#We're all here because we're full of love. Your love is not worth less than anyone else's just because they're more talented or popular

[masque-of-plague]

If you feel like you need "permission" to do something in fandom, this post is for you!

Something I've noticed a lot of in this fandom is that people hesitate so much to do so many wonderful things they want to do because they feel like they need someone else's "permission" in order to do it.

Understandably, there was a HUGE history of people dog-piling, harassing, and bullying people for doing things that were not explicitly approved by either the creators or the fandom at large. I am so happy that the tumblr fandom in particular has moved away from that horrible time, but the effects it had on people still linger, even beyond things that "weren't allowed."

So if you need permission to do something you've been thinking of doing, I'm giving you permission. 💕

Do you have an idea for a fan event but you need someone to tell you that you can? I'm telling you right now that not only can you start that fan event, but you will do a great job AND people will love it.

Do you have an idea for a fanfiction but you're worried that people won't like it? I'm holding your face gently and promising you that there is an audience for everything and if absolutely nothing else, you deserve to make that fic.

Do you have a headcanon that directly conflicts with common headcanons in the fandom? I support you having that headcanon. YES, even if other people dislike or even hate that headcanon. YES, even if some people are upset about that headcanon. It's their job to avoid that headcanon then-- it's not your job not to have it.

You deserve a space to be heard, to make your creations, to hold you headcanons. Anything that brings you joy, amusement, euphoria, validation, healing, catharsis, anything that you find interesting or enjoyable, you deserve to engage with it.

I promise you are capable. I promise you are not doing anything wrong. I promise you are not hurting anything.

Whatever you thought about while reading this post? I am giving you permission to do it.

[pomefioredove]

Saw you took specific requests. Here's mine:

Jamil with a religious reader who gives him a protection talisman.

Fun fact, prayer beads are used in multiple religions as they help count prayers (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc).

So let's say reader comes from a world where magic exists but it's exclusively on religious grounds. Meaning if you wanna do magic you gotta pray to the right god or make a deal with some form of mythological creature.

Reader knows that Jamil's is always in danger due to the constant assassination attempts on Kalim, so they make a set of prayer beads and ask a diety to bless it in order to protect their boyfriend (could be Allah, Indra, Shiva, Buddha, Susanoo, whichever). Jamil accepts it and heads back home appreciating the sentiment but not really believing.

Except any form of danger keeps getting thwarted. Drink/food he's trying is poisoned? Conveniently spills over/has a whole in the bottom. Accident happens? Conveniently pushed out of the way. Someone tries to hurt him/kill him? Struck by lightning and straight up dies.

Not even his own parents are safe. They try to slap him to "discipline him" then they get zapped (lightly tho).

you know!!! I love this prompt so much... I'm a religious studies major so this kinda stuff is so ^w^ to me I get so excited.

summary: giving jamil a protection spell type of post: short fic characters: jamil additional info: reader is gender neutral, the existence of religious beliefs in twst is. confusing. so we're keeping it vague, not proofread, reader is yuu

Perhaps it was because your world was still considered "magicless" by Twisted Wonderland standards, or perhaps Jamil was never superstitious to begin with.

Either way, he wasn't exactly as excited as you'd been hoping for.

"It's nice. Did you make it yourself?" he asks, inspecting the beads. "A bracelet?"

"Prayer beads, actually. And yes, I did,"

"It's well made. What's the purpose?"

You hesitate. The nature of religion in this world is still confusing to you, although you can surmise there's got to be some kind of belief system. It's best not touching on for now.

Besides, Jamil has never been much of a believer in higher powers. For good reason.

"For protection," you explain. "Not that I think you can't handle yourself. But I worry about you over break, you know..."

He's quiet for a moment, inspecting the gift in the palm of his hand. And then he tucks the beads away in his pocket and smiles.

"I'll keep them with me, then. Thank you,"

Even if he's not exactly keen on the idea that these things will make his life any less terrible, they're from you.

And so he keeps his promise, and tucks them away after you part.

By the time he's "home" (back in Kalim's family home) he's all but forgotten about the little blessing at the bottom of his pocket. Not that you can really blame him- "vacation" is more of a title than a reality when he's back.

The first incident happens not even a day after.

The al-Asim summer mansion is certainly nothing to scoff at. Though it's only one of many, this one in particular houses a large sum of physical treasures, line with gold and ivory, stuffed full of spices and all the makings of a feast that could feed thousands, a shining jewel of the desert.

Jamil is not all that impressed.

Especially when it comes to navigating such an ornate building on orders. The polished-to-perfection floors present a challenge when you're carrying three crates worth of grain to the kitchen on the lowest floor.

Damn these stairs.

Though Jamil may not be a religious man, he still asks whatever deity may be up there to smite the slippery spiral staircase he's descending.

His arms strain to uphold the weight of the boxes, and his legs strain to keep a good footing on one of the many long and elaborate and narrow servant passages designed specifically so that the unwanted workers of the family can slip by undetected.

Quiet, diligent, and he has to be quick, too. Kalim is expecting him for a game in one of the many lounges soon.

Another unfortunate "vacation". How he'd much rather be spending it with you...

For a brief moment, Jamil swears he can feel the beads in his pocket warm against him, reminding him of their presence.

And then he slips.

The crates free themselves from his careful grasp and tumble down the stairs, creaking and thudding but mercifully staying intact.

Jamil, however, isn't made of wood. He winces as he feels himself tilting forward- and then... somehow, a strong draft pushes him on his back.

He lands just shy of his tailbone, luckily not hurting anything, except for his pride.

What a turn of luck.

The next happens at dinner.

Jamil keeps his earlier blunder to himself. His pride is damaged enough as it is, after all, and so he tries his best to conceal how shaken up the experience left him by moving swiftly across the kitchen.

"We have a dish ready for you to test," someone shouts.

He sighs. How many more evenings of this will he have to endure?

Though, he reminds himself- this may always be his last.

The thought makes Jamil chuckle as he's handed a hot dish and a clean fork. He can only stop to smell the roses for so long, so there's no chance of savoring such an exquisitely prepared meal before he's off to another part of the kitchen.

Just as the fork digs into the food, the dish slips out of his hand and shatters on the kitchen floor. Everyone falls silent.

His eyes widen. "How- ugh. My apologies,"

Now this is just getting ridiculous. How clumsy can he get in one evening? He's usually much more careful...

"Look," the head chef says, the whole kitchen crowding around the food as it dissolves.

Jamil's stomach lurches. Cyanide. It has to be. If he'd eaten that dish right there and then...

The kitchen is swiftly cleared out, and he's sent back to the lounge.

it only gets stranger from there.

What Jamil initially wrote off as clumsiness and luck seems to become a pattern-

a flying arrow at the archery range just narrowly misses him when he bends down to fix his sandal.

The al-Asim family tiger (because of course they have one) chooses to toy with a visiting prince rather than him in the courtyard.

A strong draft pushes him on his rear end seconds before a sandbag falls from an under-construction part of the mansion.

He would call it fortune if he believed in such a thing.

By the end of the vacation, everyone is absolutely perplexed by his string of good luck. Jamil isn't unfamiliar with how dangerous his family's position in life is, and he's had his fair share of injuries as a result, but this time all he has to show for it is a slightly lesser sense of annoyance than usual.

It's only the end of the trip where he ponders (unfortunately aloud) about the string of coincidences, and the beads in his pocket.

Kalim goes on to babble about Jamil's "good luck charm" to anyone who will listen, much to his annoyance.

"Oh, I want one too! Can you ask them to make me one, too?" he says, folding his hands in a pleading motion. "It's so pretty!"

"It was a gift. But... I suppose I can ask..." he sighs, and then smiles to himself.

Of course you'll come up with some excuse to say no. Because, for once, this charm is all his.

[thisismyname43]

So I decided to do more research on Tsunderes...

As someone who really likes SMG3 (and is also an active SMG34 shipper) I wanted to see if SMG4 was onto something when calling SMG3 a Tsundere.

Immediately this reminded me of IGBP. You know at the end where everyone is standing next to the pit and SMG4 says, "Nah I'd do anything to not lose my friends". SMG3's reaction was EXACTLY this. "I'm not your friend, baka!". But instead of buying SMG4 lunch, SMG3 risked his life and safety for him, knowing full well he could die he still went to save SMG4 because he loves him. How would you risk your life to save someone elses and NOT love them? And even after all of that SMG3 still denies the implication that he even slightly likes SMG4 to "save face".

