#Op this is such a good post you have no idea

[eri-pl]

Be he friend or foe— wait, wrong lyrics. XD

Nice thought anyway, I respect it.

I don't hate AI as much as y'all (yes, ik, it is bad for enviroment and unethically sourced, just like half of the things we buy, but also I find it pretty cool in what it can do, hate me all you want), but yes, when I publish something it's written by me.

I may use tools (AI or not) to check grammar, do low-level beta reading (to tell me stuff like "this needs more descriptions), or use it to kickstart my brainstorming when I'm out of ideas, and use it to "what's the word for [a complicated concept that I remember had a word for it]" when normal search can't do it. Generally the kind of things I could ask a friend for and not feel like needing to add them as a co-author. Except I have very few friends and most aren't native English speakers, so this option is not always possible.

And now I'm not doing even that because a) environment b) people's reactions and I am not going to just go use it and than lie. Well, I do use Google Docs and they have a grammar/style check feature that may be ai-adjacent. IDK.

If it was less controversial, I would use AI for things like "translate this dialogue line to more archaic English" for certain characters. Because this doesn't feel to me like outsourcing creativity, and sometimes is not something I can do by myself. Also grammar / synonyms stuff; low-level editing stuff. Like fixing my commas (if it can do this). Especially when I don't think I know any human both good in English and interested in helping in that particular thing.

Cancel me if you want, whatever. I'm not gonna go and pretend I didn't do a thing I did or that I have a different opinion.

But my fics are written by me, and my pictures are drawn by me and if I post something that's generated it will get a clear caption that it's generated, and one time a year ago I couldn't get something from my head to screen and made AI-gen pictures because I wanted to have a clear vision of how some characters actually look, I did caption it clearly and then I get anon hate for doing it anyway. (They are removed now, less for the AI part and more for the "nobody seems to care anyway" part)

TBH I feel like maaaaybe d4 people in whole world care about whatever I do creatively but also if I admit even looking at any AI tools, suddenly 10 people will take offence, who never even commented at any of my actual work. And I feel discouraged by this, and somewhat bitter.

Oh and also if you want people to admit it when they use AIs, maybe reduce the stigma a bit. Because the surest way to make people lie about doing something is piling a mountain of shame on top of the thing.

No, I'm not saying that I am lying. I am adult enough to admit doing things that are cconsidered shameful. But also, I am over 40 and have close to nothing to lose in terms of social clout. Most people don't have this privilege.

[This is only about using AI with things I publish / share publicly in any way. Using it for having fun on my own (make things I enjoy in private, make songs for phone rings, tell me a bedtime story, give me ideas what new things to try...) is a different thing. I now do it very rarely, because environmental impact, but if it didn't have such an impact, I would do it, because it works for me and is fun.]

PS: Just in case: OP, this is not supposed to criticize what you said. I just saw the post, thought "um, nice, I should make something like this too" and then "ok but what do I want to actually say, what is honest to say for me here" and it got nuanced, and compared to tumblr average, quite pro-AI maybe. No, as I said, even if I'm more nuanced about it, I deeply respect your stance. If anything, I'd say calling people "uncreative dweebs" doesn't encourage them to admit to their past Ai use, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's just a detail, I overall respect your post and thank you.

NOTICE: As more and more fanfic writers are using generative AI for their works (you uncreative dweebs), I hereby swear on everything I hold dear that I have not and will NEVER use generative AI in ANY of my written work. Everything I post will be organically and creatively my own.

[hyakinthou-naos]

HelPol Discourse & Ableism

A more nuanced addition to this post - which I made on a low spoons day (if you're just interested in the ableism part then scroll to the bottom).

The Dunning-Kruger Effect

“The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities”

- Wikipedia

The Duning-Kruger Effect was first pointed out to me by another pagan practitioner - and in that context it was used to describe those who claim to know what is “right” or “wrong” for all practitioners within a given tradition.

This fellow practitioner (I can’t remember their name - this was at least 2 years ago) pointed out that those who are incredibly knowledgeable about a given tradition don’t tend to go around policing others practices.

Why?

Because being knowledgeable about any religious or spiritual tradition means recognizing how incredibly human made traditions are. They are loose - flexible - ever changing and ever evolving within both individual and community practice.

Now - that doesn’t mean “anything goes” within a tradition or religion, quite the opposite.

