#I KNOW WHAT THIS SOUNDS LIKE

[eluminium]

more insane thoughts about life seires skizzleman coming up

okay so as I continue to sit in this basement and every wall is nothing but thumbtacks and red string, I am slowly losing even more of my marbles. As in, I have a lot of scattered thoughts about Limited Life and I'm about to share these slightly insane ideas with all of you. Please enjoy, as I'm starting to run out of red string and I might die if I do.

Skizz being The Dove/A manifestation of peace or something insane like that idk man I'm punching the wall:

Okay, hear me out on this. In my previous post about Limited Life (The Skizz and Number 3 one yes this is a link), I talked about how technically, Skizzleman could be considered a Dove. Y'know, a symbol of peace. The last warning before everything truly goes to shit. Skizz very much prefers negotiation and deals over violence and all that, man chooses to be kind. Not out of naivete, but out of a pure will and want. 

He has ONLY killed with justification he's never just...killed. And every time he's tried to kill without reason he has failed spectacularly and probably also died. Like, take Jimmy and Cleo from 3rd Life. Skizz killed Jimmy because he was an active threat to The Red Army and because the Red Desert had been antagonizing Dogwarts for a while. It wasn't something against Jimmy, it was more against the Red Desert itself. He later spares Scar by changing the bargain to "Give us the banner and we'll leave you alone" instead of just straight-up murder. Because he had already taught the Desert enough, there was no need to spill more blood. Cleo is even easier to understand. Cleo attacked Ren, Skizz's king and the guy Skizz was THE most loyal to during 3rd Life. Of course, Skizz acted in defense of his king and took Cleo out. And he also spared someone this time too. Bdubs. He let Bdubs take Cleo's stuff back. There wasn't a need to spill more blood. 

Then we have the latest of his kills, his Bdubs kill in Limited Life. An honor duel. Skizz had been wronged, knew that it was going to get in the way of future alliances, and was looking for revenge, but he still made sure it was going to be clean with no resentful feelings afterward. Then after killing Bdubs he made sure to make it up to the man with not only a very sweet compliment but a golden apple as well. By doing this, by cleanly ending his feud with Bdubs, TIES were able to complete a very promising-looking alliance between them and The Clockers. 

Skizz only sheds blood when he has no other option. When it's better.

And then there are the times he's tried to kill without reason but he's just, failed. Horribly. He died in 3rd Life by mindlessly charging into the Crastle, failing to kill anybody. He got no kills in Last Life because when he turned Red, he was just running around trying to kill people once again, mindlessly. Or in service to another, in one instance. And he died in Last Life almost the exact same way as in 3rd Life. Charging an enemy like a wild beast and being put down. Skizz just can't get a kill when it's out of pure bloodlust and a wish for revenge.

And that's what makes Skizz a Dove. He only kills in instances when it is needed. He's not a symbol of peace because he's a perfect little pacifist who never wants to hurt anyone, no. He's a symbol of peace because he unintentionally and intentionally acts as one of the biggest forces of it. Not only choosing mercy for enemies who pragmatically should have been taken out but also killing those that push for war and conflict whether intentionally or unintentionally. And when the Dove tries to strike like an eagle, the Dove dies. And with it, peace dies. After Skizz died in 3rd Life there were no other forces for even a negative peace between Dogwarts and the Desert Alliance. The rest of it was all just a bloody war. After Skizz died in Last Life, the Wither was summoned, forcing the remaining players into groups. Red names and Non-red names. They fought bloodily too until both groups rotted away slowly. 

And do you wanna know something even crazier? The ones who were present while the Dove was put down, would go on to be 2nd and 1st in survival rankings. Grian killed Skizz in 3rd Life while Scar was there for backup. Grian won and Scar was second. Ren killed Skizz in Last Life with Scott as a backup. Ren came second and Scott came first. And it makes sense, doesn't it? Of course, the two who witnessed the death of peace would, in the end, turn on each other. It makes sense. IT MAKES SENSE.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE.

One comes first...the other comes second. Those are the only numbers above three. three. T H R E E. NO. NO THERE'S MORE BLOODY EVIDENCE FOR THE STUPID CONNECTION BETWEEN SKIZZ AND THE NUMBER 3. I. I WANT TO CRY. WHY. WHY AM I STUCK IN THIS DUMBASS BASEMENT JUST MAKING MORE AND MORE AND MORE CONNECTIONS FOREVER???

AND I'M NOT EVEN DONE.

