#anyway i love them all but especially the gay one

[elprupneerg]

at risk of doxxing myself: i went there! yes, the high schools are conjoined twins.

most of the building is symmetrical along an invisible line (with the auditorium, music area, and gyms being weird growths that ruin the symmetry, its fine). anything on the east half of the invisible line was East high, anything on the west half was West high. which school a teacher was officially employed by depended on which half of that dividing line their classroom was on. so my French teacher had her paychecks officially come from East while my German teacher had his paychecks officially come from West. i still took classes on both sides of the school even though i officially only attended one of them.

there were technically separate departments for math, English, science, and social studies classes, but they ultimately followed the same school district rules and tried to mostly keep education the same between both schools. my freshman biology class was in West, so my class dissected fetal pigs, while the freshman biology classes in East that year dissected rats iirc (might've been frogs? it wasn't pigs though). but we both did our dissection unit at the same time of year after having learned from the same textbooks and having done roughly equivalent homework.

school pride was always a weird thing. people seemed to expect us to be more invested, but its a bit hard to see the kids from the other team as "the enemy" when you're in the same theater program. especially since half our clubs and teams were combined anyway. there were separate teams for most sports since there were enough students from both schools to run 2 teams. but the anime club, gay-straight alliance, student council, school newspaper, marching band, and plenty of other clubs/activities/classes were all combined. there was still a lot of participation in school spirit week since it usually meant wearing silly costumes, but there wasn't that same sort of intense feeling people seem to have in movies. my dad still has his varsity jacket from his own high school days hanging up in his closet, and his high school yearbooks were full of little drawings of the school mascot. that wasn't really the case for anyone i knew in school.

at one point when i was in school they were talking about combining our schools again. they wanted to take the East Suns (maroon and gold) and the West Spartans (blue and white) and combine the mascots and colors into the Sunny Spartans (maroon and blue). this would've made our football team have a shot at not being in last place in our district sports tournaments (East and West regularly fight for last place), but it would've given a lot less kids a chance at actually playing. and for sports where both teams were actually genuinely good? it would've messed up people's abilities to get scholarships. similar issues around recognition of academic achievement (and also the combined mascot and color scheme being ugly) meant that they remained separate.

i've had people ask me how administration was split up between the schools. i'd love to answer, except i happened to go during a period where the superintendents kept quitting and the principals kept getting shuffled around. there were always at least 5-6 principals, but the exact number/who filled the exact role depended on who'd quit last iirc. it was a bit chaotic and i remember being very frustrated with it even as a student that didn't really have to actually deal with them.

our graduation ceremonies were separate, and Thank Fuck For That. all the ceremonies are so long already even with it being split into 2 schools. one of the valedictorians at my brother's graduation had a speech that lasted 45 minutes. there were about 200-300 students getting their names called to walk on stage. there was barely enough room in the auditorium/gym (location depended on if you were East or West) for all the guests. the air conditioning was not made for this many people to be crammed into one side of the school for this long so its also hot and sweaty as fuck. i'm trying to imagine the nightmarish hell of dealing with all of that while also having to wait for roughly 500 students to walk across the stage. and they're all wearing maroon and blue and getting called, i cannot stress this enough, the Sunny fucking Spartans, i genuinely do not know who thought that was a good idea but they need to stop having ideas. my school pride goes so far as getting called either a spartan OR a sun, Not Both.

as far as i'm aware it was otherwise basically the same as attending any other particularly large high school. there was just technically 2 of them

remembering that time i met someone who attended high school in west bend, wisconsin and they told me how their school district works. to them it was completely normal while i was wondering if they were messing with me.

their schools are conjoined twins???

