#I think that’s 90% of the reason I like it aha

[kaz-oooo]

I know we have a cool name for Jon/martin ship now, TeaHolding is great 10/10… but I’m too emotionally attached to JonMartin. It’s shit and garbage and I refuse to let go!

[otterloreart]

Steps of creating a 3D model replica from scratch

trace photos of character from available and cleanest angles. attempt to get a 90 degree*, front and back, side profile and straight on of the face. save additional reference photos such as bottom of body, back, and various extra angles without tracing which may help reference later on.

*more on angles later, but trying to get a 90 degree from each side is the most realistic and practical option if you dont actually have the character you're copying

2. block out the body and head

and by block i mean, yeah, its made out of elaborate rectangles

4 aha, you thought I would hand sculpt those? no. no. I used the curve tool to add these swirls. And yes i exactly traced them over the drawings to match the original as best as possible. The end of the curve tool is flat by default so I added a few spheres to make the ends nice and round. (there is absolutely a way to make the ends of curves rounded but I did not feel like looking it up or messing with the settings)

this wasn't mirrored to the other side- I traced both sides of the body and the front from photos and sculpted the swirls for each side. I couldn't get a single photo of the swirls at the butt area so I just winged it.

6 I am struggling to not make Cha Cha look angry.

I feel like the eyes are basically traced off the original and yet she looks so much grumpier. maybe it just needs to be smoothed out?

I added a little definition to the area around the eyes and I do think it looks a little better. The more definition I add in this stage the better, because I prefer this to sculpting. However, if you're more adept at sculpting you would probably not make this as detailed.

7 Here she is after smoothing everything out in sculpt after remeshing, in both Eevee (left) and Cycles (middle/right). still trying to figure out how best to render things. For some reason her nose ended up lighter in cycles but i cant be bothered to fix that rn

On the previous step I made the elements of her face + ears mirrored but once I start sculpting I'm not using the mirror tool. In fact nothing ends up mirrored, even the back right foot is slightly shifted in position.

this is probably not even the final version, I think i might redo the smooth/sculpt part and fiddle with the underlying shapes (basically go back a step)

Cha Cha's face. is one of the most difficult things to sculpt. It is extremely difficult to understand the shape of the underlying sculpt because there aren't any photos of her with the eye paint removed. There are so few of her out there I don't think anyone would willingly remove the paint to make a custom or anything unless it was in truly awful condition, and I dont think that has ever happened.

I have saved dozens of references from a number of different sites- these pics here are from etsy, the above was from the wiki. Her eyes are different from every single other pony and pony and friends- they're so bulging, so round, the eyelashes are longer. It's wild.

I can only see all the things that are wrong with it.

It's basically impossible to get something like this 100% perfect unless you have like, a set of turnaround photos all from the same angle that you can match up to the camera. You can basically overlap references with the camera view but you will never know the exact angle so if you make edits from multiple angles like this you'll inevitably not match each angle and then have to go back and adjust the angles and then you're fiddling with it infinitely. That's why I usually go for the "trace 4 angles and make the rest up as you go along" method.

I don't want to spend _too_ long on every model I make- the Takara pony which took 6 months really shows how far down the rabbit hole I will go with something like this, and it's just not practical. But I think with a slight amount of fiddling I can match the reference a little better.

[joelletwo]

resolving loquats. badly

if i had more time i would have written a shorter letter. sorry

loquats the arc of threes - miharu with its three guardians, the two exorcists and their tag-along marriage counselor natsume, three chapters, etc etc

reading it for years ive been stuck on how none of the parallels resolve cleanly. comparisons are drawable between just about every character and every story element, but none really make a straight line to a neat conclusion.

most roadblocky to me is matoba's similarity to both masakiyo and masakiyo's would-be youkai companion. what does it mean to compare him to both the man shutting himself off from his desires and the being trying (unsuccessfully) to reach out and fulfill them? what does the actual point of miharu as an arc boil down to and why does it need to be so obfuscatory?

and then earlier this year unrelatedly i read the seminal text on metaphoric triangulation and romantic horniness. and went aha. lol. it didnt actually help me it just unleashed me but its been fun.

i still dont have it together enough to do my dream of untangling every single connection we've all been drilling into for years all in one place. i still think if i could i could unlock midorikawa's brain. but i can lay out

(dont try too hard to read these)

[a square diagram messily laying out relationships between masakiyo, the interfering youkai, matoba, and the mihashira (miharu's three guardians), the square then broken along the diagonal into two triangles showing how matoba identifies with both masakiyo and the youkai, and both of them displace a desire of theirs onto the youkai and the mihashira respectively]

[two triangles - 1. the identification/desire relationship between masakiyo, his beloved, and the interfering youkai, all able to be cast as matoba 2. the same between matoba, mihashira, and an interchangeable miharu/natori]

[two triangles showing unresolved/unbalanced relationships between 1. yorishima, matoba, and natori and 2. matoba, natori, and loquats]

at this point i started getting incoherent. and then i died for ten million years from Job

but what im still trying to work towards. is that matoba - who sits on the I Hate My Life Bench with masakiyo (with whom he shares a few on-the-nose name connections to really hammer it home), has long black hair and one eye like the youkai who wants someone stubbornly alone on their own path, is jealous of the mihashira's naive commitment to obsolete promises - has a link to basically every story element that represents Unfulfilled Desire.

everything that could mean to him in this arc - quitting exorcism, keeping promises, being the most capable vs relying on others, shouldering a legacy, enjoying a loquat - remains ambiguous. but he Wants. strongly enough that his usual mask keeps slipping bc he's having to think about it. he's The Wanterrrrrr.

and natori, well,

[spreadsheet with three categories of question marked relationship to each other - subjects with displaced desire (teen seiji, hiiragi, yorishima, touko), objects (all natori), and displaced objects (all loquats)]

well he's just in hot demand. what's he do in this arc? people want relationships with him, and the means they have available to get that is through the available loquats picking opportunity. he is. the universal object of desire. he's swept along with the flow for all the setup to this arc more than he's really an Actor (lol) in it.

