#and have such unique stories

[novelconcepts]

I Saw the TV Glow is such a uniquely, devastatingly queer story. Two queer kids trapped in suburbia. Both of them sensing something isn’t quite right with their lives. Both of them knowing that wrongness could kill them. One of them getting out, trying on new names, new places, new ways of being. Trying to claw her way to fully understanding herself, trying to grasp the true reality of her existence. Succeeding. Going back to help the other, to try so desperately to rescue an old friend, to show the path forward. Being called crazy. Because, to someone who hasn’t gotten out, even trying seems crazy. Feels crazy. Looks, on the surface, like dying.

And to have that other queer kid be so terrified of the internal revolution that is accepting himself that he inadvertently stays buried. Stays in a situation that will suffocate him. Choke the life out of him. Choke the joy out of him. Have him so terrified of possibly being crazy that he, instead, lives with a repression so extreme, it quite literally is killing him. And still, still, he apologizes for it. Apologizes over and over and over, to people who don’t see him. Who never have. Who never will. Because it’s better than being crazy. Because it’s safer than digging his way out. Killing the image everyone sees to rise again as something free and true and authentic. My god. My god, this movie. It shattered me.

[datcravat]

It seems there's a new lawyer in town!!!

[seventeendeer]

ppl are too quick to point to laios' disability as the reason his friends think he's a freak sometimes. so many instances of laios getting yelled at are, in my eyes, a case of "this guy had to emotionally mature very early in order to be there for his little sister" combined with "much older friends who never had to learn to manage their own emotions to the same degree"

a lot of the time he's right about needing to be more direct/deal with things in a way that may seem scary/needing to put your gut reaction aside. he tries not to make his friends uncomfortable and he puts up with a lot because he's trying to keep the peace, but he also pushes the others out of their comfort zones purposefully to try to get them to think more constructively. everyone else in the party is prone to acting on their gut instincts and avoiding uncomfortable situations even when facing them head-on is very much necessary. part of what makes laios such a great leader is the fact that he knows from experience how to put his own feelings aside to help someone else grow.

yes, he does make a lot of social blunders by accident and he does struggle to connect with others, but not all of his positive influence on others is accidental or "despite" making people uncomfortable. a lot of the time, I think it's clear he knows exactly what he's doing and he's trying to help the people around him process emotions in a healthy way as they all go through some truly harrowing shit. all the main characters support each other as well as they can with their unique emotional skillsets. laios' skillset just happens to be "gently talk child into eating her vegetables"

[stars-obsession-pit]

Following an accident, Danny wakes up in Gotham City in a DC universe. Lacking any forms of ID or possessions beyond the clothes on his back, he’s forced to commit some crimes to survive. Minor crimes, but still.

And then he gets caught.

During the court proceedings, they come to the mistaken conclusion that he’s a Meta suffering from some psychiatric issues such as Cotard’s Syndrome (a real rare condition where a person holds the delusional belief that they’re dead/don’t exist/etc).

Thus, between his “need for mental treatment” and the concerns about housing someone with his unique physical traits, he is sentenced to spend time in Arkham Asylum. He’s under pretty low security aside from the anti-Meta stuff and has more freedoms than some other inmates, but it’s still not a great experience. Even at the best of times, Arkham is hardly a nice place.

Some of his fellow residents are decently chill all things considered, but lots very much aren’t.

[egophiliac]

I've had a beast of a cold for the last few days, but I wanted to get this out before the new year! while I've sort of made my peace with my first take on Lilia's UM poster, I really wanted to do a version with the new context that chapter 6 gave us. because. c'mon.

(don't worry, Lilia can carry ALL HIS KIDS AT ONCE)

[dykedvonte]

I think depictions of Anya being cruel to Curly or drawing out his suffering are artful and chilling but completely miss the point of the story and her character.

I'm not saying she doesn't deserve to have that "I told you so" moment with him but not in something callous or cold. Even if that is how it happened, she'd immediately feel guilty cause at that point she's not tormenting her tormenter or even the person truly at fault. She's doing something cathartic, similar to how Jimmy likely hits Curly to release rage he can't against the rest of the crew. She'd see herself as no different when she'd come back from the moment and see Curly cowering at her. She wants someone to take responsibility but how does being cruel to the defenseless help? Why would she want the power Jimmy has over her over Curly?