Okay guys the amount of times SMG3 has called SMG4 "baka" is insane. And remember, he only calls SMG4 that. SMG3 is constantly annoying SMG4, which causes problems in their relationship just like how the image says. This specifically reminds me of the episode "Christmas Wars" when SMG3 mocked SMG4 saying, "Aw are you a little mad I took all your friends?" trying to hit him where it hurts. SMG3 tries to make it seem like he hates SMG4 by saying these mean things to him even if he actually doesn't.

This right here is very SMG3 core. He is always talking about how much better he is than SMG4, going extreme lengths to try and prove it. (Personally I think this is to help him ignore his feelings of low self worth but that's not what we're talking about rn). SMG3 makes it seem like he firmly believes he is above SMG4 in every way even if evidence says otherwise. This causes him to put SMG4 down to make SMG3 feel better about himself. I also think in some cases SMG3 says these things to try and convince himself that he actually dislikes SMG4 (he doesn't).

THIS RIGHT HERE. This is EXACTLY how SMG3's character has progressed with SMG4. SMG3 hated SMG4 with a passion back a couple of years ago. Even trying to destroy him and his friends while taking over his channel. But after some time you'll see SMG3 getting less murderous and more chill when it comes to SMG4. It got to the point where now they're pretty damn casual with each other, frequently asking for favors and even hanging out. This is a huge change and improvement to SMG3's overall attitude and can be perfectly summarized in this image here.

So overall, what does this tell us?

Final thoughts:

SMG3 is definitely a Tsundere and SMG4 is 100% his love interest. The overwhelming amount of evidence is crazy, if SMG3 really is a Tsundere there is absolutely NO way SMG4 ISN'T his love interest.

My mind is not being changed 👍

[224bbaker]

An update and a thank you from 224B Baker Street!

Hello again, detectives!

While the crowdfund for season 2 of Fawx & Stallion technically wrapped up a few days ago, we thought it would be good to take a day or two to regroup, take a nap, and think of a few words to express our thanks. This being May 4th, the day in 1891 that Sherlock Holmes fell to his (alleged) death at Reichenbach Falls, it seemed strangely fitting to say a few words about the story of the detectives across the street and slightly to the left on the day Holmes ever so temporarily bowed out of his own story.

Last Monday, we crossed 100% of our goal. And on Thursday, we ended our campaign with 104% of our goal. We are beyond honored and completely grateful to everyone who donated, shared, sent along encouraging words, recommended, baked, drew, wrote, all of it, in support of us bringing more of this show into the world.

Everyone working to create this show has made art at some point that feels like it went out into the void--something they felt deeply, sacrificed for, put small, weird, jagged, still-beating parts of themselves into day after day, and then never knew if the thing those parts of themselves funneled into actually reached another human. Much less another human who saw themselves in it. We've been quite honest about the fact that our characters are very much an exploration of that feeling, of wanting to be seen, wanting the things we've done to be seen, to matter to someone.

We could write a million words, fifty seasons of audio drama, and never truly be able to put into words how grateful we are to you for reaching back to the art we create and telling it "I see this. I felt it. I love it. I want more."

Creating art is so hard. Most things are hard, but art is Hard, especially as the world and the algorithm and the AI and the Content creeps in and shuts off means of doing the personal, weird, silly, risky little things with any sort of official funding. It's why we funded season one ourselves, because we thought it was worth it. It means more than the world to know you thought so too.

And now, with all of that self-indulgence done: a practical update on NEXT STEPS!

MAY 2024:

We'll spend this next month prepping crowdfund rewards--writing thank you notes, getting extra supplies of stickers (they were VERY popular), etc! We expect those rewards to go out mid-Summer. The annotated Scandal in Bohemia will go out to our $30+ donors later this month via email. Also, if you pledged at $250 or up (THANK YOU again), we will be reaching out to secure details of your perks (start thinking of what mystery you'd like us to solve!). If you are expecting an email and do not receive one by the end of the month, please check your spam folder and if nothing is there, reach out to us via IGG!

We are also in the process or pre-production currently! This season will have a cast of roughly 22 voice actors, so we're taking the full month to get our recording plan. We'll also spend the month refining scripts, doing rehearsals, working with our composer on some original pieces (perhaps some violin) and giving our fantastic sound designer, Sarah, time to do the prep work she needs, and laying the groundwork for what is looking to be a very full summer of production! We look forward to updating you as the season progresses!

Again, thank you. Thank you. This second season is, aptly, a bit of an inverse of our first season. It's about the weight of expectation. How to operate in the world when you go from unknown to known. Invisible to spectacular. Alone to loved. It's also about a murder at a theme park but that's a bit less relevant to the emotional core of what I'm driving at here. But actually, fuck it, I guess it's still relevant, because we've always been excited about the weighty and the silly all the same.

So again, and not for the last time: #ForAmbrosius

-Lauren, Ian, and the whole Fawx & Stallion Team

[a-memory-a-distant-echo]

tagged by @howlingmoonrise, and rip to you, because tagging me and blair both means you get a lot of very samey answers.

last song: xs by rina sawayama

fave color: i am in many ways very bad at descriptive words, so i went and just fucked around until i found a hex code that has the right vibe, though i have to admit that it looks slightly less correct against a black background than it does against white.

last book: just finished daddy love by joyce carol oates so that i could pull it apart. (not worth it, imo; i feel that oates is often overrated, especially with regards to her longer and/or more recent work, and this is both. i don't think she accomplished what she set out to achieve with this one, if she did, in fact, set out to achieve anything, which i personally am not totally convinced of.)

last movie: the tennant/tate much ado about nothing, for the [mumbleth] time

last tv show: lmao still mysterious lotus casebook. both in terms of 'most recent show watched in full' and 'most recent single episode watched' (episode 34 about a week ago as fic reference).

sweet/savory/spicy: marry savoury, fuck spicy, and kill sweet.

relationship status: i think everyone who's followed me for more than a minute is aware that i conned @where-the-water-flows into marrying me. rip to them, but it's been pretty ok for me.

last thing i googled: 'plex various artist album shows random site:reddit.com', which is how you can tell that i'm old. i have spent more of my life than i care to consider preoccupied by the near-pathological need to have all of my metadata lined up neatly and the fact that it isn't working perfectly makes me want to gnaw off my own face.

current obsession: uh, same as it's been for the last like. year.

looking forward to: one of the nice things here is that much of the country lowkey shuts down for the last two weeks of the year—like, the doctor's office is closed, a bunch of stores are closed, one of my grocery stores is closed, and many of the places that aren't closed have limited hours. so blair's off work, and from right now, we have about two weeks in which not only is no one expected to do anything, but even if you wanted to defy expectations, your ability to do so is greatly curtailed.

so we have very big plans: there's an enormous quantity of charcuterie and fancy cheese in the fridge, some nice bread, and a ton of fruit—mangos and cherries and strawberries and peaches and nectarines and passionfruit and i don't even remember what else—and we're going to lounge around, watch television, absolutely gorge ourselves on fruit and cheese, have inappropriately timed naps, etc.

tagging: i hesitate to even slightly pressure anyone at an objectively terrible time of year, but i also like being tagged in things, so…tagging, carefully avoiding people who my wife has already tagged. no pressure: @failonade, @joyouslee, @nutcasewithaknife, @philologicalbat, @vgreysoncellars

[jonasgoonface]

Happy anniversary of Willem Van Spronsen's attack on the Tacoma ICE detention center. Here's a thing I drew a while back. Here's a manifesto that he wrote, it's v good. ------

What follows is the written manifesto of Willem Van Spronsen:

there's wrong and there's right. it's time to take action against the forces of evil. evil says one life is worth less than another. evil says the flow of commerce is our purpose here. evil says concentration camps for folks deemed lesser are necessary. the handmaid of evil says the concentration camps should be more humane. beware the centrist.

i have a father's broken heart i have a broken down body and i have an unshakable abhorrence of injustice. that is what brings me here. this is my clear opportunity to try to make a difference, i'd be an ingrate to be waiting for a more obvious invitation.

i follow three teachers: don pritts, my spiritual guide, "love without action is just a word." john brown, my moral guide, "what is needed is action!" emma goldman, my political guide, "if i can't dance, i don't want to be in your revolution."

i'm a head in the clouds dreamer, i believe in love and redemption. i believe we're going to win i'm joyfully revolutionary. (we all should have been reading emma goldman in school instead of the jingo drivel we were fed. but i digress.) (we should all be looking at the photos of the YJP heroes should we falter and think our dreams are impossible, but i double digress. fight me.)

in these days of fascist hooligans preying on vulnerable people on our streets, in the name of the state or supported and defended by the state,

in these days of highly profitable detention/concentration camps and a battle over the semantics, in these days of hopelessness, empty pursuit and endless yearning,

we are living in visible fascism ascendant. (i say visible, because those paying attention watched it survive and thrive under the protection of the state for decades [see howard zinn, "a people's history of the united states.") now it unabashedly follows its agenda with open and full cooperation from the government. from governments around the world.

fascism serves the needs of the state serves the needs of business and at your expense. who benefits? jeff bezos, warren buffet, elon musk, tim cook, bill gates, betsy de vos, george soros, and need i go on? let me say it again: rich guys, (who think you're not really all that good,) really dig government, (every government everywhere, including "communist" governments,) because they make rules that make rich guys richer.

simple. don't overthink it.