(and do they both, to complete the triangle, make natsume the universal Means of Resolution, like how everyone uses loquats to get natori? don't involve natsume in your exorcist business even tho i do that, but if he was here he could solve everything for us, and now he's gonna get in the middle of our loquats reminiscing unbeknownst to both of us for unclear reasons,,, well he doesnt really solve anything for them. concretely. but he does. with his 90 chapters of development with both of them. serve as a wedge to open up some space in their closed-off relationship.)

but so anyways. matoba the wanter and natori the object to want. simple, even if all matoba wants, if he can admit it, is to enjoy a loquat with a peer and nothing more. so who's driving this car and spinning it round and round in unresolvable metaphors. midorikawa youre just making it more tragically gay by making it plausibly deniable.

but in the arc of Unfulfilled Desire That Is Also Self-Inflicted - the foolish mihashira could just stop showing up don't they know, the youkai could just go enjoy the freedom it's been given, miharu could just let his beloved share his burden - he can't admit it. he lets all the metaphors get all tangled and tangled and tangled because he's caught in between his desires for connection and withdrawal and isn't able or willing to resolve that tension himself.

but its NOT the arc of repeated cycles - matoba would let himself get stuck there, but natori in the backhalf is the one to take action to break us out. by offering his shoulder. over and over and over. and then over and over in every arc after but lets not talk about that.

so natori makes it simple again. and what we get when its simple is just direct one-to-one visual parallels of matoba and masakiyo. and what we get when this gets animated is an extra scene of masakiyo with his (romantic) beloved, pushing her away (romantically), refusing to let anyone's support in or any of his (romantic) desires be fulfilled (he didnt even succeed at keeping his house alive!!!! lol common cringefail exorcist behavior). and what we end the arc on is matoba... made up of twenty layers of self-denial... not quite able to accept it... but paralyzed by not being able to reject natori's help anymore

which is. mwah. chefs kiss beautiful incremental excruciating not-progress. makes a man want to affect the trout population

[nqmonarch]

Thoughts About Being in a Relationship with HSR Characters

So like we all love to fantasize about being in a relationship with fictional characters but would we want to actually be in one? As a huge fan of the Aeons I did a quick overview. Even though getting into a relationship with one is widely unrealistic (actually impossible because they're video game characters but even in game it's unrealistic).

Warning: This is just for fun

Aha

Wow, Aha is such a goofy Aeon sure the chaos they cause is insane but there's never a dull moment with them around. But like imagine being in the HSR universe and being in a relationship with this Aeon. 99% chance of death (because of a prank), that 1% chance is saved if for some reason you can't be killed.

Literally miserable. You know how you try to have like a normal conversation with your dad, or guy friend, or boyfriend but they just don't take shit seriously. Like they avoid the topic 24/7 because of jokes. Imagine trying to have a serious conversation with this guy, actual terrible experience.

In a modern AU would be one of those prank YouTubers that like pretends to kill your friend as a prank but actually does kill your friend, it's not a prank. Why aren't you laughing?

0/10.

Akivili

If still alive 10/10 in the HSR universe, 9/10 in modern AU. I am down to travel all over the cosmos but since I have a normal life here on Earth I am perfectly happy staying in my room, writing, coding, and drawing. But Akivili would def bring back some banger souvenirs and pictures even if you're just a friend of theirs.

If dead then 10/10 in both.

Fuli

Okay serious question do you think they'd taxidermy their lover? Like I know in HSR there's not really that option (their lover could be one of the memokeepers I guess?) but in Modern AU I feel like they'd taxidermy their lover. I don't know if that's a plus or a negative.

Definitely the kind of Aeon to be hung up on their first love so you better hope you're that first love. Or else they'll be reminiscing over memories and old photos and old videos and constantly comparing them to you-- man that sucks. Probably would take you out to nice dinners though and give you lots of good memories.

In Modern AU I feel like the idea of Fuli gets 10 times more mystical and also 10 times creepier, like someone that tries to record all of the events in the world but also the events happening right now. So historian, journalist combo, except I feel like they would just appear out of nowhere and then just go back to the void and post a bunch of random photos online. They'd definitely have observed their lover before talking to them (likely several times) which is the creepy aspect.

7/10 for the memories.

IX

Actual 10/10 you cannot argue otherwise on this. Okay, you definitely can but 10/10 in my book aside from the fact you die but like you'll either be accepting your death and dying or spend the rest of your life trying to prove IX wrong about the purpose of life.

Wouldn't take you on dates, you'd have to take IX on dates, plan the whole thing out, really fluster them, give them the time of their existence. And IX would sit there like the gentleman... gentlewoman? Gentle creature it is. I feel like they would be very polite :)

In Modern AU I'm pretty sure IX is just your average office worker who hates their life and sees no point to it but for some reason can't die. 9/10. IX loses one point for no longer being a blackhole.

Lan

Honestly... another gentle creature, and like respectfully, very respectfully I would love to take them out on a date. Seems respectful, apparently pays close attention to mortals so there's a higher chance of Lan keeping their lover alive if they're (Lan's lover) a mortal. Pretty sure 90% of the Aeons would accidentally kill a mortal lover.

Just seems very obsessed with their goals and honestly I respect the grind. 8/10, your average grinder. That being said Lan is also absolutely beautiful but I'm not a big horse person.

In Modern AU Lan would be someone that's trying to change the world, one of those go getters. Again very respectful, and cool but would probably work 16 hours a day which makes holding a relationship pretty hard. 7/10.

Mythus

I haven't done Gold and Gears or finished Swarm Disaster but damn Mythus is really hot. Smash. Uh 6/10 because I don't know their personality or even what they represent but they are really beautiful. I like the jellyfish.

Nanook

Aw man, the moment I saw this guy I knew they would haunt my thoughts. And yeah they do. So beautiful from the molten lava, golden eyes, white hair, man if only they didn't have the personality of an absolute asshole. Like I write fanfiction about Nanook sometimes (pretty rarely) and I can say I am literally pulling every possible string I can to make this Aeon a good lover and somewhat in character.

This is just because I like writing lovers that are semi-decent, it's pretty hard when you get to people like Nanook but I do my best. There's no way a relationship with Nanook would work out feasibly because there's no way they'd love you.

