler which...ended up far, far, far, surpassing the original series' popularity. That was Puyo Puyo.

After some financial mishandlings on Compile's end, the property got bought by SEGA and this is probably where most people recognize it because of the unique art style:

Anyway, it's a puzzle game franchise now with a pretty strong Japanese competitive scene (video is in Japanese but you can get an idea of the gameplay from this)

IMO...knowing where to start is...hard. I started with Puyo Fever, the fifth game in the series, when I was a kid because it was localized outside of Japan. I do recommend this if you want a feel for the series' humor? It's very short! Feels VERY much like a game you'd find in an arcade, right down to the cheesy voice acting.

That said, the actual "first game" in the series is, well, "Puyo Puyo" which was released in 1991. The current "competitive" meta is based on the sequel. And it's been largely unchanged since then.

I think the most beginner-friendly games are as follows:

- Puyo POP for GBA (has an English version)

- Puyo Puyo Fever (has an English version as mentioned above)

- Puyo Puyo Tetris 1 and 2* (these both have English versions and are multiplatform) *I recommend these with some caution, as the title implies these are crossovers between Puyo and Tetris and introduces a lot of characters exclusive to "Tetris" due to copyright. They're continuous with one another (and with the main series imo) but you can watch the story of Tetris 1 on YouTube and pick up Tetris 2 if the spirit moves you. These should all have ROMs available online, at least the first two.

I can't write too much in this post without getting EXTREMELYYYY long-winded and I've already failed at keeping this concise, but you can send me more questions about this LOL it's my favorite series considering that I (try) to help with translating the games with some amazing translators on this blog.

I'll close this off with my favorite characters:

Strange Klug who is my poor little fucking meow meow who is everything to me and I feel bad for her all the time (she's a guy in canon but she is a trans girl in my heart). She's a demon who was sealed in that book to the left of her because of a sick prank someone played on her. She is usually stuck in there, but can be unsealed under the right circumstances (usually by Klug,who is coming up, because of course) She's my...favorite villain. Embarrassingly. Unfortunately her lore has been shelved since her debut in 2015, so any appearances she's made since then are fanservice :"D.

Klug, who is my blog's accursed namesake (as well as my own, sometimes) he's a student who loves dark magic and well...unsealed a demon because he thought it'd bring him power. He's stupid, screechy, does anything to inflate his ego, and is probably one of my favorite characters to think about in the franchise.He hasn't really been relevant for a while and is mostly a background, supporting character, but I still like him lol

And then, not necessarily my favorite but she IS essentially the series mascot: Arle Nadja. She's a 16-year old mage who originated as a protagonist in Madou Monogatari. In those games she crawled through dungeons, fought monsters and devils, fought off Satan multiple times, and is generally just trying to chill with her BFF (bunny friend forever) Carbuncle and find something delicious to eat on their adventures.

She's probably one of my favorite fictional characters Just in General for just subverting a lot of RPG tropes like being a mage rather than a fighter, being a girl (this is a big one), and always managing to fight off her Baited Love Interests (also a big one. acearo Arle ftw) lol. She's toned down a LOT in her current iteration so she comes off as a bit bland, but she's still a fun straight man whenever she gets stuck with her friend group

[starredforlife]

Hey star, do you have any tips for drawing werewolves? Though if you don’t feel comfortable answering this or don’t want to, I completely understand!!

Werewolves are just one of my fav monsters, if not all time fav, and I struggle with drawing them sooo much omg!!! I love your art sm, especially your most recent oc art! And your love for monsters really just brings a huge smile to my face bc fuck yea same

hello anon! i'm very flattered you're asking me this question :') i have a couple points I'd like to make, and they're all pretty long. bear in mind, they're also from a more animator-adjacent point of view as opposed to realist or illustrative:

-reference! never ever feel like drawing from reference is a cop-out, it's so important. for werewolves i've found that this is most important when drawing their hind legs and snouts at certain angles. it's a little tricky, so look up wolves or other werewolf art, find something close to what you want the angle to look like, and reference it while you draw.

-study human anatomy for their upper torso, wolf anatomy for their head and legs. once you've got a general idea of the shapes and structure, it's a lot easier to get creative and draw werewolves without reference and in imaginative poses. here's a good video on how to break down anatomy into volumetric, basic shapes (there are nude people in it bc it's abt human anatomy, but it still applies)

-what kind of werewolves do you like to draw? the smaller human-hybrid or the more wolf monster? both can look very good, and i would research lots of other people's art and renditions to see what balance you like best. that would also be a good time to draw each and test which type you'd like more!

-whatever emotion or personality you want to convey with your werewolf, make sure the pose you draw them in fits that, and make it nice and dynamic! if you're just drawing expressions, put their head in an interesting angle, or emphasize a part of their face (mouth and fangs, eyes, etc) to bring a viewer's attention to it. I like making the eyes prominent by giving mine eyebrows to emote with but that's just something i do out of habit lol. i like to study cartoon animals for expressions (think 101 dalmations, the jungle book, spirit) and i tend to pick poses based on how well they convey weight and movement. you want to make your werewolf look alive, essentially.

-On that note, keep your shape language streamlined: my werewolf, Lupa, is mostly made of wide triangles when she's in monster form, but her face and paws have some rounded qualities to make her appear a little friendly. (Most werewolves have triangular shape language to their design). This is one of my favorite videos on dynamic character design! Here's one that's a little more "intro to shape language" for beginners, that still helps me a lot!

-my personal details i love giving werewolves: manes along their necks and backs, droopy fur distribution along their joints and such (jawline, elbows, knees, etc), chunky teeth, bright eyes, and expressive ears. I draw my fur in licks, as opposed to tufts or a completely sleek design, but that's up to preference really! I just like making them fluffy, but not overly so. More like they look a little scratchy, furry, and warm

-if you love drawing something, it will show in the art. now this isn't real practical advice or anything, but sometimes i notice it helps me get across the appeal of a character a lot better. if i love that character, and understand them, i will be able to get across their features and personalities a lot more accurately and in a more visually dynamic way. so if you love werewolves, definitely pour all that love into them when drawing them! it will show, i promise.

