#and most reviews say they dont do anything of importance

[grimescum]

i had to lecture my mom out of buying shit on tiktok shop... i thought she was the parent ehy i gotta convince my mom not to buy edibles from shady online shops

[lcpmon]

idk how other ppl learn to read characters but even when someone has very few lines, if they're not a few throwaway lines and have a smidgen of thought put into them, you can really deduct a lot of things from what they say without mountains of dialogue and array of actions they take.

cIaus, even Iucas via his few lines and interactive dialogue, is so easy to understand and learn what hes about from the dialogue you are given. it shouldnt be hard to mess him up

and even tho these are more active characters in the story with goals to achieve and story beats to hit, u rly can apply the same to lngo and 3mmet. u can make assumptions or deduct possible aspects about how they act from breaking down their dialogue and possible routine. some things might be completely speculative and pulled out of thin air but as long as it matches the characters general front its hard to go wrong

[merakiui]

bestie!vil who casually fixes your boobs in your bra for you, no he did not just tweak your nipple, do you think he's one of those desperate dogs you spend so much time with? He also calls you out on your posture and says it comes from the pelvis, he knows a few massages and stretches if you're interested. You want to try on his lipstick shade? Well, he doesn't want to contaminate the entire tube so...mwah! What? It's not like it meant anything, you're best friends after all.

One of the girls!Cater who walks around in his boxer-briefs during a sleepover or before bed. When you wake up he's always cuddled up to your back, morning wood grinding into you but he needs his cuddles, dont neglect him! Also he saw the prettiest thongs at VS, and since a few of yours went missing, you should totes go buy some new ones. Cater thinks you're soooo cute first thing in the morning, too sleepy and tired to realize that he slid his underwear down and has been leaking all over the back of your tanktop the entire time :(

-👠 anon (i think tumblrs been eating my asks D:)

OTL sitting in best friend Vil's lap while he does your makeup... there's nothing to it! Just two besties giving each other makeovers. If you feel something prodding at your ass every time you shift on his lap, pay it no mind. And if Vil grabs your hips and forces you still, don't worry about that either. If you keep moving so much, he'll mess up your eyeliner! You don't want that, do you?

AND CAY-CAY WITH MORNING WOOD AAAAAAAA. It's still so early and you're much too sleepy to realize his dick is between your thighs and he's been slowly and carefully rutting into you every now and then. Quite literally fucks you back to sleep. <3 just let your bestie cuddle with you a little longer. It's so warm and cozy, and he's massaging your hip so sweetly. You doze off within seconds, leaving Cater with enough time to reach his climax and clean you up before you're waking another hour later.

Being besties with Idia and the two of you watch hentai together and rank the ahegao of every character. >:D the tier list is coming along nicely. You're lying on your stomach on his bed while he's gaming, and it hasn't yet occurred to Idia that this entire time he's been hanging out weekly with a girl. But then he starts thinking deeply about it and suddenly his mind is racing with thoughts. orz

Besties with Ace and Deuce, who have slept over so many times that at this point Ramshackle is like a second home to them. They know where you keep everything. Where all of the snacks are hidden from Grim. Which drawers hold your clothes and, most importantly, undergarments. Ace is probably so sneaky and nosy that he goes so far as trying to sniff out if you've got any sex toys hidden somewhere. Deuce is curious, but he has to be nice and respectful of your space like a good best friend. He's only following Ace to make sure he doesn't do anything weird while you're washing up in the bathroom. It's not so he can also learn the location of these toys and compare his size to the size of the dildos. T_T

Being besties with Azul and he's managed to become so comfortable around you that he allows you to relax in the pool with him while he's busy multitasking with all eight of his tentacles. You're happily swimming laps and trying (and failing) to get him to take a break and join you. He keeps you at a distance with one tentacle, pushing you away and claiming, "Not now. This is very important and requires all of my focus." You pout and whine. Maybe he entertains you with that same tentacle, playfully poking and prodding at you while his eyes remain glued to the (magically waterproof) contract he's reviewing. He knows exactly what he's doing when he "accidentally" manhandles you with his tentacle, so much so that your swimsuit top comes untied. Oh dear. Would you look at that? It's come off. <3

[drchucktingle]

Howdy Dr. Chuck! I'm curious why you chose the name "Damascus," both for the book and the place in it? (Of course I know you can't spoil anything, but the process of naming things is one of the most important components of my writing and I'm curious how you went about it).

very good question buckaroo. well i dont want to talk about details of camp damascus book TOO much until buckaroos have received because it is only early readers right now and i would like to give everyone a chance. HOWEVER i can talk in broad strokes with no spoiler way. i will eventually discuss in depth (once book is out i will answer any buckaroo questions) because there are SO MANY LAYERS OF ALLEGORY AND SYMBOLISM to the book and so far i have not yet seen a review that has really touched on this.

i would say there are THREE ways to read the book. one is events on the surface, next is biblical allegory (which i think is easiest to notice) and third is another SECRET ALLEGORY that i am not going to talk about at all just yet but goes very very deep once you notice it. ties WHOLE THING together in entirely new way

anyway as far as biblical allegory i can say this: story of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS is important story in the bible about SAUL who eventually became apostle PAUL after a conversion on the road to damascus. in sense of bible story this was a biblical conversion of belief. in camp damascus there is a main character named SAUL who is very important to the story and if you are looking for biblical allegory while reading you can keep an eye on him. there are a few other characters who have biblical counterparts but i do not want to give them away. one of these characters you learn their real name at near the end and if you know what to look for and see language from earlier in the book you can nod and think 'whoa okay i know this other biblical story THIS IS ANOTHER METAPHOR.'

i suppose i will finish the answer with this. the actual MAIN ROAD through damascus has a real name would you like to know what it is? (you can look this up yourself). name is STRAIGHT STREET

very curious indeed

anyway that is just one of the metaphor layers i think the THIRD SECRET LAYER (and there are three main characters look at that) that i will keep to myself for a long while is most interesting and detailed. so far no reviewers have talked on this but i think once book gets out into the hands of the buckaroos there will be larger discussions that will be pretty neat.