But if they did... I don't know, Nanook is still a pretty bad person for trying to kill everything else in the world so I'm gonna have to dock some points for that. Reminds me of the brooding quiet, only soft spot is for you, male lead troupe except Nanook is trying to murder everyone 24/7.

In Modern AU, I don't even know what Nanook would be? An assassin? A serial killer? I can kind of see like a revolution leader cause apparently they were born from the flames of a world in complete destruction and they saw everything as ugly and destruction as the only possible outcome. I can see a twist with Nanook leading a revolution in hopes of creating a more beautiful world but finding destruction as the only possible outcome that will remove the plague known as life.

Even if they loved you, they'd be very busy with their revolution plans, and I feel like you'd probably be caged away somewhere far away from the danger so you'd barely see Nanook if they wanted to keep you alive.

2/10, 2 points for being so FUCKING beautiful. Thanks Hoyoverse for making a character so attractive.

Qlipoth

Okay Qlipoth would be like big puppy partner, you get me. Like golden retriever vibes or uh... that one person that watches over everything to make sure you're safe but not like in the stalker way. Like the government, y'know? Except the government now wants to make sure you're safe! :D

I am a bit thrown off by the fact Qlipoth is a rock but I'm even more thrown back by the IPC. Like they're really fucking annoying (not as individuals I love Topaz and Aventurine) they're like Qlipoth's lil fanclub. They'd also be Qlipoth's fanclub in Modern AU, I'd imagine and I will imagine.

Also they're a bit sus, like I know they're great, but they want to build a wall. What's the wall for, huh?

Anyway as a partner sure they're a rock, and have an annoying fanclub but they'd probably be really caring and would be able to destroy anything that threatens you. I'd imagine it's about the same in Modern AU but destroy anything with money.

Nothing is stronger than money, actually a nuke is but we're going to assume none of the Modern AU versions of the characters would have access to that or make their own because that would change the game.

I'd say 7/10 in both HSR and Modern AU, I don't know they're just kinda sus...

Tayzzyronth

I'm about half way through the swarm disaster and question time--

If insect, why hot? Like I hate bugs, mainly flying ones, but like why is Tayzzyronth half insect half human 100% beautiful? Anyway from what I know they basically became an Aeon because they were lonely and like the last one of their species and honestly, they deserve a hug for that.

Still absolutely terrifying and if you were in a relationship with them you'd probably be smothered with the Swarm which is beyond terrifying. Would be significantly better in Modern AU where they wouldn't have insects around them all the time. 4/10 in HSR and 7/10 in Modern AU.

Xipe

Don't know them but they're so beautiful and with a path like the Harmony they've got to be good, right? Right?

9/10.

Yaoshi

I think Yaoshi is the Aeon I most actively thirst for, like they're so beautiful, and they pull off deranged love so well. They would keep their lover alive until their lover goes insane because of mara. And they're super kind, and empathetic. The threat of becoming mara struck is one I would take just to be in their presence. 10/10.

In Modern AU! they'd be so beautiful, still, like one of those fragile looking beauties that would just approach you randomly and then ask, "Are you in pain?" And it'd be really creepy but because it's Yaoshi it'd be okay and you'd fall in love like instantly. Don't answer yes to the question though. I feel like they'd have mad scientist vibes, probably would do unethical experiments which doesn't really sit right with me. Again, would try to keep their lover alive no matter what but they'd be really nice. 9.5/10.

Alright so I did this in 30 minutes instead of working on my presentation which is due tomorrow and I haven't finished research for.

Again this was just for fun, all of the Aeons have super great designs and are super cool imo :) props to Hoyoverse for this

[voltaspistol]

Hey everyone, it's your friendly neighborhood gold star mental patient here with secondhand therapist advice.

For those of us with a lot of anxiety who tend to get "stuck" trying to take in ALL of the information because your brain is desperately looking for the "AHA!" moment that will make the brain gremlins go away?

That information ain't out there as of the evening of November 6th.

At least not yet.

And if your brain is operating in crisis mode, you will be tempted to say and do things that might hamper rather than help.

Now might be a good time to look through your game and movie backlog to find a title that will help you "come up for air", so to speak. Something that will allow your brain to stop making cortisol & adrenaline, because right now? Your ego is basically doing that I Love Lucy bit where she works in a chocolate factory. That shit is not good for your brain, not good for your body, not good for whatever we have left that passes for a soul.

It doesn't free you from the obligation of getting involved in your community.

It just gives your brain some time to process some things in the back of your mind while your conscious mind takes a break. Here's some suggestions to start: ✅ Lord of the Rings (Not the recent show, the ones from the early 2000s) - The obvious choice which I think a lot of people will be gravitating towards on their own. ✅ Tank Girl (Movie, 1995)- If you need your story of overthrowing tyranny to be filled with swear words, sexual innuendo, and high levels of camp along with a decent 90s soundtrack, this might get you pumped enough to organize. ✅ Amelie (Movie, 2001) - A comfort watch if you feel alone and isolated. If you are too scared or too shy to run headlong into a formal political action group, this french film documents how small, creative acts of kindness and justice can make the world just a little bit better. It will renew your faith in humanity a bit. ✅ Disco Elysium (video game 2019) - A sprawling choose-your-own adventure set in a post-war capitalist dystopia alternate reality. Soothing for those of us who have made apology tours after losing our shit, illuminating for those of us who struggle with intrusive thoughts, and compelling for everyone who likes those stories where reality and unreality are a bit wobbly and elements of the fantastical seep through in unexpected ways. It doesn't have much to do with current events, but maybe that's what you need right now. ✅ Hades (game, 2020) - A game all about being stuck in hell, and fighting to get out, and although you get help from allies along the way, you're the one who has to do the dirty work. If you need some lessons on resilience and a compelling story besides with lots of interesting characters (including non-cis romance options!) and you want to get revenge on an oppressive father figure, try it on for size. ✅ Superliminal (2020) - If you need a high-end creative physics-based puzzle game that is light on story and operates on dream logic that relies heavily on linear perception just to distract you? This one is short but will have you distracted long enough to let your brain breathe a bit. ✅ The Room (2014) - For low-end systems and mobile devices, this is basically an elaborate digital puzzlebox, like one of those fancy desks with lots of hidden drawers. Atmospheric but not scary.