It instead means that the best way to create a cohesive tradition (or revive a cohesive tradition) is through working together as a community to discuss what is and isn’t valid praxis.

One individual (or a small group of individuals) speaking on behalf of an entire community is very rarely a good idea.

Bold “unpopular opinion” posts - telling others what is and isn’t valid praxis - is not only incredibly hubristic, but is also only going to lead to anger and infighting.

It is through conversation that we can get to the root of an issue and try to find consensus as a community.

As an example: I could make a post explaining my interpretation of, and feelings around, people worshipping Medusa. I could explain that I have negative feelings because this type of worship was not seen in antiquity. But then I could also make it clear that this is just my opinion - and that I’d be interested in hearing others points of view*

*some of those caught up in this controversy have done this, and have wrongly been demonized for it - while others have done the exact opposite, stating their opinion as law.

If someone makes a post similar to the example and you’re still going to be antagonistic or cruel - then just block that person. You’re going to save both them and yourself a lot of needless stress.

If someone makes a post that is actively inflammatory - you can do one of two things:

1. If you have the energy and bandwidth, you can engage with them in a discussion or civil debate.

2. If you don’t have the energy or bandwidth, or if OP is unwillingly to engage you in such talks, then just block them. Again - it will save you a lot of needless stress.

Lastly - we as Hellenic Polytheists need to be better about our ableism.

If there is something in our faith that is ableist (example: you must always stand with arms outstretched during ritual) then it shouldn’t be part of our faith.

Just because some people do not have any limitations on their physical mobility or mental energy - does not mean that the able-bodied way of doing things gets to be the default or “correct” way of practicing our faith.

I want to make a longer post on the ableism that is rampant in both the HelPol and wider Pagan communities - but for now I think that will suffice.

Askbox is open, as are DMs - The Temple is always open to community building, community discussion, and (civil) community debate.

Eirene - peace and farewell,

- Temple Hyacinthus

[veilder]

And sometimes—after moments of grief, of strife, of hopelessness in a hopeless world—Curufin will look into the mirror and squint his eyes just the right way, and he’ll recall a faint echo of the past that called him good, that spoke with pride, a warm hand on his shoulder and a blinding smile filled with expectation and delight, and quite suddenly, he will not have to squint at all. Quite suddenly, he finds his sight obscured with a weighty, glossy film. Quite suddenly, he finds he must work to hold back the tears that he could never let slip when those memories were reality.

Yes, he understands his brothers’ pain. He knows it far, far too well. But how could he possibly begrudge them when the same persists in his own heart?

Something something about Curufin really resembling Fëanor. Sometimes Curufin catches his brothers looking at him weirdly. Like, really weird. Maglor standing in the doorway with tears in his eyes while Curufin plays with Tyelpe, softly singing the same songs Fëanor used to hum to them as kids. Or Maedhros going completely silent—teary-eyed silent—after Curufin delivers a fiery political rant they absolutely don’t agree on. Tyelko weirdly saying a soft “thank you” (with a smile, no less) when Curufin quietly replaces his worn-out arrows with new ones. Even Caranthir showing up at the forge, saying nothing at all, just standing there until Curufin asks what’s up and all he says is, “I like watching you work.”

It used to weird him out. Now he kinda gets it. They weren't looking at him at these times... they were seeing echoes. He accepts it. His brothers' pain is the same as his.

[r0semultiverse]

Small indie artists in need of support for moving out by September!

💜 These lovely folks [@QuinsCurse (they/them) & @sswitchblade03 (xe/xem and he/him)] are part of a small queer-owned Youtube community I'm in. 💖

💖 If you could lend a helping hand by reblogging & queueing this post up until the start of September, I'd greatly appreciate it & I'm sure these fine folks would too! 💜

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"Hi everyone! Requests are officially closed as I am opening emergency commissions! Please consider supporting me as we are getting kicked out and have managed to find a place that’s affordable but need to save up 5k by the end of the month! Anything helps! I also have a dontations page if you are willing to help do that! All the money received from commissions will be going to the deposit! https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/commissions https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/goal?g=32"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/commissions https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/goal?g=0 EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS!! My roommate ‪@QuinsCurse‬and I are needing about $5000CAD for a down payment on a new place as we need to be out of our current place by September! Every bit counts! My goal is to be set to $3000CAD. I will draw anything (coloured and rendered) for $5 CAD each! If you are willing to give more it will be appreciated. Examples of my work below!"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

[hyakunana]

Interrupting all my chores for a very important event

[journeysfable]

Op can I give you a virtual hug cause I'm actually fucking crying tears of joy irl at this (genuinely)

A bitter aromantic's rant below:

(Focusing mostly on the aro part cause thats the part I've seen this...phenomenon ig? Happen the most with. Said phenomenon being the idea that not feeling a certain emotion makes you a bad person)

You shouldn't need to be able to love to be considered a good person!!! You shouldn't need to love someone to consider helping helping them!!! You shouldn't need to be able to love in order to help others!!!

