#after sectionals

[hailsatanacab]

A Persuasive Argument - dpxdc

"Great!" Danny says, clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention. The dinner table falls silent as everyone looks towards him. It's a full house today and, honestly, Danny's a little nervous. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I gathered you here today."

"It's dinnertime. In our house." Duke mutters, while doing a very bad job of concealing his yawn. He holds his fork poised over the braised beef, but, just like everyone else, still looks towards Danny before tucking in. It's intriguing enough to wait.

"Yeah, no one misses Alfie's dinner." Dick says, with a brilliant smile that Danny can't help but return.

"Precisely! What better time to talk to you all than when you're all actually here!"

"Wait, I thought you came round to work on our English essays?" Tim asks, blinking owlishly.

"I'm afraid I've lured you here under false pretences, Tim."

"This is where I live."

"I would still really appreciate help on that essay though, I mean, what the hell is Hamlet even about? I just don't get that old time-y language, like 'Hark! A ghost hath killed me!' - absolute rubbish, what does that even mean?"

"The ghost never kills anyone in Hamlet, he's there to tell Hamlet that he was murdered. Have you actually read it?"

"No, but it sounds like you have. Tim, I want this guy to help me with my essay instead. I know for a fact that you haven't read Hamlet, either."

"So? We don't need Jason, I've read the Sparknotes."

"Hi Jason, I'm Danny, pleasure to meet you, summarise Hamlet in three sentences or less."

"Am I auditioning to help you write your essays? I can't believe you’ve gone through your whole school life without reading it, it’s good!"

"Hamlet, along with a number of other classics, was banned in our house because it portrayed ghosts as intelligent and sympathetic beings rather than evil, animalistic beasts. I didn’t even get to see The Muppet's Christmas Carol until last year with Tim! It was surprisingly good, and I hate Christmas because everyone always argued and it sucked. But we're getting off topic. I—"

"No, no, please go back to that, because what the fu—"

"Boys, please." Bruce interrupts, looking to the world as if he wants to hang his head in his hands. "Danny, you were about to say something?"

"Oh, yeah, Mr. Wayne! Thanks!"

"Please, call me Bruce."

"Well, that very succinctly brings me to my point, because I'd actually really like to call you dad."

Nobody says a word. Nobody even blinks, all as shocked as the other, watching open-mouthed as Danny pulls his laptop out from beside his chair. Bruce can definitely feel a headache coming on.

"Before you say anything, I've prepared a 69 slide PowerPoint presentation on why you, Bruce Wayne, should adopt me, Danny Last-Name-Pending. Please save your questions, comments, and verdict until the end, thank you."

[serpentface]

Come On Man.

(Extensive linguistic notes for this 'balls in my mouth' comic under the cut)

The extensive linguistic notes for this "balls in my mouth" comic:

Brakul's first language is the West Rivers dialect of the broader Highlands language, which is part of the Finnic language family. It first split from the Proto-Finnic spoken north of the Viper about a millennia ago with migrants traveling south overseas, and further split into what are now the two native Finnic language groups in Wardin (the Highlands and North Wardi tongues). The Highlands language is a dialect continuum- most neighboring dialects are mutually intelligible, but people from opposite ends of the language's home region would have troubles communicating clearly (though the continuum is not wide enough for any to be fully incomprehensible).

Brakul knew some very, very basic Wardi from occasional contact with Ephenni traders as a teenager, and would later become fluent in the South Wardi dialect as a second language. Wardi is from a wholly separate language family than the Finnic languages with EXTREMELY distant common ancestry, and very different in form and function. Wardi is in many ways less specified and direct, having a smaller variety of individual words to communicate emotional/sensory states and instead imparting many layers of meaning to the same words in different contexts, which Brakul sometimes finds difficult and irritating to navigate. This is one of a number of reasons he often expresses himself more fully in his mother tongue.

Janeys is a native Wardi speaker (South Wardi dialect), fluent in 'Seaway Burri' (which is a lingua franca of the Mouth sea powers, many people along the coastal cities know it as a second language), and semi-fluent in 'High Burri' (state language of the Burri Republic), and in the present day has a modest comprehension of the West Rivers Highlands dialect. This takes place 4.5 years after he and Brakul met, and he mostly just knows basic utilitarian conversational terms and parts of speech, and has a decent understanding of the grammar and how to conjugate verbs. After 13 years of exposure to Brakul talking at him and occasionally deigning to explain what he's saying, Janeys can Sort Of hold a conversation.