Also, don't discount the obvious ones: Cat videos, re-watching beloved old shows, guilty pleasure music etc.

You are not helping anyone, not even yourself, by doomscrolling until something goes --SNAP!-- in your brain.

Come up for air, give your brain metabolize the nasties, and THEN you will be able to strategize. Though for obvious reasons, now is not a good time to go back to old addictions like World of Warcraft. The idea is to take a break, NOT to drown in old waters. This list is not comprehensive, obviously, please add your own in reblogs

[seeminglydark]

How did Caro go about figuring out their gender identity when they were on their own? You mentioned that they tried "they" and "he" pronouns before settling on "they" - can you talk about that more?

Sure can! In case theres some reading this who may not have read my comics or know the background but stumbled on my art on accident, ill give a little breakdown of their journey. Caro grew up in a really small town with really restrictive parents. They start out knowing they are not a girl. but not really having any idea what that means exactly, and not having access to the resources or a safe place to find out. They start out using he/him because at the time (16 in most of the stories i show them in their teenage years) they arent actually aware theres more of a spectrum than just a binary, they think being a boy is the only way to not be a girl. Their friend, Sully, while being openly gay and having a bit more of an idea about some things, doesnt know much about gender expression or gender-queerness either, so he does what he can to support what they both think is the right fit. apparently neither if them thinks to go to a library. After sully leaves, Caro is left to struggle on their own. They know they are trans, but they are still nervous about exploring things without someone holding their hand, ptsd from extremely intense helicopter parents perhaps and being kicked out for knowing at the very least, they arent the girl everyone always forced them into. They meet their current agent, Goldie, somewhere around 20 years old, at this point they have not revealed their face or gender even in their podcast (for those who listen, ive kept those things very vague since its supposed to be canonical with their life journey). Goldie encourages them to explore more what feels right to them and helps them get in touch with gender affirming resources, 'He' felt close, but it was never really that aha yes its me! moment. They learn about nonbinary, genderfluid, etc through research and help from other people in the community they meet through Goldie, therapy resources and also people they meet via their podcast. They actually do try out a few things, canonically they go from she to he to genderfluid (any pronoun) to they, which feels the best for them. present day Caro doesnt mind 'he' either, they just mostly stick with They. i WILL be exploring this in the podcast, so that story will be told in more detail as time goes on as well. Bonus answer: the reason why i wrote their journey like this, is because Caro is how i explored MY gender identity. They started out as a tool i used to try on different hats and research in a safe space (a fictional character), meet and talk with people to find what gender expression worked best for me, also going from she to he to fluid (any) to nonbinary (they.) i did not have restrictive parents or come from a small town, but im in my 40s, and there wasnt a lot of resource available where i grew up for trans kids in the 90s. i knew i wasnt a girl, and for me, boy seemed like my only other option until i learned that gender is not a binary and i actually had many ways i could go, until i found what felt right to me. and honestly, it was as simple as someone calling me 'They' in passing because they werent sure how to refer to me. Hit me like a ton of bricks. I was in my mid thirties and frankly, it was so relieving to finally have a pronoun that felt like ME! I think perhaps it was as simple for Caro as well. Unforch I cant give you a solid answer as to WHY they felt right for me or Caro. i just know it did, i think perhaps that an individual feeling for everyone who is figuring things out. Some people just KNOW, and others like me, know *something* and find out what the means for them along the way. <3

[araivallejo]

I’ve only ever “shipped” characters in two programs I’ve watched. The first one was Niles and Daphne from Frasier, when I was a teen/young twenty something, and Ted and Rebecca from Ted Lasso.

These two pairings could not be more different. Niles was smitten from the start with Daphne, despite being married (!) with seemingly everyone clued in except Daphne herself for seven years (!!) until Frasier blurts it out to her. Only then does she start to view Niles as someone she might love. The Frasier writers had all the tropes on display for this one. Ah, the 90s.

Looking back now as a much older adult, I see glaring red flags in the Niles and Daphne pairing. The man was married, not once but twice, while claiming to be in lust/love with Daphne. Young me didn’t care though. I thought – romance! And when they ran off together, I was smitten. My one and only delve into fanfiction I wrote in 2000 when they both took off in the Winnebago. Oh my. With the benefit of hindsight, I wonder just how much I’d ship those two these days. Now if Frasier were to be remade the creators would have made the Niles character what he should have been all along, which is gay. The early 90s you just couldn’t do that, although the Frasier team loved to give a wink to it at times.

For Ted and Rebecca, I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t ship them in season 1 and most of season 2 at all. I thought this was simply a lovely friendship and that’s that. It was only the writers’ little bantr fakeout that clued me in on the possibility. I knew it wasn’t Ted, but it got me thinking when it was revealed to be Sam and I was disappointed it wasn’t Ted. Why was I disappointed? Then looking back at the earlier episodes and seeing all the ways they cared for one another and seemed to be clued in to each other. I thought – aha! This is the way to go about a real relationship. Show the friendship. Show the trust. Show each other at your best and your worst. It’s not a fantasy. I never minded that there were no obvious longing looks between the two because I saw all those signs the writers put into the show that kept pointing back (for me) to only one conclusion: Ted and Rebecca were meant to be together. The two obviously long for a romantic relationship and are deeply loving people. It wouldn’t be lazy writing! It would be brilliant to have it slowly evolve into a beautiful relationship built on friendship.

My only sticking point on the two getting together was the fact that at the end of the day, Rebecca was still Ted’s boss. Having grown up in the same region at the same time as Ted, I figured his midwestern values would deem that as unethical and therefore a deal breaker, no matter how deep the attraction was. I figured Ted would always choose his son and want to go back to Kansas, but I also concluded he would still need someone else in his life and not make Henry his sole reason to live. That’s too much of a burden on Henry. So if there were some way to have Ted be with Henry and Rebecca not be his boss… There have been some wonderful fics written to show how these two could still manage that feat. Both Ted and Rebecca are wealthy – with Rebecca shown to be “filthy” rich. Miss “I’ll just buy the restaurant” could make just about anything happen.