[system-of-a-feather]

yeah the main thing that turned me away from the tulpamancy community wasnt even that "using the term is racist". it was the reactions from all of the white people (and like. Just americans/westerners in general) upon being told something might be racist.

i disagreed and still do, mostly bc i see the practice's similarities in name only, but watching a ton of tulpamancers go "'UsInG tHe TeRm iS rAcIsT' haha fucking idiots i bet youre not even Buddhist" made me go ok well even if this action isnt racist i think.... some of the practitioners themselves.... might be.

so i like dont crusade against them or anything but at this point any sort of "tulpa isn't racist" double-down registers as a red flag to me

Yep that is like, my main thing honestly. At this point I really don't think the "term is racist" while possibly true is really anywhere near as big of an issue as how the community handles discussions of it and reacts to hurt POC. I don't know if they are around but @/mitsukisys or something similar (@/ cause I'm not sure if I spelled it right and dont want to accidentally tag a random person) really got a shit end of the stick in particular.

Like there are a bunch of valid points and discussion topics people pro-tulpa COULD have brought up or used that would have been understandable and reasonable, but instead most went "Well actually, I don't have to listen to you because you are not (increasingly small goal post of who is allowed to have a valid opinion literally sometimes going down to "tibetian buddhist that lives in or immigrated from Tibet and actively lived and practiced in tibet")

Like nobody says people have to engage in the discussion of the potentially racist, potentially culturally appropriative and harmful roots / aspects of the term; but if you do, you can't just look at POC trying to express their hurt and go "well actually you aren't a person I have to listen to because I'm shortening the range of people who are valid to fit my comfort"

It's also what honestly keeps me from being a Buddhist that says "it doesn't really matter that much honestly", largely because I know that crowd very much also likes to tokenize people validating anything close to a "the term is fine" and use it to silence other people and I absolutely do not want my opinion and perspective to be used against my fellow AAPI or worse, other Buddhists with differing opinions.

So honestly, I'd love to be able to give my personal opinion and best-faith pass towards the term, but I can't do that in good conscious knowing that me saying that would likely be used to shutdown discussion and/or not critically review the impacts and history that are valid issues with the term.

So tbh, the thing that would probably make me as a single individual with a single opinion change from "default anti-tulpa term" to "pro-tulpa term" or at least "live and let be, its fine" is just some actual effort and good faith extended to the concerned / hurt individuals to hear them out and acknowledge the damage done and like... you know, actually reflect and be honest about what emotions, thoughts and feelings are driving their need to cling to the term

Because honestly, the internet doesn't tend to respect or value personal emotions, thoughts and feelings that make things important to someone, especially when being argued with the "its RACIST" statement, but honestly, I dislike that push for perfection / perfect behavior and the term itself - from my Buddhist perspective - really isn't that much of a hill to die on for me.

If the term means THAT much to a community and is THAT hard to part with for one reason or the next, I'm more than fine with letting it go / be, but only if the same kindness and acknowledgement of emotions, feelings, thoughts, and harm are extended equally back.

[artistotel]

tips for traditional artists (mostly painters)

so while i primarily post doodles and such on this blog, my true passion is traditional art. :) i see a lot of tips for digital artists but rarely for traditional ones, so this is just my own experience (before anyone goes like "oP tHaT iS nOt UnIvErSaL eXpErIenCe" (i know this site well enough lol) if the advice doesnt sit well with you feel free to ignore it because i am def not an end it know it all. and nobody is because art is so broad and there is no right way to do it.

EQUIPMENT

so, first of all, in my language we have a saying "the tools dont make a master", meaning a true master could create with anything. i mean, sure, to a point, tools wont replace your ability to conceptualize art, but cmon.

equipment matters, especially when painting. i mostly work with acryllics and markers. lets talk about acryllics.

paints

its important to get at least okay quality paints. the stuff i use is not insanely expensive - croatia has limited offers, and i am poor. however, i tried paints for like 1€ from tedi and they are far inferior to goya's paints i use (3-4€ cca per 100ml. and those 100ml are going to last you a very looong time if you work on small scale paintings, and i even managed to fit in large ones).

ESPECIALLY THE WHITE PAINT. i cannot stress this enough. if youre gonna buy cheaply, buy everything cheap except for the white. make sure the white is good. it will serve as a thickener for other colours and good white can even do a good job of covering up the black paint.

brushes: get good brushes. if you paint frequently with bad brushes (like the ones i get from muller; they seem fine but ehhh im constantly changing them) you will be spending more in longer run than you would if you invested in something better. im not talking about 100€ packs made of donkey tail strands or whatever, i mean normal brushes, but look at reviews a bit. i once ordered like 10€ pack of brushes from amazon and they performed muller ones by far (and were cheaper); they left thicker paint and didnt get ruined after five uses.

markers

now see, i dont have any advice here, but i wanted to contrast it with my previous talk about how i purposefully buy good paint. well, i purposefully buy bad markers. really bad ones. because equipment often depends on what style you are after. i use flomasters, and they do what i want: and thats a cheap and trashy look.

canvases and papers

if youre gonna invest into something, invest into paints rather than canvases. you can trick a bad canvas by putting on multiple colour layers, you cant trick bad paints. but there are differences to bad and good canvases, of course. however, if youre just starting out, just go get a bad one; i take most of mine from tedi, or order online. you dont gotta spend billion of euros on them.

paper is also important. i am a painter and i bought a Leuchtturm1917 though unfit one, and was annoyed as to why everyone thought it was great. then i bought the one with specific sketchbook paper and it works fantastic. if youre painting, you need appropriate paper.

learn colour theory and some art history

yes i know this sounds boring. but its not. draw inspiration from your predecessors. there are people making oil paintings of modern things. you heard "dont shade with black" (and thats my personal mantra too) but chiaroscuro was a valid art movement. if you take a look at my own art you will most likely say: oh, thats pop art! and you would be right. i am inspired by roy lichtenstein, andy warhol, and other pop artists. but thats just the surface. my use of colour is inspired by the impressionist takes on it; i dont shade with darker colours, i shade with different ones. i shade red with blue, yellow with purple or red, and so on. if you look at the topics and subjects of my art, you will find surrealism. if you look at my approach to art itself, you might find influences of croatian naive. learn about actual philosophies behind art movements you like; you might find something for you.

ok these are just some general thoughts i had, id probably have more lol but thats it for now

[megatruxfr]

Me talking about the only Dinotrux episode that REALLY pissed me off & why i hate it

Dinotrux is really good at handling mature concepts. I was pleasantly surprised with it and i love it so, so, so much. As good as Dinotrux is at reflecting personal problems that the characters have, there is just this one episode, Sandstorm.