And it's always been weird to me that evil characters are sometimes given the motive of "they don't love anyone so they don’t understand the pain they cause" like wtf???

Its weird to me that people will use characters just being nice to each other as evidence that they're in love.

I love things very deeply too (At least I think I do. I've always defined love as 'the emotion you feel toward someone or something that brings you joy' but my dad disagreed with that definition [until I stopped telling him I loved him]) like this isn't even because of anything that's happened to me besides the fact that I don't feel romantic love. It'd be so easy for me go "well obviously I'm a good person cause I love my family and friends" but that

It just doesn't make sense?

What does love have to do with kindness? Genuinely? And before you say "well you'd never hurt someone you love" I know my mom loves me because if she didn't she'd have kicked me out by now instead of trying to help me with my disabilities. But she hurt me when she gave my cat away without telling me and now I'm haunted by the fact I couldn't say goodbye. He didn't die or anything. Just wanted to see him one last time and get to say goodbye. But she didn't give me the opportunity. But she loves me so I guess it shouldn't hurt! (Sarcasm)

It's just always been weird to me that people believe there's prerequisites to kindness. Don't even get me started on the way people treat empathy.

So it means so so much to me that you looked at a character who's entire Thing, who's single defining trait, is saving people and went "he's never loved anyone, perhaps not even platonically, ever."

My only issue with this entire post is the implication that having romantic feelings for someone automatically makes them a priority but maybe there's nebulous attraction bullshit there. I mean I always thought it was the amatonormativity talking when people called their SO their other half but apparently thats an actual thing alloros feel???

can you talk about aroace freemercy :D?

Freemercy being aroace is an important part of the character if you want to view him as a real guy and not an ingame avatar and want to keep his odd moral compass intact. It is intertwined with his personality and worldview. ESSAY INBOUND.

Freemercy is detached from the world. There is good or there is bad. There are people to save and there are enemies. Nuance and shades of gray are often lost on him. Can the concept of a savior love? Can a self-made lethal weapon be held without cutting the skin? Can a man so focused on saving what's good and exterminating what's not stop to smell the roses? Does he actually care about anyone, or is this simply an obligation to him? What drives him, drives his morals? He is not really a healer. His hands that have tended wounds could have also been the cause of the wounds. He will shoot someone or break a bone if it meant physically stopping them if it would keep them alive. Freemercy is a bundle of strange impulses and uncomfortable truths masquerading as an average man. After all, he laughs, jokes, can hold a conversation, has a calm, put together demeanor... but don't be fooled.

His rules and some thoughts behind them

1. Save as many of his own as possible (us versus them mentality. what qualifies as his own? Scientists? Civillians? or... non-Enemies?)

2. Remove as many Enemies as possible (Enemies, capitalized. He has enemies. People and things who are dangerous, or even have the potential to be dangerous. He goes as far as to kill leaches in the water. Where is the line? Remember: he is not merciful)

3. Remove Hazards if Possible (nothing to really overanalyze with this one, hazards was defined as things that could kill people)

So, when you take him out of his element, out of danger, his mind will concoct it. He's not exactly a man with many hobbies. He's selfless --- too selfless. Selfless to the point it wraps back around into selfharm (see: grenade jumping). He fills the Freemercy shaped hole in his life by doing good, by being kind, by being attentive. And he does it by saving lives, too. Present him with the trolly problem and if he is certain he cannot stop the trolley, he will flip the lever (even if he knew the person tied to the track), and the only thing he'd care about is he failed to save everyone, not that he knew the person on the track. (And then even then, he can't linger for too long. He has people to save)

People are goals to him. Keep them safe; and when that can't be done, keep them alive. And threats are to be sought out and eliminated. He is too busy saving and obsessing. No one person is more important to him than another. They are people, and they are either good or bad. Freemercy will hurt himself or others for the greater good, and that includes anyone "close" to him. And... he's aroace (and you could even say aplatonic if you want too aswell)! It fits him well. He reminds me of when Data fron star trek next generation tries to be in a relationship: Freemercy isn't mean and he might try, but the concept of intimacy is alien to him, and he doesn't "feel" the right things to be able to engage with it. He cannot prioritize a life, especially one that's not in danger. It's hard enough to keep friends. The only reason he has any is because the other Freemen HAVE to associate with him. He's deeply misguided and sacrificial to a fault, and that can be uncomfortable to be around.