It all seems like a hell of a missed opportunity. I believe Jason was so enamored of the movie “Once” that he wanted to make his own version. That’s fine – it was his show. I just wish maybe they would have thought more about why they needed to do some of these little fakeouts. Having read some of the writers and editors’ responses this past week I have concluded that while some of this was purely accidental, the vast majority was absolutely intentional to keep the incredibly loyal and vocal fanbase (the shippers) coming back for more. They knew exactly what they were doing. I’m not naïve; I get that it is a product, and they need eyes viewing said product. But this show was a huge hit from day one when many of us didn’t give a damn about the pairing. Why go to these lengths?

What is hilarious to me is what we’ve been given instead of the well thought out relationship is the very definition of lazy writing: throwing Rebecca with some random man we’ve seen ONE TIME in the last season. We don’t even know his name. Yes, he is attractive and clearly Rebecca enjoyed being around this man. I even said after the ep aired that I wouldn’t mind it, but I was hoping there would be more buildup between the last time we saw him and now. And unlike above with Ted, boat man has not seen Rebecca at her worst, nor she his. It does not feel earned at all and that just pisses me off.

Don’t even get me started on Beard and Jane. Jesus that’s a topic for another post.

[bythorneparanormalsocietyint]

well awhile ago I went into this abandoned house I found that looks to be from the 90’s, apparently there was some kind of death in one of the rooms or something? But I ended up turning back after I went inside only to find it being really dark and cold with some strange noises, smelled like rotting, freaked me out to the point I decided to just head home, do you think you would be able to know anything about what I encountered if it was anything?

-investigator anon

So sorry I didn’t see this, I’ve been busy myself, Aha! Otherwise, it was probably a good idea to go home. Chances are the house is abandoned for a reason. Other than a potential M.A.D. victim, there could have been alternates, so good save there, Investigator anon! That’s all I can think of for strange noises, but if there was any dried blood, it could have been an altercation rather than… Not being the 3% that live without interference. If you go back, some friendly advice that electronic devices aren’t just magnets to Tulpas. I guess it may just have to do with frequency but whenever I bring older equipment, there’s always alternate interferences, especially in the case of Flawed Alternates! Otherwise, just stay safe, especially if you live in the immediate area! That’s my advice! Thanks for listening!

~ Lexi Aarons

[shadowcatzone]

https://www.tumblr.com/shadowcatzone/729467606763978752/i-just-watched-the-renheng-melty-land-animatic-and?source=share

IT'S PAST TWELVE HERE'S YOUR UPDATE

It's a realm that slowly kills you BUT everything is "better" (tm) [to clarify, this only concerns renheng and the hcq]:

-it doesn't matter how he got in there, probably a mission. But dan heng somehow got caught in one of these.

-it's a sensation like waking up. And once he opens his eyes again, yingxing is right in front of him, asking if he's okay.

-"pffh, you slept like a rock. I didn't wanna wake you," he gestures to the bundle in dan hengs lap, "but she shouldn't be out too long. It's not good for babies."

-in his lap lies bailu, as a baby, peacefully sleeping.

-yingxing calls him dan feng, and he should know better, but it really feels like he was just sleeping.

-dan heng is like, 60% convinced. Something in his head tells him this isn't quite right. On the way back, while he's thinking about it, they meet the others from the hcq.

-jingliu, looking like she just sparred with jing yuan, and baiheng looks like she'd also had a nap.

-"aww, bailu is getting cuter by the day!" Coos baiheng. And jing yuan chimes in, "we all met up anyway, should we grab a bite to eat? Though it seems dan feng isn't quite awake yet."

-now, despite the situation making less sense, dan heng is getting pretty sure this is real. "Hmm... i believe i had a nightmare." 90% sure

-and on the way to a place to eat, dan heng tells them everything that happened. Things he remembers and things he was told.

-"That sounds terrible," jingliu pats his arm as they all sit down. "I wouldn't do that even if all that happened. Baiheng would rip my head clean off..."

-"haha... i would."

-and it all just transpires as if this was reality. What, with his husband, dear friends and his child, it's very realistic.

-even though he can't remember how they got bailu. The 'nightmare' still keeps his memories in check.

-and in the evening, when he tells yingxing about his worries, yingxing waves him off and tells him he shouldn't have slept in direct sunlight, and after a good nights sleep he'll feel better.

-when he does fall asleep, in his dream, dan feng tries to get dan heng to leave. But that just confuses dan heng more, why would he dream about himself?

-subconsciousness dan feng is literally so close to beating him up.

-next morning yingxing wakes him up with kisses. And suddenly, bailu runs into the room, now a toddler rather than a baby.

-and it just continues like that for a few days or weeks. But dan heng is always getting weaker by that point.

-one day, and dan heng is already bedridden, and yingxing initiates ( ;P )

-until suddenly, an arm comes straight through the wall, grabbing him,

-for all intents and purposes, it looks like yingxings arm. Same jacket, yingxing looks at it, shocked, before annoyedly shouting "oh, come on!"

-it's- it's blade. Coming in like. How dare you almost get killed by someone other than me. This is clearly a breach of trust. Didn't you promise we would pay the price?? Together???

-for some reason blades strongest desire is dying and that's the one thing this realm can't give.

-so it was really easy to escape. Aren't you glad MC called Kafka who then talked to elio and then talked to blade to help out dan heng who was about do die from uh. Being eaten alive.

-carrying dan heng out, who by that point just looks like himself again

-dan heng wants to stay, blade does not (tm)

-and and and they're leaving.

-the end.

-moral of the story: don't get trapped by one of ahas magical flytraps if you don't want the stellaron hunter to look after you.

-he literally stays on the express for 3 months also to make sure dan heng recovers but does not go back.

-he won't. Not if it means blade will come back and they'll go through all this again.

-but like, half delirious also says "if that's all it takes to get a date with a stellaron hunter" (<-he's not quite alright yet but he will be. Alright. And mortified. When he remembers he said that. But blade would be uncharacteristically worried.)

-blade will go back and destroy the thing. It's not worth the risk.

-after making sure with elio that he can, of course.

-jing yuan will be really worried if he ever finds out about all this.

-"please contact me if you ever want a date with him. There are simpler ways--" "i guarantee you i won't want one. But thanks for the offer."

-or maybe, alternative ending; blade takes dan heng to the luofu and the three make up and have sex.