God, i hate it.

Never thought i would say that about a Dinotrux episode, but sweet jesus, this episode pissed me off. Now i'm not the type to explicitly slander or hate on something, especially if its about Dinotrux, so this is gonna be an honest review.

Problem 1: Dozer is NOT comfortable in the entire episode & no one cares

(Dozer when he hears for the first time he will be stuck in the garage for days in the picture below)

The first thing i noticed was that Dozer specifically wasnt comfortable with the idea of being in the garage for days. Everyone else was like "okay, we are gonna be locked in this house where we can barely drive a circle, with 4 dinotrux and 4 reptools, thats okay", but Dozer is not only not comfortable with that idea (and he seems to be the only one) he also distances himself from everyone, he mostly sleeps, he just wants to be alone. Its important to note that Dozeratops are naturally herd trux - so they usually live, sleep, eat and drive around in a group. Dozer shows multiple signs of being straight up uncomfortable. But NO. ONE. CARES!!! No one gives a shit and cant seem to regocnize some obvious signs, Ty doesnt even question anything...

WHEN DOZER LITERALLY ALMOST HAS A PANIC ATTACK!!!

Ty asks Dozer if he's okay, to wich Dozer wants to respond, but he literally starts panting and breathing heavily before actually responding, thats how stressed he is! Can you believe it!? Then he almost says his frustrations out, but Ton Ton interrupts them, Ty understands Dozer and he takes Ton Ton to play a game so that he leaves Dozer alone, but through the episode Ton Ton continues to annoy Dozer, and he is aware of it. Ton Ton knows that what he is doing annoys Dozer.

Problem 2: everyone blames Dozer for getting angry at Ton Ton, even though Ton Ton literally annoys Dozer thoughout the ENTIRE fucking episode

(Another pic of Dozer being stressed & everyone is around him but no one cares)

Now heres the most frustrating thing about this. Ton Ton is aware, but so is Dozer. Ton Ton knows that hes pissing Dozer off and he is pushing Dozers buttons of purpose. But Dozer is intelligent. He has at this point been working on his anger, and he almost lashes out to Ton Ton, TWICE, but keeps it in, because he knows everything will only get worse if he gets angry.

Dozer is actually such a saint. Being stuck with his friends in the garage, getting super uncomfortable and stressed, one person keeps pissing him off but no one cares, he is very stressed, almost has a panic attack and is straight up not comfortable but no one cares, keeps his anger (wich he already struggles with) in bc he knows itll only make things worse but no one cares, and when he finally does lash out... he gets blamed.

Seriously, i hated it. I hated it so fricking much. I hated how Ty didnt look at the meaning of the fight like he usually does, for context, Dozer eventually lashes out, looses his cool and attacks Ton Ton, they have a physical fight and Ty jumps in and pulls them apart. Now Ty knows Ton Ton has been getting on Dozers nerves, alright? He saw how annoyed Dozer was by Ton Ton.

And yet, he tells Dozer to back off.

Wow.

And one sequence later, after Dozer literally tries to escape the garage, Ty tells him: "Don't make me roar again."

TY, FUCK OFF. IF YOU ACTUALLY PAYED ATTENTION AND WERE ABLE TO NOTICE SOME OBVIOUS SIGNS THEN MAYBE YOU COULD HAVE PICKED UP ON THE FACT THAT TON TON WAS AN ANNOYING SHIT THAT KEPT PUSHING DOZER. TY I LOVE YOU BUT I HATED THIS WITH MY ALL.

3. Dozer isnt praised whatsoever for keeping his cool

This i dont just hate, i dont understand it. As i said Dozer has anger / agression problems for a long time now (Dozer is approximately 27 - 28). So being able to keep his cool like that twice is a great job. But yeah, i have to say it again, because it in fact does happen in this episode: NO. ONE. CARES.

4. It hits me on a personal level

In this episode i felt even more how Dozer feels. I strongly relate to Dozer. If u didnt know, i used to have anger and agression problems too, i was very explosive, and i have spent a long time in a center where no one listened to me, and if i lashed out and i got angry after trying to keep calm, i was blamed, i was locked up, and i was told to stop yelling, no one asked me if i was okay, i had no say about my care plan and i was just a kid. I think thats the biggest reason of my dislike for this episode - i know how Dozer feels, i know how it feels if no one, even your best friends, dont listen to you, how it feels if no one cares that you are clearly uncomfortable, stressed or scared. I know how that feels. I do.

And trust me when i say: It really hurts.

This episode overall just SUCKED. I felt terrible for Dozer throughout the whole thing. So yeah, this was my honest review of the only Dinotrux episode i truly hate ☹️ so yeah byeeee

[answersfromzestual]

I want to talk about something today. Something very important for younger people and newer people coming out.

Research with legitimate sources, aka scholarly articles and medical journals/studies. Wiki is not a good source, people can change info at any point true or untrue.

We want to look for articles with medical and area professionals clearly placing their name in and on the article, or the most reliable sources are called scholarly articles and medical journals/studies, also some gender affirming clinics lay out a lot of information on their websites, most clinics dont mind answering your questions or concerns via email or phone (they may get back to you at a later date). When looking for information, you want peer reviewed medical information. Google has these features that can help narrow down your search for more accurate results. Using quotes around exact words or phrases is a trick to narrow down to more on topic search results.

Also, use Google Scholar (just type "Google scholar" into the search bar to find only actual medical articles and studies. Even lawsuits.

This is the google search bar for scholarly information below:

****READ THE ARTICLE FROM START TO FINISH OR AT LEAST THE PART(S) THAT PORTAIN TO YOUR RESEARCH!(some articles can include more than one study)****

Don't only use one source for your information, find as many as you can until you feel confident in the field of medicines and your concolusions about them. Information you use should be verified by several responsibly written articles, journals, and/or studies.

Call surgeons' offices, ask questions.

Research doctors in your area or a doctor you really like, again don't be afraid to call or email clinics!

