#and 'because they're easier to manufacture'

[clamoridoll]

i don't think her design is awful (though not really worth $75) but i wish they did something different with her hair, like put it up in a bun or something. it doesn't fit the formal victorion vibes, but historical accuracy aside, the black hair with the dark blue dress just engulfs her silhouette, y'know?

[odinsblog]

🗣️THIS IS WHAT INCLUSIVE, COMPASSIONATE DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE

Minnesota Dems enacted a raft of laws to make the state a trans refuge, and ensure people receiving trans care here can't be reached by far-right governments in places like Florida and Texas. (link)

Minnesota Dems ensured that everyone, including undocumented immigrants, can get drivers' licenses. (link)

They made public college free for the majority of Minnesota families. (link)

Minnesota Dems dropped a billion dollars into a bevy of affordable housing programs, including by creating a new state housing voucher program. (link)

Minnesota Dems massively increased funding for the state's perpetually-underfunded public defenders, which lets more public defenders be hired and existing public defenders get a salary increase. (link)

Dems raised Minnesota education spending by 10%, or about 2.3 billion. (link)

Minnesota Dems created an energy standard for 100% carbon-free electricity by 2040. (link)

Minnesota already has some of the strongest election infrastructure (and highest voter participation) in the country, but the legislature just made it stronger, with automatic registration, preregistration for minors, and easier access to absentee ballots. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded the publicly subsidized health insurance program to undocumented immigrants. This one's interesting because it's the sort of things Dems often balk at. The governor opposed it! The legislature rolled over him and passed it anyway. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded background checks and enacted red-flag laws, passing gun safety measures that the GOP has thwarted for years. (link)

Minnesota Dems gave the state AG the power to block the huge healthcare mergers that have slowly gobbled up the state's medical system. (link)

Minnesota Dems restored voting rights to convicted felons as soon as they leave prison. (link)

Minnesota Dems made prison phone calls free. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed new wage protection rules for the construction industry, against industry resistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new sales tax to fund bus and train lines, an enormous victory for the sustainability and quality of public transit. Transit be more pleasant to ride, more frequent, and have better shelters, along more lines. (link)

They passed strict new regulations on PFAS ("forever chemicals"). (link)

Minnesota Dems passed the largest bonding bill in state history! Funding improvements to parks, colleges, water infrastructure, bridges, etc. etc. etc. (link)

They're going to build a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. (link)

I can't even find a news story about it but there's tens of millions in funding for new BRT lines, too. (link)

A wonky-but-important change: Minnesota Dems indexed the state gas tax to inflation, effectively increasing the gas tax. (link)

They actually indexed a bunch of stuff to inflation, including the state's education funding formula, which helps ensure that school spending doesn't decline over time. (link)

Minnesota Dems made hourly school workers (e.g., bus drivers and paraprofessionals) eligible for unemployment during summer break, when they're not working or getting paid. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a bunch of labor protections for teachers, including requiring school districts to negotiate class sizes as part of union contracts. (Yet another @SydneyJordanMN special here. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a state board to govern labor standards at nursing homes. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which would set price caps for high-cost pharmaceuticals. (link)

Minnesota Dems created new worker protections for Amazon warehouse workers and refinery workers. (link)

Minnesota Dems passed a digital fair repair law, which requires electronics manufacturers to make tools and parts available so that consumers can repair their electronics rather than purchase new items. (link)

Minnesota Dems made Juneteenth a state holiday. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned conversion therapy. (link)

They spent nearly a billion dollars on a variety of environmental programs, from heat pumps to reforestation. (link)

Minnesota Dems expanded protections for pregnant and nursing workers - already in place for larger employers - to almost everyone in the state. (link)

Minnesota Dems created a new child tax credit that will cut child poverty by about a quarter. (link)

Minnesota Democrats dropped a quick $50 million into homelessness prevention programs. (link)

And because the small stuff didn't get lost in the big stuff, they passed a law to prevent catalytic converter thefts. (link)

Minnesota Dems increased child care assistance. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned "captive audience meetings," where employers force employees to watch anti-union presentations. (link)

No news story yet, but Minnesota Dems forced signal priority changes to Twin Cities transit. Right now the trains have to wait at intersections for cars, which, I can say from experience, is terrible. Soon that will change.

Minnesota Dems provided the largest increase to nursing home funding in state history. (link)

They also bumped up salaries for home health workers, to help address the shortage of in-home nurses. (link)

Minnesota Dems legalized drug paraphernalia, which allows social service providers to conduct needle exchanges and address substance abuse with reduced fear of incurring legal action. (link)

Minnesota Dems banned white supremacists and extremists from police forces, capped probation at 5 years for most crimes, improved clemency, and mostly banned no-knock warrants. (link)

Minnesota Dems also laid the groundwork for a public health insurance option. (link)

I’m happy for the people of Minnesota, but as a Floridian living under Ron DeSantis & hateful Republicans, I’m also very envious tbh. We know that democracy can work, and this is a shining example of what government could be like in the hands of legislators who actually care about helping people in need, and not pursuing the GOP’s “culture wars” and suppressing the votes of BIPOC, and inflicting maximum harm on those who aren’t cis/het, white, wealthy, Christian males. BRAVO MINNESOTA. This is how you do it! And the Minnesota Dems did it with a one seat majority, so no excuses. Forget about the next election and focus on doing as much good as you can, while you still can. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

👉🏿 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1660846689450688514.html

[elbiotipo]

I love when people talk about piracy and they're like "ooh, but if corporations made it easier to buy their 16-bit games they don't sell anymore, people would buy them instead of pirating them, they're losing money, I would buy them!" I wouldn't. I don't see why I should give more money to a gigantic corporation (especially one with such shady practices such as Nintendo or Ubisoft) just because they own the 'rights' to a franchise they didn't even come up with themselves, for a game and a console they don't manufacture anymore. I won't pay 60 bucks for a SNES game, and I won't pay 5 bucks either. I'm going to download and play it however I want.

[crippledasinfuckyou]

if you find yourself seeing "convenience" products and thinking "how lazy do you have to be to buy/use this", please take a moment to consider that 9/10 of these are in fact made for disabled people. one-handed or mechanical cheese slicers/graters, electric tin openers, pre-cut packaged food, and a lot of other things exist because there are people in the world who have no other option. who only have one hand, who dont have the strength to use a tin opener, who cant use a knife, who require things to be made a little easier in order to do them at all. and often they are then marketed as convenience products because selling them to the general public justifies the manufacture and development costs, while keeping prices low enough that they are accessible to those they're actually made for.

if your first thought is "this is for lazy people", please take a little time to re-evaluate what meaning and connotations you ascribe to that word, and whether you are inadvertently being ableist. it'll help make you a lot more understanding towards us and our needs in future.

[queen-mihai]

We only need a few rich people

And we need zero billionaires

The "need" in society to have rich people running around is mostly for entertainment value.

Let's say someone who earns $20 million a year due to some really popular product she invented and maybe some smart investments.

This person will never be a billionaire

BUT she will be a fun person to have around on some dumb TV show

"Oh yeah I bought myself a second yacht this year 😅. They're kind of a guilty pleasure of mine so I thought I'd splurge"

She's not rich enough to get around paying her taxes, which means she's probably giving 10-15 million a year or more straight to the government as taxes.

Now, she's paying the people who build the yacht, keeping them in business. They hire tradespeople and artists to make her ship nice, and those people go on to further stimulate the economy by spending the paychecks they earned building her yacht

She buys houses, clothes, cars, puts her kids through expensive classes, and sets aside a little nest egg so she can retire in comfort and her kids can go to school

That's not so bad. She's probably on TV shows talking about how fun it is being rich and everything. Maybe she gives some money to charity and people kinda wanna be like her.