---

NOTES ON THE POST ITSELF:

I = Sí

My= Sig

You= Mí (casual) Mís (formal)

---

Mí vírim is “I love you”.

The unconjugated form of the verb is vírir. The dead literal translation is “to need”, but "mí vírim" translates more accurately as "I love you" than "I need you". It DOES have connotations of need, it expresses love as a sense of wholeness and natural dependency- you say it to express affection towards someone to whom you owe your existence, to a line of ancestors, to your descendants, to the people you create or provide for your descendants with. It says "you are part of my sense of place in this world, you connect me to something greater than myself that sustains me". It will mostly be spoken between immediate kin (parents, children, siblings), husbands and wives, and in practice of venerating your ancestors. This is a gay as fuck thing to say to an unrelated man.

There's at least three other ways to directly say "I love ___" one of which is an affectionate expression of camaraderie, one of which communicates strong aesthetic appreciation, and one that is used in practice specifically to express affection/gratitude towards livestock (though can be used more broadly).

Janeys comprehends the phrase "Mí vírim" as “(I) [UNKNOWN VERB] you” and he's able to discern from Subtle Context Clues that it's something like 'I love you'.

He guesses the unconjugated verb inaccurately as (v)írer, as -Er and -Ur verb endings are more common than -Ir endings, and -Er/-Ir verbs share all the same conjugated forms.

Wardi languages have no ‘v’ sound to begin with, and the ‘v’ here is very soft, between a ‘vuh’ and ‘fuh’. This doesn’t come naturally to Janeys (or most Wardi speakers in general) and comes out as a 'wuh' on first impulse and a hard ‘fuh’ when he tries to replicate it.

This is something he never gets good at and Brakul is grateful that it’s his brother who was named ‘Vrailedh’ (Vrai-lehd-hh)) and not him so he doesn’t have to hear ‘Wrai-lehd’ or ‘Frai-lehd’ all the damn time by his Wardi compatriots. (Many of them don't even get his actual name right, but it's a lesser sin of not rolling the R and under-emphasizing the -ul)

---

"Sí brūlmim fágh filshíbe" is “I am very gullible”. The use here is not particularly cruel and is more just that his first impulse upon realizing Janeys will repeat anything he says right now is to make a "someone wrote gullible on the ceiling" level joke at his expense.

Fágh is a word used to emphasize an adjective and some nouns, functionally close to 'very' but used specifically for non-physical/non-sensory qualities (emotion, personality, etc). You could use fágh in the sentence “I’m so sorry” "he's such an asshole".

Brūlmim is "I am" in present tense. The unconjugated form is brūlmur, meaning 'to be' in a permanent sense, as a matter of nature. Other verbs are used for ‘to be’ in a purely transitory sense (“I am tired”) or describing a prolonged but impermanent state, usually past tense (“I was a stupid teenager”).

Filshíbe straightforwardly means 'gullible'.

The 'h' at the end of fágh is vocalized as an exhale, sounds a little like 'fog-uh' with a VERY soft and breathy 'uh'. The '-e' at the end filshíbe is also exhaled, coming out as a quick, soft 'eh'. Neither of these sounds are natural to a Wardi speaker (especially the breathy 'eh', most -e ending words are pronounced with a strong '-ey').

Janeys is comprehending “I’m (very/so) [UNKNOWN WORD]” here, and his face is being touched so softly so [UNKNOWN WORD] is very compelling and he's learning new things and is kind of in the zone so might as well say it back.

---

"Mísig uns drótes vísti sig bahrég, s'vaige do mi?" means "Your balls in my mouth, please?". What makes the sentence Particularly funny to Brakul here is that it's Excessively polite (using a formal and deferential 'your' and very gracious 'please') and jarringly accompanied with lowbrow slang for testicles. A more tonally accurate english translation would be "Sir, may I please perchance take your fat fucking sack in my mouth?"

Mísig means 'your', but specifically implies deference- it's a word you would use to address an elder or authority figure, or to use while being very, very polite. (Mís is the equivalent deferential 'you').

Uns drótes is one of several slang terms for testicles. This one uses the word 'boulders', and is thus Specifically implying 'big balls'. It's lowbrow and a very mild expletive (in the same degree 'ass' is in English).

Vísti means 'in' or 'inside', as a physical state of something being inside of another thing- you would use it for 'there's a bird in that cage' but not 'there's fear in my heart'.