When it comes to surgery and your body, if you have a bad feeling, any bad gut feelings before they put you under, about the surgeron or their methods, even team. You can back out until you are knocked out. You can say no as soon as you walk into the surgical suite. You worry about you.

Please, when going onto transgender groups (facebook and stuff), that not everyone is being genuine with you. People can be anything or anyone on the internet, behind that screen. I see trans people spreading anti-transtional propaganda (not on purpose), and they don't notice or know better. The negative people tend to pick out their victims early, cling onto someone newer in transitioning or even just joining the group. They probably try getting chummy really fast, getting into a lot of detail very early. They will start bringing up [negative] transitional things when they have nothing to do with the conversation you are having. It's a red flag when you can't talk about anything but "transitioning," and its a sign you need to block if all they say are negative, things. Life happens, but you don't need to drown yourself in negativity. Beware of people on the internet. Their intent is not always good, anyone can lie, anyone can find fake pictures for their profile, anyone can pretend to be someone they are not. Some of us should know that well as trans folk. Some people are even legitimate and are perhaps mad/ unhappy about their results and tend to use way overly dramatic words to describe their results, these people usually aren't telling you the whole truth. People also tend not to want to put any blame on themselves. If you aren't being honest yourself about your results and what and where things went wrong thats not okay. That,or telling someone not to do something that prevents transitioning or calming their dysphoria, that's considered transphobia.

It's important to also know that Facebook, Twitter, etc. are often looked at by employers, so many people will not use their own profiles to be a imaginary person.

Edit: Yes, transgender people can be transphobic as well. Look up Caitlin Jenner and what she's said and tried to do. Let me tell you now, she said transwomen should not be allowed to compete in sporting events, claiming "allowing transwomen to compete destroys women's sports" . So please, if you use that card, put it back in the deck. It's not true, and it's just a wrong blanket statement altogether. There are people who finish their transition and forget they had the rights they want taken away.

I want you to know and it's important to know many end results almost solely rely on the person and how they take care of themselves pre-op and post-op (yes taking care of your body before matters for optimum results). If you are heavier, your body has a harder time healing. This can cause complications and less favorable results because of those complications. I do have a post on being larger and surgical complications that are involved with that. (Here are some links about plus sized risks and general risks: plus size, general risks)

From Dad Shadow: Remember, don't tell anyone online personal information, even if you have been talking for years. Also, do not place yourself (ex. "Im gunna to go to the Starbucks on fifth around the corner from my house." this is especially bad if they may know your partial location) Someone can figure out your identity/location. Don't reveal anything you'd be asked to use as an account recovery question. When I was a younger adult, I saw someone post an image of a girl he met on 'Omegle', saying, "They accidentally got disconnected." Within two hours, everything about this girl was on this thread... from her name, where she was attending school, her personal address, her Facebook. All of it. It was more than one person looking and posting as well. People can be like this... I know you know, but the Dad in me wants to remind you. Browse safely!

I hope you read this and found it helpful everyone. I felt this is a need and it doesn't need post secondary education classes to teach you how to properly find sourced information for reports (same as your knowledge on the subject you are talking about).

P.s keeping your skin elasticity is very important, so mosturize your pecks, let it dry, then put on your binder.

Stay Golden Everyone ✌️ 💙 💜

[razbotz]

VERY LOUD HELLO AND WELCOME TO MY BLOG BELOW. (byf, dni, page navigation, other stuff under the cut. please read.)

haii!! my name is raz or hiro, though i go by other names those r the ones i prefer most (click here for my pronouns.cc, with said other names)

i go by he/him and it/its pronouns predominantly

this blog is a good chunk of the time reblogs about whatever. art, memes, just anything i like. sometimes i ramble and rave and post my silly stuffs so look out 4 that :3

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interests!!!

i have soooo many to list. this blog is multifandom though!! pls go to my spacehey if u want a good chunk of all of em.....

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byf!

- i cant pick up on tone that well, that often... please use tone indicators with me! i really dont mean to offend u in any way! i try my best to use them as often as possible myself lol

- i forget a ton of stuff! blame my adhd as the main culprit

- as with the tone warning, i also cant normally tell if something i say or do or reblog is bad or not... please let me know!

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dni! if..

- you fit basic dni criteria

- just in general bigots.

- proship, comship, or darkship in anyway. what i mean by this is shit like incest pairings, minor x adult, abusive, stuff thats bad, illegal, and wrong.

- wilbur soot or dteam supporters.

- there are more to list, but those are specifics. i block freely!

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page navigation!!

#hiro says important stuff - all the important stuff i reblog and sometimes comment on goes here! u should navigate dis b4 interacting full time.

#hiros memes - my funny hahas go here :)! might also apply to "edits" (i say in quotations)

#hiros headcanons - my silly headcanons, mainly 4 wilro and future4!

#hiro writes - my writing! when i do it. reviews, fics, or au's, they go here!

#hiro stims - my stimboards! my most well received stuffs lol >_<

#hiro rps - sometimes, for comfort or for fun, i rp as certain characters and when i do i use this tag! ^_^

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i WILL update this as i go along because stuff comes to me very slowly! be warned!

thank u for taking the time to read otherwise

oh yeah, and i am the self-proclaimed ceo of wilro, or as i like 2 call dem, time machine. they are my otp and comfort ship. they mean a lot 2 me, theyre basically the face of my page LOL.

(psst. i made the image btw. so silly, right?)