You know what we don't need?

Someone rich enough to, instead of buying a car, buys the entire car manufacturer

We don't need someone who has enough money to stop paying their taxes and then pretend they still do.

We don't need someone who can spend a million dollars in a day and have it replaced that same day.

Spending money SHOULD hurt. Or make you feel SOMETHING.

If you're collecting money so goddamn fast that you literally can't spend it fast enough to ever see your bank account go down, we don't fucking need you.

If you're collecting that much money, your bank account should just be a wide open door where people can rob you all they want because you won't even notice anyway.

Are you a billionaire reading this? Give me ten million dollars and I'll think about shutting up. I won't, but I'll think about it.

You're gonna have to give ten million to every other person reading this though cuz they're probably not gonna shut up either.

You know what? Actually it'd probably just be easier to PAY YOUR DAMN TAXES. That would get a lot of us to shut up.

Try it. You might like it

[idolomantises]

Favorite character to write and draw in both of your webcomics?

Bugtopia

Favorite Character to Draw: Sorrel. His design is one of my personal favorites and it's really fun drawing certain expressions, especially ones that contrast his cynical personality. he's also the only Bugtopia character who regularly cycles through outfits. He never wears the same thing per episode. I also love the way his big, black moth claws contrast with the softer design.

Favorite Character to Write: Sorrel, Milan and Jasper (though I cant say too much on jasper yet).

Alluded to above, Sorrel is a very cynical person, but he fronts it with a very ditzy and manufactured persona. He's very selfish and can't keep a relationship, but he also has a love for films and art in general. He's also an overly protective big brother. It's also just funny writing his over dramatic moments. If his acting isnt above 110%, he'd rather be dead.

Milan is like... i mean this in the most affectionate way possible, very autistic and anti social. If Sorrel fronts his behavior with pretend friendliness, Milan is straight up hostile. She doesn't have friends, doesn't go to parties and despises her co-workers. I'm a big fan of characters who are clearly internalizing an issue and its fun writing moments where you can see the gears tick in Milan's head where she tries to register certain interactions. She's definitely going to be my most controversial character (I'd say Cale and Spike will be, but people tend to be more forgiving to male characters than female), but it will be fun to see if people are willing to warm up to her. Girl is a hot mess, but she's MY hot mess.

Monsters and Girls

Favorite Character to Draw: Powers, drawing pissed off expressions are my favorite and powers has a resting "i dont wanna be here" look. I also enjoy drawing her armor.

Favorite Character to Write: I know I said on the other account that Sera is my favorite to write for, but it's really a toss up between Powers, Sera and Lili. They're all so weird and wonderful to me. but in terms of the shorter, gag comics, Sera is is my favorite to write for because she's a million years old and still doesn't know what to do with a hot wife who loves her.

Sera, unlike Powers and Lili, kind of shows her whole personality, so she's also easier to write for. Powers and Lili have a lot of barriers they put up, so you actually don't really see the full range of what they're like.

[hollyhomburg]

Have you ever considered writing a regency au story? I feel like you would be amazing at it especially since your attention to detail is immaculate.

oh! i actually have a tiny little idea in my drafts- i will just post it here because i don't know if i'll ever finish it. Most of this was written after I watched the last season of Bridgeton. full transparency- this has no ending so be prepared to get to the end and want more. tw for spanking, age gap, themes of innocence and virginity and purity, marking, pack stuff and polyamory, also mentioned miscarrage!

Unnamed Regency Au (knj x reader) (backround ot7 x reader)

-I wanna write horny guilt with alpha duke namjoon in a bridgerton style a/b/o au who ends up in an arranged marriage with omega m/c only- dukes are allowed to take as many packmates as they want if they’re of lower status, but they are not allowed to mate or have pups with them.

-(although he had gotten a bit of untoward attention when he’d dragged viscount Jung along and convinced him and his omega to take up with him. alpha x alpha relationships are a little bit more taboo in this universe but tolerated on account of namjoon's rank)

-duke namjoon has no omega of his own despite the omegas in his pack- so he does what is expected of his station, finds one of good breeding, a true diamond untouched by all of the most pure hands only- has lived in a house of betas all her life, maybe he starts to court her but then can’t back out for this or that reason. but after a manufactured scandal where the mcs scheming mama or perhaps the queen- demands that namjoon marry her to save her standing-

-or else.

-And namjoon thinks, out of all the worse things, getting her away from people who clearly don’t have her best interest at heart- cannot be the worst. They've met and talked and danced together countless times over the season. if it weren't for her youth and the fact that it is her first year on the marriage mart, Namjoon would have little objection at marrying her. at least thats what his packmates tell him.

-and they're right, there is little reason why he should object only,

-it’s the hunger he feels watching her that has him keeping his distance. It feels like something feral, something dirty. namjoon is a gentleman but he feels his honor hanging by a thread every time he dares go near her. every time he catches her sweet scent on the air, a scent that no alpha has been allowed to smell but him.

-maybe thats how they meet- at the first ball of the season and namjoon cannot keep himself from telling the unmated omega how to apply the balmy scent blockers maybe even...helping her apply it. namjoon's fingers rubbing against her sensitive scent glands. A touch that burns and seems to stick to his hands for hours and hours and weeks after- until they meet again at another ball- and she very eagerly tells him- a good omega- eager to please eager to be good- that she's learned! isn't he proud! he doesn't need to protect her from any 'alphas of unscrupulous nature with improper delights on their mind' like he said before.

-nevermind the fact that one of those alpha's with improper delights stands right infront of her. An omega’s scent should be reserved only for their pack and husband, and yet- this unmatched omega- their scent is all namjoon can think about. It has his alpha clambering, begging to break free.

-Namjoon does protect her, keeping alphas away from her, any of them that would make a match to her. even if as he watches her from the shadows, a feral hunger unbecoming of a duke or civilized alpha building with every giggle.

-and then once they're married, you'd think that namjoon's guilt would be easier to bare, that he would feel better about taking what he is owed as mate and husband but...he doesn't break.

-Namjoon can’t think of debasing her, barely even kisses her on their wedding night, keeps her safe and pressed- just so- within the packs lavish country home where she wants for nothing accept her alphas company.

-the estate is wide and sprawling, with many many miles of gardens and wooded trails that keep her occupied and happy and…as far away from her husband as it takes for namjoon to stop feeling like he’s going to pop a knot in his britches if she so much as leans into him.

-And the rest of the pack! Namjoon has such a large pack- so against fashion. the m/c didn't meet any of them besides viscount jung when they where in town. There is no shortage of company at namkjoon's estate- either jiminie who wisks her away to measure her up for country dresses (thin and sheer- to tease the alpha)- jimin is viscount Jung’s omega- who was the omega of the house prior to her and namjoon’s mating (and who honestly still takes over most of the responsibilities of running the estate, only too happy to show the m/c the ropes and praise her for her choices in redecorating the lavender nesting room.

-and he's only mute to her quiet confidance- the young omega wife has many questions like- Why does her husband barely look in her direction? Why doesn’t he hold her hand or touch her cheek or take her on long romantic country walks like she reads in her novels.

-The only time he touches her is during balls- when the host and hostess are bound by duty to start the first dance, and namjoon’s eyes burn into her the whole while. His touches never wander, his hands never dip more than is appropriate or cling to her lialac colored skirts.