(are you patriots in the back paying attention?)

when i was a boy, in post war holland, later france, my head was filled with stories of the rise of fascism in the 30's. i promised myself that i would not be one of those who stands by as neighbors are torn from their homes and imprisoned for somehow being perceived as lesser. you don't have to burn the motherfucker down, but are you just going to stand by?

this is the test of our fundamental belief in real freedom and our responsibility to each other. this is a call to patriots, too, to stand against this travesty against everything that you hold sacred. i know you. i know that in your hearts, you see the dishonor in these camps. it's time for you, too, to stand up to the money pulling the strings of every goddamn puppet pretending to represent us.

i'm a man who loves you all and this spinning ball so much that i'm going to fulfill my childhood promise to myself to be noble.

here it is, in these corporate for profit concentration camps. here it is, in brown and non conforming folks afraid to show their faces for fear of the police/migra/proud boys/the boss/beckies... here it is, a planet almost used up by the market's greed.

i'm a black and white thinker. detention camps are an abomination. i'm not standing by. i really shouldn't have to say any more than this.

i set aside my broken heart and i heal the only way i know how- by being useful. i efficiently compartmentalize my pain... and i joyfully go about this work. (to those burdened with the wreckage from my actions, i hope that you will make the best use of that burden.)

to my comrades:

i regret that i will miss the rest of the revolution. thank you for the honor of having me in your midst.

giving me space to be useful, to feel that i was fulfilling my ideals, has been the spiritual pinnacle of my life.

doing what i can to help defend my precious and wondrous people is an experience too rich to describe.

my trans comrades have transformed me, solidifying my conviction that we will be guided to a dreamed of future by those most marginalized among us today. i have dreamed it so clearly that i have no regret for not seeing how it turns out. thank you for bringing me so far along.

i am antifa, i stand with comrades around the world who act from the love of life in every permutation. comrades who understand that freedom means real freedom for all and a life worth living.

keep the faith! all power to the people! bella ciao

don't let your silly government agencies spend money "investigating" this one. i was radicalized in civics class at 13 when we were taught about the electoral college. it was at that point that i decided that the status quo might be a house of cards. further reading confirmed in the positive. i highly recommend reading! i am not affiliated with any organization, i have disaffiliated from any organizations who disagree with my choice of tactics. the semi automatic weapon i used was a cheap, home built unregistered "ghost" ar15, had six magazines. i strongly encourage comrades and incoming comrades to arm themselves. we are now responsible for defending people from the predatory state. ignore the laws of arming yourself if you have the luxury, i did.

[tenshi-agerasia]

ensemble stars characters as things i experienced on a cruise to mexico

i'm waiting for a flight that i'm ten hours early for so here's some rare 鬼畜 text content . incorrect quotes and imagined scenarios, long post under the cut

starting off with some incorrect quotes

rei: can you walk?

eichi: i think so, i'm much more energetic nowadays-

rei: no you're not. shiratori-kun, get him a wheelchair, we're skipping all the lines at the airport‎‎

‎-

eichi, getting physically patted down by tsa in a small dark room because his wheelchair couldn't go through the full-body scanner and it was too much physical effort to stand up: this is all sakuma-kun's fault

-

aira: tenshouin-senpai! you almost left your louis vuitton designer scarf at the security checkpoint! what if someone had stolen it?!

eichi: thank you, shiratori-kun! but it's fake

-

akatsuki in the elevator with a group of strangers

stranger, in a thick southern accent: so what're y'all up to t'night?

silence

souma stares straight ahead. he thinks the stranger isn't talking to them.

stranger, feeling slightly awkward: so, y'all stayin' in your room?

kuro: um... yeah

-

afterwards

keito: how did he know that our room doesn't have a window

kuro: ???

keito: ??? he said something about our stateroom not having a window like his

kuro: you mean when he asked if we were staying in our room?

-

hokuto: how much money have you spent at the arcade

makoto: uhhhh... i don't know, i'm not good at math

mao: how much did each of the figurine blind bags cost you

makoto: four plays is $4.50 and i get an average of 87 tickets at the piano game. the gachapon is 750 tickets each, and 750 / 87 = around 8.62 plays, and 8.62 x 4.50 / 4 = $9.6975

-

wataru: iiiiiit's..... showtiiiiiime....

yuta: can we leave

hinata: the waiters are dancing now, we can't just leave

one minute later

yuta: can we leave

hinata: i'd love to see you try to leave in this situation

three minutes later

yuta: can we leave

hinata: QUICK THEY STOPPED MAKE A RUN FOR IT

-

jun: i don't like my new haircut

jin, shaking his head knowingly: yeah you shouldn't have cut it on a cruise

jun: i lied. i love my new haircut it means the world to me

-

jun, still struggling to come to terms with his new haircut: now i kind of look like the scaramouche guy from genshin

hiyori: i was thinking more like edna from the incredibles

some people that i encountered!

kaoru as the guy that (successfully) invited one of the waitresses to dance

yuzuru as the sweet lady who asked me how to swipe her room card for the arcade because her son (tori) wanted to play a game

ritsu as my mom who spent most of the time sleeping

rinne as the tour guide that would add "rawr" to the end of his jokes

tsumugi as the poor woman who got stuck in a hammock and had to ask me for help

yuta as my brother who i forced to go on a rusty cable sliding thing you could only hold on to by hand, only for it to get stuck before it reached the middle

hinata as me who dragged the rope attached to the handle and tried to run (on sand) to pull yuta/my brother on the cable slide, only for him to fall (on sand)

rei as the people who watched and laughed

yuzuru as me playing the discord golf game with my friends on vc, only to get screwed over by the lag from cruise wifi

anzu as my friends who were still at home and took this chance to win by miles

makoto as my brother and i when we made one of the arcade machines run out of tickets to dispense three times

makoto as my brother who dominated the entire leaderboard of a piano game with his high scores

tomoya as my mom who was upset that she didn't get to see any flamingos up close

mao as the guest services guy who kept getting interrupted by phone calls that lasted less than 50 seconds

tsumugi as the worker who asked me "do you speak mandarin or chinese?"

adonis as my dad who would only eat meat because "it's more worth it that way"

hiyori as the hair stylist that gave me the scaramouche/edna haircut and kept calling me "madame" and insisted that i trust his vision (he was a lovely guy, i just wanted it more short :()

anzu as my aunts that were constantly trying to video call my mom on wechat, only for the call to disconnect because cruise wifi sucks

mayoi as the dinner waiter that jumpscared my mom on the lunch buffet line

midori as the buffet worker who kept sorting the lettuce leaves by size and color

rinne as the guy at the casino who told a worker he wanted to "have a gambling addiction responsibly"

tori and tsukasa as the little girls who tried to convince their mom to let them eat only cake for lunch

kaoru as the white guy who tried to engage in a conversation with me in the elevator but only made the situation more awkward

souma as the guy who got into an argument with someone (kaoru) over whether the fish he ate was bass or salmon (it was salmon with some bass)

shinobu as the boy who ran up and down the stairs yelling that he was looking for ducks (?)