I'm sorry that was so long! Character design is something I'm really really interested in and happy to talk about at any given point, especially about monsters, so thanks for giving me an opportunity to answer!

[leviskokoro]

Mari In Twisted Wonderland | Abridged Version | Savanaclaw

Chapter 2

Days after the Overblot Incident and Revenge Unbirthday Party, Mari gets another dream and this time it’s about the furries-- I mean, animals. She didn’t really get what it meant.

Lunch happened and Ruggie stole Grim’s lunch. Mari was confused but then they were called to the Headmaster’s office so she couldn’t question it. 

Crowley explained shit to the shared brain cell trio and Mari. Blah blah blah. Grim got upset that he can’t play magift and show off. Mari rationalized with him that he won’t be able to show off if he’s only a beginner and that she’ll treat him to canned tuna to cheer him up. He seemed to be having a terrible day, getting his lunch stolen and then being told he can’t participate in a sports event. 

She asked Crowley if he was searching for a way home but quickly realizes that he didn’t seem to be doing it. Though, she didn’t really say anything about it since the demon brothers were probably looking for a way to get her back. 

Then they got back to their dorms later but Crowley came to visit and explained that students were getting injured and shit was real sus since there were a lot of them. Grim told him that he didn’t want to help but he pretty much just forced them by saying the Ramshackle Dorm wasn’t free. He also bribed Grim by saying he’d let him participate in the magift tournament. Though, Mari was aware that he was lying through his teeth. However, she said nothing since she didn’t want to break Grim’s spirit again. Plus, she was going to help regardless of the situation. Might as well be helpful while she’s stuck in there. 

So the investigation started. They looked in the infirmary and Mari noticed that there were no Savanaclaw students that were injured but figured that maybe the culprit hasn’t got to them yet. Then they interrogated two injured students from Heartslabyul and they didn’t get any helpful answers so they tried looking for more clues. Only to fail and go back to the Ramshackle Dorm. 

Ace visited and they explained the situation to him. But then Deuce ran in and yelled about how Trey got injured too. So they ran to the Heartslabyul dorm and saw him. 

Mari was genuinely proud of Grim for being nice enough to give Trey the can of tuna she bought for him earlier in order to cheer him up. 

Riddle came by to check on Trey and then explained how he got injured. Then Cater pulled everyone excluding Trey to a different room and let Mari tell them about the other injured students. 

So, the Heartslabyul gang + Grim and Mari went to investigate together and saw the Pomefiore Dorm, which was probably Mari’s favorite dorm so far. It was certainly pretty. 

And now for Mari’s first impression of Rook: “Dang he kinda hot” 

Rook will remember that

Then the rest of the gang decided that he didn’t look strong enough so the culprit probably wouldn’t wanna target him, then went on to Octavinelle to see the tweels. 

First impression of the tweels as she and the rest ran for their dear lives: “Jesus fuck they’re creepy” 

They escaped and Mari finally remembered what she noticed about the injured students again. “Savanaclaw might be the next targets since there weren’t any injured students from there” 

So they got to the Savanaclaw Dorm and met Jack. She was like “oh you’re the hot furry” and he was like “excuse me?” Then he tells them that he won’t be targetted and that they should fuck off. 

Then they got in trouble with Savanaclaw delinquents and Leona and Ruggie came. Leona recognized Mari as the herbivore that stepped on his tail. The delinquents get angry but he still drinks respecc women juice and just challenges the gang to magift. Since Mari had no magic, she had to sit this one out. 

She goes home and sleeps, but then realizes she can’t and decides to have a midnight walk because she hasn’t seen enough horror movies to know that’s not the best idea. Then she meets Malleus. Probably thinks he’s the hottest guy she’s seen in NRC besides Leona and Jamil. 

“Oh, you are a child of man” “And you’re a man with horns”

She isn’t particularly intimidated by him. Like— She’s met Lucifer and has been nearly killed by him twice. Some strange dude with horns got nothin’ on him. Mari asked who he is and he seemed to be surprised by that, then he smirked. 

Dude said it would be better if she didn’t know and let her call him whatever she wanted. She was like “Aight” then he left. 

Mari goes to sleep and has another dream. She wonders why she’s having another dream about animals and why does the lion look familiar. Then she woke up, wondering what it meant. Barbatos was rather vague when he gave her his parting gift. 

On the way to school with Grim, she told him about the Tall handsome dude with horns. He dubbed him “Tsunotarou”. She liked the name a lot and decided to use it. 

They meet up with Cater and Riddle, who tell them that Jamil got injured. So they go meet him. 

‘Ah fuck his voice is hot too’ Mari thought when she met him. It seemed that she was right about Kalim, he was quite friendly. 

So they finally found out about Ruggie but couldn’t catch him. Then Jack appeared again. He’s like “Why are you working so hard for other people’s sake?” 

Ace is like “Lmao we just wanna get picked for the magift tournament and show off. We don’t give a shit about these guys.”

Mari sighed and said, “Why is literally everyone in this school so selfish?” And Jack questions her as to her reason for doing it. Then she replies with “Well-- Crowley kinda said that living in the Ramshackle Dorm wasn’t free. Though, he didn’t really have to force me since I would’ve helped regardless because I just like feeling helpful.”

Then Jack told the shared braincell trio that they’re worse than he thought. Though, he also mentioned that he didn’t trust Mari’s type. As in, “Guys that just do things for others” 

Ace was like “no u” 

Then Jack was like “Fight me bitch. If you want me to spill my guts, you gotta defeat me”

Deuce went bad boy like “fuck yeah lets go dude” and they fight

And they win. The rest of the guys are surprised that Mari knows how to fight. She’s like “The Future King of Hell taught me martial arts for like a year” and they’re not sure whether she’s being serious or if she’s crazy. 

And then Jack went into this whole spiel about how cowardly tricks make him nauseous and how he wanted to use his own power to claim victory at the top. Then he finally spills the beans on what Ruggie’s unique magic is and how Savanaclaw is in on the plan. 