Because if you buy into the "Skizz as a symbol of peace or whatever" concept...it makes Limited Life make even more sense. Y'know how some people have been saying "Oh Skizz is inheriting the Canary Curse from Jimmy!!!". While this is valid, I think my utter insanity has, at least in a little way, proven that Skizz himself is cursed in some way. Or blessed even, I don't know at this point. But instead of taking Jimmy's curse, it could be that his curse as a peace guy who's doomed to be the server's final warning is just showing up earlier. Because it could be that this time, peace dies quicker than the coalmine can kill the canary...because if you know you have limited time... what's the point in keeping the peace? Nothing is gonna matter anyways, your time is so obvious that it's unavoidable. That ticking in your brain isn't just a vague feeling you sometimes acknowledge. It's loud. It's unavoidable. You can't close your eyes, the digits are inscribed inside your eyelids. You can't cover your ears, the ticking keeps on like the beating of your heart. With such limited time, why waste it on trying to maintain order and peace? Why put so much energy into compromise when everyone is gonna die soon? In the other series, you don't know how much time you have, so you try your best to buy as much of it as possible by maintaining some semblance of peace. In Limited Life, what's the point? The consequences don't matter, because you KNOW your time is limited. It's all around you.

And so Skizz, the man possibly most aware of their limited time, the man who's trying to use that time to be nice, to not make enemies, to be as peaceful as a man in this series can be, is the one who's on track to die first. The Dove, the peace, the will and want to choose kindness and care when cruelty and selfishness are so much easier to justify, is up for slaughter.

Once again, Skizz is not a peace symbol because he's a perfect little guy. He's not a peace symbol because he's always nice, or innocent, or a pacifist. He's a peace symbol because he has only spilled blood when he had no other option and made as many amends as he could to minimize the pain afterward, he's a Dove that only pecks you if you burn the olive branch in its beak. He's a peace symbol because he actively chooses to push for it, to truly believe in the good of others even when that has gotten him killed or exploited many times, not because he's stupid or naive, but because that's what he does. He's a peace symbol because, without him, the series enters its final and most bloody crescendo. 

Y'know, I know Skizz started to be drawn as an angel because he's best friends with Impulse, and Demon/Angel best friends are a killer thing. But maybe we accidentally hit some pure gold there by mistake. It fits too well, doesn't it?

Or maybe I am just actually losing all my marbles and I'm never getting out of the red thread basement.

You be the judge and jury on that, dear reader.

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[bean-spring]

Hot take and not to be a killjoy or the shipping police but people treating Viktor or Jinx's aroace headcanons as if they were canon is not the revolutionary take people think it is.

Headcanons are always all right but we have to acknowledge that they are somehow damaging when they apply to stereotypes. It might not be the case for everyone but most of the time people unconsciously assume that disability/mental illness=asexuality. These headcanons erase the freedom of attraction from people who are already seen as unable to have sexual/romantic experiences/desires, when it's completely untrue and harmful.

You can headcanon Viktor and Jinx as aroace, but I have seen people changing their minds once Viktor is no longer disabled (s2 with all of his other forms) and Jinx is no longer as mentally ill (alternate universe Powder). And it speaks wonders of how people see these characters.

"I never thought about Jinx being able to feel romantic/sexual attraction until s2!" To believe she's actually only capable of that when she's not "damaged" is incredibly disturbing. Especially since Jinx has always had a bit of a flirty personality too.

"I've always seen Viktor as asexual, I don't know why!" That's fine. You can headcanon him as ace. But I believe there is a reason behind it, most of the time, if for some inexplicable reason the "vibes" of the disabled character are making you think he's ace.

I say all of this being aroaspec myself, by the way. Headcanon all you want but going to people's posts commenting how "it's weird for you that they have romantic/sexual plots when they're clearly aroace" is not a win at all. It's a headcanon, after all, and it should be treated as such, and that's fine. But it also is damaging to spread stereotypes like these.

Of course the disabled character is asexual. Of course the mentally ill character is aromantic. It's not as revolutionary as you might think, tbh.

Fandom is not activism and it's all right to have any headcanons you want BUT some of them are filled with damaging stuff and perhaps we should look into ourselves more before treating these assumptions as something canon.

[blackkatdraws2]

[Toon x Mobster] A tender moment.

[Animation timelapse here!]

[AUDIO USED:] Chet Baker - Almost Blue Sound Effects edited by me!

[zephyrine-gale]

can i be your tail?

[teaboot]

Okay so I may have been struggling under a miscommunication issue

[catmask]

sometimes while i think about that while a lot of adults did not treat me very well as a kid i also get a lot of 'in hindsight this person was so good to me and i didnt even realize it until now' as an adult. today i was thinking about how the first anime convention i ever went to was when i was 10 and i asked the man working the manga cafe what manga was/what a good place to start was (because the con was very overstimulating for me and i had gotten lost) and he asked how old i was before recommending yotsuba and asking if i wanted any water or something to eat. its really simple but theres a lot of bad things that couldve happened or he could've been careless in his recommendation, but instead yotsuba has remained one of my favorite manga for years, and probably a large portion of why i continue to read manga as an adult... i think adults who try to involve kids in the world safely/kindly even in little ways make so much more of a difference than they ever really know.