[ren3gade]

day 2 of PROJECT DO NOT, which features:

not looking at sales dash (most important)

not looking at reviews (also important)

not checking for mentions (slightly less but still important)

not looking at goodreads (doesnt matter but it's a slippery slope)

not looking at site analytics (ditto)

not visiting writer discord (for a variety of reasons)

i mUsT sTaY sTrOng

the background on this is i have multiple things coming out over the next few months, and since i don't run ads or promos or do anything that actually benefits from being aware of how a book is performing on any particular day i am avoiding ALL stats on any given release for 30 days. and i stacked a bunch of things up so ... yeah its gonna be a minute

the theory here is after 30 days, things like bad sales and bad reviews won't be so crushing because i won't be "in it" i'll have recovered from my book babies and moved on to my new gestations. similarly, and equally importantly, unexpected success will ALSO not hit as hard, because if i have a book unexpectedly do well i'm... honestly not sure how i'd handle that but frankly? not well, i guarantee. lol.

the fact is one of these books i love so much if anyone says anything less than gushing i will crumple up and die. i'm hoping a month away (and more significantly, a month with my brain in some other book) will ease whatever slings come my way.

also sometimes if a new release does particularly badly (i have much experience in this i ASSURE you) my fixer-style brain immediately wants to 'fix' it but if you dont already have contingencies in place you're just muddying the waters by changing things. like, i have done the "scramble to crit and update keywords/cover/blurb" etc thing within the 30 days before the first cliff and it's stressful and mucks up the baseline

[goshen-applecrumbledore]

hi! Is it too late to say why and how your writing is special? Because, uh, I LOVE IT SO MUCH. You’re my favorite spn writer. A few others come very close, but you take first place easy. Your fics are consistently delightful. It’s like at the end of each sentence I’m _feeling_ something, and feeling it strongly, something I dont know how to describe. It’s more than angst (I really like angst).

In 2 or 3 sentences, you’ve made me feel like Sam or Dean, you’ve given me an outlook on the whole situation (and it usually hits like a ton of bricks). Seeing you posted a story (like just now) really brightens my day.

To go on a quick tengent about how special your writing is : you have reignited my age-old dream of being a writer myself. I wish I could paint a picture/an emotion as well as you, write reactions and feelings that feel so realistic to the reader. (Simultaneously, I despair of ever being able to use words so beautifully and efficiently, so I keep putting it off).

Anyway, I’m so thankful to have become an spn fan at a moment where I can enjoy your stories!! Thank you so much for sharing your work. All the best ❤️

sorry this took me a while to reply, it was overwhelmingly sweet, haha. I'm glad you like my writing, it always makes me so happy when people describe it as efficient or economical (the 2-3 sentences thing). and it makes me even happier to hear that you want to write!!

you can do it, and you should, if it's something you want to do!! nobody's BORN good at anything, it's all practice. obviously everyone knows that, but I think we forget when it comes to art, like starting and getting better is insurmountable. I've been writing my whole life, and for most of that, I sucked. even if we're just talking about fic, my work got zero play and negative reviews constantly! because I wasn't good! which is fine!! and then I just kept writing, and reading (so important-- real books, not just fic) and learned more about what I want to read and thus what I want to write, and I found a style out of that.

you just gotta start doing it, and it's never too late. everyone is learning forever. my husband makes fun of me for having a bad vocabulary and not knowing the definitions of super simple words (it's true) and I'm constantly editing and re-editing my work because I lean on the same few turns of phrase and the same lazy verbs. it's all just practice. anyway thank you and ganbatte

[textsfromthetva]

I don't think I've ever seen you post about any of the other projects Loki's been in. How do you feel about his movies? Which one(s) are your favorite?

First off, I'm sorry for letting this sit in my inbox collecting dust for three weeks, considering the fact that it's actually a great question and it caused me to really reflect on my thoughts about Loki in the MCU. Unfortunately, none of those thoughts got to a point where they were worthy of publication on the esteemed tumblr dot com, as I doubted they would pass the savage peer review of much more dedicated fans. They still won't.

Honestly, I'm scared, anon. People probably won't agree. But since you asked so nicely:

Thor - solid tragic backstory established with a certain flair. Loki is by far the most interesting thing about the whole movie. Not that I actually dislike it as a whole, I just don't think it's anything special in the context of the MCU. It's a fish out of water comedy interrupted regularly by a heartbreaking tale of loss of identity, self-hatred, and daddy issues. Which is a... choice? I guess? Kenneth Branagh's love of Shakespearean tragedy really shines through, is all I'm saying. Tom really established his brilliance right out of the gate, so that brings it to a solid 8/10 on my Loki-scale.

The Avengers - now... look. This movie has a lot of flaws. But I love it. I was in my mid-20s okay, I was exposed to it at a weird time in my life and I was obsessed. I watched it three times in cinemas, including once in New York City, while I was there on a study trip with uni. I probably watched it half a dozen times after that. And Loki was so much fun in this! Just the perfect villain for that movie. He was the Moment. I'm not even gonna get into the tragedy of the mind stone's influence fucking with him, Thor not realizing, lack of acknowledgement of the fact that he literally tried to commit suicide two movies ago, or the many implications of past torture by Thanos, I just like watching him be flamboyantly evil and smack people with his cane. The other stuff gives the story depth that I'm not actually sure it actually deserves. Still, 10/10

Thor: The Dark World - we can all agree that this movie is, uh, kinda meh. At least in my opinion. However, I think it's very important in terms of Loki's character development and the development of his relationship with Thor. For that reason alone, I admit to having watched it more than once. Also, he's such a little dramatic bitch in this, it's what we all deserve. 7/10.

Thor: Ragnarok - this is where some people will start throwing rocks at me. I really, really like this movie. I love Taika Waititi, I love his whimsical humour, I love how goddamn silly and lighthearted this thing is compared to The Dark World (and Avengers: Age of Ultron). Fuck grimdark angst, we have bright colours and fun. It just means the few emotional whammies hit all the harder too. I've heard people confidently call this movie a character assassination, in regards to Loki, and I really can't express in words how little I care. He is now Jeff Goldblum's trophy twink. No explanation needed. Let the guy be chaotic for once, he's earned it! 100/10.

Avengers: Infinity War - nope. Dont' wanna talk about it. -10000/10

Loki - well. I'll refer you to this edit of mine:

This show is a general mess on so many fronts, but I still feel such fondness for it. And judging from the number of viewers it got, the world will watch just about anything if it has Loki in it, which, you know, valid. And would I be running a whole damn blog about it if I actively disliked it? No, I would not. 9/10.

There we go. Based on my personal rating, Thor: Ragnarok wins. The trophy twink can't lose.