[crimeronan]

im a teenager with seasonal depression and a shitty fatigue causing disability and adhd currently still in highschool and: the way you talk abt minors right to autonomy, and How School Sucks, and everything related to that is. The Most Soothing Shit i hear all day. like. reading some of your posts abt how Good graduating early and being a Problem Child was for you was So Damn Calming.

most ppl immediately go to sooth me with the "but you Are smart, and you just need to try harder!! your life isnt entirely ruined today :) just go to school tomorrow and be Good and Learn and you'll be fineee. you aren't one of the bad ones, Dont Worry :))" and that makes me. invent new types of panic attacks and neuroses on the spot.

but having an Actual Adult whos like "no. school can infact be the fucking Torture pit for some people and it is So Utterly Fucked Up how Anyone can make you do Anything, actually. you arent a bad or damaged person this is Normal and your value isnt dependant on Schooliness. do whatever makes you least likely to kill yourself. you dont owe them shit, especially not being Good. be a problem, take up space."

is. genuinely the nicest thing Ever. to me. like. Makes me Kinda Want To Cry nicest thing ever. anyway yea. thanks for that.

ahh, this is lovely to hear. but i'm so sorry you're going through this.

i remember being in high school in 2011 when the gay teen suicides were national headlines, and everyone had Opinions on it, and the "it gets better" trend was everywhere, and -- while those videos did do a lot of good!! -- they just kind of made me more furious?? because i was so mad at all these adults basically saying, "yeah, high school is an institutional pit of death and horror, but eventually you'll be 18!!" i was like hey. Help Us Now.

it was actually the song "make it stop" by rise against that gave me any peace or sense of belonging, because. here was a band i loved full of straight dudes (as far as i know, anyway) who were just fucking MAD. they were righteously angry!! they gave a fuck what was happening!! and lyrics like "the gatherings hold candles but not their tongues" rang SO true to me, as someone who was dealing with endless "oh, so sad he died, but there was something wrong with his brain" discourse.

the memory of that has made it REALLY easy to hold onto my anger in adulthood. because sometimes kids don't need "it'll be fine, just hang on :)" they need "you're gonna be okay, but FUCK ALL THIS."

it's truly fucking Unconscionable to do what we do even to neurotypical, able-bodied teens with good home lives. i want to say i can't imagine being a teen with chronic fatigue and ADHD going to classes eight hours a day.... but i can!! i did that!! and almost died!!

i honestly think the lack of autonomy in the US school system is traumatic For Everybody. different levels of trauma, for sure! but i think that's part of why adults seem so disconnected from our teen years and can't remember the realities of being an adolescent. we overwrite the horrors.

the good news is: it Does get better after school. astonishingly so.

in the meantime: you don't owe anyone Anything. literally your only job right now is to survive. do whatever you need to do to not kill yourself or end up in jail. don't worry about anything else. i promise it Does Not Matter As Much As People Say It Does.

[electraslight]

i absolutely adore your art, especially the way you draw nudity!! id love to try and practice drawing nude bodies more, do you have any tips or tricks for drawing?

hi! ive been drawing nudity for as long as ive been able to draw, since casual nakedness is something ive always felt comforted by post coming out of religion. most of the ways i got good were after i stopped seeing sex or sexuality, and thought more about construction. here is a list: 1. Learn about muscles and the skeleton first. when im stuck on a nude figure, i usually look up the musculature for that paticular body part and use it as a guide. learn how muscles flex and move by 2. look at yourself. if youre stuck, look in a mirror and imitate the post, or hell, if youre stuck on a hand look at your hands. move your body and watch the muscles flex and the tendons tighten. 3. look at people of all body types. nudity of someone 'undesirable' isnt any less important to study, since breaching your comfort zone is the best way to improve creativity.

ive always viewed anatomical study for the nude figure as healing, somewhat spiritual. i look at myself and i watch my hands move, i watch my collarbone cave when i move my torso, and everything devolves into muscles and tissue and it stops feeling like a husk i inhabit and more like all of me. i used to be terrified of the male form until i studied it. i remember buying a gay porn magazine in the city when i turned 18 and looking at the bodies and feeling less shy about liking them. I think the reason i gravitate to the nude is that we are all naked and we are all complex and i can find anyone beautiful if i look at the bareness of their building blocks. i remember in one of my books on anatomy it said something similar about cadaver study at art school.

anyway i know you didnt ask me this looking for something so sappy, but i felt the need to share. nakedness is healing. thank you for your ask

[puppppppppy]

renaissance dogys

characters belong to @canisalbus

[scionshtola]

like i do for my own purposes (affair au) headcanon some homophobia in ishgard due to the importance of heirs to the nobility but it would not then follow that there are no gay ppl ahdjdkskdk

[poems-of-a-lover]

i am soooo sleepy someone should give me their hoodie and mayhaps a little forehead kiss

[dolokhoded]

simon peter is the funniest apostle to work with because in theory he's the most loyal, most by-the-book of the apostles so you'd expect him to be the most logical and collected one but 80% of his concerns (pre crucifixion then everything went downhill and they all died) are that he has a crush on every person he encounters

[redflannelsheets]

.