“Why would they?” “How well you do in the magift tournament can have a big impact on your future, right? So I can’t say I don’t understand their feelings” 

“GRRRRRRRRRRRR” 

Mari is like “Dude, chill. Understanding someone doesn’t mean you agree with them.” 

Jack replied with “The now comes before the future! Show what you can do now!” 

Then goes onto yet another spiel about how he can’t stand Leona and how that guy is amazing but never gives his full effort. 

Ace whispers to Mari like “Damn he tsundere for his own dorm leader” 

And Jack tells them that Savanaclaw is going to target the dorm leader of Diasomnia, Malleus Draconia during the day of the magift tournament. 

Riddle and Cater come by like “Lol thanks for telling us” Then Riddle was going to tell them the plan but Jack was like “bitch im not gonna help. Im gonna do this shit myself. Bye” 

Mari countered with “What have you accomplished on your own?” 

He’s just >:(

“Smart wolves hunt as a pack” “Ugh fine. But if your plan sucks, I’m leaving.” 

So after hearing Riddle out, he’s like “Aight I’ll help.” 

Everyone came to an agreement and went to their respective dorms. Mari has another dream, then thought “Bruh he really wanted to be king then when he became king, he didn’t even do it right.”

“Oi, wake up.” 

Mari felt someone shake her awake. She groaned and swatted away the hands, wanting to sleep more. It didn’t quite register in her mind that someone broke into her room. It was only until her blanket was tugged away from her. The cool air hit her bare body. She shuddered and her eyes finally fluttered open to see Jack with a flustered expression before he threw the blanket over her body. 

“WHY THE HELL ARE YOU NAKED?!” 

“WHY ARE YOU IN MY ROOM?!” 

“Tch.” He looked away and rubbed his neck. “I came from my morning run to wake you up early. I couldn’t let you oversleep on the day of the tournament. S-Sorry for breaking into your room…”

Grim perked up and was motivated to go immediately so that he could collect his reward to play in the tournament. “Come on! Let’s go already!” 

“Just let me get dressed and I’ll be right with you. Be patient.” 

For the rest of that morning, Jack couldn’t look at her directly. When he did, images of that embarrassing situation all came back to his mind 

So they got to the stadium. Shit hit the fan but everything was fine because Heartslabyul revealed their plan. Diasomnia is perfectly alright. 

Leona got pissed and he revealed his unique magic. Sand is everywhere. He’s trying to kill Ruggie. 

Mari is like “Ugh I hate sand” 

Jack also revealed his unique magic and turned into a full furry-- I mean, wolf. This surprised Leona, which gave Riddle the opportunity to collar him. 

Lilia be spittin facts. 

Hearing Leona yell about agony and despair and that things will never change kinda made Mari’s heart hurt because it felt… familiar. How hopeless he seemed to feel. It reminded her of how she was before coming to the Devildom. 

Then he overblotted.

Then they beat the sit out of him. Mari is like “Does this usually happen?” 

So the magift tournament went on and Savanaclaw still got to play because the injured students wanted revenge. Grim also reminded Crowley about his reward so he was allowed to play against Savanaclaw. 

Grim did an oopsie and tried to do a special move but it backfired and hit Mari in the head instead. She had to be rushed to the infirmary. 

She woke up to see the shared braincell trio and the furry boys. Ace told her that she’s been asleep for so long that the closing ceremony was over and they’re dismantling the venue. 

Leona told her that Diasomnia was the champion. 

Ace and Deuce talked about how good Malleus was for a moment. Jack was like “No one can win if they give up before they try.” Mari agreed with him. He then said that he was going to beat Diasomnia fair and square next year. 

Leona was like ““Underhanded tactics” require one’s strength too” and she asked if he even felt bad. He was just like lmao no 

A wild Babie has appeared. Leona went >:0 but introduced Cheka to them. 

Mari squealed at the sight of such an adorable child. Internally she was saying “I’ve seen Cheka for 4 seconds but if anything were ever to happen to him, I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

Jack: So the root of all Leona’s pain is… 

Mari: The cutest lil angel ever! 

Cheka: Are you guys my uncle’s friends? 

Everyone else laughed at Leona except Mari who was busy introducing herself to the lil babie. 

Leona will remember that. 

Timeskip to when Mari went to sleep and saw the creepy shadow in the mirror. She’s lowkey shook but then she woke up. Seeing the time was pretty early in the morning, she decided to have a lil stroll to see the sun rise. 

She found a good spot and sat down, singing lightly to herself. 

The sound of leaves being crushed under one’s feet reached her ears from behind her. Mari didn’t bother looking up at the source, being too enamored with seeing the sky as its hues morph from navy to a golden yellow. The dark clouds turned into tangerine and peach ones. She gave a dreamy sigh. 

“Oi, Mari.” She heard the gruff voice of Jack. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh you know, just… Watching that gorgeous sunrise. I’ve lived in a land with no sun for a year so seeing it like this is quite the blessing,” She responded, still not looking up. 

“Seriously? I’ve never heard of a place like that.” Jack sat beside her. 

“Yeah. Living in Hell was quite the experience but it was fun.” Mari chuckled lightly. 

Her words caused him to furrow his eyebrows, wondering if she was kidding or not. He shook his head, deciding that it wasn’t important. He turned to her. 

“So… about that time…” 

“Hm? What time?” Mari finally looked at him, confusion swirling in her pools of chocolate. She tilted her head. 

His face felt warm as the blood rose to his tanned cheeks. “Y-You know what I’m talking about!”

Upon seeing his flustered expression, she finally remembered what he meant. Her mouth formed an ‘o’. What could he possibly gain from bringing that up now? 

“I wanted to apologize properly…” He spoke up again, rubbing the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t have violated your privacy like that and broke into your room.” He finally had the courage to look back into her eyes. Golden hues meeting chocolate. 

“How can I make it up to you?” 

Mari saw this opportunity and a smirk crept up onto her lips. “You could make it up to me by letting me pet you.” 