The idea of her extending someone else's pain is just so against the struggles she already faces and how she can't even bring herself to cause someone pain even to help them. Her very desire is to release herself from her own suffering and I doubt she'd even fine some sort of guilty release in being cruel to another.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

hi i love how rose is like 14-15 years old and idealistic and hopeful and makes stuffed animals on etsy and loves her mom and tries her best to be a good ally to the murderous alien, i love that she is a trans character so fiercely adored by her family and friends that even despite adversity she sees the best in people and the world. yeah maybe some of the girl power stuff felt a little tacky but goddamn i think a break in the cynicism is nice actually. rtd’s writing has always been steeped in loneliness and tragedy, but also in hope for the underdogs. i’m so excited to see what this new creative team does next :)

[zeldalizzy]

Mulan and Legend!! This one was so much fun! I definitely challenged myself with the background, but my favorite scene from the original Disney cartoon was the scene where Mulan's father sits with her on the stone bench beneath the cherry blossoms and encourages her. So, I kinda wanted to honor that in this one!!

I think that Legend would really respect Mulan; not only is she caring, smart, and kind, but she is also super tough and strong and a brave warrior!! She definitely could hold her own as Hero of Courage. So I think that Legend would really listen to her advice and her words of wisdom.

Sooooo I know the LU fandom loves to torture poor Legend, but I wanted to give him a break here 😂 He deserves it for sure!! Also, the pink flowers would perhaps remind him of... someone else, which would be a bittersweet moment for him.

I imagine that in this scene he kinda opens up to her about his own troubles and she encourages him with her own stories of her trials and successes, and how it all worked out in the end!

Anyways, sorry to ramble! I hope you all like it!! Thanks so much for your support!! Have a wonderful day/night! 🩵

[roboticchibitan]

Once again thinking about the ATLA post series (not in continuity with the comics) fanfic I'll never write that follows Azula going to work in Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se and her ensuing struggle with psychosis and realizing she was in the wrong and is just as much the victim of an abusive parent as Zuko was.

In this story Iroh tries to help her and at first she HATES it. She hates his kindness, she hates the sadness on his face when he sees her struggling, she hates all of it. At one point she snaps at Iroh to stop pitying her and he says, "Don't you know the difference between compassion and pity?" And she snaps back that they're the same thing and he replies, "You're wrong, Azula. Pity is simply feeling sad for someone's circumstances. Compassion is the desire for their circumstances to get better." And it hits her like a ton of bricks that this man, unlike her father, wants what's best for her. He's only ever treated her with kindness and she's disrespected him and called him weak for it and it's the most actual love she's ever received from a father figure in her fifteen years of life. And she wants nothing more than to cry in his arms but she can't yet because she doesn't know how to show weakness in front of anyone because of what her father did to her.

I see a post floating around sometimes where someone said that as a child, Azula is the scariest character, but as an adult, she's the saddest and I agree. She was 15. She deserves a redemption arc.

[trappedinafantasy37]

One of the things that had my mind spinning for a while is that in the Shadowheart origin, if you reject Shar, Minthara will apologize. She will believe that she and the rest of the companions held Shadowheart back from achieving her destiny. She blames herself for Shadowheart making a choice completely on her own, thinking that Shadowheart's concern for herself and others held her back. Minthara feels it to be her fault that Shadowheart is not as powerful as she could be and she is to blame for Shadowheart walking away from her destiny. Minthara sees herself as having failed for Shadowheart making the choice that she did.

I know it is cut content and cannot really be considered canon, but she does something similar in the breakup. Where she's yelling at Durge and asking why they rejected Bhaal. And Durge can tell her it's cause they love her. When the breakup was slipped in, I was initially so angry because Minthara calls Durge stupid for choosing love over power (when Minthara herself chooses love over power). Especially since the breakup happens like 10 minutes after the alurlssrin confession where she says the two of you have an unbreakable bond. I used to be so confused on why she would be so upset that you actually loved her. Then I realized that she's not upset that you love her. She's upset cause she fears that your love for her held you back.

Even though she sees you as her equal, she keeps putting herself as less than you. Where your wants and desires are more important than her own, and your greatness should be put above any affection you have for her. She wants you to love her of course, but she does not want to be what holds you back from reaching for power. To Minthara, power is safety and she has never felt safe. She wants you to keep elevating yourself cause the stronger you are, the safer you will be and by extension, the safer she will be. So you picking her over power means you are less safe and by consequence, she is less safe. And as much as Minthara loves loves, she needs to be safe first. It's why it seems like she keeps making the same dumb mistakes over and over, getting herself into precarious situations. It isn't because she's necessarily blinded by love, but she feels her proximity to power should keep her safe.

I also had a discussion with someone on Reddit, talking where it almost seems like Minthara keeps putting herself in positions of servitude, despite having some pretty ambitious goals involving world domination. We are talking about someone who has been a servant of Lolth her entire life. She tells us she was raised to be a soldier in Lolth's army and that was all she was meant to be. For 200+ years she was a servant and has never been anything else and doesn't know how to be anything else, and I believe she is too afraid to try to be anything else.