[autism-corner]

nothing has made me more time-aware than wanting to keep up with yaoi...

[astrxealis]

started rereading the pjo series the other day actually wawawa still my favorite fr it means the world to me :(( but yeah also! rewatched big hero 6 and ngl it probably really is my favorite movie for many personal reasons hehe AND THEN also watched the first part of hamilton on tv w my parents they loved it hehehe

[ipoddymouth]

It’s truly so par for the course my first ever relationship at 19, I use the term relationship loosely, he didn’t want to fully commit to me but didn’t want to let me go either and I knew I was being treated like shit but I was so in love with him that I wouldn’t let him go he’d piss me off and I’d be like im done with him fr and then he’d say soemrbinf sweet and I’d crawl right back to him like it was sooo embarrassing but I made it out of the trenches and I no longer accep that kind of behavior

yeah like unfo i feel like u gotta get at least one (1) fuckass relationship* under your belt to grow as a person......doesn't mean either party is a terrible person it just means its probs the first time either of yall have had such strong conflicting feelings......and also there's a good chance that at least one of you has a questionable haircut

*between the ages of 17-23; if u past that then you bet not even entertain the thought of engaging in such childish behavior

[schrijverr]

Okay, so I'm looking at the titles of the I Do chapter and AUAU titles again and now I think that my theory is probably incorrect but I can't decide if it's because the reveal will happen before I thought it would or after somehow? I don't see how it could be after because I thought it would be around s2 season finale but some of these chapter titles are throwing me off (as I assume they're supposed to lol). In any case my theorizing continues!

Btw I can't record right now so I haven't brought it up but do you have an opinion on podfics? I would really love to record at least one of the AUAUs when I have time!

lksdghlghf they are definitely meant to confuse, I feel so evil about some of them, literally, when I was coming up with the titles, I texted my partner at some point: 'I'm so vile with these omg' which I still stand by xp

I will not be commenting more on it, bc I don't want to give it away, but it's really fun to see what people are thinking :D

And I love podfics! I'm very honored whenever someone wants to make one of my fic, it's a thrill, so totally good there if you do want to and no problem if you don´t. Just link back to me and it's all good <333

[lesbians-all-the-way-down]

My life won't be complete until I name the other lead in the historical fiction I've decided I'm going to write.

[ooc-miqojak]

I mean, Jesus was killed because he was an outspoken liberal who hung out with whores, and dirty commonfolk. Jesus was like... the chillest guy, and Christianity shouldn't be confused with what pseudo-Christians have been brain washed into believing. I'm not all that religious these days (the Bible says we can pray and God can hear us so... why listen to some racist/bigot calling himself a preacher?), but I grew up around it and was heavily immersed in it... and at the end of the day? Christianity says to accept all people (no exceptions!) - God loves all people (no exceptions!) - and not to be a dick. All you need are the commandments that amount to "don't be a piece of shit person" and the parables about Jesus that are like "he supports sex workers, children's rights, he feeds the homeless, and that time he saw people trying to make money off of religion he literally grabbed a whip and beat those people".

As far as I'm aware, anyone can become a church leader/pastor/preacher, so why wouldn't bigots and racists take over the churches and teach people the wrong thing? No one reads the Bible for themselves anymore, or they'd have a lot of questions about why they're being told to hate gay people (nothing about that in the Bible btw - God loves everyone) - or to hate anyone at all. And even if there were some arbitrary rule about being gay (there isn't), a real Christian would utilize compassion - not hate. There's some line from Jesus when he's confronted about hanging out with the 'dregs' of society, and he says that the sick people need the doctor - not the healthy ones. Which amounts to - if you think someone needs God's love or guidance... you'd show them compassion. Not revulsion.