-she feels a little touch starved, a little unloved- but jimin tries to make up for it (and then scolds namjoon for it when he can sneak out of the nest room late at night and tell him off for not giving her affection. "She's freshly mated namjoon, her bond is still healing- if you don't sweeten on her omega- then they may reject you and the bond- regardless of what she and you both want. you don't want to make her mating mark sick namjoon- trust me, you don't" maybe jimin's hand hovers on his neck, and hoseok looks on, a darkness in his eyes that can't be helped by time

-(i'm thinking for their backstory, shortly after they mated hobi was sent away to war as commander, and because of the distance it was far harder on jimin adjusting to the mating mark, maybe they even lost their first pup because jimin's body was all screwed up- i know it's angsty but shush)

-She’s fast friends with the youngest packmate too- jungkook- who is more…casual with her than namjoon should allow. Jungkook is the only one whose not of noble birth- originally hired as stable hand and then earning the title of lord and a spot in namjoon’s pack after saving the alpha and the queens heir from a runaway horse.

-jungkook is…charming, shows her how to feed the horses sugar cubes and she shows him how to braid their hair- and then asks if she’ll braid his- long as it is. Although the others tease and he gets more than one long look from the staff over dinner, jungkook wears it all night.

-Jungkooks countinance is different than baron Tae- who delights her with tea and cakes and fine silks when he’s back from his travels, sweet sugary treats from cities far away. “Can I come with you next time you go?” Is immediately met with a “no” from namjoon, the tips of his ears red and his scent souring, he immediately excuses himself with a short “forgive me, I have some business to attend too with the viscount”

-that business happens to be pulling hoseokie into one corner of the manor and biting out his frustration- both sexual and otherwise, down the other alphas throat. “What do I do Seokie, how do i…be gentle when my alpha doesn’t want to be. I don’t want to hurt her.”

-“Bed her already namjoon and be done with it”

-“But her virtue-”

-“Namjoon, she is your wife and mate”

-“She’s barely out of pup hood hoseok”

-“As was jimin when we where wed,” viscount jung hesitates, “I do not believe you capable of the violence you are so scared of, namjoon you would not hurt a fly”

-“But-“

-“Enough, to bed with you to settle your nerves” hoseok doesn’t often get away with ordering namjoon around but just this once namjoon lets him.

-or prince min, another alpha and 30th in line for the throne that is countries away, who firmly takes her on those long walks she so desires to take with her husband, promenading with his strong arms wrapped around her waist, so firm and reassuring. Nothing if not proper. squeezes her hand and lets it go when she dares to cradle the scarred alpha's face.

-thats why yoongi was allowed to join namjoon's pack, his disfigurement was deemed too ugly for court, but the m/c doesn't think she's ever seen an alpha more gentle, more beautiful.

-another alpha who doesn't want her.

-“Namjoon has warned us, to be nothing but chaste and gentle with you” “he just wants to be careful with your virtue pup” “why? When my virtue is his?” “He’s a very, traditional alpha, he wants to do right by you and wait until you’re ready” "does he think me so young, so fragile that I cannot make the choice of if I am ready or not myself?”

-Okay so I know it’s horny, but is love if she got a little mouthy and yoongi was motivated to take her over his thigh and show her how disobedient omega's are treated in their household. her skirt and petty coat pulled up, tears in her eyes and slick on her thighs as he gives her gentle taps. She doesn't understand why her tummy feels so tight, why she feels so upset over it but also- petulant, needy.

-when he sets her down and pulls her skirts back in order and wipes her tears with his handkerchief and then drags her in for a quick nip to her scent gland. leaving her dizzy and nearly in heat from how good it feelt to have an alpha /touch/ her. nothing at all like how it felt to have the other omega's touch her.

-and she goes back a little teary eyed. a little upset, but jimin is there and she just laughs alone with tae tae when she talks about maybe /liking it/ and wanting yoongi to do it again but she doesn't understand. maybe both of them make her tell them and renact it out what yoongi did to her, all teaseing and falsely concerned. and both of them tell her that she's asking them when she should really be asking her husband, really, alpha has forbidden them from corrupting her.

-as if she wasn't already corrupted after they asked her to show them what yoongi did to her, hiking up her dress to show her reddened bottom, unsure why she's blushing, why their huffs of breath as they bend to look make her hands shake and her knees knit togeather.

-and of course that night, namjoon hears about it but can't really fault yoongi for punishing her, when he was especially gentle and maybe she's seen jimin get spanked before and had been explained the consequences of talking back because she "wanted to be treated as a full member of their pack"

-and maybe namjoon sneaks into her room to watch over her at night she lies awake. Wanting to turn and greet her husband but the one time she does…he runs, so she pretends to sleep while he sits in her sitting room and watches. His presence soft and so protective it makes her drowsy.

-sometimes one of the others catch him- hoseoks omega jimin who often sneaks into her room to nest with her, jimin in his fine silks that namjoon bought for him by the door, sharing a chaste evening scenting. “How is she?” namjoon is too hungry for information about her, too hungry for other things- which is why he must keep his distance.

-“She’s lonely your grace” “we’ve known each other for long enough jiminie” the same chide as always,

-“joon,” jimîn says, leaning against the doorway, “she’s curious, and I fear what secrets she will go about uncovering without her alphas hand to guide her in the right direction,” “jungkookie can-“

-“jungkook is nothing more than a pup and you know it, what kind of message will it send if you do not take what the queen has demanded is yours” and namjoon leans over her bed to get his hand on her cheek and it’s a struggle for her to keep her eyes closed and breathing undisturbed when he cups her cheek, long fingers skimming over it.

-“Can you really blame me? Look how peaceful she looks, how lovely, surely you cannot fault me for cherishing it, she looks so unbothered by ideals of love and my own short comings” “namjoon” namjoon smiles, sad,

-“every time I see her I want to draw her close, it’s maddening.”

-“So you stay far away?”

-"So i stay far far away."

(The only thing truly stoping me at this point is time- I don’t have time to give this the story it deserves)

[lemonisntreal]

My thoughts on Sing: Thriller! [finally]

I just want to vomit out some of the things on my mind because ohhh my god, do I have THOUGHTS-

Also! Link here to the short, for the people who want / need it 👍

NO WAY

THE BASTARD LIVES???

THE MIKE FANS WERE ACTUALLY RIGHT????

It wasn't just copium!

Kinda off topic, but this is getting me thinking on how different sized animal's seats are priced. Because they only grabbed one ticket I think, so I think they're literally sharing a seat [WHICH IS CUTE]. But does this mean that bigger animals need to buy more than one ticket? Or are all the seats just ridiculously big? Or am I crazy?

Also thinking of that one scene in Spongebob where Plankton gets sat on by Bubble Bass 😭

Tiny blurry Mike hehe looks like found footage

RAHHHHH

RAHHHHHHHH

Me when I see my fav for 2 seconds with zero speaking lines

Nana is eating also holy shit

EATING 👹

Also Eddie guiding her by the hand is sweet, I love their relationship so much aaywusjhisajhajk

He has such an obviously better relationship with her than he does his actual parents and I'm eating it upppppp

The "How hard can it be to fix a stupid tire anyway???" line was so aggressive, I'm taking this as character development !

She's an actually amazing actor in-universe and I love that

Meena Sweep

Also this set is clean as fuckkk- also a lot more realistic, but still very not LMAO

Also he's DOING A JIG AAA

The crunchy version is for my enjoyment specifically

HOLY SHIT I WAS REFERENCED /j

Also also.

Both GMO and Alice in Wonderland were really short plays from what we see, but I actually do think that this isn't how it actually goes in canon. When they're on the bus in Sing 2, the script looks pretty thick for one. And two- why would anyone pay for tickets for 4 minutes of show?

Like it just makes sense, you gotta understand my reasoning.

They couldn't put the whole 2 hours of play in the actual films, but I like to believe that's actually how it goes

That there's some story and depth to it as well [💀]

Reference. For later.