wataru as the russian lady in charge of the dining room who would loudly whisper "iiiiiit's...... showtiiiiiiime" into a microphone every evening

tomoya as the waiter with a tired, dead inside expression who still had to dance for the russian lady's "showtime"

adonis as the guy that woke up at six in the morning to run laps around the deck for some unknown reason

wataru as the guy who posed for a picture like he was pinching the setting sun

hokuto as the guy taking the picture, but from an angle that made wataru look like he was pinching nothing and standing there stupidly

promo time ~ preorders for the niki's cookbook fanzine are open until march 12! i made some recipes for it, go check it out :)

[edennill]

ok, but how much did the numenoreans know about the fate of men? because...

the thing is, when you share Tolkien's Faith, the way it's always presented as such a huge mystery is almost funny. because you can so, so easily guess -- well, not even guess, you just know what he meant; it has to be the same as ours, whereas in-world it's always "well, mandos knows, and maybe manwë". kudos for being aware of something most of the valar aren't, then.

but how much do the numenoreans know or guess? they say "we must die and go we know not whither" and I used to pity them a bit for that uncertainty -- which, of course, would not excuse anything, but might be disquieting, especially when you're placed next to the immortal elves. we seem to be pointed towards the edain of the first age having no beliefs they were certain about in regards to this, going only on hope -- one of the closest things we get is when hurin has his moment of defiance to morgoth: "well, you cannot keep on tormenting us after we die! then we're out of your reach", but interestingly, as far as what concerns us here, he replies to an accusation that he's just repeating what the elves taught him (which is not a valid counterargument, but never mind), saying that no, it just came to him in that very moment. in general, we get the idea that they know very little, though some of them vaguely hope for something good (and I do wonder whether news of Beren shook things up at all, even if he did not, after all, meet the full fate of men that first time, just waited in the hallway).

so far, so good, if a bit bleak, but then we get to The Mariner's Wife, and Meneldur's dramatic monologue:

'May Eru call me before such a time comes!' he cried aloud.

and

'I am in too great doubt to rule. To prepare or to let be? To prepare for war, which is yet only guessed: train craftsmen and tillers in the midst of peace for bloodspilling and battle: put iron in the hands of greedy captains who will love only conquest, and count the slain as their glory? Will they say to Eru: At least your enemies were amongst them? Or to fold hands, while friends die unjustly: let men live in blind peace, until the ravisher is at the gate? What then will they do: match naked hands against iron and die in vain, or flee leaving the cries of women behind them? Will they say to Eru: At least I spilled no blood?

and you could read it differently; to be honest the polish translation gives less room for doubt, which may colour my interpretation, but it does seem that he knows, or guesses with seeming certitude, and that is such a different attitude from everything else I've mentioned.

what have I to say to this? nothing except that beliefs may have grown or changed. I am very far from an expert on this, but, within ancient Israel which might be the closest analogue, and was even mentioned in connection to Númenor by Tolkien, beliefs regarding the afterlife seem to have indeed evolved with time; compare, say, the Psalms with (2nd) Maccabees (*the latter is in the Catholic Bible, but not in the Protestant ones, if you're puzzled) or Wisdom?

yes, it's not much of a conclusion, l admit, but there isn't really anything else I might say, unless it were to add that third age gondor seems to be somewhere in between, with a vague and hopeful sense of something, aragorn's "and beyond [the circles of the world] there is more than memory" and faramir's "till that time, or till some other time, beyond the reach of the seeing stones of númenor" (italics mine) being the relevant quotes. (the rather dramatic, if you think about it, context for the latter, being that faramir is probably well aware neither he nor frodo are that likely to see the next month. also worth noting that the italicised phrase is in text paired with the image of an alternatively possible - though "beyond hope" - meeting where they could "laugh at old grief, in the sun")

(the rohirrim seem to have their own beliefs, but they also seem to come with their own traditions, which, while not on the most part incompatible, may at times have been different. on the other hand, what we have is not much less vague either, just cloaked in different terms, so there isn't much evidence either way.)

[20dollarlolita]

Picking quilt prints to use in lolita fashion

You're going to find different opinions on if you can use quilt fabric for handmade lolita fashion. Some say that it's fine, and some say it'll never work. The actual answer is really simple: you can definitely absolutely sometimes in some applications use some quilt prints, maybe.

Aren't we glad we've cleared things up?

One of the difficult things about using quilting fabrics in lolita fashion is that prints that read really well in a quilt do not always read very well in a garment. Quilts are made up of small squares of fabric, usually somewhere between 12" (30cm) and 2" (5cm) on a side. This means that a lot of quilt prints are meant to have the majority of the print contained within that small space.

Garments, on the other hand, especially lolita skirts, have very large amounts of fabric in them. I cut a lot of skirts at about 88", or twice the full width of the fabric. When some patterns repeat every 7" or so, it starts looking boring or muddy when it's gathered up into a big lolita skirt.

Quilts also are generally viewed from up close. The backing of a quilt is a large expanse of fabric. However, it's also usually only viewed from a couple of feet away, the distance between a person and their bed or their lap. If someone is viewing my skirt at the same distance that they're viewing a quilt, they are much too close to me.

This is about prints, but I'm going to include a couple of fast tips about quilt fabric. 1) If you're making a garment with quilt fabric, lining is not optional, even in skirts. 2) If at all possible, when you're still learning how to spot good lolita quilt prints, go to a physical store. Ideally, see if you can go to a quilt store with a lot of prints and a lot of collections. Just like how we need certain scales of print for our garments, quilters need different scales of prints for different applications in the quilt. Quilt collections have coordinated fabrics with several different scales, so if you find a fabric that you love and that just plain won't work, you have other options of related fabrics. For what it's worth, most quilt stores can get you higher quality prints for less than you pay for them at Green Craft Store and other similar fabric places. Your local quilt store can't necessarily match Green Store's $5/yard thingies but they'll have pieces comparable to Green Store's $18.99 prints, but for $12.99. If you find the perfect

So, let's break into the main thing about working with quilt prints for lolita fashion: how well does any given fabric look when a large chunk of it is viewed at a distance. Shopping in a physical store is great for this, because you can see the scale close up.

We're going to talk about motif prints (prints with things on them, like animals or food or plants) instead of geometric things like polka-dots or stripes. There's plenty of existing images for how to work those things into a dress, so I'm going to jump in to the more complex element of picking detailed prints.

If a fabric can work largely depends on four components: how large the motif is, how far away the motifs are from each other, how the motifs are laid out on the fabric, and color palette/contrast.

This print, while cute, is something that I won't use. It does fine in one of the categories, and not fine in three of them.

Motif size in this case is how big the dresses on the print are. Here, you can compare them to my thumb. What size of motif you have is going to depend on your garment. A headbow, which is much smaller than a skirt, might need a small motif, so that you can see all of it in the finished piece. A skirt can use a much bigger motif, since it's a very large space, and the whole motif will be visible. These dress motifs on that pattern are large enough to show on a skirt, but small enough to be visible on a bodice. This is a motif of a usable size.

Motif spacing is the one that's going to kill most print spaces. Let's look at how much space there is between the dresses. There's pretty much none. There's a few filler patterns in between, which clutter up the space a little bit. However, look at just the dresses in the print. While this condensed space works really well in a quilt block, they don't have any breathing room.

On a lolita print, we often have more space between the motifs than we have motif. This is very hard to find in a quilt print, but remember that it's the look we're going for. Another element of motif spacing is how much fabric you go through before the motif repeats. If we use the dress with the yellow bodice as our reference point, we can see that it repeats twice in the 22" of fabric that we can see. This isn't too close together, but keep in mind that a fabric that repeats the print every 10" is going to have the same print motif a lot when it's on a skirt.

Motif alignment is just taking into account that garments are inherently directional. Your dress has a distinct top and bottom. You can't put on your socks upside-down or wear your blouse with the collar around your waist. Because clothes have a top and a bottom, prints that are intended to be viewed from any angle often look like part of them is upside-down when you use them in a garment. If we make a dress out of this dress fabric, half the dresses will be flipped.

Color palette is how many different colors there are in the fabric, as well as how close they are to each other on the color wheel, how much contrast there is between the lightest and darkest shades of each color, and the colors in general. For this print, we have a lot of colors: teal, yellow, pink, white, and a little bit of green and brown.

When we plot those colors on a color wheel, we see that the colors aren't particularly close. We have two of the most dominant colors being directly opposite on the color wheel. While it's totally okay to have complementary colors in your print, when both of them are dominant colors, the print can start to read as muddy when you look at it from far away. You don't need to plot every print on the color wheel, but it's a good way to show where the colors fit.