Bahrég means 'mouth', which is almost always used in the purely anatomical sense. The other word for 'mouth' in the language more commonly refers to the mouths of animals (might be better translated as 'maw') and also gets applied to non-anatomical objects (ie 'the mouth of the cave').

S'vaige do mi means 'thank you' (dead literally 'my gratitude to you', the S in S'vaige is a contracted sig/'my') but is translated here as 'please' for clarity. There isn't actually a word that directly correlates to 'please' in the Highlands language, a polite request is accompanied with a 'thank you' instead (IE: "Could you pass the salt, thank you?"). This is one of two direct ways to say 'thank you' and this is the more intensely polite of the two.

Janeys will have understood this sentence as "(polite 'Your') [UNKNOWN WORD] (in? inside? within?) my [UNKNOWN WORD], please." This one throws him off, but he's pretty sure he's about to be kissed on the mouth for the first time in his life so he's willing to go with it.

[fl00mie]

istg it hurts to be an ink lover/fan/enjoyer in the eyes of those outside the fandom

ink might seem like an op sans for no reason at first impression and i can understand why people think that.. he travels through universes, he's the only character in his world (the one who's known as the most overrated character in the game which makes it even more repellent, i guess), among other reasons

i haven't seen almost any direct hate towards him (referring to canon, the genuine hate i've seen so far has been based on underverse, that although it's quite likely his image has been tarnished by the series, i want to refer more to those who aren't familiar with AUs in general) but, since i returned to this community i notice how he's not referred to as a fan favorite (anymore?), at least in the popular videos i find on youtube and on twitter it's even worse, i've seen them call him overrated multiple times

it's the fact that i manage to empathize a lot with him that makes me feel.. a bit sad maybe? because he's more than just another meaningless sans, his story and personality are really good and the fact that he's a sans is just a preference of his creator, that may have aged poorly but it doesn't take away how good and complex the character still is

[turtledotjpeg]

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

themthemthemthemthemthemthem-

[4x18hawkeye]

transcript:

It was well after midnight when we got the call. Picked up in military jeeps and flanked by stone-faced, machine gun—bearing soldiers, we were taken to a hospital somewhere in the city. It was an eerie ride, everything about it implying a potential attack at any moment. We entered the hospital through the back entrance and, still under guard, were brought by freight elevator to where a surgery had been set up. The patient was on a gurney, with lights and the necessary equipment around her. Having delivered us, the soldiers left, and we were suddenly confronted with a problem. Dr. S. had assumed there would be surgical nurses to assist him, but the moment we arrived, all the Salvadorans who had prepared her simply walked out. His wife, there to administer and monitor the anesthetic, would be completely occupied and unable to provide any other assistance during surgery.

At that point, Dr. S turned to me and said, “Go scrub up and put on a gown and gloves.”

Fearing that I had heard him correctly, I panicked and said, “Doc, you’ve got to be kidding.” He wasn’t. “But I’m not a real doctor,” I protested. “All that stuff we did on the show was fake: fake blood, fake wounds, fake everything.”

He smiled, and said, “You understand the process; you know sterile procedure. Without another pair of hands, I can’t do this, so get scrubbed.”

...

So I went into the scrub room and did all the things I’d done hundreds of times before for what felt like the first time, all the while telling myself not to pass out or vomit when the cutting started. Mrs. S. helped me with the gown, cap, and gloves, and soon everyone was ready. Sort of. But the doc never hesitated. He told me to listen carefully and to mirror his actions. If he moved tissue aside in one direction, he wanted me to do that same in the other. Otherwise, I should simply do as I was told.

[mxntio]

he's everything to me

[shirozora-draws]

I wanted to try some processes I watched on some artists' reels over at the Insta, and practice designing and coloring manmade/artifiical environments for future projects in particular.

Deep winter also always makes me moody and nostalgic, and I start looking back. I know this is just a consequence of time and technology, but I don't have any of my old Tron art files saved on my laptop. It's so strange considering how much of an impact Tron Legacy and the fandom has had on my life on and off-line. I listened to the ficmix I made for that old fic of mine the other day, and man, I felt so unwell and unhinged. That movie, that OST, that fandom, that fic, that ship, still has such a stranglehold on me years after the fact.