THE WAY HIS FACE SCRUNCHES DUDE DUDEUDUED

Meena Gunter and Ash are absolutely partying in the back bro

I wonder how often Meena finds herself in cars. Because like there's size, but also we know she just takes the bus everywhere. I don't think her family has a car, they all feel like they utilize public transit instead

Cars that are modified for bigger and smaller animals are probably more expensive and not mass-manufactured either

Not just height but weight limit is also something that needs to be kept in mind. Elephants are like a few thousand pounds.

I think it's just easier to have modified public transit rather than modified individual cars for that kind of load. I bet public transit has way more funding in the Sing universe because of this need too. Because there's also Rhinos, and Hippos, and Giraffes-

I'm getting lost in the sauce again.

HER NOSE SCRUNCH

She was AT that door. First one there, bouncing with excitement. Adorable. I wish Clay had speaking lines with her in this AGH

REFERENCE.

girl what the fuck are you doing here, your ass was NOT invited ‼️

The Infection AU would go CRAZY

Somebody needs to make that rightttt now, actually

I'm giving it some thought right now and how with a few tweaks this could be cool. Like I'd definitely make it so there were different phases, like the MLP AUs. And I'd keep the hivemind thing definitely, because I think that adds an extra terrifying aspect to it

Probably make the ooze stuff look more messy, eyes would be leaking the stuff, mouth.

Idk I'm just spitballing LMAO

The dog from under the table is actually terrifying

Rare sighting of angry Meena

ALSO WHY-

I have a complaint.

Why were they dancing.

For a full minute. With nothing.

No singing. Just instrumental. It dragged on for so insanely long. Like that's my one complaint about this short, is that the pacing is just absolute dogshit after they all get possessed. You can give me a Thriller reprise without making it look super awkward and boring. Why couldn't this have been a cool chase scene instead? Like actually keep up that tension you established?? Because like Crawly and Buster are just STANDING there now, and it's just like-

And then the actual chase is over so fast

Man.

HE'S SO STUPID LOOKING I'M GONNA CRY [positive]

the Borb....... [Buster orb]

I hate the "it was all a dream!" trope but I can't really be mad

I saw it coming from a mile away, and I'm honestly glad because it means that this isn't canon and we don't have to deal with random zombie shenanigans in the actual lore

Or maybe not because Crawly was literally possessed at the end but whatever. Not canon.

My final thoughts are that this was really solid! I feel well fed and very happy to get some new content of the sillies. I will most likely be drawing lots of Thriller stuff because WOW were some of those shots pretty. Overall, critically? C+ short [mostly due to that minute of almost nothing happening]. But my enjoyment level puts the grade at a B+ for me so [B is for Biased].

[meruz]

hi!! im sure ppl have asked this b4, but i scoured your asks tag for an hour or so looking to see if you answered anything abt it and couldnt find anything, so i was just wondering if youve made any posts on your process for making n selling merch b4? and how you know which franchises you can make merch for w/o getting into trouble w copyright n trademark stuff (hopefully that makes sense, im not sure,,,)

hi! got a bunch of asks abt merch stuff lately im gonna put it under a cut.

preface: i don't know if i'm the best person to ask about all this stuff because I'm doing merch on a strictly hobby basis LOL. I have a fulltime job which takes care of the bulk of my finances, I don't really make big quantities of anything and my main priority at cons is to just make enough money to see my friends in different cities at minimal expense. i pretty much always get a refund when i file my con taxes because my profit after all the deductions is like fucking..nothing.. lmao. So if you ultimately lose money following my advice don't blame me. OK NOW lets get into it

my process for making merch: when I have an event scheduled that I want to make merch for I start by brainstorming a bunch of stuff I wanna make. for mgscon this is what I wrote down in my sketchbook lol

i made a legend to denote which ones are actually just reprints. it gets easier to plan out merch when you already have merch. out of the new merch ideas here i actually only made like 4 of them. and out of the reprints i only reprinted like three. i also came up with like 4-5 other merch ideas after writing out this list that i actually did do. LMAOO UM. my point here is that nothing rly goes as planned.

when i get a merch idea i start with thumbnails what i want it to look like (sometimes this is based off merch ive seen before so its very realized and sometimes its really vague bc im kind of pulling it out of my ass)

then BEFORE i go into making the final art I research how I'm going to make the merch. whether its printing/constructing it myself or looking for a manufacturer. There's a lot of different places that you can get custom merch made, i used to go shopping around at local printing shops but nowadays it's really common to do it all online. For both these jet tags and the washi tape I did some of my own research into manufacturers and also asked friends for their contacts/referrals/recommendations etc. most manufacturers either have their specs/template publicly available or will give them to you when you ask. so once I've locked into a manu and gotten the specs I'll start designing the final art.

then it's sending it off and waiting! easier said than done.

i will say this process is a lot lengthier for some types of merch than others LOL. for prints... I've been doing prints for like a million years and I plan out almost none of it. I draw everything at print resolution so a week before I have a con scheduled I'll simply go through all the files I've accumulated since my last con, squeeze whatever drawings I want into standard print sizes lol (ie. 8.5x11, 11x17, 4x6 etc), and print them at a local shop. takes like a couple hours max.

how you know which franchises you can make merch for w/o getting into trouble w copyright n trademark stuff?

I mean. honestly I don't know. selling fanart is the kind of thing that IP holders kind of just let slide as long as they don't think they're losing a substantial amt of money on it. there ARE a couple franchises people avoid because they've been known to send IP lawyers after fanartists... disney is the big one and they're known for being pretty petty abt it... that's why you don't really see people selling fanart of the disney princesses at cons. ive heard pokemon will also crack down if your project seems to be making a lot of money lol, part of why i think a lot of pokemon fanzines operate on a charity basis. I do feel like the pokemon company has bigger fish to fry than someones artist alley table though so i wouldn't sweat it too much.

it's also generally considered impolite/bad taste to sell fanart of small franchises. webcomics and indie games especially if they only have like 1-2 devs who rely on the income that game makes.

I'm not a lawyer so you shouldn't consider this legal advice BUT I will say... I don't think you should let IP law stop you from selling fanart lol. especially if it's low quantities/not mass produced and you're not making crazy amts of money I think you kind of have a leg to stand on. Besides, most cases it seems like the worst you'll get is a cease and desist.

you Will notice that when people start turning their artist alley endeavors into a real business they'll generally ease up on selling fanart (the case most prominent in my mind is omocat lol). but i love fanart and thats why i will never make money and thats a promise [snake saluting gif]

SORRY IDK IF ANY OF THIS WAS HELPFUL. I've been doing merch and cons for a long time (10+ years lmao, you can find record of this on this very blog) and i think im kind of old fashioned about it. i recognize the artist alley/merch scene is a lot more demanding now than it used to be but start small at local low-risk events, online sales etc and work your way up and remember to have fun and itll be ok i believe this wholeheartedly.

its literally just layers of acrylic like any other dinky charm. I'm sure pretty much any manu that does acrylic charms could do it but this specific charm/template i did order through a group order server. they're pretty well known! heres a link to their twitter

@wheatormeat sorry for taking a full month to answer this... anyways. This is tricky because I've actually been changing up my sticker manu everytime LOL IDK if I've found one I actually love.

these ones i ordered thru an alibaba manu because I was jumping on a friend's group order to save on shipping. it was ok. they arrived a liiiitle late and printed a lil dark but i think thats kind of my fault LOL I use dark colors i always need to lighten things before i get them printed and i think i just didnt lighten these enough. otherwise i rly love the quality!

i realized i never posted these online and also this is not a good picture (the lighting in my living room sucks rn) but i printed these tmnt stickers thru stickerninja they feel really solid but they needed kind of a lot of space for the cutline. but their customer service was very nice and helpful!

these ones i got printed at washimill and i was so impressed with how fine their cutline is... pricing and quality of the sticker itself is alright they feel a lil flimsy? idk. but i do like the printing. i kind of elected to go with them solely because i was already ordering washi tape. A LOT of my manufacturing decisions are made based on how much money i can save on shipping tbh.

and thats my sticker manu reviews dont forget to like comment subscribe idk if i have one im gonna stick with forever or anything im rly indecisive. ideally id like a manu based in the u.s...? because im based in the u.s. and international shipping is pricey. but idk if i keep ordering washi tape maybe ill keep using washimill. who knows...