[wawawawawawawawawawawawawa]

hiiiiiiii we havent sent you any asks for some time. mostly because kanra didnt front much

[idk if you can recognize us after all the url changes]

ereyesterday our their of pissed suggested getting into an outpatient psychward and told us to think about it. and silver[headmate] made a post on the tumbler saying that this could be a bad idea because somewhat recently i made a hole in a wall and less than a week ago Lyra messed up a cupboard. as if we're the only ones who on occasion damage stuff when angered. this is literally so mean for no reason.

also. a few months ago shinra had an accident with a knife. and we got a fun new 1 inch long scar and possibly a little bit of nerve damage or something. and we were supposed to get some reminder tetanus shot around a month after that since i had no idea when was my previous tetanus shot. and i uhhhhhhh didn't get it since i'm scared of doctors, and it would probably seem quite weird if i went to a doctor about this now

also im sorta balding but. scared of doctors so cant do anything about that

last sunday i was in some social studies class or some other shit. and the teacher said something about how lgbt people were never oppressed in this country. which is a very bold thing to say as someone living in a country in which like a quarter of the area declared itself a "lgbt free zone" and only calmed down a little when the european onion told them that that's probably illegal. and i decided to argue with the teacher a bit. one of the things she said was that sometimes there's dudes in pup masks on pride parades, which invokes disgust and thus should be banned, and. idk why but i kinda expected teachers to have a bit more common sense than 14 year old twitter users. also i came to school wearing a spiked dog collar on a regular basis. [for reasons unrelated to kink.]

well. good thing i'm failing every single one of my classes lmao. at least i won't be invoking disgust in fragile old ladies

also. i just met a doggy and he was very niceys. very soft and friendly. and polite also.

- toby

HOW COULD I NOT RECOGNIZE U MY BESTIE IN CHRIST <3 u changed ur url a binch of times but ur icon remained the same sdlfndnfkjsnsdf so i was able to keep track!

i however do not understand a single word of that first paragraph. if u want my advice, DO NOT. FUCKING GO. TO A PSYCH WARD!!!!! idfc Who it helped, it hurts a lot more than it helps, theres NO WAY to tell which psych wards are good and which are shit. no really let me go thru them all rn:

REFERRALS: most professionals that work in different offices do not know each other on a personal level and may never hear of their bad stories. a doctor that was the chillest coolest doctor id ever met referred me to a psychiatrist that sucked fucking ass shit. there is no way to know for sure

GOOGLE REVIEWS: im gonna b real i dont trust some of those mfs. you seen the guys that go into psych wards? a lot of mentally ill people r internalizers and just accept whatever happens to them, and even if they arent, society looks down on the mentally ill SO MUCH that they could b told "you deserve this bc ur crazy" and due to all this societal gaslighting, theyd agree

REVIEWS ON OTHER WEBSITES: same thing lol

why is this so important? because you cannot Fucking leave a psych ward. an outpatient ward yeah you can leave, but ive been to both in and outpatient and they excert the same level of bullshit control over their patients. in outpatient, one of the therapist told me "you are not mentally ill" and made me cry lol. she MEANT to mean it in a "you're not mentally ill, you're ~suffering from a mental illness~ uwu dont let ur disorder define you" kinda way, but that concept was introduced in therapy..... two days after she told me this. like hello? and then she tried to spin it as like, it was a problem with Me i.e. My PTSD Was Triggered and not She Is Dog Shit At Timing The Explaining Of Concepts.

this place also invited my abuser into group therapy even after me incessantly telling them "this is my abuser, she will use all this against me" and yeah guess what she did immidiatley after lol

dont go to wards.

WRT THE KNIFE: damn :0 thats insane dude, hopefully the nerve damage will heal but from experience its gonna take like, a few years at minimum lmao. i had a Knife Incident involving my pinky and the nerve damage was so bad that i couldnt hold scissors w my pinky in the scissor loop thing but evenchually it got better but it took like 4 years. if the knife was clean and not rusty ur risk of tetanus is pretty low i THINK, do not quote me on this. if ur scared of doctors, look into if ur pharmacy offers tetanus shots! some pharmacies have vaccinations other than flu and covid (which i need 2 get lol rip) so u might be able to get one THERE and not see A Doctor about it!

u dont need a doctor for the balding. minoxidil my dear boy, its at walmart, its the stuff thats in rogaine. you want "minoxidil 5%" thats whats in rogaine, theres "minoxidil 3%" thats For Girls but idk ive never heard of anyone having a problem w it. IT IS TOXIC TO CATS THOUGH IT IS VERY VERY TOXIC TO CATS IF YOU HAVE A CAT DO NOT LET THEM FUCKING TOUCH YOU OR RUB ON YOU UNTIL IT DRIES ok? :) id google more if i were u but boom. problem solved. i am the doctor now

"dog masks invoke disgust and should be banned" babygirl disgust is subjective and like, someone could use that logic to ban whatever YOU like, or Are. maybe someone is really disgusted by lil old ladies bc the wrinkles look gross as fuck to them. should we quarrantine the grandmas?

also lol at the dig against 14 year old internet puritans and then surprise surprise guess what happened on This Very Blog while this ask was sitting n collecting dust!! i gotta b on my best behavior bc theres a nonzero chance that The Feds will be looking at this blog (did u know u dont report cybercrime to local police and instead theres a form on the fbi's website? Well Now You Know!) and that goes 4 all of u too. bart please be good..... for the love of GOD please be good....... please tell me yall know that simpsons scene

also also yay doggy!! was it a regular dog or a dude in a pup mask? either way very fun n cool!!!

[jorjmush]

breaking news: idiot with a fish hits 255 and kills god heres the part where i do a personal review all parts of the arcane river story

dont take these seriously

the adversary as a character 0/10: words dont describe how bad he is "...Oh!" "...Ah!" shut up youre an insult to every maplestory class

lost temple keeper + vanishing journey: 7/10

i did this in 2017 but most of the content is fetch quests and an introduction to completely new things you have no attachment to maybe i should give it a little more credit as the kao twist being revealed for the first time was kinda cool and the talk amongst the fandom

reverse city: 7/10 apparently i did this in 2021? i guess that makes sense because this didnt exist in 2017 why is earth real and called friends world still not invested in the story by this point but i liked t-boy

chu chu island: 6/10 this is when i came back so i actually think this story is quite fun and i liked the characters involved but in the grand scheme of things, its not good

feels like filler, wasnt truly important until yum yum was added YEARS LATER, feels like a waste of 5 levels when i still feel like you should fight the black mage at 250 instead of 255