[petricorah]

I love "i would kill for you" ship dynamics but what about "i would stop killing" ship dynamic??

I would lay down my sword for you. I would change my nature and go against everything i've known. I would resist the easy way out of solving my problems. I would give up the adrenaline of battle to stay by your side and make tea instead. I'm not sure I know who I am without a weapon in my hand because I've had to fight for so long but for you I'm willing to try and figure this out.

It must be hard. To put down your weapon that's protected you for so long. It's allowed you to stay alive it's kept you from getting hurt--physically and mentally. Because you've never had to worry about a real relationship if you think you'll be dead at the next battle. And you feel naked without it and it feels like you're ripping off an extension of yourself. Are you even whole without it? Are you worthy of being loved if you can't prove it by risking your life? And yet they've found someone who's asking them for something much harder than dying in battle on their behalf. They've found someone who wants them to live. And that's much more terrifying.

[simcardiac-arrested]

i think what pisses me off the most is that last year, nobody had trouble going against russia. companies dropped everything so they could keep russians off their sites, to block them from their news articles and to sanction in other ways. eurovision kicked it out. even steam, discord, any fucking western apps or websites have been so willing to perform in ‘activism’. musicians and celebrities speaking out and country-blocking their work, and so much more. but now what? where is all of that now for israel? where are all the brands leaving the country to ‘protest’? where is anything? what pisses me off the most is that none of them have actually really cared about ukraine, ever, and none of them care about palestine now.

[gascreates]

a new star

[forgettable-au]

CHAPTER TWO | The Scientific Method

FORGETTABLE-AU (page 73-77)

* His brother is annoying.

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[inkskinned]

i love when words fit right. seize was always supposed to be that word, and so was jester. tuesday isn't quite right but thursday should be thursday, that's a good word for it. daisy has the perfect shape to it, almost like you're laughing when you say it; and tulip is correct most of the time. while keynote is fun to say, it's super wrong - i think they have to change the label for that one. but fox is spot-on.

most words are just, like, good enough, even if what they are describing is lovely. the night sky is a fine term for it but it isn't perfect the way november is the correct term for that month.

it's not just in english because in spanish the phrase eso si que es is correct, it should be that. sometimes other languages are also better than the english words, like how blue is sloped too far downwards but azul is perfect and hangs in the air like glitter. while butterfly is sweet, i think probably papillion is more correct, although for some butterflies féileacán is much better. year is fine but bliain is better. sometimes multiple languages got it right though, like how jueves and Πέμπτη are also the right names for thursday. maybe we as a species are just really good at naming thursdays.

and if we were really bored and had a moment and a picnic to split we could all sit down for a moment and sort out all the words that exist and find all the perfect words in every language. i would show you that while i like the word tree (it makes you smile to say it), i think arbor is correct. you could teach me from your language what words fit the right way, and that would be very exciting (exciting is not correct, it's just fine).

i think probably this is what was happening at the tower of babel, before the languages all got shifted across the world and smudged by the hand of god. by the way, hand isn't quite right, but i do like that the word god is only 3 letters, and that it is shaped like it is reflecting into itself, and that it kind of makes your mouth move into an echoing chapel when you cluck it. but the word god could also fit really well with a coathanger, and i can't explain that. i think donut has (weirdly) the same shape as a toothbrush, but we really got bagel right and i am really grateful for that.

grateful is close, but not like thunder. hopefully one day i am going to figure out how to shape the way i love my friends into a little ceramic (ceramic is very good, almost perfect) pot and when they hold it they can feel the weight of my care for them. they can put a plant in there. maybe a daisy.

[keferon]

This is a cybertronian. He’s 2 hours old so we made him look like a child. A lil baby robot. All cute and basically just like a human kid. <- the thing I see everywhere

This is a cybertronian. He’s 2 hours old but he looks like a grown ass adult, strong just like an adult and can already transform into a jet even though he has just one brain cell and no fucking idea how to fly. <- the thing I desperately hope to read about one day even though I haven’t seen it to be properly explored even once

[girlwiththegreenhat]

team fortress 2 finally getting rid of the bots after 5 years

work on the team fortress 2 comic continuing after 7+ years

half life 3 development looking more likely than ever with legitimate code, file, and voicework leaks referencing a new non-VR single-player game from valve featuring a HEV suit wearing protagonist and Xen creatures and concepts

shoutout to the valve fan that found the genie lamp. you a real one

[teh-inggris]

pvp civ nation...... this aint much but pls take my contribution for this series bc im going insane i love hate this man so much get him out of my head

[hinamie]

bunch of portraits