But it's important to note he doesn't see the need to try and change how he operates. He doesn't feel it his burden to save others, it's more like his duty. It's a job he does and does well. And it works! And as long as he's saving people (his self worth is determined on how many people he saves), then he's doing well! He's in his element as the savior of humanity, and being a savior doesn't mean you need to have the ability to love. And... he doesn't.

little bonus:

I like drawing Freemercy with snakes. I've usually only done one, but he has two! A black snake and a white snake. These have multiple meanings and were given to him for symbolic reasons, and one of those reasons is aroace! The black snake is the Asexual ring and the white snake is the Aromantic ring. Just a little fun . smiles.

[elftwink]

also can we start being meaner to those meme pages that post screenshots of tumblr posts. nothing drives me up the wall like a 14 pixel jpg of a tumblr thread stretched out to fit into a single screenshot and half of these people are only posting it so they can eventually change the op to be a link to some dropshipped garbage anyway. i am actually so sick of blogs that only exist to make worse versions of posts that are already on this website and for what? tumblr clout? MONEY? if you run a "meme blog" i hate you and your days are fucking numbered

[novorehere]

Bite-Sized Tidbits:

A snapshot/character of what life might look like with the seven avatars of sin. Contains a lot of fluff, a little angst, and soft/safe vore with you and the seven Obey Me! brothers themed around their respective sins. I’ve been working on this on and off for quite a while now, so I hope you enjoy.

Written for Vore Day, 2023

—

—

Pride

“I can give you your punishment now, or we can wait until later.”

The edges of the demon’s lips crept up into the beginnings of a smirk. All without breaking his gaze from the stack of documents which he straightened against his desk with a tap tap tap.

“However, I will be leaving for tea with Lord Diavolo as soon as my work is finished. So unless you’d like to spend the evening with Barbatos’ chiffon cake, I’d recommend making up your mind in a timely manner.”

Both of you knew very well that “punishment” wasn’t the right word. Lucifer’s infrequent office calls were less of a punishment and moreso a game, an unspoken routine in which you continuously tested the Avatar of Pride’s patience by indulging his younger brothers’ schemes.

It was a game that toyed with the balance of power, one where you pretended like he couldn’t just shrink you down whenever he wanted and that you couldn’t order him to stop with a single word. It was a game that indulged his pride, one that Lucifer would always win in the end.

It was only a matter of minutes before you were seated in his gloved palm. His ruby eyes lording over you with a gaze that anyone else would find annoyingly high-handed. But after playing his game for so long, to you the affection hiding behind them was obvious.

“Are you ready then, my Lamb?”

He was the morning star, eldest of the seven rulers of the underworld.

Yet despite all of this, Lucifer knew it was you who had him utterly wrapped around your little finger.

—

Greed

Reclining his head against the arm of his couch, the Avatar of Greed kissed his fingertips in mock satisfaction at the burp that rolled up his throat. A barely audible complaint of “gross” only caused him to chuckle and pat his stomach triumphantly.

“Maybe ya shoulda thought about that before bein’ so damn filling.”

A sound like “Guh” escaped the demon’s mouth as a swift kick to his liver interrupted his musings.

“Oi! The Great Mammon’s gonna start chargin’ 10,000 Grimm for damages every time ya do that!” Ya oughta learn some basic respe-”

And there it was, the familiar flutter of tiny fingers rubbing circles into him from inside. Perhaps it was your way of saying sorry… though more likely you just wanted to shut him up. It was annoying how easily you could reduce him to a blushing mess without uttering a single word.