Anyway, if you haven't done so already, go give this beautifully made extended Daft Punk music video a watch.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

i think a lot of mdzs fans, especially those of the novel canon, would benefit from revisiting the source material to re-familiarize themselves with just how terrifyingly powerful, and unpredictable, and dangerous wei wuxian actually was, both during the sunshot campaign and leading up to the first burial mounds siege. he was not just some rule-breaking scamp starting a farming co-op with some little guys in the burial mounds. lots of people were frightened of him and his power, and with very good reason.

[sewerdraws]

hey so by popular demand (read : 3 people), the spanking new discord server is opening its doors ! Uhh yeah idk what people usually say for these kind of announcements so i guess just don't be shy and come join us !!

[salamispots]

wanted to do a couple more examples for the commission sheet

[remyfire]

Can you please go five minutes without flirting

[ohthewh0rror]

TOM RIDDLE HEADCANONS: PREGNANT S/O

A/N: For you, dear anon, bc I did actually enjoy that message. <3

This man would hear you throw up and ask if you were okay before going back to what he was doing, he is not going to listen to you get sick. It grosses him out (💀).

Once the migraines hit for the first time and you’re laying in bed unable to even open your eyes, he tries to comfort you for once by rubbing your arm and asking if you need anything, but you just snap at him to not touch before yanking your arm away.

Safe to say he’s not comforting you again unless you seek him out first.

The only time he genuinely worries for your health is the one time you’re eating dinner and your blood pressure suddenly drops and you almost pass out.

This man is picking you up bridal style and rushing you to the hospital, convinced you’re in mortal danger.

You’re not though, and he almost loses his mind when the healer says it’s not a big deal. It ends with Tom nearly being escorted off the premises when he indirectly threatens the healers life.

Second guesses what he says to you bc he’s worried that you would either physically fight him or break down in hysterics— both of which he wants to avoid.

Tom’s least favorite part of your pregnancy is the mild insomnia.

You’re lucky he cares for you or else he would have hexed you for waking him up at 2AM to keep you company while you eat cereal and talk about work gossip.

Tries to help when/where he can.

I.e. buys you extra pillows for when your hips begin to ache, gives you ginger candies when you’re hit with nausea, avoids eating foods you have a sudden aversion to, etc.

Imagine immediately after you give birth though?

Tom may not be the best with children, but he can see you’re clearly exhausted and out of it, so he takes over caring for the baby so that you can rest.

Helping you walk to and from the bathroom, and scolds you when you tell him you don’t need his help.

Helps you take your first shower after giving birth because he wants you to be comfortable and knew you wouldn’t want the nurses to do it.

[idoodlestuffsometimes]

Story Post 14 (Part 2)

AU MASTER POST

BEGINNING | PREVIOUS | NEXT

[Image ID under the cut]

[IMAGE ID: Two pages of a black and white comic.

PAGE ONE PANEL 1: Gwen glances nervously over her shoulder at Dell. He beckons for her to continue. "It's not that. It's - ah--" PANEL 2: She turns back to the crow phone with a forced grin. "I hear you have a student now!" Dell's face drops in annoyance. PANEL 3: "A human one! How intriguing. I haven't heard of a human on the Isles since the one my great grandmother mentioned." Luz lies on her belly on her sleeping bag, happily reading in her room with King asleep next to her. Behind her, the window is open, revealing a scout brandishing a spear. PANEL 4: "And even that one disappeared, apparently," Gwen continues. Eda appears in the window, casting a spell that blasts the scout out of view. PANEL 5: Luz turns and looks out the window, puzzled, but there is nothing there. PANEL 6: "My human isn't going to disappear," says Eda. She looks over her shoulder at Luz's oblivious back through the window, determined. "Oh no, of course not!" says Gwen. "I'm sure you're doing a wonderful job looking after her and teaching her all sorts of things." PANEL 7: A close up of one side of Gwen's face, her eye looking to the side, knowing that Dell is behind her, concerned and waiting. "Like--," she says. PANEL 8: She leans in towards the phone, gritting her teeth. "--Palisman carving, maybe?" PANEL 9: Eda and Lilith clash. Eda blocks with her staff as Lilith comes at her with her own. "Mom, I'm busy!" Eda cries. "Just spit it out!" "Okay, okay!" says Gwen.