yum yum island: 9/10 cooooooooool cooooooooooooooooooool has the same fun and and loveable whimsy of chu chu but this time it sets up something sinister and adds to the plot

the afrien fusion, the kaling reveal, chefs kiss

lachelein + crack of subconscious: 8/10 honestly i wasnt very invested in this lucid just makes this interesting

plus im a shade so i get extra dialogue

also this town name sucks gms hates non-english words

arcana: 7/10

rock spirits and i love the spirit of harmony was this just setup for tana

morass: 10/10

alright we getting into PLOT jean deserved better, tana deserved better, arkarium deserved what he got, shey deserved better, kritias deserved better

the flying fish TALKS and the moment where he takes the form of jean and shows himself to tana is so AMAZING i love this TRAGIC STORY

the maps are awful though especially if youre low on arcane force which i was

esfera: 8/10

why dont i actually remember much of what happened here i guess the information of tana has been so stuck in my head it doesnt feel like it was presented as new information to me anymore lots of nice exclusive dialogue here though and we get to meet ollie sellas: 11/10 i will cry right here right now this is such a good story with good atmosphere and pacing i CARE for both ollie and shubert greatly

moonbridge: 8/10

this is when the pacing and structure becomes spotty because it was part of the event i chose not to participate in which means i didnt get the full experience theres just so much dread in this questline so many losses from not being ready to fight the black mage the pacing towards the second half is bad though the cutoff is so strange because it feels like you have another 30 minutes to go when really you have 5 labyrinth of suffering: 8/10

hillas beats the shit out of your morale for an hour the dread continues and continues it shall tons of exclusive dialogue, always a favorite limina: 5/10 i feel like im supposed to feel more i feel like im supposed to do more all of the bosses are very weak which is very unsatisfying, orchid is tsundere and says the adversary hasnt lost anything which ranges from maybe true to absurdly false depending on who you are the claudine vs cygnus scene is legitimately pointless, nothing can describe in words how pointless it truly is the flying fish DIES and then suddenly you have to fight the black mage the black mage whos phases last 4 seconds in story mode i only ever got hit once

the adversary dying did make me actually sad though because everyone else thinks youre truly dead the flying fish comes back (yay) and then its revealed NO ONE DIES? and most of the soldiers get UNSNAPPED? the story finishes with orchid being tsundere again and your idiot of a character sitting on the flying fish leaving the scene

i feel like im in a cartoon

kaos memory: 8/10 a tragedy of a character destined to die kao deserved better shade aftermath: 10/10 thank god he gained a reason to live conclusion: why did i even type this out im just ready to move on to the grandis story

[alltimefail-sims]

I dont want to sound rude but I wish youd stick to 1 project. I followed months ago and u seem to work on a lot of different things

This ask is over three weeks old; sorry to the sender that I've just gotten around to answering it.

First and foremost: I'm going to spin this a positive way and say thank you for being interested enough in one of my projects to follow me and inquire about my posting timeline. There are a handful of stories on simblr that I read and personally adore, so it's flattering.

With that being said, this is my hobby. I think of myself as a storyteller first, and I hope everyone who follows me can enjoy and value that enough to look past little editing errors and random (or slow) rollouts. It's kind of crazy to even be getting an ask like this because I do have a good amount of followers (thank you if you follow me, that's awesome), but there are MANY blogs that have a way larger following than me and I cringe when I think of one of them receiving a message like this. Good content takes time. If we're being honest, even subpar content takes time honestly lmao. I think everyone on here is sharing their sims and their stories for the love of it, for a creative outlet/stress relief, and/or for community engagement. Adding a timeline to something like that feels kind of unnecessary, imo. Plus, with the new pack coming and the infant update, I've been wary to go into any of my important saves. I can't afford to lose anything or have anything corrupted, and I'm not going to dive into anything when I know the game is about to undergo a massive amount of updates (and I'm going to have to wait on lots of mod and cc batch fixes most likely anyway).

Since we have opened this dialogue, in the spirit of honesty I want to add that this does kind of sound rude. We both know someone would never ask this off anon. It's just a peculiar demand to make of someone you don't know, and that's probably why you chose to approach this topic with anonymity, right?

Although, I will admit this ask poses a fair assessment: I absolutely do work on other things, whatever I feel like working on in the moment! I get new ideas every day. I'm sure I am not the only blog operating this way? When I really care about something though (like my Strangerville story, for example) I am extra meticulous about it. I'm not going to put out a story I love and am proud of in a half-assed way. I have a lot of learning, world building, and writing to do before that's even remotely ready to roll out. But I am doing my best, and I've shared details throughout the process because I'm excited about it. On the other hand, there are some projects I might try out but they just don't work. For instance, I hated doing the Bachelorette Challenge. It was extremely boring to me, and as much as I LOVE when other people do them, nothing exciting was coming of mine. I feel bad about that a little because I got some wonderful submissions, but this is my blog and I'm going to give myself permission (as everyone should) to only do what brings me joy or what I feel is worth my time. I haven't fully canceled it, but it's on the edge of the chopping block for sure. It's just not my thing, and that's okay. This is a hobby, and I want to spend my time on projects I love. I know follower count is always a big discussion on simblr for some reason, but that's not really why I'm here and I don't feel it is fair of followers to demand one type of content just because they followed for a specific reason.

Sooooo TLDR, I have to keep running my blog the way that works for me. I'm going to work on things as I want to and as inspiration strikes (that might mean I'm working on 5 WIPS at a time). I don't need a perhaps well-intended but nonetheless unnecessary performance review. I do appreciate you giving me an opportunity to explain this, and I ask for opinions frequently, so feel free to share them when that time comes. ❤

[pegasusknightsonly]

i have a scraps document where i put things i wrote for this fanfic that either havent happened yet or maybe wont ever happen and in trawling it for other reasons i rediscovered this scene which . you know. i still like. its so funny. this is placed in my scraps for the very last chapter but i dont think it contains anything not stated in the premise

Leonie gives a seminar on her theory, and although Claude himself doesn't attend, he finds a moment to pass by the classroom and just happens to lean in.

There's a diagram on the chalkboard of a triangle. It's divided into chunks, and Ignatz is hard at work detailing muscular figures bent double holding it up from the base. They look a bit like Raphael.

