#and this is a great example of that

[every-sasuke-uchiha]

[nestavadavat]

I'm sure someone's mentioned this, but I think it's really interesting how even the scenery around changes with the story throughout Rdr2.

We start in Colter, which is definitely run down, but it's secluded and surrounded by nothing but nature. We're only there for a bit but we never see anyone other than our own gang members and nature.

Horseshoe Overlook is still secluded yeah, but there's a town nearby. Otherwise it's overlooking this beautiful landscape. And Valentine isn't pretty but it's very western and very small. We see other people not far from camp but nature is still basically everywhere.

Clemens Point is surrounded by nature but what sets it apart is that it's already been used. There's a dock and we as Arthur go to clear it out. It's also just by Rhodes which is an arguably more developed than Valentine.

Then of course there's Shady Bell which is a house. It's already been used, we kill people to get it, and it's like maybe ten minutes away from Saint Denis which is a huge city. Saint Denis is very prim and proper and not very dirty, but just around the edges close to camp there's rot and decay.

I'm leaving Guarma out of this because I think it's less relevant to the whole gang's downfall, but it's a point to mention that it's the ruins of a house surrounded by a constant threat.

Then we're at Lakay. This literally has skulls on spikes outside, according to Arthur (I can't find pictures right now), and is obviously run down. It's a bit farther from Saint Denis but not by much. We also stay there for a while in a place that's burnt and shot apart.

Finally Beaver Hollow. This is arguably the biggest change from our beginning. We are in a cave that was previously filled with the Murphee Brood and the evidence of them is still there (cages, boxes, wagons, etc). We are right outside Annesburg, a filthy mining town where everything is polluted.

It's really interesting thinking back on it now and I'm definitely going to pay more attention to it on my next playthrough

[daisywords]

One of my biggest nitpicks in fiction concerns the feeding of babies. Mothers dying during/shortly after childbirth or the baby being separated form the mother shortly after birth is pretty common in fiction. It is/was also common enough in real life, which is why I think a lot of writers/readers don't think too hard about this. however. Historically, the only reason the vast majority of babies survived being separated from their mother was because there was at least one other woman around to breastfeed them. Before modern formula, yes, people did use other substitutes, but they were rarely, if ever, nutritionally sufficient.

Newborns can't eat adult food. They can't really survive on animal milk. If your story takes place in a world before/without formula, a baby separated from its mother is going to either be nursed by someone else, or starve.

It doesn't have to be a huge plot point, but idk at least don't explicitly describe the situation as excluding the possibility of a wetnurse. "The father or the great grandmother or the neighbor man or the older sibling took and raised the baby completely alone in a cave for a year." Nope. That baby is dead I'm sorry. "The baby was kidnapped shortly after birth by a wizard and hidden away in a secret tower" um quick question was the wizard lactating? "The mother refused to see or touch her child after birth so the baby was left to the care of the ailing grandfather" the grandfather who made the necessary arrangements with women in the neighborhood, right? right? OR THAT GREAT OFFENDER "A newborn baby was left on the doorstep and they brought it in and took care of it no issues" What Are You Going to Feed That Baby. Hello?

Like. It's not impossible, but arrangements are going to have to be made. There are some logistics.

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce is a overprotective and kind of strict parent, but he is very lax in some domains where other parents wouldn't. Here are some examples:

His kids stealing money from him. You will never catch Bruce Wayne lecturing his kids for taking his money. In the Arkhamverse, Jason steals 5 millions from Bruce's bank account to buy his army, and the problems for Bruce are: he didn't know it was Jason so it stressed him a bit, and Jason used it to buy an army.

Stealing from him in general. What is his is theirs. Unless it's dangerous. (Cars are death machines for his anxious self, which is why buying another batmobile for the young justice is not acceptable, or is kids taking it for a ride. He did made Redbird for Tim as a gift for when he got his license.)

Stealing from the cops (he has done it himself so many times)

Stealing money from rich people. In Knightfall, Bruce meets a British vigilante named Hood who steals from the rich to give to the poor, and Bruce had NO problems with that. He likes the young man. Stealing possessions is an issue tho. (Dick should follow his Robin Hood's dream, his father is fine with that)

Hacking into government facilities or anything really. Unless it's to harm an innocent civilian, like a classmate, he will not say anything. Hacking the FBI? Good. Hacking a russian mafia? Ok. As long as they do it safely and follow Barbara's instructions, it's fine.

Lying to him. Bruce is always impressed when he realizes one of his kids lied to him and he believed them. He's the Batman, after all, they have been able to fool the Batman. When he learns that Tim invented a fake uncle, he is proud of him and he tells him such, because he made the Batman believed it.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Happy one year anniversary to In Stars and Time!

