#across all borders

[penspagesandpulses]

Rating books by their huggableness

I’m a book hugger. Whenever I’m upset, I will hug the nearest book. Why? For one, it is more socially acceptable to bring a book to school than your favorite teddy bear or baby doll. Also, there are a surprising number of people who aren’t willing to give hugs to those in need, so hugging books can help in case of hugging emergency! In my experience, some books are more huggable than others, and…

[feroluce]

For some weird reason, I've always been fascinated by how wildly different Sampo operates in the Underground vs the Overworld.

Sampo is present in both places and even in official sources, he's not really counted as one side or the other- now that the theory has been confirmed in-game, he's generally just lumped in with the Masked Fools.

But there really is a big difference!

Probably the most obvious and well known instance of Sampo's...business practices *cough burglary and fraud COUGH* in the Overworld is from the Belobog Museum event. In it, you don't find out Sampo is the main culprit until near the end, because Pela has to set up a sting just to catch him in the act. And that sting is necessary all because the initial suspect they arrested, Norbert, had pretty much no idea of his partner's identity. Sampo wouldn't even speak to him face-to-face.

And whereas Sampo is normally very pleasant and friendly with the trailblazer...when he thinks he's talking to Norbert here, he straight up says that they are NOT friends. Like he really shuts that shit DOWN.

There's also an Overworld NPC, Chavez, who heads the "Dark Blue Scam Support Group." And he. Really really really does not like Sampo fjkdasjklfdj

Chavez clearly wants Sampo caught, and has literally no positive feelings about him. So. Why call it the Dark Blue Scam? Why not just out him by name? Chavez obviously doesn't give a single shit about Sampo's dignity or privacy. But he never once refers to him as "Sampo," and even the pamphlets he passes out make no mention of it. No one in the entire support group seems to know how to identify him or how to refer to him except by his hair color. If the trailblazer says his name, Chavez reacts as though he's never heard it before.

(I've seen people say this means Sampo Koski is an alias and not his real name? But Ray pointed this out, and honestly I agree; even the Fools call him Sampo, after all. I think it's just that Chavez never knew Sampo's name in the first place, and given his immense distrust, immediately assumes it's an alias.)

And then there's his characters stories, where he proceeds to pull off a heist in the Overworld while in disguise as Brughel Poisson the entire time. Literally his own stories don't mention Sampo's name even once.

So anyway, all this shows that when he's up in the Overworld working cons, Sampo is incredibly slippery and secretive about his identity. The only people who seem to know him are Pela, Serval, and Gepard. He doesn't get close to anyone else, and is even surprisingly unfriendly. Nobody knows his name. No one knows his face. He has zero qualms about backstabbing or double-crossing, and even plans for it in some cases.

Meanwhile, down in the Underground, I'm pretty sure literally the worst thing we hear of him doing is scalping tickets in front of the Fight Club. Which isn't even illegal in a lot of places (although it's certainly a dick move).

In Hook's companion quest, a vagrant miner steals Fersman's equipment and tries to sell it to Sampo. Even before the trailblazer and Hook jump in and out the vagrant as a thief, Sampo hesitates to buy it because it sounds like stolen goods, which he doesn't want any part of.

Even knowing that a geomarrow detector is rare and incredibly valuable in the mines, Sampo makes no attempt to double-cross Hook or profit off of her loss, and even tells her who to go to to get it fixed.

And my favorite example of Sampo in the Underground is the Survival Wisdom adventure mission. In it, Sampo starts up a business with Peak, another miner. And like. In wild contrast to all the cons he pulls above ground, Sampo is actually super nice and helpful here.

Just the same as with Hook's quest, Sampo talks to Peak face-to-face, with no disguises or barriers. When the trailblazer finds them, they're just in the Great Mine, no secretive meeting places. Peak knows Sampo, is familiar with him, and calls him by name. It's not even a con! There's nothing illegal going on; it really is just a business partnership. Peak is more than happy with their deal, he's even pretty enthusiastic about it, because thanks to Sampo he can now make enough money to get by while also accommodating his chronic fatigue.

The only person Sampo lies to in this whole ordeal is the trailblazer, who he manipulates into getting Peak's mining equipment back from the vagrants that stole it in the first place. And when it's done, he rewards them with a legit treasure map.

So when he's working in the Underground, Sampo is MUCH more upright and lawful. Part of this is probably to do with his "business" model- Sampo only takes advantage of the wealthy, and poverty runs rampant in the Underground. When he charges Peak an extra 30% (the same percentage he charges Norbert as a consultation fee in the museum heists- Sampo seems to go by percentage instead of a flat rate, which means his prices are more fair for lower incomes) for carelessly losing their supply, Peak literally starts counting out pocket change.