So, let's just look at a bunch of fabrics, and how I feel they do and don't work for lolita fashion. Some of this is just kind of my opinion. Some of these would look okay with good styling, and some wouldn't look okay unless there's good styling. But let's jump in.

Here's some small prints with geometric repeats. I like the teal one for lolita. Even though you can't really see the details from a distance, you can see the geometric stripe pattern. When you get a little closer, you can see the pattern, and the motif there is a nice lolita-applicable concept. I grabbed the one on the right because I thought it reminded me of a skirt by The Black Ribbon, but when I looked it up, it didn't look at all like that. That said, it still looks okay from a distance. The color reads as green, and isn't muddy or ugly. You get a little bit of geometric texture from a distance, and you can see the motif when you're a little closer.

Here's some that don't work. While the cupcakes and the teapots are both nice ideas, and we love cupcakes and teapots in lolita prints, they're not in a good presentation here. The teapot fabric has the teapots so close together that you can't actually tell what they are from a distance. The cupcakes are also very tightly packed together, making it hard to tell what the image is. Look at the cupcakes with the light brown swirl on the top, and look at how many times you can see it in this one image. The fruit is another example of the repeat being too close together, as well as having a bad color palette. You can see how many times the red fruit repeats, as well as how the red and green right next to each other doesn't read well from a distance.

Not sure why I stuck these four in the same collage, but let's go. Up top, we have some fabrics that don't work due to color palette and texture. Some of these are actual rainbows, and the way they're arranged gives them the feeling of movement. When this is on a garment, it starts making your eyes tired. In lolita fashion, we don't want people to be exhausted just looking at us. The gray one would just read as kind of messy and dirty, since the print is a more grunge print. The ones on the shelf also have the same problem of either having too many colors that are too far apart on the color wheel, or having really irregular patterns that would read as dirty or messy.

This coffee one is something that I really want to work, but the print spacing kills it. On the left, we can see that the standing coffee lady three times in a single 11" square. Also, between every large motif is a lot of filler text. Sadly, this just reads as a mess from a distance. This would be a lot more usable if we could delete all the "it's coffee time!" text. As far as fabrics go, it's not the worst on this list, but it's not ideal.

The blue fabric at top left is a good choice! You can see how much space is between each flower. It's a nice, empty space, and it reads well when you gather the top up. I'd wish that it'd have more detail in the print, so the flowers could look better up close, but I went through so much fabric here and it was nice to find one that felt good.

Top right, we have two small motif fabrics, with very different spacing. When you look at both of them from a distance (bottom right), you can see how the one on the black background reads more yellow than black, and the one on the white background reads as dots on a white background. This is just something to keep in mind when you're looking at motifs.

On the bottom left, we have two prints that have some color palette issues. The green one has some lovely leaves that could work in some more classical applications, but it doesn't look good from a distance. All of the green shades are very close together, without a really dark shade to make the shapes distinct from a distance. The butterfly one also doesn't have enough dark colors to look good from a distance.

Here's a nice example of why shopping at places that have collections is a nice idea. This line has an all-over pattern with bird's nests, and a border fabric with a much larger print. If we stacked these two, we'd have a nice print on our hem, without the large print being too big for a bodice. The bird nest fabric has a more wide print spacing than some other prints. While I wouldn't use it as a standalone fabric, it works well when paired with the print. The extra-large scale of the border fabric helps the all-over fabric look more spaced out.

These terrifying baby animals with too long of eyelashes would feel like it wouldn't do too well as a dress. The print is nice for a skirt, but kind of big for a bodice. There's a lot of colors here: orange, gray, green, yellow, pink.

However, there ARE dresses that use horizontal stripes all over, which have mostly this color scheme. The pop of green is unusual, but not unheard of. This is one of those ones that is going to need some really careful styling. This is also why it pays off to window shop and make lists of things you do and don't like in lolita fashion.

This one is pretty damn adorable, and it's got a wider spacing than most prints, but you would have to figure out how to come to terms with the fact that no matter how you cut it, some teacups will be upside-down.

If you can find some border prints, definitely consider them! Most premade lolita print dresses and skirts are made of a border print fabric. This geometric metallic print isn't an ideal example of a border print for lolita fashion, but it does demonstrate the different ways that motif spacing can work. If you look at the very center of the fabric, you'll see that the little motifs have a huge amount of space between them. This is more the spacing that we want for many of our pieces. At the bottom, they're all packed together, and in the middle, they're spaced out like most quilt prints are. It's okay to have a lot of detail on the hem of your skirt. The petticoat holds the print out and makes it more visible. If the print is just at the hem, it doesn't overwhelm the whole piece, even if is much closer spaced than you'd want in the area around your waist.

So, let's get some basic guidelines for buying quilt prints for lolita fashion:

a) How much of the background color of the fabric can you see? To make sure you're getting good spacing, you want to see a lot of background.

b) How many times does a part of a print show up in a 10" square? Is there a big, notable piece that shows up multiple times in your sample space? Watch out.

c) Can you determine what's right-side-up and what's upside-down on this fabric? If there's highly directional motifs, you don't want your garment to always look like it's on wrong.

d) how much does this look like fabric used in extant lolita pieces? If you get this fabric, are there references available for how to style it? It never hurts to have some references for what you're trying to make!

And now, a quick reminder about buying fabric: quilt fabric shrink, maybe a lot. It often comes with a sizing on it, which makes it easier to quilt with, but harder to determine what the fabric will really look like. Having worked in Green Store for almost five years, I can assure you that I've never personally seen their quilt fabric shrink more than 10" in width when it was first washed. I'll leave a significant pause after that statement and let you fill in some blanks. Some cheaper quilt fabric will shrink a whole lot, or lose pigment, or really change feel when you wash them. Some expensive fabrics will do the same. I really recommend doing a prewash with liquid fabric softener on the first wash. I know a lot of people hate fabric softener, but you only need to do it once per project. If you don't mind smelling like pickles and reducing the longevity of your garment, you can use white vinegar instead of fabric softener. Just get that sizing out and pre-shrink your fabric so that you know what you're working with.

As a final note: the more you actually transform some fabric into a garment, the more you're going to learn about how to do it. We all have things we look back on and wish we changed. Don't let your fear of it being imperfect stop you from making the thing you want to make. It will be imperfect. It will always be imperfect. Everything is imperfect. We learn when we make decisions that weren't ideal. You will learn when you try.

Some old posts from this blog that are related: Print Scale from 2018, and A Quick Guide to Prints from 2015 (Which, yes, was actually photographed with a potato. I believe that camera was 2.1 megapixels).

[greyfics]

fifties/sixties song lyric prompts

because I've drafted so many quotes from songs that I want to use as inspiration for fic writing whilst listening to my throwback playlist and whether you're on this little site for role-playing, fanfics or general writing inspiration I'm sure this'll be of use ! will be doing another one with lines from songs I have specifically discovered via the fallout tv series soundtrack I was going to add them here but realised I already did uh a fair few by that point to say the least haha

you don't have to use these as quotes ( personally I like to use prompts sometimes as the titles for the writing it inspires, even if I don't use the prompt at all in the end ), so do what you want with them :)