[trashpandacraft]

having sat down and spent a bit of time spinning on all the wheels, i have thoughts on them!

our first contestant: a sheridan scandanavian. kinda.

sheridan was an australian manufacturer in the 70s and early 80s, and this particular model is often mistaken for an ashford traditional. one tell that it isn't is the spokes on the wheel—a traddy has eight, and a scandanavian has six.

another tell is its tension knob, which i actually love—this is a lot easier to get a grip on than the ones that are just balls.

...there's also a nameplate identifying the maker and the model. but that's kinda where things get weird, because this? this is not what a scandanavian is meant to look like.

eagle-eyed readers may have already noticed that it's a double drive wheel, which is weird, because the scandanavian was only ever made as scotch tension. sheridan made a similar wheel, the macarthur, that was a double drive. my understanding is that these wheels were sold as kits, so as best i can guess, someone must have had a scandanavian and a macarthur, and at some point, for some reason, they dropped the macarthur's workings onto the sheridan's stand.

whatever she is, though, she spins nicely—works exactly like you'd expect, even after what was clearly a number of years of neglect. i'd like to get some more oil into the leather bearings, but she's in good shape. this one's a surprisingly slow wheel, even on the highest ratio, but will be great for plying and—more importantly—for @binchickencrafts to learn to spin on.

next up is the tarra...something. maybe the evelyn, but maybe the agnes?

she's beautiful, right? another tilt tension, too, which i like. lovely matching orifice hook with a little storage hole, and integrated bobbin storage, which i absolutely love.

so why's she weird? well. the evelyn was the evolution of the agnes, basically. agnes had a block for a mother of all, evelyn was shaped. agnes had a four-part drive wheel, evelyn had six. agnes had eight spokes on the drive wheel, evelyn had six.

this wheel, though. she has a shaped mother of all, an eight-part drive wheel, and eight spokes.

she also has a really neat flyer.

the flyer is part of what attracted me, to be honest, and no regrets. it needs shined up some more—i was eager enough to try her out that i cleaned off the worst of the rust with some vinegar, but it needs some more attention. those hooks, though, are fantastic. i think that they're a curse for a lot of people, because if one's lost, replacements are almost impossible to come by, but if you have them, they're so good. the screw loosens the hook and lets you slide it as needed, and you can get very close to either end of the bobbin—you can use the stationary hook to wind on right at the front, and the movable hook covers the rest of the bobbin easily. all my treadle wheels have been fixed hooks, so this was a new adventure.

this is the wheel in the worst shape, i think. she needs oiled up, but also needs to have the rear maiden reseated—it's loosened and has a fair amount of horizontal play, which doesn't give the best experience. i feel like when that's fixed, which won't take more than a couple hours and some wood glue, she's going to be a sweet spot of a wheel. even with the movement in that back maiden, i can get from worsted down to cobweb on her, so i'm really looking forward to seeing what she's like when she's been patched up.

finally: the pipy saxony.

please clap.

i can't overstate how small this wheel is. she weighs less than five kilos. that's like. a cat. that's a cat of weight. that's how much this wheel weighs. i knew when i bought her that she was a small wheel, but i hadn't realised how small, so i was a little concerned that she wasn't going to be very effective.

turns out joke's on me, because this teeny tiny wheel is an absolute powerhouse—as long as you want to spin finely. which is perfect for me, because i almost never use or spin yarn that's thicker than a light worsted, and even that's kinda pushing it. i'm the kind of person who knits jumpers out of sock yarn and owns multiple pairs of 1.5mm (size 000) circular needles.

this wheel wants to spin fast and wants to spin thin, and I *love* her. the wheel is weighted so it always stops ready to turn clockwise, and it's a string footman, and something about the combination of the two makes this an absolutely amazing experience. i spun for several hours, and my breaking point wasn't knee or ankle pain, but hip pain from sitting in that position too long.

how the heck does a wheel that—again!—weighs like ten pounds manage to weight anything?

it's easy to miss, but in that first picture, there's integrated bobbin storage again, with room for one on each side of the wheel.

the tension system isn't like anything i've used, and can be adjusted both vertically and horizontally. the tension peg does what you'd expect and moves the slider block (and the mother of all on it) closer or further from the wheel, but you can also move the mother of all towards you or away from you to better align it with the wheel.

she's just really nicely designed. look at this incredibly tidy bobbin release!

for the specific things that i spin most frequently, i'm pretty sure that the pipy is going to be my go-to treadle wheel, though i expect the others will see plenty of use, as well. and my eel wheel certainly isn't getting retired—my somewhat broken body is never going to let me use a treadle as often as i'd like, and there's a lot to be said for the ability to spin while watching television in bed. but i'm really excited to have these, and to use them when i can, even if it's not as often as i'd like.

i know that a lot of people are really dubious about buying used (especially vintage used) wheels, but i feel like they're often underrated. there's a lot of cool wheels out there that are as good or better than what you can buy in a store, and it's worth investigating it, if you're able to. (it's also worth noting that buying all three of these cost us less than half of what buying a single new ashford traditional would cost.)

finally, you want to see my favourite thing about the pipy? i saw someone complaining about this the other day, that their wheel's prior owner had 'gouged' it. but look.

that little gouge means someone else loved this wheel so much that their yarn wore a channel into the wood. and as soon as i stop holding my yarn back, it slots straight into place.

right where it's meant to be.

this wheel is older than i am—they're dated, on the bottom, and she was made in july 1972. she's only had one owner, a woman who used to teach spinning, but is elderly now and can't spin anymore. her daughter delivered it to me, and told me that this was her mother's last wheel—she'd gotten rid of the others, slowly, but held on to this until she was physically unable to treadle. fifty years! that woman spun on this wheel for fifty years.

i'm old enough that i don't imagine i'm going to get fifty years with it, but maybe i'll get lucky. either way, hopefully in another fifty years, someone new will be taking their turn, weirdly touched by the idea that this wheel has been so loved.

[ms-demeanor]

Hey! I appreciate your perspective on computer-based things. I think I need to get a laptop and would love your opinion on decent brands. If you don't have an opinion or want to answer please disregard the q.

Context: I'm often on the move and really want something small, light, and that will last a long time. I'm bad about buying new things or taking things to be fixed so ideally it's not something that dies quickly or needs frequent repairs. For a while I used an iPad for this but I need more of a keyboard than tablets have and the shelf life of an iPad is shorter than it should be for the cost. Mine is 7 years old and only works while plugged in... I liked my Macbook Pro I got for college but it's almost 15 years old and given I haven't needed a new one since I don't think spending all that on a Mac makes sense either. I use a gaming PC mostly but I'm going to need to travel a lot more in the upcoming year. I'm ok to spend up a bit since I want it to last.

I think you're going to have to adjust your expectations about the average functional lifespan of electronics. Seven years is a lot to get out of any tablet and fifteen years is way way way above average for a computer.

At work we estimate that the functional lifespan of a laptop will be around five years and the functional life of a desktop will be around seven years; we include upgrades in that lifespan, like adding RAM and storage.

