#Collective Purpose

[dgspeaks]

Humanism as a Cultural Seed: Rethinking African American Identity

In the rich tapestry of African American culture, Christianity has long served as the cultural seed, shaping identity, beliefs, and values. However, as we navigate the complexities of modern society, there arises a crucial need to examine and redefine the foundational elements that have shaped our collective consciousness. I believe humanism as a cultural seed can be a tool for empowerment and…

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Have you seen my little lad?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[hillhomed]

minion mom

[pokeberry5]

(who's gonna save you, hero?)

i love whump fics where tim ends up on the ropes alone and doesn't know if anyone's gonna reach him in time

i really really love leonardo romero's inks and jordie bellaire's colors from the "i am the gun" mini telling the zur-en arrh backstory (in batman issues #128-130), so this is another loose style study

i had this frame in mind specifically, altho i couldnt quite commit to the hard inks

ALSO the concept was loosely based off the issues in legacy ('tec (1940) #698-99) where tim goes undercover and then gets nabbed by lockup and his comm cuts off in the middle of telling nightwing what's going on, which also gave us this great (but misleading) cover

[coquelicoq]

it's about...longevity? stability? it's about natsume believing he'll be somewhere long enough to plant flowers and see them bloom. it's about him taking touko seriously when she asks him to tell her what flowers he wants to plant. it's about making something with his own hands, building a future with the fujiwaras. it's about him repairing a rundown home for someone else, restoring it because it's beloved to them, because it's the home of someone they love. it's about him seeing touko's joy and thinking about the youkai saying we'd like to look upon her happy face forever. it's about the box garden making him think of the fujiwaras' garden and his parents' garden, about the flowers being both the memory of flowers that bloomed there before, and the flowers that he and the youkai planted earlier that day. it's about him waking up in both worlds with sensei. it's about touko finding the petal in his hair. it's about him feeling how he falls short and the youkai saying, but you have such gentle hands...

[lightnersdream]

i've been thinking about exactly why people portraying one of the other crew members successfully killing Jimmy as a "for what you did to Anya" kind of thing rubs me the wrong way a bit and it's because like..... this is just another form of taking agency away from Anya, in a way. it's kind of framing her as some meek, shivery woman-thing who's entirely at the mercy of the men around her, either to hurt her or save her.

(i understand these are mostly for wish fulfillment on the audience's behalf because everyone would like to see Jimmy pay for his crimes. whether or not this is the intention of the person writing it isn't really relevant, characterization happens with or without intent. i feel like it misses the point by portraying it as an 'ideal ending'.)

because... Anya is a capable person. she takes things into her own hands when she can. it was partially(?) her idea to get into the cargo,

(before he interrupts her.. remember when she interrupted Curly in the dead pixel segment?)

it was her idea to get the code scanner from the cockpit,

it was her idea to get the medication from behind the foam.

(the chance to do these things herself is not given to her.)

she'd been keeping Curly alive for months in a critical state somehow, her psych evaluations at the start are only so useless because Jimmy refuses to take it/her seriously and Curly is obviously biased when he puts it into his own hands. he's known him a long time, like he said. "I'll just put good for that one."

there's not a lot of material to work with because of how the game is framed, but it's there. we are working with two very biased perspectives and neither one lends Anya what she deserves

there's significant changes in how she speaks post- and pre- crash, and depending on who she happens to be talking to. i recommend re-reading her dialogue, because the difference is drastic

she acts the way she does around Jimmy because he has tangibly done horrible things to her, is actively hostile, and physically could not escape him by any means. she can't take away Curly's agency herself, in my eyes. you have to remember that Especially in the post-crash segments of the game, it's entirely from Jimmy's POV, and he obviously does not (and has never) thought very highly of her or treated her with a shred of respect

i've seen a general idea that she can't bear to hurt other people for any reason, but that doesn't really track to me. this is the real point of the post by the way

it seems based on the parts where she says she struggles to give Curly medication. "It just hurts him so much, I can't stand the noise." "It makes me nauseous."

it's not really the same thing as, say, hurting someone in self defense

this sounds like she did want the gun itself. this never felt worded like someone who would refuse to, at very least, threaten Jimmy with a gun, with violence. if she had been given the agency to make that decision on her own. she wasn't though

she still tries to reclaim some of it even as she's denied it

by the end she's still trying to keep that gun out of his hands

i think some people overly soften her, for similar reasons the game itself is trying to comment on. she's not a tender victim who couldn't cause pain to another out of the softness of her soul, she's a person who's had every last bit of agency ripped from her repeatedly until she couldn't take it anymore. that's the point. that's why framing her that way, "needing" someone to save her, is odd to me

she didn't need Curly to save her, she needed him to take responsibility

she didn't want to escalate things, but she's not an idiot. self defense was absolutely on her mind

but who knows im just saying shit *smiles serenely*

[scruncheduppaper]

like just use your gut to answer this one

[wigglybunfish]

3C2=3, peace and love

[ryllen]

wind chime

[chiropteracupola]

"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 234

More of the Tiamat Au? More of the Tiamat Au! 