____

I hope that last sentence hit you like a train

[atalienart]

@penguinsrbirds2 replied to your post “Hey, I have a question! What do you think about...”:

The problem is how BADLY it's done 90% of the time, even by romance authors! Looking at you, Fourth Wing. Holy fuck is the forced romance in that ATROCIOUS.

​In "Fourth Wing" I don't think it's forced when it's clearly planned from the beginning but it seems entirely physical.

WARNING! SPOILERS!

First meeting and they're instantly lusting after each other. Idk if it's just me being demi but how can you feel lust while in danger? No matter how pretty someone is, if they are trying to kill you (or you anticipate they are), it's unlikely you go weak at the knees out of anything other than fear. Is this a kink thing? Then I feel like there's not many scenes where the characters are together and bonding. The scene under the tree was okay I guess (I honestly don't remember much from listening to the audiobook; for some reason I had a really hard time to imagine anything depicted in the book) and I also liked how the X guy was helping her with training and dragon adjustments, but a lot of those scenes were sprinkled with such surface level attraction that it was hard to focus on deeper connection. And then there's the dragon bond and you start to wonder if there are real feelings at all, or is it just magic? (I have magic bonds in my story as well but I do everything with that trope to put it on its head lol.) There was a chance Violence and X would talk when he was sad on that parapet but with how it all went south (literally) it seemed a lot like... don't be sad, you're so hot aha. I was expecting emotions and connection; I mean, I kinda got that but the emotions and connection were of a different kind. And generally, I think the "I love you" was very rushed and unearned for some reason. It felt like "I love you now that I know you're good ↯ in ↯ bed ↯".

END OF SPOILERS!

What are the things you didn't like about it? Do you see a way to improve it @penguinsrbirds2? Does anyone else? This is really interesting to me :)

[beeceit]

for reasons that are obvious, what is itbotb!cassandra's fashion aes 👀👀

eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji Definitely eclectic, to say the least! Most of her clothes come from her going "I've got 20 bucks and an afternoon to kill, let's see what the thrift store has to offer today" She's still very much figuring out who she is outside of the Foot clan, and figuring out how she likes to dress through trial and error is the biggest part of that. She still has a lot of solid dark purple and red stuff from when she first left and didn't yet feel comfortable venturing far from what her old uniform looked like, and bit by bit she's playing around with DIYing a lot of that stuff to work with her newer stuff. Lots of safety pins and torn off sleeves and creative slashing I imagine the cruise outfit from the mystic orb (which I don't think she owned irl. I think whatever spell messed with their heads enough to make them forget how they got there just kinda assigned them clothes based on their personalities) was a very big 'aha' moment for her. She definitely already knew she liked pink, but I don't think that's something she would have picked herself. (But she IMMEDIATELY went to recreate it when things got back to normal bc she adored that outit)

When she's in the mood to put effort into an outfit, she wears a lot of things that seem like they would clash, but she makes it work. A lot of florals and different pinks, and playing around with different lengths and textures. Sometimes consciously, sometimes not, she likes to mess around with traditionally feminine and traditionally masculine clothes, mixing and mashing both When she's just chilling or can't be bothered, she dresses a lot like Casey from the 1990 film series. Comfy, practical, not particularly stylish, but still looking good. Very much a "I just got back from the gym" or "Want me to change the oil in your car?" look. Sleeves ripped off 90% of the time, messy diy cropping, t shirts for bands she couldn't care less about that have nifty logos, at least two flannels she's managed to steal from Raph She also has a Weird Lesbian Earring collection that would make a grown man cry

[etinceelle]

i dont get it. You always come up with some great reasonse and evidences to why penny would come back but always added delutional in the end.

Why even bother doing all of those reserches if you dont belive then?

Unless the delutional part meant to be a joke and i didnt get it...

I guess it's for the joke but also a lack of confidence aha ! I've seen a lot of people saying that they would rather see Penny not coming back at all after Volume 8, and people talking about Penny revival theories are a bit attacked sometimes by others who think it's stupid, that her arc is done, that it's dumb and being delusional. Good thing I haven't had anyone like that so far here (don't want to deal with it anyway aha !), but I guess it's also a way to avoid that. Saying that it might be delusional is also a way to explicitely say that as much as I'd love to happen, I stay open to everything and I just don't want people to attack me for theorizing about it aha.

But if you want any confirmation, yeah I wouldn't write so much analysis and find so much references/allusions if I didn't believe them, I do believe seriously that there is a big chance for Penny to be able to come back after everything we got from Volume 9 and various allusions to different characters (as I mentionned, Pinocchio, Astroboy, or the Iron Giant). I try to find as much serious and tangible reasons to explain why, and I think so far we have a lot of them so it's definitely not a theory coming from nowhere xD But I know I might also be a bit obsessed when it comes to things I like and believe in, so adding the "delusional" word kinda defuse that- (I also truly think it's funny to see people sad over Penny's death talking about being delusional all the time because we're in denial aha, so yeah it's half a joke I guess)

Anyway, all of this to say that it's also hard because when it comes to theories, because we can have many options : there are just fun and cool theories, and there are also theories that are almost canon since they really reach to something that could really happen (an example : people theorizing that Penny would be hacked based on the intro of Volume 8, we couldn't be sure until we saw it on screen, but we knew at 90% it was going to happen). At this point Penny's revival is neither of them, even if we do find many reasons for her to come back, I think we're missing some parts for people to truly start to believe she could come back, like a confirmation that she could come back and not some weird allusions open to interpretation like we got in Volume 9. So far it's about interpretation and analysis, even if for me there are still a lot of evidence but yeah it's still hard to say if she'll come back or not. There's a strong possibility, but it cannot be confirmed yet until we get to Volume 10 or 11 (especially when we see Pietro and Winter again I mean).

That's why I add the delusional part, because it can't be confirmed yet, but once we get more elements oooh boy I might be more confident about this whole thing :]

[rocksaltandroll]

So, I feel like it’s Unpopular Opinion Time about GO2. I’ve been thinking about it since I watched it and…well…I hate it, lads. I really wanted to love it, but…

Well, here are my Reasons:

I first read Good Omens in probably 2003. It was a friend’s copy and I finished it & immediately went & bought my own. I loved it.