As a paladin, she was responsible for keeping social order, follow the word of whatever Priestess was in charge and enacting Lolth's will, partake in surface raids, and kill any of Lolth's enemies. There was very little room for her to achieve what she wanted, because Lolth had to come first. And even if there were things she wanted for herself, they still ultimately had to please Lolth in the end. Her time in the Absolute is no different. She just swaps the Absolute for Lolth and keeps up with the same shit (although she is too brainwashed to tell). So of course she is stunned when Lolth abandons her and the Absolute attempts to kill her and throws her deep into a crisis of faith. 200+ years of service has always bought her safety, until it didn't. So when you come along, she just swaps you for the Absolute. Telling herself, "I just need to be better than I was for the Absolute, better than I was for Lolth, and I should be okay." And her little rant about the gods, Lolth, Bhaal, the Absolute. Minthara is not anti-god. Minthara is anti-gods who do not reward their followers for their service. Because to her, service should be rewarded with something (other than death). She plays both sides when it comes to Shar because although she does think Shar is a poison in Shadowheart's life and believes Shadowheart is better off without Shar, at least Shar did reward Shadowheart for her service by making her a Dark Justiciar and elevating her to Chosen.

You would think she'd learn, but she doesn't. Not because she's stupid, but because her basic need for safety isn't being met. And so be fair, her "mistakes" with Lolth and the Absolute were relatively recent. So she keeps pushing people down the path of ruin and never going down the path herself directly, thinking that if she helps you become powerful, she will be safe. Where if she stands beside as you walk down this path, you will reward her for her service. Where she does not believe you would betray her because she helped you get that power. Where she thinks her service to you should buy her safety. Because to her, the most important thing she can be to you is useful. And she is terrified of being useless. So she provides you with unbreakable loyalty, devotion, and servitude, (and perhaps love). Where she will help you achieve your ambitions, whether it be to become a Dark Justiciar, the Vampire Ascended, the Slayer, or a god. Her path to safety, and greatness, and true power is forever lost to her down in the Underdark. So all she can do is help you walk down yours.

She keeps doing the same stupid shit over and over, making the same mistakes with people over and over, cause her fundamental need to safety is never being satisfied. And her service to various gods and entities technically did buy her safety, but only for an unknown period of time. And when she loses that safety, she thinks that the problem is her. That she was punished because she was not a good enough servant. That if she was a truly good servant, she won't lose your safety and your protection. And she thinks love interferes with your perception of her as a servant. She wants you to see her as a loyal servant first, lover second, because the only things in her life to be truly rewarded was her service, whereas her love got punished.

[tothesolarium]

Mourning Cloak is a normal mech that nothing bad could happen to "If you roll the same number on all three dice, you disappear until your group rests, at which point you reappear nearby."

WHERE DID THEY GO

[bacchuschucklefuck]

okay unironically I love so much that porter is like this world SUCKS its BAD here and it HURTS you why do you care abt it!!! and literally every single bad kid is like ngl we just hate ur ass it does not matter what ur philosophy is

[intotheelliwoods]

Little PSA

[creppersfunpalooza]

( @radvercity )

COMING IN AT 8TH PLACE, we have SAGE!!! i have nothing against sage i just have never interacted with him literally ever and know close to nothing other than the fact that he’s slightly more mentally stable than raymon, he’s a band kid, and he broke into someone’s house. all pretty green flags but alas…..

IN 7TH WE HAVE…. ELIJAH!!! i think he’s neat. he’s married or was married. i think he dies. honestly i like him a lot. he seems neat and pretty cool. and like he’d probably make really good tea for some reason idk. maybe it’s also the fact that (if i remember right) he’s a decent father to celo and i think that kid really needs it….

FOR 6TH PLACE, WE’VE GOT THE KID IN QUESTION!!! CELO!!!!! i fucking NEED this kid to be okay. i will start ugly sobbing. they are so squishy and also strange and i love him very very very much. need to save him. he gets the world.

AY… WE’RE INTO THE TOP FIVE NOW…. WHO WILL WIN??? WHO WILL TAKE HOME THE PRIZE OF A BLUEBERRY FLAVORED HONEY STICK????? WHO IS THE ULTIMATE FAVORITE!??!??!!??!

find out after a quick break from our sponsors!

————————————————————————

cube. THE cube™️. everyone wants it. it’s the newest thing. get YOUR pathetic guy trapped forever in a rotating cube today…. free of charge….

this ad was sponsored by Putting Guys in Cubes Because We Can. And It’s Funny. Watch Him Spin.