He yelped and his eyes widened to the size of saucers. His ears stood erect. “Wh-What?!” 

She pouted. “I thought you wanted to make it up to me? This is the least I could ask for after you broke into my room and saw me naked!” 

“Okay! Okay! Just don’t yell or someone’s gonna hear you.” 

Mari stopped and looked at him with expectations glinting in her eyes. 

He leaned downward. His head was lowered and ears curled back, anticipating her touch. 

She grinned and laid her hand over his head, caressing it tenderly. “Oh my~ Your hair is quite soft. I see that you groom yourself well, Jack. How nice~” She cooed, continuing to pet him with such pure glee swimming in her chocolate eyes. “How are you liking this? Does it feel nice~?” 

“Tch… Just because I’m letting you do this, doesn’t mean I like it,” He told her. 

“But your tail is wagging.” She pointed out. Blood spurted to his face and he pulled away. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” He exclaimed to her, trying not to show her that he was flustered. “We’re going to be late for school if we don’t hurry.” 

Mari glanced at the sun and nodded. “Oh! You’re right. I’ll go wake up Grim and head to class. Thanks again, Jack.” 

“Don’t expect me to let you do that again. We’re not friends or anything.” He walked away from her. 

A smile graced her lips as she watched him leave with a mirthful gaze. “Alright,” she whispered and made her way to the Ramshackle Dorm.

[youcantundothepast]

Manhattan Performing Arts

Victorious AU *mention of a wrist injury

- Crutchie (Andre) and Sarah (Trina but not annoying) are both instrumental majors, mainly piano. Sarah also plays classical bass and guitar. She has a minor in dance, mainly jazz. Crutchie sings a little but not enough to declare himself a vocal minor. He can also play flute, guitar, drums, piano, and french horn. Crutchie is also a huge asset in the technical theatre department. He’s amazing

- They’re best friends and Crutchie always comes over for them to practice their big showcase piece.

- Davey (Tori) isn’t a student at the school, but he plays piano well. Sarah has tried to get him to audition, but he always says he won’t get in so he doesn’t audition. He often sits in on them practicing, and he unintentionally memorizes the piece. One night, he can’t sleep, and he finds himself playing Sarah’s part on the piano. Sarah heard him.

- On the night of the showcase, Sarah’s family is pulled from the audience by Denton, the school’s guidance counselor, and is told that Sarah can’t perform. When they get backstage, they find Sarah had broken her wrist. Crutchie is dismayed both because his friend got injured and because they can’t perform, but Sarah says Davey can play her part.

- With some repressed reluctance/stage fright, Davey agrees to perform with Crutchie. The piece turns out beautifully and everyone is applauding in a standing ovation after they finish. Davey is offered a scholarship to the school as a instrumental major and whatever minor.

- So yeah, Davey becomes an instrumental major, he can play piano, violin, and clarinet. He also decides to minor in vocals. Also, he gets roped into a beginner’s acting class taught by Medda where he meets most of his new friends.

- Jack (Beck) is an acting major with a minor in vocals. He does a lot of musical theatre . He and Davey bond a lot easier because Davey often does something in the orchestra for the musicals, and they often talk during breaks at rehearsals when they’re practicing with the orchestra. Eventually, Davey becomes Jack’s go to partner to help rehearse his lines.

- Of course they have that one awkward moment when Jack plays the lead in a play and Davey is his love interest and they don’t know what to do when they rehearse a kissing scene.

- Spot (Jade) is a vocals major with an acting minor. Him and Jack are exes on friendly terms, but he doesn’t like Davey when he firsts meets him. He’s quite intense and can be mean to people (especially Davey), but they keep him around lol. Did I mention he’s goth? lmaoooo

- Elmer (Cat) is a vocals major with a dance minor. He’s a bit eccentric, with dyed red hair and countless random, disturbing, stories about his older brother. He’s pretty ditzy and air headed, but he is also ambitious and amazingly talented. His aesthetic is basically cotton candy and Weenie Hur Jr.’s from Spongebob.

- Darcy (Robbie) is a instrumental major (guitar, piano, triangle, kazoo and yes that’s on his application) who carries around... a puppet? Named Bill. Who constantly ridicules Darcy and makes sarcastic comments. It’s a mystery to everyone because it’s logical for Darcy to control Bill. Oh well. Darcy is incredibly awkward, and he tried to be flirty, but he usually fails.

- Race (OC) is a dance major with an acting minor. He’s a bit pretentious and snobby, and more like Trina than Sarah. But also he’s still insanely talented. He lowkey thinks he’s better than anyone else, and he’ll flirt with anything on two legs.

- Katherine (OC) sort of dabbles in everything, but she’s technically a dance major and a vocals minor. Though, she also takes classes in ballet dancing, acting, vocals, and she can play piano. Her father is the principle, and she is insanely talented. There’s constantly rumors of her and Jack secretly going out, but they’re never true. She’s a bit elusive and distants herself from most people (except Jack who is her best friend hence why people think they’re dating). But she is still kind and passionate about her craft. Her father wants her to become a professional ballerina, but she wants to become a songwriter.

[esa-marie]

Another update lol

Multiple things!! IK i dont have many followers, so im not saying this to many ppl, but who cares! I still want to post and let you guys in on what's happening behind the curtain:

-Art streaming! My friend has begun streaming, and that inspired me to begin as well. I will be streaming art and doing spur of the moment commissions, depending on how I'm feeling. I have a few ideas of things i can do for spur of the moment commissions, including colored Chibis, and YCH type things. I will be streaming Hopefully Wednesday nights (we will see -_-).

-Adoptables! I'm working on a large batch of adoptables, and I will be hopefully finishing them up and posting them. They will be gacha adopts (where I design characters working off of a base (that I made) so they are all 'equal'. you can pay a small price to 'roll' for your character, or a larger amount to choose which one you want.) The current batch I'm making are minecraft/MCSM OCs, because that's the only thing I can get my noggin to think about lol. after that, i may do some more unique and detailed cuphead OCS.