Sharing a body was strange. Ten limbs split between the nine of them- thirteen if one counted the tails and seventeen if one counted the fact that their cloak… skirt… whatever could mimic the wings of their other form. 

One which they would change back to after a few moments- there was much less stumbling when it was all fours. Not to mention that if not for the tails they’d have easily toppled over with how many arms they had making them slightly top heavy. Okay more than slightly, it was taking a bit to adjust. 

Honestly the fields of wheat and other crops did nothing to hide them with how tall even this body was, but it was still better than nothing, and they were using the fact it was the middle of nowhere to their shared advantage. 

At least the humanoid- not human, even now their shared power thrummed through the air, leaking from them- form was smaller than their true draconic one. Well, perhaps they shouldn’t call it their true form, when they were once all human, halfa and liminal alike, but they’d long since stopped being such. So perhaps it was in fact true to call the form they had become as their normal state now. 

Actually, could they even separate now? Or had their power melded together so much that it was impossible now, and an attempt would end them? It would at the very least crack their core- 

“What the fuck.” 

Their head lurched, a little too far if the jolt of pain was anything before it melted away. They were all too used to moving their own necks separately. But all of them agreed that discovery could not happen-

Oh.

It was a child. A preteen with red-orange hair, blue-green eyes, expensive clothing, and most damming of all, large swaths of bruising across his arms. Bruising that did not come from usual play, and looked far too much like hand prints for any of their comfort. 

Someone had very much not been taking care of this child. And that really made them quite angry. 

[fudgecake-charlie]

redraw this old thing from 2021! this took. like 5 hours 💀

Heavypaint has such beautiful textures but listen when they say the layer merge feature is fucky... I tried to merge my coloured sketch and flats and it turned my lines to pure black full opacity OTL. i am feeling better about this program though

close ups because heavypaint has the marvelous feature of lossless export upscaling <3 2.4kx2.4k my beloved

[blasphemousclaw]

I’ve seen a bunch of theories about the snow witch that hinge on the assumption that her name is Renna, but what if Renna was never actually supposed to be her name?

what we know about the snow witch, or snowy crone, is that she was a weird old lady in the woods who taught the young Ranni heretical cold sorcery, and wore the pointed hat and robe Ranni wears now. Ranni’s doll body is said to be “modeled after” her… but it cannot be a perfect 1:1 impersonation of her, because Ranni doesn’t look like a “crone” at all!

Rather than an attempt to fully impersonate the snow witch, I think Ranni’s doll body is more of an homage to her old mentor. and with that in mind, I think that the name “Renna” might also be an homage to perhaps the most important mentor in Ranni’s life — her mother.

I think it’s very fitting for Ranni to use her new persona as a way of maintaining her connection to her teachers after she slew her physical body and abandoned her previous life. though Ranni is accused of being cold and unfeeling, she’s actually very sentimental — her co-conspirators are her closest childhood companions, her base of operations her childhood home. she still loves her mother and defends both her body and her legacy. she died wearing her mother’s talisman. wouldn’t it be sweet if she chose to call herself Renna out of love for Rennala?

[caligvlasaqvarivm]

I used to despise Eridan and think he was the absolute worst character (barring Cronus ig) but you have shown me the light and completely turned my opinion around and now I think he is such an endearing little freak <3 I read your whole blog already but if you've got any more thoughts on eri or anyone else then I hope you post them bc I'd love to hear more abt it!

i have sooo many controversial opinions about the dancestors you have noooooo idea

[fullychaotichell]

Hell's most autistic dad! 😌🏆🔥

[s-e-v-e-n-38]

TFP Smokescreen my beloved, the writers kept giving him Things and I cannot tell if it was on purpose or not

For example

First meeting with Team Prime, he mentions he woke up from stasis 1 on a Decepticon ship, which is how he got the Decepticon pod in the first place. This is never brought up again. He then proceeds to grab out of all things the one magical artifact that can get him out of any situation unharmed and Does Not Let Go. Keeps grabbing it and keeping it on him despite his superiors telling him no, until they finally go "Keep it"

Which could mean nothing