- °•. ✦ .•° -

"You're alone now, no love of your own- but darlin', reach out." "Nobody's right if everybody's wrong." "You keep losin' when you ought to not bet." "You told me lies, now it's your turn to cry." "That's the kind of girl I'd like to meet." "You, to me, are sweet as roses in the morning." "The concrete and the clay beneath my feet begins to crumble- but love will never die." "We'll see the mountains tumble before we say goodbye." "The shadows fall, and once again you're in my arms." "Everytime I see your face, I get all choked up inside." "Hope you are quite prepared to die." "I thought love was only true in fairy-tales- meant for someone else, but not for me." "I thought love was more or less a given thing- seems the more I gave, the less I got." "I betcha five dollars he'll kill you dead." "Is her sweet expression worth more than my love and affection?" "He's taken everythin' I got." "I wonder, what went wrong with our love?" "I wonder, where she will stay- my little runaway." "Your mind is so full of red." "Your eyes may look like his- but in your head, baby, I'm afraid you don't know where it is." "Wouldn't you love somebody to love?" "I go through life, without a care." "Now that I've surrendered, so helplessly- you now want to leave." "Now that you've got me, you wanna leave me behind." "I know something about love: you've gotta want it bad." "Why should true love be so complicated?" "I want to be with you all of the time." "The only time I feel alright is by your side." "I don't believe you, you're not the truth." "Are you lonely, just like me?" "When I found you, the moon stood still." "All of those vows you made, were never to be." "Though we're apart, you're part of me still." "If we go some place to dance, I know that there's a chance you won't be leaving with me." "I can see it in your eyes that you despise the same old lies you heard the night before." "Though it's just a line for you, for me it's true." "Bluer than velvet were her eyes; warmer than may her tender sighs." "Ours a love I held tightly, feeling the rapture grow." "Like a flame burning brightly- when she left, gone was the glow." "And I still can see blue velvet through my tears." "Darlin', save the last dance for me." "I will never, never let you go." "Carry on, 'til the night is gone and it's time to go." "Ain't that a shame? You're the one to blame." "Say you belong to me and ease my mind." "A wave out on the ocean could never move that way." "I love every movement- there's nothing I would change." "Will you still love me tomorrow?" "I only know I never wanna let you go." "Ever since we met you've had a hold on me." "I never knew that I could be in love like this." "I didn't stand a chance." "No one here gets out alive, now." "You get yours baby, I'll get mine." "They got the guns. but we got the numbers." "We're takin' over." "I'll make you so proud of me." "We'll make 'em turn their heads, every place we go." "Since the day I saw you, I have been waiting for you." "You know I will adore you, 'til eternity." "You're a real mean guy." "I know that you're the one to blame." "You mixed me up for good right from the very start." "I don't feature what you're putting down." "Since I kissed his loving lips of wine, the thing that bothers me is that I like it fine." "Might as well confess, if the answer's yes." "Though it really hurts me, there's something that I've gotta say." "You stretched my love, till it was thin enough to tear." "I'm just a somebody nobody wants." "I don't want to set the world on fire, honey- I love you too much." "If your love is gone, how can I face the dawn?" "Maybe you'll ask me to come back again- and, maybe, I'll say maybe." "It hurts me to tell 'em that you're gone."

- °•. ✦ .•° -

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Soooo...chapter 75 of ACOWAR pinged my editor brain's bra strap. I have a passage to share and then we're gonna talk about why word choice matters.

Before I start ragging on the writing, can we just all acknowledge how adorable it is that Cassian is over here like, "hell yeah babe, you get your revenge on that asshole. Your knife technique is beautiful"? This man is literally dying on the ground but he's still enamored and I just love that for Nessian.

That said...WORD CHOICE MATTERS and the use of "twist" in this passage is a) another of MANY examples of SJM going "this word has a specific contextual meaning but I'm going to use it here regardless and neither explain nor meaningfully recontextualize" and b) unnecessarily wordy to avoid the confusion that even SJM seems to have recognized would be a problem from the first thing!!!

The phrase "twist the knife" is both a literal description and a common English idiom, and the literal and figurative meanings of the two often go hand in hand. When someone says "twist" in relation to a bladed weapon, they pretty much always mean that the blade rotates in a more or less circular fashion to take a slit wound to a gaping one. You ask 100 people what it means to twist a knife and 99 of them are going to give you a very specific wrist motion. This is COMMON KNOWLEDGE. This is one of those things that English speakers familiar with English idioms are going to understand in a very specific way.

Which is why that first use of "twist" by SJM is absolutely bananas. Nesta isn't idiomatically twisting the knife, as the next sentence makes abundantly clear. She is hauling it basically laterally to decapitate the man. Imagine a pirate on the big lateral wheel that pulls up the anchor chain, that's closer to the motion Nesta is making than "twist" implies. She's hauling on that thing like handle, she's ROTATING, not twisting.

And SJM clearly knows that her use of twist is wonky, because she uses her next sentence to clarify the direction of rotation. But let me tell you, the comedy double take my brain had to do with those two sentences was NOT funny. Your reader shouldn't have an immediate clear image in their heads about what a character is doing and have it IMMEDIATELY contradicted in the next sentence. That is unnecessarily confusing for readers and its poor writing.

And then SJM doubles the fuck down on using "twist" with "twisted and twisted the blade into the king's neck" and I'm just over here like...yeah ok sure, "twist" isn't factually wrong in this context, BUT THE DISSONANCE WITH THE CONNOTATIONS IS JUST GETTING WORSE. She could have used "yanked," "rotated," "levered," or "hauled" and any one of them would have given me less connotative dissonance than "twisted."

Because here's the thing: Nesta is TAKING HIS GODDAMN HEAD OFF. She is decapitating the King of Hybern. She is separating his head from his shoulders. Unless we are talking about Twilight and Alice literally twisting a bad vamp's head off like a bottle cap, TWISTING IS GENERALLY NOT INVOLVED IN DECAPITATION.

The word choice in this section was objectively confusing and any editor worth their salt would have looked at those sentences and gone "This might confuse readers given the ubiquity of 'twist the knife' as a saying and a literal act. Maybe consider a different word?" But somehow this thing went to print with this key scene full of weird, contradictory, and connotatively inappropriate word choice. Nesta twisted her knife and decapitated the King of Hybern. Tell me that sentence didn't just make you go "huh...?"

Words MATTER. Idioms MATTER. Connotations MATTER. This needed editorial attention that it didn't get, and frankly I hate it.

[clonewarsarchives]

Matt Lanter & James Arnold Taylor at Star Wars Celebration 2023 Day 2

livestream timestamp: 02:54:50-03:07:10

What is a quote from the show that's less quotable but more haunting, because it was difficult to get out in the moment?

ML: Well, it's not difficult to get out necessarily, but Anakin says something like, and it may not be verbatim, but something like "I realize, more than you know, I realize what it's like, wanting to leave the Order." [note: "I understand, more than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order." final words to Ahsoka in 5.20 The Wrong Jedi] and that says so much to me. It's something that we never really see Anakin kind of voiced that, he's sort of handcuffed, he felt chained, and he sort of voiced that to Ahsoka. It was such an intimate moment, I love that moment.

JAT: [Obi-wan voice] "It takes strength to resist the Dark Side. Only the weak embrace it." [5.16 The Lawless] That episode was haunting for me. We would get the scripts when we walked into the room. I did not know - spoiler alert! I think at Star Wars Celebration it's okay to say - In Season 5, Satine, I did not know what was gonna happen. So... when Obi-wan says "Satine..." under his breath, those are little ad-libs, those are moments that would just happen because it was heart-wrenching to be there and to be a part of that. Those moments are haunting, because I also think Obi-wan is a true believer. He wanted to see if he could save Darth Maul. He really believed there was a chance, with Ventress or with any of these people that he could maybe, save them. Or any of these people [points to Matt] "You were my brother!"

ML: "I hate you!"

JAT:  "Get over it." [laughs]

full recap:

How have years of experience working with both George Lucas & Dave Filoni changed your perspective on Star Wars?

ML: every time we go in recording, Dave would sit there and talk half an hour at least. It's amazing we got work done. He would sit there and talk about Star Wars, where the character were, and share storytelling which he learnt from George. It's a pretty cool moment

JAT: It was those moments where we were recording an episode, and he's through the glass and he's on the phone, and then he hangs up the phone, he says, "OK George just said..." and I'm like "Wait a second, George George?" "Yes." It was so great to watch that, see what he's taken from the Master and made so wonderfully now with everything he's doing.

ML: I feel like I've learnt a lot about character, from Dave.

JAT: and Sketch! He's a great artist. Dave would sketch characters as we're going, so he would draw little Ahsokas for Ashley and things and give them to her. Now she's gotta hold on to them, they're worth a fortune for now I'm sure.

Fave moment making TCW?

ML: some of my fave are moments like this! we're all on stage, we're celebrating TCW and Star Wars in general, travelling with these guys, be up at the ranch. Truthfully, seeing the joy it brings on people's faces, people come up to us and just talk about - "it was my childhood" or some traumatic event but TCW got them through. Those are the little meaningful things that you don't forget. So along with enjoying it, it brings people thorugh tough times. Those are the really, really cool things to hear.