Like most religions, Christianity is about being kind to others, and generally not being a shit person. But like many influential things created for good... bad people see it as a tool. And again, I have plenty of days where I have existential dread and lots of doubt... most days, really. But this isn't about my crisis of faith - it's just important to me that people be able to distinguish between what Christianity IS and what its being used FOR - not just in the modern era, but for a long time. God didn't support ye olden Crusades, and he sure as fuck doesn't sort the modern kind either. People love to use God for an excuse to do bad deeds, despite that same God very explicitly having rules that oppose what they're doing.

(Also feel free to troll those pseudo-Christians that maybe they have mis-read the Bible: God hates figs... you know, because Jesus once smote a fig tree while he was hangry.)

psa for the christian girls that interact with me:

your religion was manufactured by males out of a deep-seated envy over women's control of life. it insists women are less than men and that rape is a part of gods plan. i do not care about respecting religion. especially when a core tenet of that religion is that my sex makes me subhuman and subservient to males

[space-blue]

Disappointed in the Vander backstory

I fully expected that it was coming, but I'm disappointed in the timeline all the same.

The "Vander got upset because a fight against Piltover Silco instigated killed the woman he loved" was literally my first draft for my longfic Fathers and Daughters, and I ended up scrapping it because I felt it was too cheap and wouldn't justify the violence of his actions against Silco.

"When she died I lost my head" he says in the letter.

But when she died you actually dropped your gauntlets and picked up the girls and everyone has been assuming this was the moment you swore off violence...

The fact she goes on to let Vander name her kid, and seems to be thick as thieves with them, and ALSO tells them of the pregnancy before she builds up the courage to tell her partner... Tells me that surely... SURELY by the time Vi is 10-11, whatever she is on the bridge in season 1, she would KNOW SILCO as her mom's bestie, no??? Not just Vander.

It feels like this entire angle is pulled under the rug to simplify the conflict in act 1.

I do appreciate being right on the money with Silco knowing and being friends with the mom, and having known Vi as a baby. I think it makes sense, especially if he was an important community leader.

I just hate her death being the catalyst of Vander's actions against Silco. It means that the timeline actually like this:

Mom-Silco-Vander are best friends. Silco is "Bozo 1" and has been leading the transformation of the Lanes with Vander's help. He's already planning his nation of Zaun. His notebook is literally saying "NZ" for Nation of Zaun.

At an ONGOING confrontation with enforcers, Silco throws a molotov cocktails that doesn't seem to even kill an enforcer (Powder and her innefectual bombs parallel? The entire scene is intercut with the monkey bomb clapping so... The scene leading to a friend's death also parallels the events of Jinx's birth.)

As the smoke clears/the POV looks down, we have the reveal that the girls' Mom is dead.

Vander admits the blood was on his hands as well, meaning he either started this confrontation with Silco, or fought just as badly/increased the violence (and we see him murder enforcers later on). Anyway he admits to carrying the blame, and apologized in person to Silco for the dubbed "betrayal".

Then he went home, shaved, dragged Silco into the Pilt, and tried to drown him *because their common friend died at the failed uprising*.

He's then haunted, seemingly, by visions of Silco being dead:

To me it's sort of weaker and sadder, as it establishes Vander as someone more flawed and less ruthless. It's not that he wanted the Lanes, it's not that Silco was getting in the way of what he wanted.

Vander was out there happy with everything they were dishing out, right until their actions cost the life of a friend, and he broke, emotionally, and BLAMED it on Silco, going so far as to kill him (or try).

He surrendered his gauntlets, picked the children up, tucked them in at home, shaved (I cannot stress this enough), then took Silco into the fucking river and brutally attempted to murder him.

Then he massively regretted it and left little breadcrumbs of apologies in case Silco found them and returned to him.

So, canon couple, first off lol

Fellas, is it gay to hang your jackets inside each other's in your secret hideout? Is it gay that all your core hidden memories begin with your mate smiling at you?

Yes, yes it is. Zaundad is canon and I'm not taking commentary.

Secondly, that means Vander was an emotional ticking time bomb who wasn't ready for the price to sacrifice in order to gain their freedom. I really wonder what the alternative reality would have been like, were Silco the one dying on that bridge.

Anyway, it brings some twisted sadness to the situation, because the mom wanted Zaun "no matter what" for Vi's sake, her child's future. But Vander decided that lives weren't worth spilling over that dream and tried to kill Silco over it, before teaming up with Grayson to continue enforcing a status quo.