I was so scared to watch it when Good Omens (1) first came out. I thought the casting was all wrong. I was worried they would butcher one of my favourite books of all time.

I was so glad to be wrong. I loved everything about it. The casting was actually perfect, I was okay with the changes, and I absolutely adored that cold open! Hell I even wrote a whole 135k 1941 spy romance fic based on that 5 minute scene in the church!

And then I heard they were making GO2 and I was scared again.

I knew that T&N had batted ideas for a sequel about years ago, but nothing had come to fruition. This time it would all be Gaiman. I’ve never made it through a single Gaiman book but I’ve read most of Pratchett’s. I was worried.

But I watched it. And the more I watched, the more I disliked it and by the end, I honestly hated it.

The first thing: all of the fun & funny, all the favourite lines and things that made you giggle in the OG GO? 90% of those were Pratchettisms. S2 was severely lacking in Pratchettisms.

The second: Plot? What plot?

I mean, if you set aside the mini episodes inside the main episodes (those mini episodes are a whole other problem all by themselves), what exactly have we got?

The Archangels are plotting. Gabriel disagreed with what they were plotting and he’s walked out, memoryless, naked with an empty box & turns up at Aziraphale’s.

A&C aren’t getting on. For some reason. At the end of S1 they were honestly ready to get married & have babies, and now Crowley is living in his car because his flat is apparently Company Property and he’s been evicted. I still don’t understand why they’re not getting on.

So both heaven & hell are looking for Gabe, and A&C are trying to hide him while they figure out what’s going on.

Except they don’t. S1 they figured out things, they pieced things together, they investigated.

S2 they spent the whole time trying to play matchmaker for Nina & Maggie, and despite having been on Earth for 6000 years, seem to have zero idea about human mating rituals.

It’s literally only at the end when Gabe gets his memory back that he TELLS them he left because he disagrees with triggering the second coming & want to run off with Beelzebub which, to me, is like Gaiman took a nose dive into the GO tumblr tags and went ‘aha! people have started shipping this! let’s make the masses giggle!’

On top of this, in what life would our Aziraphale - the angel who isn’t really an angel anymore, the hedonist, the guy who literally looked heaven in the face and said Buggere Alle This For a Larke and went off to find his friend and stop Armageddon - in what life would he think ‘ooh the metatron is giving me a promotion to start the second coming, let’s grab Crowley and we can turn him back into an angel!’????

No. He’s already made the decision that Heaven is Wrong. Heaven isn’t Good. He & Crowley have already decided at the end of S1 that they’re on their own side - the HUMAN side - and there’s no way Aziraphale is naive enough to think he can change anyone’s mind Up There.

And that kiss. God that made me so uncomfortable. It wasn’t heartbreaking to me, it was just uncomfortable and wrong.

As for those mini episodes. I’m honestly not sure what I can say about those. They bored the shit out of me & served little purpose to the ‘main plot’. They saw everyone loved the cold open and just thought ‘what chaos can we cause putting these two in various historical costumes this time?’

Im not in this to analyse every single thing, I’m not in it for the meta, I’m in this for the story. And to me, this was a seriously disappointing story.

I did like Nina & Maggie but I didn’t like how their story was handled. I also enjoyed how all the shopkeepers in Whickber Street were all convinced that stuffy & fluffy Mr Fell had himself a hot redhead vintage car enthusiast boyfriend, but that’s about all I really enjoyed from the whole thing.

I hate that I hate it. I really wanted to love it, especially since I see the vast majority of you loving it. I wanted to join in the froth. I hoped it would reignite my desire to write.

Alas.

Thus ends my unpopular opinion.

[qqueenofhades]

Hello! I just started reading Deo Volonte and honestly I think you’re underselling just how utterly miserable it is to wear full armor in hot weather. When I was younger I was a renaissance faire actor for a few years over the summer perfoming in the jousts and fights throughout the day and you’d literally get actors passing out from heatstroke between shows. There’s a reason they always told you to take as much as your armor and costume off as possible when you weren’t perfoming- it was absolutely miserable and honestly dangerous for all of us but it was also really fun when everything went well. I was only involved for four summers before my body couldn’t take it anymore, and that was over ten years ago at this point. There’s no way I could handle it today. Mail is heavy and hot and miserable, made even worse by all the layers of padding you wear underneath for safety, and god help you if you were one of the actors who wore full plate. I’m not exaggerating when I say you cook alive inside your costume while fighting in 80+ degree weather.

Anonymous asked: I just want to come back and add on that I’m not trying to say “hey your portrayal of wearing armor in hot weather is highly inaccurate” and after sleeping on it I realize that’s how it might have come across and I’m very sorry about that- it was meant to say that you are absolutely correct in how utterly miserable it can be and that I cannot possibly fathom having to wear my full costume for 16+ hours and actually having to work in it beyond the faire’s shows throughout the day when I worked there! You’ve definitely hit the head on the nail with what it’s like!

Aha, thanks for the clarification, as I admittedly wasn't entirely sure what you meant in the first ask or how to answer that, since I definitely remembered making a point of how miserable it was! Wearing 30+ pounds of chainmail in 90 degree heat, for hours and hours at a time, is absolutely horrid, and I wouldn't want to do it myself for any number of reasons.

Glad you're enjoying the fic, and stay safe out there at faire. ;)

[horizon-verizon]

This won't change anyone's mind especially those who are vehemently against this ship and against Aemond (and for good reasons!) but there were actually some leaks pointing to Helaemond and/or to feelings from Aemond's part, at least. If you go to their blogs or Twitter accounts you will see that maaany, many shippers actually seem to base the chance of their ship becoming canon in some shape or form in S2 in those leaks. Last summer before the show was airing there was a leaker who went by the name of "HOTDLeaks" on Reddit. They posted a summary for every single episode which all turned to be 90%+ true and because of it HBO got Reddit to remove them for copyright reasons. The leaker obviously had real sources, I don't think anyone denies it at this point. But besides posting the summaries, they also answered various questions from other users and some of them were related to Aemond and how he would be portrayed as a character in the show. Nobody asked anything about the ship since it was NOT a thing at all before the show yet the answers were (the leaker said this is how his character was described in the casting call sheets for the audition): 1) "He loves his sister Helaena before her marriage, is jealous of Aegon."