It is not *unusual* to get more than five years out of a laptop or seven years out of a desktop, but if you are a heavy user of anything other than a browser and a word processor, that's about the time when you'll find that the computer feels slow enough to be frustrating. This isn't a hard limit, and it's not something that everyone experiences because people use computers differently, but if you're an artist and you use a drawing program that program will start to feel slow after a while because as updates and patches and drivers have been tweaked for newer devices they've slowly left your device in the dust.

This isn't planned obsolescence, by the way. Computer manufacturers try to "future proof" their devices to a certain extent, but you just can't anticipate certain kinds of changes. Maybe your laptop was manufactured before there were consumer SSDs available so its operating system doesn't take the advantages and limitations of SSDs into account. Maybe your desktop was built for DDR3 RAM and we're now on DDR5 and people aren't writing programs to the standard of the old technology, they're taking advantage of the standards of the new technology.

Since you were able to use your devices comfortably for such a long time, it sounds like you're not a very heavy user and don't need to worry too much about beefing up your specs. However it does sound like you want to keep your computer and use it as long as possible while paying a reasonable price for it (which is good! I think we should all try to extend the lives of our electronic devices as much as possible!).

I actually think you sound like a good match for a Framework laptop.

Framework is a company that makes laptops that are a lot more modular than what's on the market these days. They're mean to be easy to open up for upgrades and sturdy for heavy use. Most of the parts of the laptop are easily replaceable - including the screen - so you can use them for a long time and easily make upgrades that will help the computer feel fresher.

They're a bit more expensive than comparable PCs but much easier to repair if you aren't comfortable opening up your own computer (framework is intentionally built to be easy for people who are non-technical to work on their computers), and they are a LOT less expensive than comparable macs.

I still think you're probably looking at around 7 years of regular use out of a Framework and it won't *break* at that point, it will just. Probably be a bit slow and frustrating. You might not be able to get parts for it after a certain point. You eventually won't be able to upgrade the OS. But that's true of all computers.

I've still got my 2005 macbook. It still turns on, I can still use garage band on it. But it doesn't connect to the internet and uses such an old USB standard that it is extremely slow to transfer data on or off of and it cries and freezes if i try to use photoshop. It's not broken, it's just no longer useful as a daily computer.

What I'm defining as functional here is "Is able to run multiple programs (including at least one browser with 50+ tabs open and two office suites) at the same time for 8-10 hours a day without crashing, freezing, or losing data and restarting is not a major inconvenience."

In those terms, it does sound like you're probably in need of an upgrade (I can't imagine that your current machine is particularly quick) and I think that a framework laptop would suit your needs well.

If you're looking for something somewhat less expensive, you can generally find a decent thinkbook with a 12th or 13th gen i5 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 500GB SSD for around $700-ish, which is the low end of what I think you're going to pay for a decent laptop. I'm reccing lenovo here because I personally like them and have found them to be very easy to crack open for repairs and upgrades. Stick to the thinkbook over the thinkpad because that's the business line and is a bit sturdier and they are designed to be easier to upgrade over time.

Actually, here's a thinkbook with a 12th gen i5, 40GB RAM, and a 1tb SSD for under $700. That's a shockingly good price for that laptop; the reseller OEMGenuine is one I've purchased from many times before for work and I've found them to be reliable, though the reason those specs are so good is because they've added aftermarket parts, so your RAM and SSD won't be under warranty from Lenovo.

For Framework you're looking at at least $1000, but it's easy to plug and play with upgrades so you can start out with lower specs (except processor, don't cheap out on the processor) and upgrade later. The framework is a bit smaller and easier to travel with, but I have a laptop quite similar to the lenovo and it's not a huge pain to move around - it's very light but the 15" screen might be bigger than you're looking for.

If you're willing to spend a little bit more and you're very uninterested in doing your own upgrades and would prefer the most computer you can get for your money right out of the gate, this is a 12th gen i7 thinkpad with 40GB RAM and a 2TB SSD for $1150. (I've not ordered from this reseller before, so maybe check over their terms if you're considering purchasing from them.)

[ghouljams]

Can you tell me more about the corset thingy like how long we can wear them or what kind of material suitable to replace the bra

Yeah I love talking about corsets.

So I will start out by saying corsets aren't for everyone, and there's a definite learning curve to them. There are also definite draw backs to corsets that I will get into briefly, but can be compensated for.

What you're looking for in a daily corset is going to be a cotton fabric, that you can wear comfortably under your clothes but over something like a tanktop. You want an "overbust" corset that's going to cup your breasts comfortably, and keep them in place. Most corsets these days are made for "slimming" but that shouldn't be your goal when corset shopping.

My personal favorite corset shops are: Timeless Trends, and Mystic City Corsets.

It's important to note that before bras, corsets were made to the individual's measurements so they were literally made to fit. These days it's all about knowing your measurements yourself, but there's still a LOT of variety in corsetry.

So the reason I advise a cotton corset is because they're more breathable, they're more comfortable against the skin, and they clean well.

For fit: you want something that feels like a tight hug. You should be able to breathe fairly normally in your corset but you'll have a little trouble bending over at first. You will NEED to season your corset. Seasoning is just breaking in the boning and making it contort to your specific body shape. This means 2-3 hours of daily wear for the first two weeks and then building up your time slowly. You want your body to be used to the corset before you start wearing it for 8 hours a day.

Corsets provide back support as well as breast support, a lot like a back brace, but this can also lead to some core weakness if you're relying on the corset to "lift" you. It should be lifting your breasts, and you shouldn't be slouching in it. It's something to keep an eye on, but isn't something to worry about. If you're taking care of your back, and using your core to stand up straight you won't have any issues.

A good corset is going to be pricey. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, there's a reason bras became more popular. Corsets get hot, they're a lot of fabric, and if you're not used to them they can be incredibly uncomfortable, but they're also just underwear.

There's so much bad press around corsets these days, and a lot of it is so perplexing to me.

Did you know men hated corsets? Yeah. Hated them, because they were an added barrier between them and the woman they were attempting to grab.

Did you know only noble women tightlaced? Most women who wore corsets/stays wore them only as tight as they needed to keep their tits where they wanted them. Hell women worked in corsets, they couldn't afford to be out of breath like the noble ladies could.

Did you know that many corsets were tied with a single lace to make it easier for women to tie them themselves? Also corset hooks were common in a lot of ladies rooms to help them tighten the corset by themselves!

Look bras are... fine, I mean I try not to wear them when I can but I'm also part of the tiny tittie committee. They're more practical for large scale manufacturing, and they're easier to market at 1/4 the price of a corset.

If a corset isn't right for you, I highly, HIGHLY, suggest measuring yourself or getting fitted to find the right bra size for you. It changed my life and I lost a lot of the shoulder pain I was getting from wearing the wrong bra size. A Bra That Fits will do all the math for you with a few really simple measurements. No one (outside of sewing classes maybe) really teaches you how cup size is determined so most people just sort of wing it, and it can end up putting you in extremely uncomfortable bras.

Just in my personal experience with ABTF I went from an A cup to a C cup and my bras fit SO much better now. My boobs didn't get any bigger and they don't look any bigger in the bra, but the bra actually fits and holds everything the way it's supposed to. Don't be afraid to be comfortable, and don't be afraid to do right by your body.

[hellenhighwater]

Hi Hell, congrats on the exciting foster kitten news!

I just applied to adopt a kitten and had my interview for her today. The woman seemed most interested in convincing me of how terrible dry food, traditional litter (she preferred clay), and tap water is for cats. She said the carbohydrates and ingredients were terrible for their kidneys, the dust in litter is bad for their lungs, and the chlorine in water is harmful. I have a 12 year old cat named Scipio who has been using those things all his life, and now I feel guilty and scared for his health. He seems perfectly healthy to me but she said “cats are stoic.” What do you use with the Tiny Terrors? Is she extreme?