JAT: I would wholeheartedly agree with what Matt says. It's a life-changing experience to be a part of it. I saw Star Wars- I'm the old man in the room now- I saw Star Wars when I was 7yo in a driving movie theater and it changed my life, never thought one day I get to be old Obi-wan. Now I think I'm one of the only peole, if not the only person here, that was actually in the first Clone Wars. So you see those 20 years, Clone Wars 20 [logos], that's because the micro series of Clone Wars, and I was Obi-wan in that, and that was the first time I got to play Obi-wan.

What are you most proud of as your part of the legacy for these characters, that are just larger than life in the Star Wars galaxy?

ML: I think that in TCW, we got to see Anakin a little different than we did in the films. George and Dave wanted to take the Clone Wars time to sort of expand the character of Anakin and make him a hero that we really really loved, so when he falls, and becomes Darth Vader, I feel like it's that much more sad. It's so much more tragic because you rooted for this guy, you cared for him and it also adds more to his story as to why he turned: the loss of Ahsoka, which is something we didn't know about. All of that, it's been such a joy to just add to that character, making him so much more rich than he already was.

JAT: Yeah, I totally agreed. Hayden and Matt complemented so much on this character of Anakin Skywalker and they bring so much to it. I'm honoured to work with this guy on a regular basis, he's an amazing actor, a wonderful friend. We live near each other, he actually lives on a hill now, just so he can say "I have the high ground! [Matt echoes]" It's not fair!

ML: It's true, "I have the high ground."

JAT: And I would say for me, bringing the sass to Obi-wan Kenobi has been the funnest. Yes, I love that too.

What is a quote from the show that's less quotable but more haunting, because it was difficult to get out in the moment?

ML: Well, it's not difficult to get out necessarily, but Anakin says something like, and it may not be verbatim, but something like "I realize, more than you know, I realize what it's like, wanting to leave the Order." [note: "I understand, more than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order." final words to Ahsoka in 5.20 The Wrong Jedi] and that says so much to me. It's something that we never really see Anakin kind of voiced that, he's sort of handcuffed, he felt chained, and he sort of voiced that to Ahsoka. It was such an intimate moment, I love that moment.

JAT: [Obi-wan voice] "It takes strength to resist the Dark Side. Only the weak embrace it." [5.16 The Lawless] That episode was haunting for me. We would get the scripts when we walked into the room. I did not know - spoiler alert! I think at Star Wars Celebration it's okay to say - In Season 5, Satine, I did not know what was gonna happen. So... when Obi-wan says "Satine..." under his breath, those are little ad-libs, those are moments that would just happen because it was heart-wrenching to be there and to be a part of that. Those moments are haunting, because I also think Obi-wan is a true believer. He wanted to see if he could save Darth Maul. He really believed there was a chance, with Ventress or with any of these people that he could maybe, save them. Or any of these people [points to Matt] "You were my brother!"

ML: "I hate you!"

JAT:  "Get over it." [laughs]

Anything you want to say to people who has been with TCW/these stories/your characters from the start?

JAT: Thank you all. You all saved Clone Wars. All of you. [stands up] [ML: Yeah, absolutely.] You all saved Clone Wars. We love you. We truly love you and thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

ML: You guys embrace The Clone Wars, and now we've got 7 spectacular seasons of Star Wars content that just adds to the saga, and makes it so much more rich. To be a part of that and feel the love from you guys, the warmth, it's pretty amazing. It's great to celebrate TCW on its anniversary and Star Wars in general. It's amazing to be here.

[host reminiscing SDCC 10th anniversary panel]

JAT: We never thought that it would come back, truly. None of us did. So it was truly fantastic to see that panel. The explosion from everybody there was fantastic.

How emotional was it for you to come back and step into those roles again?

ML: For me, people ask me this all the time, "What was it like to come back?", but I feel like I never really put Anakin down. We were always doing video games, special little projects here and there. And also honestly, Anakin is a part of me. We've been doing now for 15... 17...

JAT: 17 years, because we started 2 years prior to it coming out.

ML: So I mean, I had a Star Wars wedding. Shoutout to my wife, if you're watching back in the States. It's a part of me now, and it's always has been, so I never really let it go. But it was great to come back and be in the booth with these guys, for sure.

JAT: We were in the same studio that we recorded originally, so it was very magical. I remember the last time we did was Ashley and myself, and Dee, and Matt. And Dave goes, "We got it the first time, let's just do it again because it's fun to watch you guys," so we did it like 2 or 3 more times, and that was the energy of it. 'Cause we're really just a family. We truly are a family and we just love being a part of it all.

[hamliet]

The Wild Robot. Yes the animals all agree not the eat each other, which I have questions about.

The movie The Wild Robot is about that protecting a child in an unconventional family unit who doesn't conform to expectations is the most important thing in the world. I think that's a really important thing for kids to hear right now, particularly like in the current climate, particularly when kids are facing a world where they're told that their desires or their identities or their families or their point of origin renders them less than human or unworthy of existence. And they're surrounded by people who are arguing that they should not exist, that they do not deserve to either be here or even to be alive. I understand peace and love and understanding, like, parenting vibe of wanting to teach your kids that is important for people who have different beliefs and different values to be able to talk to one another. You know, we need to be able to have civil conversations around things like tax policy or health care or, you know, all the deficit, all this sort of stuff, right? But also, it's wild to have this movie argue that you should, like, sit down and break bread with people who believe that you are inherently lesser than them and that you should not exist and that they should be allowed to do whatever they want. I don't know, maybe I'm being too cynical here. Maybe the last eight years or so have been too rough on my faith in humanity.

Ahhh. I haven't seen it. Honestly, the thing about this sort of thing is that almost any message can come across as preachy and... unempathetic when not framed well or handled well, and my guess is that something went wrong with the writing in this.

Also of note: sometimes it's better to frame a story as an individual one that can inspire, but not as a ubiquitous moral sermon that we're supposed to apply to our lives. I don't know whether that's what this film does, but that's my thought on it, from someone who has not seen it and could be completely off base.

I'll also state that nothing occurs in a vacuum, and the state of the world right now is bloody scary and this sort of thing can make us bristle. I think it's worth examining ourselves, yes, challenging ourselves to live up to our ideals... and also have compassion on ourselves for our own limits and boundaries. You're not wrong if you can't eat with them. You're not.

I love people who are supporters of evil men. You know the ones. I will never not love these people. But at the same time, I don't know how to still love them, what that looks like in practicality. For me it is not so simple as to just sit and eat with them and to say what they've done doesn't matter. It does matter. They're hurting me and my loved ones.

And until people you eat with value you as a person, well--you can still value them as a person, and I'd think you should, but I also think you should protect yourself and have compassion on yourself, especially when they won't have it on you.

Anyways I wrote a letter after the election in the US to a relative (never sent it, and I'm not going to; I'll speak in person). But the point is that there is ugliness in it, but also I believe righteous anger. And it's messy, and you'll notice there is no conclusion to this, because I don't have one.

Let's stumble on.

I don't know how to still love you. I genuinely view you as a Nazi. I grieve for the monster you've become, and I do hope you one day experience the full ramifications of what you've done--that it sickens and cripples you, and that the guilt gnaws at you all your days. Even repentance can't change the effects you've inflicted on us all. But that kind of remorse is too heavy for most to bear, and I don't think any of you have any desire to bear it. You are the monster you warned me about, and I truly do not think you deserve any goodness in light of the millions--even billions considering world power--you have condemned to save yourself and your own self-righteous that is but a filthy rag. I want to beg for mercy for y'all because I believe in mercy, but I don't know that I want it for you. I am failing to live up to my own beliefs now, and that is on me.

So yeah, I'm working it out too. Sometimes I think it's just sitting with this raw agony and anger, knowing I love them, and they love me, and it's not enough, and that is terrifying and scary and sad, that it's not enough in practice.

And this is where I gotta have faith in God because like, I can't even. Other people can do what I can't.

So yeah this devolved from a movie I haven't seen and writing techniques into discussing fascism and forgiveness and human nature and God. But your mention of "eight years" kinda implied to me you were talking a little bit about this, so uh. You're not alone!

[koffing-time]

So… What would you say is your best espresso. I’ve been searching for alternatives after my favorite local spot closed.

(@numberonecameraman)

Hmmm, sorry for the late answer, i had to think about this a bit.

I can give you a few nods and infos, but it depends on your taste and preferences.