2) "A lover of history/learning & a skilled fighter. His potential for greatness is obvious. He’s in love with his sister Heleana and dislikes Aegon. He’s bullied by Aegon & the Strong boys as a child. He becomes increasingly bitter with age."

Some screenshots of the posts: https://twitter.com/catalystcomett/status/1589389714599317504 (yes it's a shipper's account, I know but I haven't found any other post that included all those screenshots in one place) It seems like the former screenshot seem to be about young!Aemond and the latter about older!Aemond (or a mix between the two?) given the "lover of history" thing confirmed by his line in 1x09 about him studying history and philosophy.

This two posts were also removed by HBO for copyright reasons and it is interesting because there were other things the user posted and HBO did not bother to remove.

There is also this comment (notice the second part on inconsistent feedback from their sources): 3) "Aemond states that he would have married Heleana if he had been the brother chosen for her. I’ve gotten inconsistent feedback on wether or not this is out of love or duty." So now one can say "Aha! See, it's just that he's the dutiful son compared to Aegon! Even the leaker said so after all." Yes, it could very well be just the duty thing. Or it could be not. This post however was not removed like the others above which implied or said more than just duty although it doesn't necessarily mean anything.

4) Also something about the writers discussing whether or not to adapt the Aemon/Naerys/Aegon dynamic to Aemond/Helaena/Aegon. It's also in the screenshots above but here is another one (notice the date, again, before the ship was a thing): https://twitter.com/ZombieBryce/status/1555902921719439360

Their account (hotdleaks) was suspended by Reddit but to verify the posts were indeed genuine and not faked by shippers you can use apps such as Unddit (unfortunately it's a bit laggy, at least for me) which shows a poster's entire history including deleted/removed posts and enter the "hotleaks" username there. You can see that they do show up (you can click on the post and it will redirect you to the specific Reddit threads although with some posts being deleted…the threads may not make much sense). https://camas.unddit.com/#{%22author%22:%22hotdleaks%22,%22resultSize%22:100,%22after%22:%222022-07-23T21:00:00.000Z%22,%22before%22:%222022-08-05T21:00:00.000Z%22} As you can see from the history they also knew about the Larys foot fetish stuff, Aegon raping a servant girl (turned out to be Dyanna), the Greens being largely whitewashed and more sympathetic and other things.

Obviously one could say it's just that young!Aemond had just a teen crush on her and nothing more and that if there was actually anything behind the ship they would've had a proper scene together as adults (a very good point actually!) but one could also answer that we've only known them as adults for two episodes (three in Aemond's case) so there's still some room for something to happen in early S2 before B&C happens. And to be clear, by something happening I do not mean something ridiculous like the children theory being true, I only mean just a confirmation of feelings being romantic.

To conclude, sure, it's not definitive confirmation by any means but, in my opinion, in can be said the whole thing does point to the writers at least playing with the idea while also leaving things ambiguous enough in case they decide to make the ship canon next season…or not. They've not painted themselves into a corner where making it canon is the only option going forward but they haven't done the opposite either.

However like I said in the beginning those who either hate Aemond a lot or the ship will never admit there is indeed some 1% chance of it becoming a canon or at least be open to the possibility. I don't blame them of course, but I just think given how much they've already changed from the book, one should be opened to anything happening in the show despite not happening at all in the source material. They're not going to suddenly stick to Aemond's proper book characterization like some are hoping, just because Daeron who's supposed to be the dutiful son (where is this in F&B though?) is going to be in S2 and because we and others have been complaining about it, despite us being in the right. As you said and others have said, he's popular and there's way too many people who sympathize with him and writers will feel validated by these kind of reactions to him. They will keep witewashing him, undoubtedly.

Sorry for this ask getting so long, hopefully everything I wrote makes sense!

It was a useful ask, and I'm keeping this one fresh. It's finally a comprehensive look at Heloaemond apart from "because". This might explain much of why a fan would see Helaemond happening in the show in any state (but mostly romantic w/o sensuality). Me, I think that the underlying reason why the writers would choose to do it is to make Aemond more sympathetic.

Anyone else can look through the posts and sites for their own use.

[imaginesmatsu]

(anon that was nervous abt being annoying like,, yesterday?? maybe?? time isn't real who cares-) i was half-tempted to ask if any of the brothers would stick with a disabled s/o or cut away from them bc h aha my legs are deteriorating (to the point where they might not work anymore in the future, not that i know when That'll be, obviously-) and my brain is both shit and leaving me self-conscious about this bs for no!! reason!! at all!!! i'm sorry if this isn't something you're keen on answerin a

its ok! i try to answer for as many things as possible lol, i just try to let the motivation come to me and sometimes it avoids me like the plague qwq

i think the ones most likely to stay are karamatsu, jyushimatsu, and surprisingly osomatsu.

kara, because once he finds someone who he adores and who genuinely returns his affections, will probably do anything he can to make sure that they are happy. til death do us part, even if he never ends up married. sure he's kinda cringe and he might need help to understand was is/isnt okay, but he's attentive when he needs to be. and he understands that sometimes just having company is nice

jyushi, because he's a marshmallow (but pretty much literally). it might take a bit for him to fully understand that you cant do Everything like you used to, of course, and that would probably make him a little sad. not quite pity, of course, just sad - and while he doesn't get over it quickly, he does actively try to find things that the two of you can still do together. he still has his 100million energy levels, but he does try to tone it down at least a little bit if the time is needed.

osomatsu, and i say surprisingly because he's honestly kind of a scumbag. he's a lazy asshole who would rather gamble than save and his favorite pass time is probably looking at mags (the only real free thing he can do). but honestly? he likes having the responsibility of taking care of someone, and if there were someone to genuinely rely on him to really care for them then i think that he would step up just a little, you know? it would be a gradual change, and he'd never really fit society's "perfect person" stereotype, but he'd probably gamble less unless he knew he'd at least 90% win. drinking wouldn't be a daily thing, but it wouldn't quite be a special occasions thing - i just. i dunno, i might be a little soft for this human dumpster.