-NPC(my game). I'm currently suspending work on NPC, which i have realized isn't super beginner friendly. i have never made a fully fledged game before so jumping right into a plot heavy 3 act game was definitely the wrong choice. before I can continue i want to get some shorter one act games complete, so i get the feel for producing game and I know what i know, if that makes sense lol.

-New Game! if you read above, you saw i want to get some smaller games done before working on NPC, and the one im currently working on doesn't have a name, but it does have a general idea worked out, with objectives, and character design mostly done. Basically, the jist of the game is you are playing as a girl named drew who cant seem to get to sleep. She decides to take her mind off of things and bake some cookies. Only, the ingredients are not where she left them, and weird things are happening in the house. Can she collect all of the ingredients and find out what is happening ?

I think i may have a more detailed post on the game on my sideblog meant for games @esa-marie-games .

Thanks for reading my long update post, and sorry again for like, disappearing a day after i said ill post more. its been a shit year, and crap happens.

[edwad]

What’s your mum’s favourite book about Marx? And yeah I was asking about which books about Carl marcks you thought were the worst

ah well i’m an idiot and wrote all that for Nothing. anyway my mom has no opinions bc she’s a fellow traveler at best. but for the thing you actually wanted:

i feel like almost all books on marx are p bad tbh so this isn’t hard to do. not sure if you’re asking about biographies or just books on his Thought but i’ll talk about a few of each here.

the revolutionary ideas of karl marx (callinicos) is one of the best books on the planet if you want to understand marx the wrong way. it’s traditional marxism 101, including a chunk of the text dedicated to explaining dialectics and idealism/materialism as poorly as possible. gets lots of things flat out wrong, and not just interpretive stuff but actual historical facts. it was also published in the 80s iirc and he laughs at the idea that we’ll all have our own computers someday (supercomputers are so big!!! how would they fit in an apartment!!). this bit actually made it through to the 2nd edition which came out in like 2006 or something so it’s even more laughable. he’s also a trotskyist and did some fucked up shit which i’m not gonna get into here. swp sucks ass

marx for beginners (ruis) is an illustrated guide to marxs life and ideas which refers to him as “charles” throughout and makes a fucking mess of everything. i read it pretty early on into my marxism and i don’t think there was a single thing in the whole book that i didn’t already know (rightly or not lol) just from skimming marxs wikipedia page. it’s pretty bad

unraveling capitalism (choonara) written by another swp-er but focusing on marxs capital. it pushes the TSSI interpretation, which i don’t dig, and comes with all the problems of a text written by a swp-er. i don’t think this one is completely trash because it might have some utility as a 101 text, but it treats marx as an economist rather than as a social theorist critiquing economics, i.e. he approaches marx backwards.

marxs das kapital (wheen) mildly informative book stuffed with wheen’s typical bizarre speculation presented as unsourced fact. heinrich rightly rips him apart for this in his new marx biography. this book is more of a biography of capital itself, rather than a biography of marx (which wheen also did, poorly), but it tries to draw things out that aren’t there and tie marxs later critical project directly to things from his youth, which isn’t an uncommon position by any means but one that i always have a hard time tolerating.

marx and marxism (claeys) this book was so bad that i don’t even remember reading it. i retained nothing. i learned nothing. i just know that i kept fighting the author in my head

why marx was right (eagleton) i read this after years of being told it should be read as a beginner-friendly book on marx. turns out it’s bad. i think class-struggle-anarchism is the one who said this book should’ve been called “why marx wasn’t wrong” because that’s really what the book is trying to do. it defends marx from the 20th century (more or less the trotskyist history of the soviet union) but doesn’t actually prove him correct. he also gets some things wrong, which doesn’t help his case

every book ernest mandel ever wrote except maybe the formation of the economic thought of karl marx which is like 60-70% alright, mostly because there aren’t a lot of other books like it. allen oakley is the only person i can think of who’s doing something similar and which has been published in english, but oakley is loads better. he’s just much heavier on the marxology and less on The Narrative (which is fine by me)

[buff-pink]

Overwatch Tip: Competitive Mode Advice For Beginners

Speaking of competitive mode... 

I often get asked when I stream about tips on what to do when playing solo. I see a lot of people say they just plain stopped because it’s too stressful or they experience the same things they see me experience (when I bother streaming it) in low ranks. It doesn’t stop me, though, and I don’t think it should stop others either. 

Here’s a bit of advice and encouragement: 

1. Ranked is not for everyone. You either like the competition, and have the mindset for it, or you don’t. If you’re not having fun, and/or absolutely hate losing to the point that it causes you anxiety and stress, I recommend taking a break from comp mode and playing another mode, or another game. There’s nothing wrong with that. Competition should be fun and you should go into it with confidence and humility, so try it again when you feel ready.  

2. Practice, practice, practice. If you want to see improvement in your ability, play consistently! Watch how higher rank players play, read their guides, post in forums/discords for advice. Get your VODs reviewed. An important skill to have in competition is to be aware of, notice, and own your strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, remember you are never done learning.

3. Be a good sport. Read up on ‘the pygmalion effect’ - which essentially is a phenomenon where, if you’re surrounded by people who give good vibes, you are likely to perform better and have more synergy. It puts you in a positive mindset and believe me, it works. Matches where all my teammates and opponents are in good moods and sincere about their compliments always end better, and even if I’m on the losing side, I still have a sense of satisfaction because it was a mutually friendly game. It feels like I lost fair and square, and I want to congratulate the opponents and praise my team for putting in their best efforts.

Likewise, though, if you’re surrounded by bad vibes and pessimistic teammates, or rude opponents, you are likely to perform worse - though, paradoxically, there are occasions where the adversity makes you want to do better and it has the opposite effect. The thing is that doesn’t rub off on all six teammates, and you need everyone’s cooperation, so that’s meaningless in a lot of situations. I’ve had matches where I’m so tilted by my teammates’ pessimistic comments, I see no point in trying, and put in much less effort into those matches. I want to get out of them as fast as possible, even if it costs me the win. Why bother if I need my team’s cooperation, and my Ana just promised she was done healing one of the DPS because they won’t switch? 