So that means that Silco, even as he raises Jinx, is continuing her mother's dream, of building Zaun, a country that's safe for her children, "no matter what".

But very sadly the show also acts like Silco doesn't know the kids, and like the kids don't know him. Powder, sure, but Vi not knowing Silco is just downright stupid. Not even knowing him by name? When her mom was out fighting alongside him??? The mom is ALSO a miner, very clearly working with Silco and Vander, alongside the nameless poor husband.

I feel like this doesn't really solve the issues that were already raised when we speculated about act 1. It just clarifies that Vander was truly, willfully a force of oppression inside the fissures, working against the revolution necessary for Zaun becoming possible.

But it implies Silco didn't recognise Powder and Vi, and that Vi didn't recognise him or understand how he knew Vander. It's a disservice to the story, because that tie, that old bond, could really have worked to dramatize the sacrifices Silco is ready to make, as well as the depth of Vi's hatred for him.

But the show acts like they're strangers and that Vander's death is the core beef between them until Jinx enters the picture.

And then there's the Benzo scene, when Vander holds his wound from Silco's knife, and says "we both know there's worse than enforcers out there" WHO ARE YOU FUCKING TALKING ABOUT??? Yourself? You seem to be the worst thing around here! It seems clear he knew Silco was alive but had nothing to blame him for by then.

I'm left with holes that take the shape of "shock value" and "plot twist".

"Ooooh Silco knew the mom, twiiiist, but please don't think about the implications, because we wrote season 1 without taking this in consideration."

Feels like another job for fic writers, but IDK if I have the strength for it. I just like my own version better.

At least now we know that Silco did not IN FACT DO anything to "deserve" what he got. I'm sorry, but throwing a molotov at enforcers when fighting for your freedom is based and Vander was dishing death right there next to him.

The base violence necessary for change, eh? Vander just delayed the price being paid for Zaun's creation.

[zinepunk]

Some thoughts on the end of arcane season 2:

Wow that was even gayer than expected /pos

Episode 7 was damn incredible. Everything I ever wanted from this show, especially with the “what could have been” themes

I know I wasn’t supposed to find it funny but I cracked tf up every time the alternate realities switched. Like it’d go from Ekko on a date in ideal Zaun being like “nooo I HATE parties :(“ to Jayce GOING THROUGH IT eating raw meat alone in a cave lmaoooo

TimeBomb canon letsgoooooo

GAY SEX???? GAYY??? SEX?!?!?!?

IN A JAIL CELL FOR SOME REASON???? I mean slay ig??

Side note I had a dream that Vi and Caitlyn had sex but woke up and was like damn too bad they’ll never do that in canon. I’m a prophet 😎

Mel’s character design somehow got even better and I love that for her (rip about the mommy issues tho)

Also what was up with Skye being savage as hell? Viktor being like “I’ll miss our talks” and her being like “no you won’t” Tf???!?

Ekko slayed this season but what’s new

Ekko putting Jinx on a suicide watch by rewinding time every time she killed herself was funny as hell ngl. Speaking as someone who’s been monitored 24/7 for that exact reason

I wanna know what the hell Ekko said to Jinx to convince her to not only not die but also save everyone cuz I feel like we missed some steps

Look I know JayVik didn’t become OFFICIALLY canon like the others but that confession was gay as hell. They’re canon to me idc

The reveal that the mage who saved Jayce as a kid was Viktor all along?? Side note, my dad actually predicted that by accident because he couldn’t remember who was who so yay dad

I know this isn’t important whatsoever but VIKTOR WITH A BEARD CAN GET IT

Jinx’s new hair is really growing on me but unfortunately it only lasted like 30 mins

I can’t believe jinx fucking died. I seriously didn’t think they’d kill off one of the main characters

Also did Jayce and Viktor die? That was super unclear like where did they go??

I feel like Vi and Sevika really got the short end of the stick with this ending since both of them had at least two found families EACH die off completely

Anyway in summary I LOVED the ending and the little seeds it planted for future spin offs. Once again I watched the whole thing jaw dropped. I kept thinking “wouldn’t it be crazy if they did xyz? But they wouldn’t do thaaaat” and then they FUCKING DID IT. 10/10 show, ended as beautifully as I’d hoped.