Dude's working for pennies and good will down there dknsmdmd

And you can twist this into a Robin Hood thing if you want- Sampo IS technically working to feed orphans and heal the sick. He says himself he's more than happy to make up the shortfall between the greedy and the marginalized- I mean he says it in the shadiest way possible, but I doubt the people benefiting from his work really care that he's a slimeball if it means they can survive another day. Even the two heists he pulls in his character stories are literally just him stealing absurd amounts of food.

Personally though I think it is solely because of Natasha, and Sampo is hilariously well-behaved specifically for her, because she keeps him on a short leash JSKZJMSMSKS

[faaun]

what draws you back to your country what draws you back to your land when i was a kid i told myself if i ever left iran i'd never go back 2 years into living in the UK i started looking at news on iran again 10 years in and i visited it for the first time again and today i heard an iranian mother talk in farsi to her child on the train to london the way my mother used to and i wanted to cry i wanted to ask her whether they're still cutting the mountaintops whether the lakes are still drying today i showed the person i was with pictures of waterfalls and palaces and forests and snow-white north something odd pulls me back with increasing force i can't ignore it ever again

[sleepnoises]

i had such a good saturday. took boyfriend to the exotic wood store & did fanime people watching downtown with fwiends & went to my dad's girlfriend's art show (she is one piece out of 119. lots of variety) & got a duvet off buy nothing to be the negative space in my daydream procrastination quilt & made caramelized pork bowl again & worked on a jigsaw puzzle. maybe not the amount of things to do when i have to do just as much tomorrow and monday but i had a ball

this is my layout for the daydream procrastination quilt. stars will all be different but the white background will all be the same—i asked buy nothing if perhaps anyone had cotton or linen off white sheets and got a taupe cotton/linen blend. love wins

[megpricephotography]

Beach Boy! Barney, jumping for joy during a trip to the beach in July of 2012.

[skunkes]

Another Mexican He/They artist! Wooo!

weee

[reyneluvirith]

Languages of the Mannish Provinces, 4E197

The languages of the mannish provinces (Cyrodiil, Skyrim, High Rock, and Hammerfell) as described in my language-focused apocrypha, Languages of Tamriel, which fleshes out the linguistic situation of Tamriel in the Fourth Era.

>> Direct link to the map <<

I said I might be able to squeeze Hammerfell into my Mede Empire language map, and I could! Really stretching the limits of easily distinguishable colors here, though. Definitely going to make a language family map to go with this, though!!

[mukuharakazui]

"Alphabet mafia" was funny (courtesy of @birthclod) so here are my alphabet mafia + nationality headcanons for Town of Salem's best faction (sorry to the roles without skins </3)

[heartsofhounds]

Alright so.. I am so curious

How are y'all interpreting Dahlia? Like what does the actual location look like to you?

[kohakhearts]

given the opportunity i could be approximately 500% more annoying about any of my creative projects. but unfortunately .my brain is soup,

[yeeclaw]

As much as I enjoyed seeing Laura in Deadpool & Wolverine, one thing has been bothering me since opening night, and I can’t shake it:

Why did Marvel design her a shirt that says “Savage”?

It’s a fictional band t-shirt. I spent hours reverse image searching and browsing album covers and tour posters of bands with related names, album titles, and song titles, and while it’s clearly inspired by real rock bands and tours, it was nevertheless made up. They actively chose to make up a shirt with a derogatory racial term for a group Laura and the actress who plays her is not a part of for her to wear. Someone was paid by Marvel to design it. Why?

Now companies are selling copies of the shirt, so more people will be out in the world wearing a shirt with a term that, whether you want to call it a slur or just a “derogatory racial term,” has a dark, violent history and makes many Native Americans uncomfortable. It is a word that was used to justify cultural genocide within my parent’s lifetime, that has been used as a justification for racist discrimination and hatred within our lifetimes, not just Logan’s lifetime.

Logan had band logos, too. They used Awaken the Dreamers by All Shall Perish. The title track is about fighting for human rights and ending oppression, the design features the Statue of Liberty holding a gun, not a torch, surrounded by the silhouettes of swarming military planes. Now in Deadpool & Wolverine, we’re casually using the word savage, sticking it on a “feral” character with a reputation for violence. It could be powerful if Laura were Native. She escaped from a government run institution systematically abusing and dehumanizing children based on their heritage. Logan cast primarily people of color to play the X23 children. Gabriela Lopez died at the Liberty Motel and Logan died at what was described at “the last stop on the mutant underground to Canada”. They utilized the mutant metaphor very deliberately, and I feel that Deadpool & Wolverine’s choice of costuming for Laura did that a disservice.