In other words, sometimes it’s not about winning or losing, but the sportsmanship between the players, that makes a comp match enjoyable. 

4. Report bad behavior. This is a huge one. If you want more fair, positive games, report those who are disrupting that. Make sure to explain why you made the report. For example, if someone appears to be uncooperative, admits to throwing on purpose, or claims they’re ‘deranking’, that’s gameplay sabotage. If they use racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist, or otherwise rude and inappropriate language, that is abusive chat - specifying that it’s any of the above in the report helps raise its priority, so don’t forget to do so. (Those are the two most common offenses and usually the only two I ever see, and I try to report them whenever I can)

Another one I get a lot is spam - sometimes, after matches, rude players (and sometimes entire groups) send me tons of friend requests at once and it disrupts my ability to type in chat, because accidentally hitting the Y key will accept the request, then they blow up my whispers with more rude messages until I can unfriend/block them. That’s an example of spam. You can block these players, then report them, because they probably do this often.

Blizz mods can see and hear everything that goes on and will act upon reports as necessary, whether the player is suspended/banned from comp mode, blocked from typing in chat, or just banned from the game altogether. They even thank you for the reports!

Our lord and savior, Jeff Kaplan, wants games to be as fair and enjoyable for everyone as they can possibly be(or so he says), and reports help the mods take out the trash.

5. Your rank is not an accurate measurement of your true skill. Some people trapped in the Silver or Gold rank are actually skilled enough to be on a team with Diamond or Master players, but get mistaken for smurfs because they haven’t finished climbing to their rightful rank. Some players (like me) play for years, but can’t climb out of their rank alone because factors other than the game itself cause difficulties - whether it be irl issues, inconsistent playing, or ending up on a team without synergy. Solo queue is very unfair to all six players almost half of the time.

The truth is the elo scale becomes a meaningless system when the playerbase becomes so drowned out by players who either don’t take their matches seriously, or actively disrupt them. It becomes easy to get trapped in what they like to call ‘elo hell’. This is to say that you shouldn’t be discouraged if it takes you a while to climb alone, because there are more things working against an average player than it seems - after all, you have to compete with millions of players of highly varying skill levels in the rank you might be in.

For some perspective, check this article out about the percentages of players in each rank.  It doesn’t validate what I said above, but it helps to see the numbers with that context in mind. Don’t give up or let your SR get you down!

On that note, experience doesn’t equal skill. As someone with 2000+ hours of experience, I often get bullied because I have a ‘plat border’ but I fluctuate in rank between silver and gold. If you have thousands of hours, you’ve probably heard something like ‘lol ur a gold/plat/diamond border, what r u doing in this rank, obviously u suck’. They’re implying that every single player with that much experience should be masters or GMs.... and that’s honestly comedic. Everyone learns and improves at different paces. Don’t let that eboy get you down because you haven’t reached your fullest potential - and even if your potential isn’t that high a rank, just consider how irrelevant that number or rank is because the bottom line is when you play solo, you’re playing with 5 unpredictable strangers, and you can’t always control the outcome of that.

Uhhhh -twirls hair- I think that’s all for now, but I hope that’s substantial and makes even one person reading it feel a little encouraged. 

Thanks for reading! (I have more guides btw, like outdated Zarya guides and stuff about mouse dpi)

[lockwell19]

When I was twenty, I went to Florida on spring break with my college’s Christian club. Since there wasn’t enough room for all of us in the hotel room we got, I had to share one with a bunch of Liberty University students. (Looking back, yikes lol) It wasn’t too bad since I hung out in my club’s hotel room or with them most of the time and was only in the other room to sleep.

One day, I noticed a bunch of dirty dishes left in the sink and wrote a simple note (because that’s still common courtesy, yeah?) to clean them up. They wrote back to me, in a 2-3 page long letter, bitching to me about how they’d had a long day, yada yada. A clean sink would’ve sufficed for a response there.

Why do I mention this? Something came up on my server which made me think of the “short criticism leading to long answer means something’s off” I learned from that.

A few people on my server were discussing this black deaf lady on Instagram. She posts videos of her criticizing the signing of ASL “teachers” and ASL beginners who posted videos online. Now, granted, I’m fine with her tearing down ASL teachers who fuck up their signing, since they don’t have any business messing up others’ signing, but I think it’s a bit much that she criticizes beginners, and she does it in a mean way as well.

This friend of mine, who’s raised issues with this lady before, went on a few paragraphs long rant about how my server has become an echo chamber of that mentality (? no? I actively try to avoid that and we’re not capital-D deafie friendly at all lmao) and how she wanted to be an advocate for true equality but was too tired to keep that up. I was so baffled at that I didn’t respond and tbh I should’ve. But the discussion was very brief- like, someone brought up the lady who posted bad ASL translations of dirty words, then this Instagram lady got brought up, then my friend said she didn’t like her, then someone said “to each their own,” and that’s when my friend started her rant.

On one hand, I understand why this lady on Instagram roasts beginner signers, even if I’m not a fan of her approach. A lot of deaf people have had really bad experiences with people struggling to learn ASL, to the point where a few deaf chats are labeled Deaf-only, no ASL students allowed, because otherwise it can literally be one (1) deaf person and 100 ASL students since deafies don’t want to go due to the swarm of students. I exaggerate, but you get my point. And ASL teachers, even if they’re posting online, should be fully fluent. That goes for any beginner teacher, except the ones for spoken languages aren’t taken seriously, unlike those for signed languages.

On the other hand, yes, deaf and hearing people should be equal. Hearing people should treat deaf people with respect and vice versa. Common decency for all should be a thing, yes? But it really isn’t. Deaf people get mad at hearing people, since we had well-educated deaf professionals pre-Milan Congress and could have made good progress if it wasn’t for oralism attempting to destroy ASL. So the party line goes. Realistically? I think of that deaf writer from the 1920s who apologized for the deaf people with poor (read: ASL) grammar and said they weren’t all like that, and side-eye that ideal. 