"Okay," Leonie says, "let's review what we've learned so far. Who is more important to the wider economy; the landowner, or the tenants?"

Lorenz sticks a hand in the air. "The landowner."

Leonie crosses her arms. "No. We'll go through it one more time. Why do you think the landowner is more important?"

"Because the landowner makes more money," Lorenz says, simply.

"And how does the landowner make money?"

"From selling the goods produced by the land." Ferdinand is nodding along as Lorenz speaks. On the opposite benches, Dimitri takes labourious notes.

"How does the land produce goods, Lorenz?"

"Well, the land itself is worked by farmers-"

"Does the landowner directly collect money from the land?"

"Surely if he owned a gold mine we could say-"

"Does he collect it all himself?"

"Well, no, but,"

Leonie tilts her head to one side, a hand on her chin. "Who produces goods from the land, Lorenz? Who would make the goods the landowner sells to make money?"

Dimitri must be watching now, because he's lifted his head up, but Claude doesn't miss Sylvain grabbing the quill.

Lorenz is beginning to flounder. "The tenant farmers, but-"

"And if the farmers left, who would produce goods from the land that the landowner sells to make money?"

"Again, if he had access to a gold mine-"

"And if the miners and the woodcutters and the hunters and the fishermen and the spinners and the weavers and the smithy and the carpenters and the brewers and the beekeepers and every person who is a tenant of the landowner who produces goods from the land left, who would produce goods from the land? The landowner?"

Ferdinand snorts. "Surely not! That is too great a burden for any man-"

"In that case," Leonie says, cutting him off with just the hint of an edge to her voice. It's great theatre. "How can we say that the landowner is more important to the economy? Think about the original question again. In the wider picture of the flow of goods and money around Fódlan, who is more important?"

Dimitri raises a hand, almost shyly. "Is it the workers?"

"That's right! The landowners may possess more money, but everything they have comes from charging rents and tithes on the workers. Excellent. Let's move on to productivity. Let's say our farmer harvests ten acres of wheat on reaping day. That's just the harvest, we haven't threshed or winnowed it yet. The value of that wheat is- yes, Ferdinand?"

"Could he not simply harvest more?"

"He's letting me down," a voice murmurs next to Claude's ear, and he almost jumps. Hubert has slithered noiselessly up behind Clause just to see what would happen. It's almost sweet, as far as the things Hubert has been observed to do go, but Claude won't be able to give him that satisfaction.  "He's read most of the pamphlets at this point, so I had ten gold against Dorothea that he wouldn't ask the stupidest question in this seminar. I may yet regret that."

Claude manages a nervous smile. He's not sure he'll ever get used to casually encountering Hubert in the monastery again. "Don't count out Lorenz just yet. He's had this argument with her a hundred times, but he can't seem to wrap his head around value being derived from labour, not just its products."

Leonie jabs the board with an arrow shaft. "I can't believe this! Six well educated landowning nobles in this room, and none of you know the market value of a bag of grain?"

"Once again, I didn't ask to be here." Felix has his head in his arms, clearly bored.

"Shut up," Ingrid hisses, and elbows him. "We're supporting our friend."

Dimitri raises a hand. "Does the value of the bag, when sold at market, accurately reflect… reflect the work that went into harvesting and preparing it?" He's squinting at Sylvain's notes.

Leonie points the cane at him, beaming. "Top marks! But remember, the spinners and weavers who made the bag itself are involved in this process too. If the grain sells for 10 gold, bag included, do the workers who actually produced it get their fair share?"

There's a thoughtful silence.

Dimitri raises a wavering finger. "No?"

Claude's not sure who cheers more: Leonie or Sylvain. The rest of the seminar is chaos, mostly, with Dimitri displaying a surprisingly good grasp on the material before Lorenz or Ferdinand say the first thing that comes into their heads and set off another round of arguments. Even Felix gets involved when they start discussing the cost of time vs craftsmanship in sword forging. It's all rather charming. Hubert watches too, and Claude's tempted to ask if he'd like to go in and argue with them, but ultimately it's not worth any fingers he might lose to get Hubert to admit that.

Leonie comes out first, cheeks flushed. "Claude!" she says, and looks radiant, and he can't help but return her smile. "Hey, just so you know, I wouldn't normally say this but that was actually a really good idea. It's really helpful to know where people like Ferdinand and Lorenz stand on this kind of thing-"

"Why?" Hubert asks, acidly, and there's just enough of a twitch to his lips that Claude realises he really wanted to participate. "So you can best brainwash them into your penny-pinching commoner ideology?"

"No," Leonie says, cheerfully. "So I can tell their tenants just how dumb they all are. Anyway, got to run, I'm already late for my next meeting!" She blows Claude a kiss as she leaves, and then, after a moment, one for Hubert too. Claude can't help but grin when he sees Hubert grimace and blush at the same time.

"What an impossible woman," he says. "When is the next one of these? Clearly someone sensible needs to be there, to keep them all in line."

"I don't know," Claude says, meaning it. "Sorry, but that might have been it. She's trying to get the book finished so she can get back to mercenary work. That's her real passion."

"Really," Hubert says, drawing out the vowels. "How fascinating. How indicative of your proteges, to upend the social order and then refuse to take responsibility-"

"Yup," Claude says. "Taught her everything I know. Look, you said Ferdinand read all her pamphlets, so why don't you argue about it with him, as a warm up? You can work on your counterarguments together."

"I suppose," Hubert says, as though it pains him, which clearly means there is nothing he would like more. "Will you join us? I would be very interested in learning how the great Duke Riegan, soon-to-be-King of all Fódlan, stands on the issue of rabble-rousing sentiments for the common man-"

"I'd love to," Claude says, and drops a wink for good measure. "As every moment spent with you is the most exquisite bliss, but alas, I am also unfortunately late! And I'm not the King of Fódlan, so remember that-"

"I definitely will," Hubert says, openly smirking, "and I shall remind you of it at your coronation. Farewell, your Majesty. Don't let me detain you."

Claude could make one of the hand gestures he's learned as he leaves, but he won't give Hubert the satisfaction of that either. He really is late. The meeting was supposed to start ten minutes ago.