[giantkillerjack]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[lightsaroundyourvanity]

honestly i haven't been able to take "i don't ship femslash because women aren't given enough depth in media" seriously since the meteoric rise of fucking huxlo in 2015

[dunmeshistash]

cithis's overtly feminine presentation is so fun to me... the long dress and the cleavage window and the makeup and the fact that she's the only one who changes super noticeably in the genderswap is just . Idk its cool, esp with how androgynous all the other elves are

It is very cool! Cithis has a very overt gender presentation that we don't really see in other elves, even Otta who makes a point to present as male doesn't read as super masculine to the level of "hyper-feminine" that Cithis is

Elves seem to have their own fashion preferences independent of gender (from what we can tell from the gender swap)

Which makes sense, Lycion himself wears a very feminine hairstyle even in the original, so Pattadol also keeping the same hairstyle while she's a man is consistent! Meanwhile Cithis seems to be way more conscious of her own gender when dressing?

I wonder if presenting more feminine is more common than presenting more "masculine" for elves? Would a male elf dressed like Cithis be strange? I don't think Cithis is completely unique in how feminine she is cause we do see a few other elves with similar traits. Flamela has a exposed cleavage, Mysil has a long skirt, Daltian clan "Aunt Uranesse" seems very feminine with makeup and adorned hair, Cithis has it all at once but the pieces aren't unique I guess is what I'm saying

They say that for the most part there isn't much difference between male and female fashion but even here we have an elf in what we would call a "feminine" looking long dress

I wonder if those are things that male elves could wear without other elves finding it strange too 🤔

I wonder if there's an equivalent for "very masculine" in elf fashion, tbh I don't know what that would even look like, male Cithis just wears a very average looking version of the uniform (minus the boots and arm armor) even the neck piece is on instead of her choker. Otta does "dress like a man" to the point other elves get her gender wrong tho so there must be an equivalent? (besides the fact she wears the male uniform) Or maybe is her behavior along with the fashion that makes them read her as masculine and the fashion alone wouldn't?

Anyway it is very interesting!!! But I have no idea what to make of it!!!! Elf gender studies when

[juliamccartney]

i looove these moments in malevolent when the background music gets all jaunty and you just know that we're entering comedy mode and what's about to happen is very silly

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay but it's super interesting how

Din = Power = Ganondorf

Naryu = Wisdom = Zelda

Farore = Courage = Link.

Because Din, in the hylian creation myth, created the physical world. Naryu then created the laws - gravity, time, etc. And Farore finally created life - plants and people.

Din created the body, naryu the mind, Farore the soul.

And the triforce and its wielders so perfectly reflect that.

Ganon is physical power, he is big and intimidating and he breaks things. He is cunning and determined, but that's not what he focuses on. He is might makes right.

Zelda is wisdom and cleverness. She is stall tactics and information and team work. She is a powerful mage with a spine of steel, but that's not how she'll win. She is the pen being mightier than the sword.

Link is courage and persistence. He is the wild card sneaking behind enemy ranks, always moving, plunging into terrifying situations head first. He's a phenomenal fighter with a keen wit, but that's not what will get him through his challenges. He is bravery not being the absence of fear but the triumph over it.

They sit in perfect parallels to each other.

And ganon is reborn through his body - his resurrection is immortality. No matter how low he is cast, as long as he has a body he can claw his way back. He can cling to his power, build it ever higher.

Zelda is reborn through the magic of her bloodline. It's the accumulated knowledge handed down for generations, the unique power she must master, the skills she must develop to survive and get her kingdom out the other side intact. Even her name, the knowledge of herself, is handed down from all the way from the very first. Her ancestors knowledge of her future presence, her stability, is what gives her the edge.

Link is reborn in spirit. He is not bound by flesh or blood. Just like his wanderlust soul he can reappear in any time or place. His variation, his unpredictability, is exactly how he fights. It's what makes him so hard to pin down.

Ganons need to build strength means he can't chase after link. Links impulsiveness means zelda can outwit him. Zeldas stationary predictability means she's an easy target for ganon.

But the other direction?

Fire melts ice, ice redirects lightning, lightning burns fire.

And that's the very essence of the triforce.

[damianbugs]

it's kind of funny but mostly annoying when i'm like "yeah no i hate [comic writer] because they're a bad person and it shows in some of their stories" and there'll be one dickhead like "just because you don't like their stories doesn't mean they're a bad person" and the story in question is blatantly racist to brown specifically middle eastern characters and oh right HE HELPED PLAN THE 2003 INVASION OF IRAQ. TOM KING.