“Hey… ‘s not fair. You’re playin’ dirty…”

Mammon rolled onto his side in an uncharacteristically gentle motion. He couldn’t help sneaking an indulgent glance at the scene reflected in his mirror. There he was, splayed out amongst piles of his belongings with his shirt ridden up and his belly rounded in his lap. If any of his brothers saw him like this, he would never hear the end of their teasing. But luckily for Mammon, not even you could know the way his face became soft as he teased a finger around his navel too gently for you to feel.

“Why’d ya stop? C’mon, now… keep goin’.”

It didn’t matter how much Mammon gambled away or how many centuries it had been since he’d hit the jackpot at the casino. When he was with you, Mammon felt like the luckiest demon in the three realms.

But sometimes it was hard to put it into words. Which is exactly why he treasured moments like these, the moments where his greed got the better of him. The moments where he could steal you away to be his and his alone.

After all, it was much easier to express how madly in love with you he’d become when he didn’t have to meet you face to face.

—

Envy

“You know, this is just like that one scene in ‘My Life as a Shut-In Reincarnated as a Worker in the Shopping Mall Dimension’ where Prince Alfonso goes to the food court kingdom and-”

Leviathan groaned, burying his face into his body pillow as if that could somehow hide him from the voice in his middle.

“You can’t use my own otaku tactics against me, it’s… *hic-* it’s not fair!!”

Your muffled laughter reverberated off the walls of his bathtub, accompanied by the occasional hiccup and the tip of a serpentine tail nervously thumping against porcelain.

He didn’t mean for his horns to sprout from his head when you tried to leave his room that night. He didn’t mean for a serpentine tail to wrap around your ankle, wordlessly begging you to stay. And he certainly didn’t mean for his stomach to loudly vocalize the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind the entire night. What was this, some sort of tropey romance manga?

But here he was, face as red as a bouquet of queen of jealousy and stuffed to the (decidedly metaphorical) gills in his own bathtub. The Grand Admiral of Hell’s Navy, reduced to a blushing, hiccuping mess. And he had nobody but himself to blame.

But really, how could he have resisted? Especially with the visions of what could have happened instead playing through his head on repeat. Asmo whisking you away to some club filled with normies who could actually hold a real conversation, Mammon snatching you up for an unauthorized night drive in his Demonio 666 Lexura, Beel getting a little too peckish and… he couldn’t bear to think about it.

Leviathan knew wanting to be your one and only was unreasonable. He knew that he was a terrible, horrible friend for thinking these thoughts and becoming so troubled at the prospect of anyone else showing you affection. After all, no one would want to be with a gloomy shut-in that wasn’t worth the scum in Henry’s tank-

But as soon as they had come, the negative thoughts washed away like a speck in the ocean as you snuggled closer to his hand, a muffled voice reassuring him that there was no place you’d rather be tonight.

—

Wrath

“With a flourish the detective tipped his hat to the dame, as he disappeared into the evening fog like the curls of smoke which danced from his pipe…”

The demon’s inner monologue was cut short as a violent squirming sensation roused him from his novel. Your ears detected the unmistakable sound of a huff and a book closing, muffled by layers of flesh and fabric.

“Restless as ever, I see…”

Normally, Satan would be more than offended to have his attention ripped from the pages of a good book. But this time the annoyance that swelled in his chest turned not into rage, but affection as the fire settled in his stomach and melted away… You tended to have that effect on him.

It was a relatively new sensation. Having been birthed from wrath in its purest form, emotions such as happiness had to be taught to him by his brothers. And for that Satan was thankful- he had long since accepted them as family. But as a human, you were a better teacher of peace than any demon could be. Though a cat curled in his lap was a close second.

The blonde sighed fondly, gazing down at the bump in his sweater.

“…Would you like me to read aloud to you? Perhaps that will help you settle some.”

Pulling the covers up a bit higher around his navel, he tucked them in snugly around his sides. A rare smile crossed Satan’s face as he admired his handiwork. The man reached over to his nightstand, finding there exactly what he was looking for in the dim light. A paperback atop the haphazard piles of hardcovers strewn about, placed there with care as not to crease the art on the cover he knew you loved so much.

With both of you tucked in for the night, it was easier than ever to melt into the gentle rumble of his voice.

“Our story begins in a world of monsters…”

—

Lust:

Asmodeus knows that true beauty comes from within. How could it not, when the skin of the human that emerges from his lips always feels so much softer and smoother than before? He makes sure to bring it to your attention every time, doting over how the glow of his inner beauty rubs off on you so easily. Despite everything, he thinks you look so gorgeous lying in his palm. Layers of mucus, tired bags under your eyes, and all.