PAGE TWO PANEL 1: "It's about the family business." "What about it?" "Well," Gwen admits. "Palisman carving isn't exactly as easy as it used to be." A close-up of Dell in profile. His head is lowered, expression sad. PANEL 2: A view of an old, hanging wooden shop sign for a shop named "Clawthorne Palismen". It was once a mark of a well-cared for business. It has hand-carved wings, fancy lettering, and a second, smaller sign below it, declaring, "Established 16--" something. But the rest is broken off. The sign is in disrepair, with a, "CLOSED," sign plastered on top. PANEL 3: "A lot of people associate palismen with wild magic these days," Gwen continues. What was once a small, quaint shop sits boarded up and falling apart. It's covered in graffiti, reading, "REMEMBER METANOY," and "WILD." In the foreground, people avoid it, whispering. PANEL 4: A large, desolate field of clear-cut tree stumps. "And with the deforestation of the palistrom forests," Gwen says, "sometimes I worry it won't be feasible much longer." PANEL 5: "But your father can't do it anymore…" A close-up of Dell's hand. It shakes and is covered in scars. PANEL 6: A close up of Eda, guilty and distraught. "...And you--," PANEL 7: A flashback. Eda's cursed form looms over her frightened father, snarling. PANEL 8: A close up of Dell, younger and terrified, one hand towards the viewer, trying to ward off his attacker, the other clutching the side of his face. /END ID]

[oobbbear]

An ask about your Orange Knife story. Who's the oldest doll/Who's been there the longest?

That would be Worm, she’s been with OK for 20+ years at this point

She wasn’t always The Worm tho she was a lot different when it all first started ;]

[vieoeil-riae]

okay so modern isekai reader but you're literally so silly. like silly goofy.

it appeals to the destined one since as sun wukong's mind he's also cheeky! he doesn't express it with words but over your journey you see it in the way he fights and the occasional stuck out tongue you can't help but giggle at because bro looks SO serious all the time then he pulls that kind of behaviour.

he matches your silly enough times for you to let loose around him, and you appreciate it sincerely in the pretty terrifying world you've found yourself in.

but he is still wukong's mind, as such, he's logically decided to keep you around for more than just your silliness, you've grown to mean a lot to him. you depend on the destined one (cute, makes him feel strong) and you've always talked to him like he was more than just "the Destined One", like he was a person too. he appreciated it very much.

all that to say, every iteration of sun wukong would end up with a soft spot for you. miraculously, even his broken shell.

you'd followed the destined one so far already, no way were you gonna bow out at the end even when you knew the risks.

predictably, your monkey friend got thrown around A LOT, and ended up just.... disappearing for a while after getting very familiar with the ground (you winced every time your poor monkey was slammed into the floor, especially when you really couldn't do very much to help)

so you stood there, a little way aways from the broken shell of sun wukong (who looked waaaayyy scarier in person, by the way!) and you were stock still, barely daring to breathe because if you pissed him off you were royally screwed.

he noticed you though, and you could feel your chest sink inward. fucked, you were fucked. he started walking over, power evident in every stride and you were so fucked it wasn't even funny.

still though, silliness is unkillable even in the face of the fucked up and kind of evil looking version of the guy you've kind of wanted to kiss for the majority of your journey.

you held your hands up in front of you in a nervous sort of wave as he drew ever so close to you, the distance short enough to be crossed by one step. you smiled nervously, making sure to keep your teeth nice and hidden because you swear showing teeth was aggressive (something you were very wrong about) and stared up at him.

oh he was significantly taller than your monkey, he stared back down at you with a face unreadable.

warm, dry skin met your palms, sharp fingernails on rough fingertips curled over your smaller hands and you stared up in shock. he wasn't pummeling you to death?? not yet anyways, was he just taunting??

either way you couldn't help but feel a little flustered being pinned under his stare and held in his hands. at least for now, he was strikingly gentle as he pulled you into the area he'd just been fighting in.

you tensed up, for obvious reasons, getting dragged into the improv fighting ring by the scary looking broken shell of sun wukong was probably a bad sign. but he made no sudden moves and eventually you relented and let yourself be dragged by him.

a little while later when the destined one had managed to pick himself up from wherever he landed, he found you, in all your silliness, dancing around where the broken shell of sun wukong stood quietly but slightly swaying along with you as you sung some pop song badly and unapologetically. a moment of almost normalcy, except for the fact you were vibing with the guy hellbent on giving him a beat down.

how did you manage to do that???? he huffed, mildly exasperated and pretty amused, of course you'd manage that

continuing your legacy of silliness, sun wukong, whole again, smiled when you greeted him with a gentle bop to the nose