————————————————————————

WELCOME BACK! NOW, BACK TO THE RANKINGS!!! WE’RE IN THE TOP FIVE NOW!!!!

UP FOR 5TH PLACE IS NONE OTHER THAN YOUR LOCAL ELDRITCH GOD, JOCE!!! honestly they fought celo for this spot and won because everyone knows if i have an affinity for anything it’s fucked up gods (and mad scientists but that’s not on topic). like joce i understand u……. i get it….. it’d be awesome if you left my scrungles alone but at the same time like…. i get it. also very pretty eyes!!! i love it when i stare into the abyss and it stares back!!!!! thank you for giving these guys issues!!!!! i love you /p!!!!!!

IN 4TH, WE HAVE GRENADIER!! HONESTLY THEYD BE HIGHER BUT THESE LAST FEW UP TILL SPOT 1 ARE REALLY TRICKY BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM. but grenny’s got everything going for them. they’ve got an awesome design. they’ve got an awesome wife. they’ve got a thing for hot moms (respectfully). i also love the fact that they’re like. a fish. that’s cool as fuck. also their whole dynamic with joce from what ive seen is so awesome and id love to see more of it some time. love them. they’re so cool. everything about them makes me wanna sink in my teefs and rip off their skin :3

IM SORRY TO DO THIS TO YOU AND I SWEAR IT WAS PRACTICALLY A TIE BUT RAYMON, ONCE AGAIN YOU’RE COMING IN SECOND TO YOUR BROTHER (sorry that was mean), IN OUR 3RD SPOT!!! god where do i begin. i wanna dunk him in water. he’s so soppy…… so pathetic i love him dearly… anyone surprised by this high ranking underestimates my love of sad sad mentally unstable men. like guys he’s so squishy. also just the idea of him being totally fine with vian practically torturing him as long as vian does the bare minimum of complimenting him or smthn is so funny to me like god he is desperate for validation /pos. anyways moving on….

IN 2ND, MY FAVORITE GUY…. THE GUY…….. SLOANE!!! honestly like i was saying him and raymon were really close here. like the main reason he wins is because of his awesome mustache. like god that thing is unbeatable. like you’re telling me there’s a catboy and he’s got a mustache. deal. peak design. also i love how he’s absolutely terrible but still so lovable like god fucking damn i can’t hate him even if i try. he’s just so fun. he’s also so messed up and honestly that just makes me love him more. like wdym he’s hurt the people he loves and is also tormented by a god… that’s like my favorite things to be…. honestly i can’t even blame joce because if i could i’d also love to run sloane over with a train at full force and speed.

AND NOW, FOR THE FIRST PLACE SPOT, THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR…. THE ONE AND ONLY AMITIE!!!!! is that really a surprise. i think ive made it abundantly clear that this girl never leaves my mind. she’s always there. like god she is so relatable (she has killed before she has undergone so m) she’s so me. she’s so me. like girl we can ignore red flags together it’s ok. god i love everything about her. what the fuck do you mean she was a part of the mafia at one point and what the fuck do you mean she’s also dead and a streamer and a tgirl. she’s so iconic and i fucking love her. like she probably makes lameass references and i would watch an entire show just because she made a joke about it once. i cannot stand how much love i have for her i will explode. i am the number one amitie fan move over grenadier. the real reason grenadier isn’t higher is because i am JEALOUS of them (/j). god nobody can ever beat amitie or her impeccable failgirl swag. she’s amazing. she has so much going for her. she’s such a loser and i love her infinitely.

hi reply to this if you want me to make a personal list of my top favorite characters of yours in order and with reasons because i feel silly rn :3

[black-is-beautiful18]

“So we can’t write Black characters?🧍🏾‍♀️” No one said that but if they did they’d have every right. Within two weeks we have learned that not only did a white woman write a “Black romance” but that it will be marketed during Black History Month among other unbelievable things and that another white woman thinks that we put bacon grease in our hair…Tell me why we would want you to write Black characters when y’all are always doing something you’re not supposed to. Touching our experiences without an ounce of research is very bold. Of course you’re getting cussed out and left bad reviews. You thought you had a right to tell that story when you didn’t. If you want to include us in your stories do so without overstepping. That’s all.

[egophiliac]

this chapter has been so absolutely nuts that I actually low-key forgot that I had a couple of new UM posters to do! wild! anyway, I gotta think about Lilia's some more, so here is my beautiful electric crocodile son in the meantime. god I hope this reads properly

(I went with Volt to go with his name, but there's a Bolt version too in the print-size folder!)