Well, I'm not a vet, so the actual answer is that your cat should be getting what their doctor recommends. But I've had those conversations with people before, and I can give my two cents--just take it with a grain of salt.

So...it's basically always true that you can spend more money on fancier 'health' options and there is, to some extent, benefit to the pricier choices. But there's a point at which that benefit is pretty minimal compared to what you get for the midrange price options. This is as true for pet health as it is for people health.

It's true that wet food is usually a better option for cats. Among other things, it helps them stay at a healthy level of hydration, can be easier on their digestive systems, and is often more palatable for cats who are elderly or have dental problems. But that doesn't mean that dry food is inadequate--Mal and Vice used to split a can of wet food daily, and graze dry food whenever they wanted. They're currently eating almost exclusively dry food, because Vice is on a sensitive skin and stomach diet to help address his overgrooming. I would avoid the bottom-end dry foods, because they seem prone to contamination, but that's more manufacturer quality than an issue with the dry food generally. Dry food is usually a nutritionally complete way to feed a cat, and there's nothing wrong with it.

Mal and Vice drink tap water. They have a bowl of still water, and a fountain with an inbuilt filter. The fountain is because if they don't have running water, they will make running water by splashing their bowls all over. I can't speak to chlorine but it's definitely healthier than drinking out of puddles, which is what they would be doing if left to their own devices.

They use clay litter because that's what's effective and affordable. When I'm changing it out I generally give it a few minutes for dust to settle before I let them at it--someone always wants to make a deposit in the clean box--but there's pros and cons to all the litter options out there.

In a perfect world with infinite resources, I'd be feeding the cats a careful balanced diet of fresh-prepared meats and filtered spring water, and they'd take dumps in a tiny kitty toilet that cleaned itself without my help. But that's not really practical or achievable for me, my life, or my cats, and frankly, it's not necessary. I want them to have a good life. It doesn't need to be a perfect one. If your cat is doing well, and their vet is giving them a clean bill of health, you probably have nothing to worry about. I'm not a professional; you should consult your vet and research options for yourself (which is what I do) but you're not doing anything wrong here.

I will say that when I was going through the process of adopting Mal and Vice, some places (usually private rescues) wanted me to jump through INSANE hoops to even apply. I respect that their hearts are in the right place, but... There are hundreds of kittens in shelters right now that need homes desperately, and the quality of the cat has very little to do with the quality of the rescue--they might have more or less vet work done, depending on where they're coming from, but nobody's managed to fundamentally change the nature of the beast. If you can provide a safe home, food, clean water, and attention to a cat, that's really all they need. The rest is just gravy.

[lavender-romancer]

Loving girl

Tommy Shelby x reader

CW: suicide mentions, grief

You've always known you would be a better partner for Tommy, after Grace died you had to reassess your motivations for being close to Tommy because he needed a friend more than ever before

”*°•.˜”*°•. ˜”*°•. ˜”*°••°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜.•°*”˜

When you were younger it was easier to deal with the unrequited feelings of a teenage crush. Everyone has those feelings when they're around 15, it's not unheard of for them to go away after a few years or even months. But this was incomparably different. You didn't know how to express your feelings in a coherent way to him, the way you had always shown affection towards him was support and material things like buying him cigarettes or baking him something. There was no way to vocalise your feelings because you were so awful with expressing yourself. Instead turning towards sexual and substance based distractions which would allow you to forget about him for a moment.

Tommy didn't care for labels unless there were children involved, he didn't have girlfriends only women he fucked. Grace became his wife because of Charlie and you didn't know if it would have been different if she wasn't pregnant. Tommy Shelby expressed fondness for Grace but nothing which you would call love, responsibility was more important to him.

You so wanted the story of the two of you to end happily, the teasing that the two of you got from the Shelby brothers was enough to make you hope there was something there but it was a story. A story that you liked to manufacture an ending for rather than feelings based in fact. Tommy saw you as his closest friend but since that wouldn't be too popular with his new wife you'd been seeing each other less and less over the years. You still saw the other Shelby's and Michael at the Garrison most evenings and at work but Tommy was scarcely around.

Everyday felt prettier when you saw Tommy, when he was in a room with you it made you feel instantly more comfortable. It had been this way since you were younger, racing to meet him after school and go on a walk together before having dinner at Pol's house. The memories of your youth where your minds just contained an emptiness of anxieties that you'd experience later in life. You'd never seen Tommy quite as anxious as when you saw him after Grace had died. It was the first time the room didn't feel prettier with him being there. you could appreciate the stoic dimness of the lamp on his desk and how the grand windows let in a beautiful amount of light but… just the bags under Thomas' eyes indicated how sleepless these nights had been.

"Got these for you and made you some stuff, don't worry if you don't eat it," you softly placed two packs of cigarettes and a tin of pastries on his desk.

"Thank you," he said gruffly with a nod, immediately looking at the packaging of the cigarettes "The posh ones eh? Spending all that money on me?" He showed the hints of a smile and you took it gratefully.

"I mean, clearly in a slum like this you could do with the glamor of taste," you said sarcastically and he scoffed.

"You always have the worst attempts at humor I've ever heard." Tommy sat back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh shut up, now give me one of those and we can chat," you held your hand out and Tommy handed you a cigarette which you lit after you sat down on the chair in front of him.

"Chat, hmm? We haven't done that in a while have we." Tommy reminisced.

"I meant to apologise about that. I should've made more of an effort to see you." You pursed your lips uncomfortably but Tommy waved you off.

"Not at all, she wouldn't have liked you being here anyways. It was a good decision, jealousy can fester from any corner of a friendship." Tommy lit his own cigarette.

"How has today been?" You asked.

"Just as shit as the others. My never ending guilt and the wish I had died instead is still such a strong feeling," he paused "Do you think it will ever go away?"

"That's a lot to ask of your unconscious thoughts, Thomas. They're not usually that helpful in normal situations." You smiled at him and he nodded.

"I thought so, Charlie will now grow up without a mother and that's one thing I can't fix with all the money in the world. It's so frustrating." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"How is Charlie?" You changed the subject because you feared that line of conversation would go nowhere.

"You're doing that thing you do again," Tommy looked like he almost smiled.

"What thing?" You narrowed your eyes at him.

"The way you change the subject when I start getting emotional so I don't actually get there," he commented and you shrugged.

"It's what friends do isn't it." You took a deep breath in and out.

"You're too considerate for your own good, Y/n." Tommy tapped the ash off his cig and looked into your eyes.

"Only to you," you said quietly.

"I know, I appreciate it. A lot," he paused "I always wondered what it would be like to have that amount of consideration all the time."

"What do you mean?" Your palms began to sweat.

"Just when I'm imagining a world like that, you know? With more people like you," Tommy paused and smiled sadly at you. "It would be infinitely better than what we suffer with now."

"Tommy… you've drank too much today," you said cautiously looking at the half empty whisky bottle on his desk.

"And yet, I'm thinking clearer." He suddenly stood up and walked over to the window.

"What are you thinking about?" You asked.

"How I want to burn it all," he said in a stoic voice and you could have shivered at how serious it sounded.

"Well I don't think arson would be the best move for you next." You smiled to yourself and he let out a small closed mouth smile before leaning the side of his head against the window.

"It's something Michael said when I met him again, that if he saw the pretty white brick wishing well in his old village again he would blow it up just to see the bricks everywhere. I want to do the same thing to this fucking house half the time," Tommy closed his eyes.

"But this is now Charlie's home, you have to think about consistency with his life from now on." You reasoned and Tommy nodded slowly.

"He's the only reason I haven't done it. The only reason I won't." He walked back to his desk and sat down before pouring another whisky as well as one for you.

"Thank you. So, what's next?" You asked, sitting back on the sofa nursing your glass.