(Yes, I’m aware of Savage Wolverine. Its potential as an Easter egg for a racist comic book title doesn’t make it not racist)

[ratatatastic]

hi 13 second clip that i will be obsessed with for years to come because mikksy and lombo are doing mikksy and lombo things in the bg as they usually do how are you doing

theres something about mikksy looking over to his left and spacing out but when he sees long brown hair in his periphery he turns towards it, sees lombo struggling to pass off the cup and stares at him until lombo comes his way. the pining is palpable. i can feel it from here. he has the targetting program of a turret hes locking on.

also someone seems to either dropped a hat(?) or something of that nature because right as lombo steps forward to where mikksy is he bends down to get it but mikksy seeing him, also makes to reach for it but lombo seems to have it covered so he just bows like a chicken for a bit because his gentlemanly code intiated (rare sight) seeing a beautiful man bend down to retrieve an object...

and then after lombo comes up he immediately gets an arm around him and ushers him into his side. MANS GOT A FULL TOOTHY GRIN ON SEEING LOMBO. TH- AND HE REALISES HOW BIG HE MUST BE SMILING BECAUSE HE JUST CLOSES HIS MOUTH AND TRIES TO PLAY OFF THE FACT HE DIDN'T JUST HAVE THE GOOFIEST GRIN ON HIS FACE.

THE WAY LOMBOS CHEEK IS SO SMUSHED INTO HIS SHOULDER HE BARELY REACHES. PERFECT SIZE TO SNUGGLE INTO THE COLLARBONES. IM SORRY WHERE IS PLAYGROUND BULLYING PRETENSE??? SO WE'VE LOST THAT. WE'RE JUST GONNA COURT EACH OTHER NOW. WE'VE FINALLY ADMITTED TO THE ELEPHANT IN YHE ROOM AND WE WILL BE ACTING ON OUR FEELINGS HONESTLY. IS THAT WHAT WE'RE DOING. IT ONLY TOOK BOTH OF YOU BEING DRUNK. OKAY.

Panthers Championship Parade | 6.30.24

[ishparpuaqib]

all those circlejerks abt how culturally diverse europe is compared to america seem to vastly overexaggerate the extent to which linguistic diversity in europe signals cultural diversity... all southeast europeans are the same, for one. we really are! one wog nation under god [spanakopita emoji]. i am fully willing to buy the difference between athens, sofia and belgrade is approximately the same as the one between seattle, san franscisco and los angeles, to the extent such things can be measured (if we're talking, say, belgrade and thessaloniki, the difference might as well be that between san francisco and oakland—it helps thessaloniki turns into a serbian settler colony over the summer). i'm not sure if the european union—an actual political entity, unlike "europe"—is more diverse than the united states. i'm willing to bet it's not any less diverse, but the criteria commonly used to measure cultural diversity in the union seem obviously fraught to me. we've got concepts like "central europe" and "western europe" for a reason!

[vgtrackbracket]

Video Game Track Bracket Round 2

C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise) from Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe

vs.

Across the Border from Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars/Cross Generation of Heroes

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise):

MAGOLOR AND DEDEDE!!!!!!!

Across the Border:

Definitely helps capture the anime theme of Tatsunoko, while also emphasizing the crossover aspect. (Also gotta love sudden rap verses)

[carrionsong]

goes on twt and sees a bcs artist i like go mad and blame nonvoters and jstein voters for trump like 51% didnt vote for trump and gerrymandering and repubs literally burning ballots and covid disabling ppl who then cant mail in ballots in certain states doesnt exist ? ok👍

[bonefall]

this isn't a question about your rewrite but as you are The Warrior Cats Pro i figured id throw it out there... why is it that, even though there have been way more books taking place at the lake territory, both in the main wc series and beyond, than the old forest territory, but the forest territory is still so much more memorable and always what i think of when i think of warriors, and the lake feels so uninteresting and forgettable?

because the lake map FUNDAMENTALLY sucks baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalloons.

In a series about border drama and forbidden relationships, they have put a huge, impassable obstacle smack in the middle of the map. You ever heard the expression, "Tall fences make good neighbors?" This is supposed to be the BAD NEIGHBORS series and they have put the world's tallest fence in the game.

The lake was a fundamentally bad idea. Simple as that.

It was so bad I reworked the Lake Map for my own rewrite.

I made more contested land, such as putting field maples which produce syrup just beyond the Wind/Thunder gorge.

Added Northern Islets and Southern Delta which have value to several clans

Expanded RiverClan's territory so they can hypothetically reach ProtagonistClan, RE: Northern Islets.

I need to make Draft 2 but I also added more uncontested landmarks akin to the old Forest landmarks. For example, ThunderClan now has a patch of old-growth forest. Places like the Owl Tree and Snakerocks are super important as flavorings.