But sometimes it’s hard to feel beautiful inside or out with wings dyed black and pointed horns replacing the light of your halo.

—

A delicate, painted fingertip wipes a stray bead of drool from your face. The other hand is busy at your head, gently combing the tangles from your still-damp hair with the tiniest heart-shaped hairbrush. Asmodeus had been ecstatic the day it arrived, practically bowling over Levi before snatching the Akuzon package from his arms with a squeal.

It was a ritual at this point, the way he pampered you after letting you out. Swaddling you in a soft, lilac-scented hand towel warmed by the gentle breeze of his hairdryer, wiping you clean as he hummed a familiar tune.

“Baby, you want my love


No matter who you are


I want you to show me


I fell in love with someone


Besides myself for the first time”

He didn’t need to be the “Jewel of the Heavens” with you as his jewel, a precious pearl to tuck away beside his heart where all the things he loves live.

And he had so, so much love to give.

—

Gluttony

Beelzebub was on the verge of snapping when you came to him.

He was breathing heavily when you found his monstrous, horned silhouette hunched over the empty refrigerator. Frightened eyes were glazed over with a hunger that threatened to swallow you up with their very gaze. His mouth opened in a silent plea- perhaps an apology for eating your favorite pudding- but it was drowned out by the roar of his stomach.

Sometimes it felt as if no amount of food could put out the fire that raged within him. The burning sensation could only be briefly dulled by each cooling mouthful that slid down his throat. But then it was gone, claimed by the emptiness inside him that demanded “more.”

But you… you were different.

Simply being around you made him feel full, and for that he was ever grateful. But sometimes he needed more than a feeling. He needed to be sure you were there, to know that you were alive. To feel the weight of that missing piece that left him the day that he fell, your warmth reassuring him that his choices were the right one.

But despite what he needed, he still required your explicit permission to take it.

“Can I…?”

“Of course.”

With your words, Beelzebub gave himself over to his gluttony. He didn’t mind the demon he had become, as long as his strength could help protect you. Or perhaps you were the one protecting him? He wasn’t sure. But one thing was for certain.

No demon in hell could devour you as lovingly as he did that night.

—

Sloth

Beneath the attic room comforter, an incoherent mumble could be heard from a demon-sized lump in the sheets.

Belphegor rolled onto his stomach as he nestled deeper into his nest of blankets. It didn’t take long at all for a lazy smile to crawl across the Avatar of Sloth’s face. Even though you were undoubtedly squashed in this position, he could still feel your tiny hands working their magic just like he had asked.

Oh, how you spoiled him rotten.

It was hard not to with the way Belphegor expressed his desires so plainly. To borrow your jacket to use as a pillow, to keep quiet to Lucifer about skipping classes, to stroke his hair while he lay on your lap. The others weren’t too thrilled with your coddling, but Belphie couldn’t care less.

After all, they had gotten so much more time with you than he had. They got to know you, to love you, to taste you… all before you even knew his name.

Belphegor was the Avatar of Sloth, not envy. But there was once a time when the unmistakable tingling warmth of his twin indulging in you left the bitter aftertaste of jealousy on his tongue. It was a strange feeling, his brother’s affection for a human. One that, until recently, he couldn’t quite understand. And at the time, he had no desire to.

Nowadays the sensation was far from unwelcome. But ever since that night at the castle when he gifted you his pact, Belphegor had found that he much preferred having you all to himself in person. All to himself…

A small yawn escaped the youngest’s mouth as mind wandered to his twin. Could he feel it too, he wondered? The phantom weight of your touch?

…Perhaps he’d ask Beel about it later. But for now, he had a very important nap to get to.

—

Neither of you were conscious enough to know it, but that night as Beelzebub carried his brother down to his own bed and tucked him in, he whispered not one, but two good-nights.

[leatherbookmark]

screaming the OP of the prev has this in their pinned post

ONE OF THOSE THINGS IS ETC ETC

[astrid-beck]

I have to agree with you, I mean if somebody embodies catholic guilt....

Caleb Widogast was raised with the empire style christian-inflected "walk in the light of the dawnfather" religion but also he believes in sin and the soul and damnation and heaven. And while many would have you believe these are areligious concepts I won't be fooled.