"Business, business, business I think. It's the only way I know to distract myself from the enormity of this fucking house and all the fucking loss that's occurred throughout it." Tommy sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why don't you tell me about it? The loss I mean." You proposed and Tommy sounded like he scoffed at the idea.

"Turning into my personal shrink now are you, eh?" He asked.

"I'm being a friend." You said simply and he nodded.

"You're right, but I'm not the man for those kinds of conversations. I don't know how to verbalise any of it," he took a drink. "I do sometimes wish we could go back to being 14, lying in wildflowers without any issues we couldn't solve with a bit of practical thinking. Everthing is so fucking hard now, Y/n and I don't think I can cope with it for much longer."

"You don't mean that, we were just innocents but, we all have to grow up at some point and you decided your life path when you got married and had children within the marriage. You can't back out now to go back to a simpler time or something," You placed the glass down and walked over to the desk.

"Why do you fit so well together?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You're so reasonable and caring and you want to help me even though I've been a terrible friend. You like your job and your house and your social life, everything fits together so well. Whereas I always feel like I'm on the verge of the end everyday." Tommy looked up at you and you shook your head.

"You know I'm even better at lying than you are. That's how I do it, fake confidence, fake togetherness. Whatever it takes to get me through the day because eventually it feels normal to me." You reached over and touched Tommy's hand.

"I used to crave a normal routine but then after the war I couldn't deal with the plague of silence that comes with it. Everytime I would have normality it would be colliding with some kind of crisis I created to make my own life more interesting." Tommy rubbed his temple with his other hand and you frowned.

"And what does wallowing in it do for you?" You asked.

"I know, it's fucking deluded of me. But I don't know how else to get through. How do you deal with grief?" He asked.

"Talking about it for a start, I don't know…screaming sometimes works. When my mum died I punched a wall." You laughed and Tommy smiled to himself.

"I can see myself doing the second thing at least, talking about it makes me want to commit. It's just…so fucking sad because Charlie's mum's died when it should've been me. It was a bullet meant for me." Tommy sighed and you walked around his desk to stand in front of him.

"Come here," you beckoned him to stand in front of you and he slowly got up and straightened his waistcoat.

You pulled him into a deeply needed embrace, Tommy hadn't received any type of comfort that had actually worked until now. He cried. He cried for the mother of his child, he cried for the fact that he didn't love her. But most of all he cried for himself, his own shame at being alive.

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[leoruby-draws]

Finally, I can introduce Indigo aka Brainiac 8! Last one, and with this I've done 8 straight days of posting. Not the best week (pretty shitty tbh) but posting these helped take my mind off all that horrible shit. Hopefully it helped a little for you too.

A villain turned hero (then villain again) who comes from the future and tries to make the future belong to Brainiac! She'll be fulfilling the superman role in the group! Best of all, she has pink hair! Yes that's important (no its not lol)!! You know how long she's been in the drafts? Since more than a year ago!

In my last post, I was considering making a oc that would fulfill what I would like for my superman expy of the group but decided against having an oc for that, but ironically I did find a character who was pretty similar to her. The fact that she was actually a 'child' of Brainiac made her, in a way, more perfect for the role. A lot of the kids on the TrWh Outlaw team tend to be stuck on the border between good and bad, so Indigo will have company in that regard. I think at a later point she'll also start making friends with her outsider teammates from the comics as well, I've got a couple of drawings of them as well. I'll post them later tho.

Indigo's personality is split, because just like in the comics, she actually has two sides to her. A sweet, inquisitive, innocent but manufactured side and her 'real' personality, an evil monster bent on enacting Brainiac's plans. Her entrance is similar to the comics, she comes blasting in from the future to try to kill Donna. Unlike in canon, Indigo fails. Cyborg helps rewire her and Donna tries to figure where to place her. Donna then thinks of those Outlaw rascals making trouble everywhere and gets an idea...

Here was where I was working out her costume, I gave her a black dress cuz of her canon black outfit, but it felt kinda boring no matter what I added to it. So I changed it up. I also gave her a human disguise, for whenever she wants to blend in. I also tried to give her a name of sorts 'Aryrl Dox', tried to make it sound like Ariel but don't know if it works.

Also her hairstyle, I kinda styled it after Yukino from KareKano. Yukino was someone who tried to create a secondary facade to fool her classmates into thinking she was perfect. Her obsession for maintaining two different personas gave her a similarity to Indigo, so I thought it'd be funny to give her hairstyle to Indy.

Also with Indigo being the superman of the group, this means Jason/Vanessa/Indigo are the trinity of the TrWh Outlaws. Seems like Vanessa doesn't feel too comfortable around Indigo.

And Vanessa isn't the only who's uncomfortable around Indigo. Karen, Kara, and Brainiac 5 seem rather apprehensive about her. I said earlier that the story that introduces her is similar to canon, where Indy flies in from the future to kill Donna. Since this happens earlier in canon, the plot point from Graduation has to be different. My idea was to have it happen in a ceremony where the heroes(Justice League?) formally establish Steph's and Tim's hero teams (Jason's team mostly rejected doing this, much to Toni's chagrin). A lot of heroes were there so a lot of people saw the destruction Indy brought, so she's currently got a pretty bad reputation atm.

Also I made Indigo's outfit more similar looking to Supergirl's, perhaps its her way to make herself easier for others to accept her.

More Indy's and a little moment between her, Jason and Vanessa. I imagine they're closer to 13/14 here. You can also see me putting her in her canon hairstyle, maybe I should've stuck to it, much easier to draw tbh.

Also here's a bonus little comic under the read more:

A fun comic showing how Indigo comes blasting into the team's life, Donna can't help but find this all rather amusing. As for why is Donna introducing Indy to the team? Well I figured it would just be like her to want to help this child, even if that child tried to assassinated her. Doesn't every child deserve the chance to make friends and be happy? It's a major reason why I like making this au, giving lonely young heroes a more happier life.

A little bit of an epilogue here. It was very important to me that at one point Jason would meet a character that basically 'beats' the shit out of him and then would make him laugh. Basically a parallel to his own meeting with Bruce, at least one meeting like this had to happen! What better character than the girl who doesn't know what humor is yet? I think they're gonna be great friends, lets hope these happy times last forever...

And with that, my 8-day streak of posting is over!!! My poor poor hands, I think I'll skip next week honestly.

Well, I hope you enjoyed all of that, and I hope you all stay safe out there!!

[dittography-direwolf]

I think one of the reasons so many people think that deep, widespread political corruption and dissatisfied people reacting violently against it is some sort of recent phenomenon, that only set in towards the last half of the twentieth century, is that it wasn't until the widespread availability of cameras (and the increasing use of movie cameras) that the government began to lose its ability to retroactively manufacture consent.

Most governments, especially the American government, were previously able to just sort of whip out enough propaganda and rhetoric and enforced teaching that even if they couldn't convince people that everyone but them was satisfied at the time something was occurring, they could declare everyone was on board with it after it happened, in a sort of mass gaslighting, and continue to manufacture that consent.

It's how we wind up with the idea that during the American Revolution, loyalists were a tiny handful of misguided fools, while the Revolutionary army was all deeply committed to the entire cause start to finish and there wholly on principle. Or the idea that the Civil War was unanimously popular in the North and they could barely deal with how fast people were rushing out to sign up to preserve the union and free the slaves.

Photos and video, and moreover the ability to distribute them, started dinging that. But in the context of human history, or even American history, they're a relatively recent phenomenon. That's why people find it easier to buy into the idea that America really was a great, united land once, ruled by benevolent public servant god-kings chosen wholly by the people, because America used to be able to portray itself that way, with the proof that it wasn't safely tucked away in less popular and accessible medium that could be declared to be subjective or lies.