[ratatatastic]

oh ellie his fiancée made banana bread before every home game and thats what made him play well....huh well isnt that an interesting tidbit that doesn't remind me of anything at all...

Matthew Cup Day | 7.18.24 (x)

yeah this reminds me of nothing absolutely nothing at all (x)

absolutely nothing at all...

nothing really comes to mind actually...

[gatoburr0]

Smollusk in the fuzzy au is real guys he’s Marina’s adopted son.

They look so happy together I really hope nothing bad happens to smollusk

[teddybeartoji]

toji fucking your throat always ends up in such a big fucking mess; you're crying, you're slobbering all over yourself and him, his pre is mixing with your spit and it's dripping down your chin and your neck and his balls and it's somehow even on your thighs – it's a lot.

but it's all only making him harder.

you gag around him and he rasps out a row of curses, his lust filled eyes fixated on your pretty face. you can't even look back at him, your mind set on trying to breathe through your nose – you feel so fucking full and it's getting so hard to breathe, your head is dizzy and your knees are starting to hurt, but you refuse to stop. the moans and groans that spill from toji's scarred lips are what egg you on, what gives you the strength to keep on going.

with his fingers wrapped around your neck, toji feels himself move inside you and it's driving him fucking insane. he's swimming in a daydream, he's having a rough time believing this is really happening – you're taking him so well, and you feel so good and you look so pretty and fuck, the way your throat keeps clamping down on him as you gag and the filthy fucking sounds that you're letting out. he thinks he really might be in love.

"shit, sweetheart..."

the petname has you humming around his cock, which in return makes him instantly force himself as deep as he can; his heavy, spit covered balls are flush against chin and at this point, all you can do is sink your nails into his thighs for support.

"look at me."

it takes you a second to even register what he said, your all mind fuzzy and gone. but then you do so anyway – glassy eyes and tear stained cheeks, toji reckons you look like a fucking angel.

his knees nearly give out when you shake your head ever-so-lighty, just enough to rub your nose against his pubes, just enough to push him over the edge.

he spills his load deep down your throat with a loud groan and lets his head fall back as you swallow around him. he almost misses the way you tap his thigh, his body overwhelmed by the wave of pleasure rushing through him, but when you do it a little stronger the second time, he's quick to pull you off of him.

you swallow another time, but cum still dribbles from the corners of your lips – there's always so much of it and you're still trying to get used to that. wiping the rest of it with the back of your hand, you crane your neck to look at your lover once more and knot in your stomach tightens just a little at the sight of him; covered in sweat, red in the face, disheveled hair and a stupid lovesick grin – you, too, think he looks like a fucking angel.

with a sniffle, you try to keep yourself from falling over but you're so tired, your body and mind both numb after all of your hard work. but before you can even think about climbing onto the bed with him, his hands are reaching for yours.

he pulls you to him with one swift move and cradles you against his chest, completely ignoring the mess you've made for a moment. he doesn't take his eyes off of you as nuzzle your face into him – he knows you're about to pass the fuck out, you always do, but he thinks it's cute.

toji wipes a thumb over your cheek to rid of the drying tears and then leans in closer to press a kiss to the very same spot. he lets out a breathy laugh when you push at him, murmuring something about 'being dirty'.

as if he fucking cares.

he presses another kiss to your nose and then to your lips. and then he's smearing the remnants of his own cum all over your cheek.

but just as you're about to bite at him from being ridiculous, he's already got a shirt in his hands, ready to clean you up.

he ignores the way you glare at him with a sly little smirk on his face and simply continues to gently wipe your face, your neck, your chest and then your thighs – he takes his time with you, he doesn't rush it at all because he really does feel proud of the mess you've created together and he won't hide it either.

by the time he's all done, you've already dozed off. skin on skin, you've always felt the safest like this; you melt into your lover and with one last kiss to the crown of your head, toji lets you get your rest. he'll stare at you for a few more minutes before joining you in dreamland.

skin on skin, he's always felt the safest like this.

[snissel613]

Another Orthodoxism I've noticed is that I don't really care for or vibe with like any Jewish representation in media. Like intellectually I get how and why it would work or not, I know how rep works, but Jewish rep is never Orthodox Jewish rep, and as an Orthodox Jew who experiences Judaism in a very specific way it just never hits for me. And from what I hear (I am admittedly not to well read) most Orthodox rep is a) Charedi and b) really bad.

In one notable example I related way more to the Muslim character, who had a constant and and never-commented-on-as-odd religious marker (a hijab), than the Jewish one, who has a single wedding fantasy where they break a glass.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I want it back / I drag its dead weight forward.