Respect isn’t the key here. Education is.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Seventy-Six: Show No Fear ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina, blood, gore ] [ Verse: Divine Light ] [ AO3 Link ]

Though not one of the land’s monster hunters, Sasuke’s come face to face with a beast or two in his time. While nothing’s ever been a true terror - a gryphon, or an ogre, for example - he’s whetted his blade with beastly blood more than once.

He’d considered doing so on contract before setting out with his current band of companions. A way to make some coin to help his family, perhaps find a decent herbalist or medic for his brother. He’s been skilled with a blade since young, and a bow too when the time calls for it. Add in his igni bloodline, and he’s a formidable foe for many a creature: even those with ven like his own.

But instead, he’s been traveling with a group of other ven wielders: his brother, a lux mage to heal him, and an aqua mage. All in order to get back to the abandoned capital of the lands once claimed by the disciples of Luxeria.

And their travels haven’t been all a cake walk. Not by any means. Bandits plague the roads, cities are hosts of dangers, and even beasts have taken the odd shot at them. Mostly common creatures like wolves or bears, but regardless, each is a threat in its own right. Itachi attempts to aid him, but his lingering illness stunts his stamina and strength. The light elf has mighty defenses, but...no real way to attack. Nor does she want to, given her deity’s call for nonviolence. 

That leaves the water mage. He’s been slowly teaching her about their elemental energies and how to harness them, but her actual experience is still lacking. Much to her chagrin.

“What about a blade?”

“What?”

“Can you teach me to wield a blade?”

Sasuke perks a dark brow at her. “...do you really want to?”

“Well I need some way to defend myself in the meantime, until I can better call upon water!”

That earns a snort. “It will take just as long to learn swordplay. There’s no easy path, Hinata. No shortcuts.”

“Then I just need more training!”

“I’ve been teaching you as much as I can. But travel makes us all weary, and we can’t get overly tired. If a threat shows up -”

“You need to be ready, I know, I know…” She huffs a curt breath. “...I still managed to slay that ogre.”

“That was a stroke of luck.”

“No it wasn’t!”

“Yes, it was. Are you telling me you feel like you could do that again and again without fail? No mistakes? No hesitation?”

Her pause is telling enough.

“...you need more training before you can take more of a mantle in the group’s defense.”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“I can’t give you more time than I already am, Hinata. It’s all limited. Time, energy, safety to sit and frolic with magic. I appreciate the want to help, but I can handle it.”

That earns him a cold shoulder that night, everyone too tired to spare time for training, saved instead for taking watches.

The next time they do manage to set aside some time to practice, she’s steely-faced and determined, listening with rapt attention. At first, he can’t help but be a little amused. Seeing Hinata so...serious is a far cry from her typical character. Sure, she can be stubborn...but this is a whole new level.

...she really does want to master her element.

Half an hour into their lesson, taking a break for water, Sasuke holds up a hand to beg for silence. Keen eyes of red flicker to the nearby treeline, pointed ears perking with attention.

Something is out there.

The pair hold completely still, listening. At first...nothing. But then a twig snaps, and their eyes both flicker to the sound. Two orbs glow in the shadows of the boughs, watching them.

“...don’t panic,” he murmurs, moving slowly to set aside his canteen. Instead, he grips the hilt of his blade. “Show no fear. If we hesitate...it will attack.” He still can’t yet see whatever’s lurking in the wood, but his gut tells him it’s nothing friendly.

“...what should I do?”

“Be prepared to run. I’ll distract it.”

“But- ?”

“But...nothing. Do as I say, Hinata.”

For a moment she swells in indignation, but pauses as a low hiss echoes from between the trunks. Then there’s a rustle. That’s got to be scales...a few different beasts flicker through his mind, but what emerges isn’t among them.

Twelve above...it’s a naga.

Serpentine body slithering across the grass, she gives another hiss, jaw hanging open to an unsettling degree: unhinged and waiting to sink fangs into their flesh. Claw-tipped fingers spread, reaching eagerly. It’s clear enough: she’s risking a confrontation in the hopes of a meal.

Sasuke’s grip tightens on the hilt of his blade, drawn to his front and glinting in the fading afternoon sun. “...get back to camp. Warn the others. I’ll try to stop it here.”

“I can help -!”

“Yeah, you can. By going back.”

Body winding, the naga tenses before using the tightened muscles to spring across the remaining distance. The mages leap apart, forcing her attention to split...but not for long. Loosing a volley of fire, Sasuke draws her gaze to him with a taunt.

“This way! Your business is with me, monster…!” Even now he doesn’t succumb to any fear, staring into the beast’s eyes with a glower of his own.

Giving another hiss, she makes to loom toward him, only to screech, back tensing. Behind her, wielding water like a whip, Hinata drives the element against her back. As the monster turns, Sasuke gets a view of the nasty welt along the skin of her human torso.

Does this woman never listen to him?! Ever?!

Spewing oaths under his breath, he trades his blade for his bow, setting the string and nocking an arrow. One zings through the air, skimming his enemy’s arm and earning a cry.

The next bolt, drawn quickly, whizzes past her head as she lowers to the ground, sliding along both bellies toward him with alarming speed. Sasuke throws his bow over his shoulder, drawing a dagger at his hip. He counters several slashes of her deadly claws, swiping at her face in an attempt to drive her back.

“Hey!”

Hinata’s cry goes ignored...until a tug yanks the naga backward. Water encases the lower third of her tail, guided by Hinata’s ven. Teeth grit in a snarl, she gives a mighty roar, every ounce of her strength whipping the creature back over. Hands attempt to slow her movement, but the naga is hurtled against a tree, spine concussed around the trunk and knocking the wind from her.

Taking his chance, Sasuke draws his bow once more, firing a bolt. It lands dead center in her gut, an ear-splitting shriek cutting through the air. Ignoring it, he follows up several more until she goes limp.

The mortal pair pant, Hinata making to cautiously approach.

“Don’t.”