[skrunksthatwunk]

ive started a brainstorming doc for the kaiji koi-koi fic and a large large amount of it is just trying to figure out what works about kaiji and how i can innovate without diverging too much from the tone or themes etc. anyway ive been thinking about how the modifications fkmt makes to the games in kaiji function (i.e. minefield mahjong, restricted rps, one poker, etc), and how they each tie into key traits/feelings of playing to original versions. minefield mahjong centers and intensifies the feeling of waiting on a crucial tile while trying not to leave too much of a trail, one poker leans heavily into the bluffing via raising/calling elements of poker, and rrps sort of flips rps' main issue(?) on its head by removing its arbitrariness (while preserving at first the illusion of arbitrariness), and thus making it like.. something you can win via strategy and not just luck. ANYWAY i think ive figured out the key thread to pull for koi-koi and im very excited about that

[otogariado]

i get why people would opt to say walter was a terrible person since the beginning, but i think that's like, the most boring takeaway you can get about his character. he was already insecure and prideful from the start, and it's what would hurt him and keep hurting him. but like, being insecure and prideful are regular traits any regular person can have. the actions that he makes because of these traits, which in turn keep fueling his ego more and more, are what makes him an interesting character. and he was already pretty capable of hurting other people, but he wasn't doing it out of malice, but more because of careless selfishness at first. what makes walter terrifying is that the more he does it, the more he becomes aware of what he's doing, and the more he keeps going and keeps being more and more meticulous and deliberate about what he does that hurts people and even to the point when it was specifically to hurt people.

i think the traits were there in walter from the beginning—the pilot did a pretty good job of establishing how powerless he's felt all his life and just how susceptible he is to letting this newfound perceived power get to his head so easily. he even says this explicitly in 5x06 "Buyout" when he tells jesse "i'm not in the money business, i'm in the empire business". but saying he was this monster from the start kind of implies he didn't undergo through a character arc throughout the show when it's quite literally what he did. he got worse. so much worse. through mostly the fault of his own fragility.

[utilitycaster]

trying to decide if it's more productive to elaborate on the D&D post and make it clear that at least a large number of people do not want to hear about your game in the tags and you should reblog the d&d post and then make a separate post that rambles on at length if you ACTUALLY want to keep this between you and your mutuals; or if I should keep doing as I have been, namely, treating it as a glue trap and blocking everyone who's like "lol too bad I'm telling you about my game and you'll deal"

[shorelinnes]

it’s really gotten to the point where half the posts I see about Palestine are just full of misinformation. social media is not and never will be a reliable source of information. never fact checking or thinking critically about the posts you reblog is irresponsible and can negatively impact pro Palestinian efforts.

please please please just go to the BDS website and get your information from there. It is a Palestinian run movement that has years of experience organizing boycotts. they do their research and they know what actually works.

[elftwink]

one thing i try to remind myself about this place when im getting annoyed at the dash is that MOST posts that go viral are written for a much smaller audience than they got, and are very often written in anger or upset. frequently i see posts that i think are overly aggressive and confrontational, have no chance of actually changing anyone's mind (and sometimes directly insult the reader by calling them stupid/lazy/immoral), lack contextualizing information, and/or catastrophize about the issue. i get irritated about these because my first thought is "why the fuck would you even post this when all it does is make you look bad and your position look unappealing" but like, most people are not posting in order to debate or justify their position. they're just venting, often assuming the people reading it will agree and validate their anger or upsetness— which is often why these posts get traction in the first place, since they also tend to be about topics you would rightfully get upset about.

relatedly, i (and maybe you too) have a tendency to assume that every post on tumblr that seems like the second half of a debate is a response to a different post on tumblr (the 'who is even saying that' response), but this is kind of unfair to the op since they could be responding to any number of things in their personal or professional lives, and are going to tumblr because it is a place where you can post whatever you think and be mostly assured nobody you know will see it. countless of my own posts are prompted by something irl but look to readers like just another tumblr discourse post. i think it's important that when you think 'who is even saying that' about a post to consider that the answer might be like, "op's shitty coworker" rather than "a large and vocal subsection of tumblr i have never heard of"

[mitamicah]

Okay so I think I just overshared to the Max to a tattoo artist i've never met 🤣

She asked for descriptions of our dream tattoo and I went way over the text limit when explaining not one but two ideas for her over ig dms 😆🤣😅