Well, let's start at the beginning. I'm not that much of an espresso kinda person, i'm more into standard coffee, but espresso is (genuinely) not much more than concentrated coffee. You have to be more careful when preparing it, but in the end, you have the same flavors, just more concentrated. (I promise, i can do that, i know how to make a banger espresso)

And, well, the flavors mostly depend on the coffee you're using. Obviously there are different grades of quality, but i'm assuming you want some high quality stuff, right? Now, i do have some standard beans for normal ass coffee, and you can do a lot of different things with that alone.

Depending on the place your beans come from, they'll have a slightly different taste, but i won't go into that rn because that would go WAYYYYY beyond the scale of this post lmao.

Something more managable is the color (or roast level). Rule of thumb: darker roasts give you more bitterness, a more full and earthy aroma and some chocolatey hints. More lighter roasts are sweeter, less bitter and the more nuanced aromas come out more.

Secondly, there are two different kinds of beans (for the most part. you can probably get some exotic shit as well, but i usually don't have that around). Arabica and Robusta. In general, Arabica is more popular bc it's more... light? i wanna say? It's gentler with its flavors, but the Robusta has more punch, more caffeine and will make overall stronger coffee (espresso). I don't actually have pure Robusta, because, if we're honest, pure robusta coffee (espresso) is REALLY bitter and kind of bland. Something more interesting is a blend between the two. Depending on the ratio, you can get a lot of different profiles. (there are pure arabica versions of course)

Third is the freshness. Of course, the fresher the beans, the better the coffee (espresso). Well... there are a few exception, but they always exist. That part is more important when you make it at home, check the roast date and go to a good shop to buy your coffee.

BUT something that is wayyyy more interesting imo than just... color and arabica/robusta ratio, that is... roast style. You can roast coffee beans in a variety of ways. You can just put them in the oven, you can put them on the grill and smoke them, you can deep fry them, there are tons of ways, and all influence the flavor of course.

One more thing i wanna mention is the fermentation: i love love love coffee that is fermented with the cherry. It makes the coffee (espresso) a lot lighter and actually gives it a fruity and fresh note. Those kind of beans are usually little bit more expensive, but trust me its worth it.

And, lastly, you can blend your coffee with a ton of other stuff to enhance your experience. Mix it with cinnamon, occa berry, cheri berry, chilli powder, i have so many blends here that are really really great. The italians hate me for it, but i again, i usually drink standard coffee, not espresso. That doesn't mean its bad in espresso though.

And to conclude, specifically for your question about our BEST espresso? Well, we do have an assortment of homemade coffee blends, and one is called the "Tix' Mix". It's got a little spice to it, but is mainly sweet and has a full flavor profile between chocolatey and herby. There's also "Olivia's Original" of course (and more varied ideas), but for integrity reasons i have to insist that my personal blend is better lol.

[skysometric]

why, thank you for asking! i've been thinking it through for the last few days, i just wanted to make sure my answer was all written and ready to go first. all... checks notes... 4,000 words of it.

ICYMI, last week i sent asks to a bunch of my friends with a simple question: "what's your favorite game you played this year?" as i hoped, y'all gave a bunch of EXCELLENT answers, all of which i reblogged on my side blog @autumatically! (if you didn't get an ask like this and you want to join in, ping me – i sent too many asks to keep track of and i probably just forgot to send one your way!)

of course i wanted to answer this myself, but i wanted to write about more than just one game! and when i sat down to write, i just kept going, and going, and going...

so we're splitting this up! every day this week, i'll be counting down my top 5 games that i played in 2023. not all of these are games that i've streamed, and only one of them has shown up on anyone else's lists so far, so i'm really excited to reminisce and share my experiences this year 💖

maybe you'll even find a new game to try out? i'm certainly really excited to dig through y'alls lists and try some of the ones i missed out on this year!

to kick things off, let's start with:

Honorable Mentions

two games came out this year that i would probably put in my top 5, no competition. so why didn't i? because i didn't actually play them!

see, as much as i love to play video games, oftentimes i also like to watch them just as much. this has always been great for games that i never intended to play in the first place, like the Final Fantasies and Fortnites of our day… but lately it's also let me take turns with my partner on who plays which new releases.

in fact, for both of the games i'm about to list, i watched my partner play them in full and i've watched no less than two separate people stream them as well. which means, with all that oversaturation, it's probably gonna be a while before i play them myself…

either way! here's my top two games that i didn't play in 2023.

Pizza Tower

this one likely needs no introduction! Wario Land 4 is one of my favorite games of all time, and the way Pizza Tower extends those basic concepts is a masterclass of game design. the moveset is perfectly geared toward accessible speed tech, the level layouts are top notch, the different forms are unique and funny, the art style is GORGEOUS, the combo system adds incredible replay value and pushes the player to their limits…

honestly the only thing stopping me from playing this right now is that the levels are too fresh in my mind, and i'd like a little time to let those memories fade before i dive back in and experience everything in a wave of nostalgia. seeing so much of the game already was totally worth it, though – i had the distinct pleasure of watching my partner learn how to P Rank most of the levels, and the simple joy of watching her build up her skills is one of my standout memories of 2023. proud of you, love!

god, Pizza Tower is a perfect slice of video game. i can't WAIT to play it myself!

Super Mario RPG

as a young kid, i always wanted a physical copy of this game. i could never justify it, though, because i already owned it on Wii Virtual Console, and it was one of the more expensive SNES games i had my eye on… a whole $40 in 2007 money! fast forward to the modern day, and not only do i no longer have easy access to that old Wii copy, but a physical cart now goes for like $90???

blessedly, along comes the Switch remake. i still can't believe this exists – it's a perfect remake in every way, shape, and form! the sprite-based animations are lovingly recreated, the battle system is rebalanced in fun ways, and the music is PERFECTLY re-arranged. even the dialog, which i expected to be completely retranslated… it's smoothed over, but mostly unchanged! the original game's unabashed weirdness and charm is fully intact, and i did NOT expect that out of modern Nintendo.

this is one that i didn't mind watching others play; Super Mario RPG is all about the vibe, and this remake captures that vibe perfectly. i'm excited to play it myself once it's had time to settle! but, for now, i'm perfectly content just vibing with others~

[pluraladvice]

I’m a recently discovered (self diagnosed) osdd system of unknown orgin. I (Host) started coming to this realization probably around a little less then a year ago and was in denial until probably 2 or 3 days ago when I let slip to a friend I am struggling with this.

Up until telling my friend, only co-fronting has happened and if there has been full switches it has gone unnoticed. In the last two days there has been at least 2 full switches and both times when coming back the the front I have had bad anxiety attacks.

I really don’t want to freak out like that, it’s unfair to my other parts of the system and I want this journey to acceptance to be smooth and filled with self-love.

Any tips to help ground myself during switches or make them easier?

There is no such thing as a smooth journey of acceptance. It will never be all self-love, care, rainbows, and sunshine. Life just doesn't work that way. Don't put that pressure on yourself or your other headmates, you're already setting yourself and them up for a much more rocky road than if you just accept that there are going to be parts that fucking suck. It's not abnormal to have anxiety, panic, and fear upon first learning your a system and upon your first full switch that you recognize as one. Our host upon our first noticed switch came back at a park at midnight having no idea how they got there and cried like a baby for an hour in that park's parking lot. We love each other, shit is hard. You have to learn how to communicate and build with people you share a space with and it is thrust on you with no real option, in a lot of cases, to move away from it and in the cases that you CAN move away from it, it still a long journey that you have to go at with them. Just because you have a hard time, doesn't mean you don't love them, it doesn't mean you don't appreciate them. This is just. Hard. Especially for those of us that don't get to choose it, however that may look for you. It will be hard. That doesn't mean you won't come out on the other side with healthy communication, love, and support. For the first year we knew we were a system we had so much trouble just accepting that and being okay with it. We were terrified of ending up on a cringe subreddit because then "are we a real system????". We were terrified of what our friends might think. Now, if people can't accept that we love our plurality we kick them to the curb. Now, if we end up on a cringe subreddit we celebrate. We are a real system because we are. We don't need weirdos on reddit with no life approval of that fact. It's weird that they think we do. Now, we can talk openly to complete strangers about being a system. We've helped run and do run several discord servers for systems. We have this blog. It wasn't an easy path here and sometimes it still isn't, but we're here and every bump and crack was worth it. Be easy on yourself and take it as slowly as you need to. There's no rush on this, please don't rush it.