Looking back, she watches him draw his sword.

“...kill a snake, and it can still bite.” Aiming his blade, he decapitates the creature with one swift strike.

The jaw gives several searching bites, uttering a last hiss before going still.

Hinata stares in horror.

Clearing the gore from his weapon, Sasuke then retrieves his arrows and does the same with their heads before tucking everything back into place. “...what part of ‘run’ do you not understand?”

“I saved you. Again. When are you going to stop doubting me?” Hinata counters, exasperated. “I might be a novice, but it’s clear I’m doing s-something right!”

Sheathing his sword, Sasuke scowls. “...you still lack experience. Which means you lack the knowledge to predict a fight well enough to last in one for long. One wrong move, and you could be dead.”

“And how else can I garner experience than by fighting?”

“A naga is not a beginner’s foe!”

“Well we handled it, didn’t we?”

He breathes a curt sigh through his nose, ears pinning. “...you don’t need to throw yourself into every lick of danger. There’s a difference between showing no fear, and disregarding it completely. Fear isn’t something to ignore - it’s something to temper. Being wary will keep you alive. Acting as though you have nothing to lose? Nothing to fear? Is a surefire way to end up dead.”

“...but I wasn’t afraid.”

“And why not?”

She stares at him. “...because you were with me.”

That...leaves him without a retort.

Seeing as much, Hinata moves to collect her gear. “...we better head back. We’ll need rest after...all of that. And we need to make sure the others are okay. There might be something else skulking around wanting to k-kill us.”

Watching her incredulously, Sasuke just shakes his head...and follows.

                                                          .oOo.

     Looong day, so I'll be brief.      More of my original fantasy verse! A random, middle-of-the-story one. That verse hasn't really been in any particular order like some of the others...whoops. Just some random training between mages, no big deal. It's just a naga. No biggie. Nobody got hurt, so...win-win, right?      C'mon, Sasuke: stop being such a stick in the mud lol      Anywho...that's all I've got, aha~ Thanks for reading!

[witchymashedpotatoes]

Hello! I’m still new to this ‘magical’ world. May I ask how to be a proper witch or give a few tips for beginners? Thanks.

Hi!!! I’m so so so deeply sorry for not getting to your ask sooner! For some reason I haven’t been getting notifications whenever I get sent an ask.

But really there’s no ‘proper’ way to be a witch. Witchcraft is a personal thing, so it’s up to you how you use it and practice it.

But my tips would be to study! (I know that might sound boring, but it’s pretty fun actually!). I always prefer books over things online (unless it’s from the tumblr community. If I find a spell here or some other good witchy stuff I might try it.), because online you can post anything and also I just love books 🤷🏻‍♀️. But before I did ANY spells or anything ‘witchy’ I read a beginners book on witchcraft (I’ll put the link to it at the bottom of this post.) I’ve never said this before, but I actually used to be scared of witchcraft! I actually got slightly interested in it because I would watch some ghost hunting show (which I watched like 500 times lol), and a Wiccan guest stared on the show a few times. Now back then I didn’t know what Wicca was, but she seemed like a really nice person who practiced witchcraft, so maybe witchcraft isn’t that bad! So I thought it over for a while, and I mentioned to my mom I wanted to learn about witchcraft. She was alright about it, and even bought me my first book on it! It’s still one of my favorite witch books to this day.

But back to the studying thing, not everything you have to learn is from books! (I know it may of sounded like that’s what I was saying. But if I did say that, that would make me a hypocrite lol.) I’ve learned tons of stuff from here on tumblr from the witch community, and I’m still learning! You can basically find anything on here. Also just randomly searching online! I use a lot of herbs in my craft, so I would always just read lists of herbal meanings on random occult websites (I would do this all through my classes freshmen year… no regrets). There’s so much you can learn for free online, but of course be careful! Not everything you see is true (for example my non-witch friend, who’s actually catholic, once tried one of those spells to ‘make her into a vampire’… obviously it didn’t work and she didn’t really believe in all of my witchcraft stuff. It also didn’t help that the two spells we did together didn’t work. (Not surprised they didn’t tho..))

Another thing I always say whenever I get asks about being new to witchcraft is Familiars. Now, some people say you NEED a familiar. Some say everyone has a familiar, and some say not everyone doesn’t. In my opinion, I don’t believe everyone has a familiar. Some people don’t need one, or just plain don’t have any. If you DO want a familiar (or if you have one but don’t know what it is yet,) don’t stress on finding it out! It’ll come to you in time. Or you can always try to contact it while meditating or doing some kind of spell to call it forward. Just be respectful, of course :). My familiar is actually a cat, (which makes sense since I grew up with them my whole life) and I found that out when I was actually a pretty new witch. I put some raw quartz to charge in the sun, and when I came back out a cat ran away from them! Then when I looked back to go inside, the cat was there again! Ever since then I’ll see the shadow of a cat out of the corner of my eye every so often. It doesn’t always look the same, however. Sometimes it’s a big, skinny black cat, other times it looks like a round, fluffy grey cat. I’ll put a link to a good book about familiars at the bottom of the post as well.

Lastly I’ll talk about other witches! Now a lot of witches I’ve met have been really friendly, open, and want to help others out. But like all people, that’s not always going to be case. There’s the few that always tell you you have to do your craft a certain way, or say that YOU have to be a certain way to be a witch. When in reality, there is no right or wrong way to be a witch. Basically, you do you! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. If you do certain things (like cursing for example) you most likely will get people telling you about the three fold law (its this ‘rule’ that whatever you put out there will come back to you three times as strong), or karma. However, if you don’t believe in it, then don’t worry about it! That’s the thing about witchcraft. It’s all up to you (just please don’t do anything illegal :’)).

If you (or anyone) have any more questions, feel free to DM me or send an ask!

Love and Light, Amaryllis~

Links;

https://www.amazon.com/Where-Park-Your-Broomstick-Witchcraft/dp/0684855003

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/715726.Animal_Magick_the_Art_of_Recognizing_and_Working_with_Familiars