#as is the new good quality scope

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

People seem to lack a sense of “obsolescence.” Something old might not automatically be garbage even if something new and better has come along. The older thing that is no longer in use might have been genuinely bad, but it’s very possible that it worked and maybe even worked quite well in its time—it may still work quite well now—but the new thing is still better or more effective. This is a question of societal and personal values and it has practical consequences.

I am trying to research vintage (and replica) rifle scopes right now, and it is extremely unhelpful to read people say that such and such thing is “garbage,” because I don’t know if that means garbage for its time, subjectively bad to the person speaking, or simply inferior to a modern high quality optic.

To give an analogous example, I have a pair of WWII binoculars. They’re clearly well-made, durable, good materials, and when you look through them, you can indeed see a thing that is far away as though it were closer. But my younger brother has a good pair of modern binoculars and when you look through them not only is the image better resolution than real life, it is brighter and I’m pretty sure you see colors invisible to the naked eye. It’s insane how good they are.

The old binoculars are still perfectly functional. The new ones just do the same thing much better.

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls in Your Area

Chapter 1

“A cult?” Jason blew out a bubble and enjoyed the disgusted face that Bruce made.

“Yes.” His voice was tight. Jason could tell that he wanted to turn back to the Batcomputer. “They’re operating in Park Row-”

“Crime Alley.”

Batman sighed and accepted the correction. “I would like to propose a joint operation.” He sounded so tired and not very optimistic.

Jason eyed up his on-again-off-again Father figure and popped his gum, thinking it over. Bruce clearly expected him to say no, fuck off, and take the information himself.

He could. There was nothing wrong with that.

“Sure, old man.” He clapped Bruce on the shoulder and finished screwing together the tool he’d brought in for maintenance. He’d had to fabricate a new part and the Red Hood didn’t exactly have the equipment for that in his two room apartment. “Thursday night alright?”

“They’ve a planned meeting on Wednesday, actually,” Bruce said, frowning slightly at him but looking soft around the eyes with confused hope. “Would that be possible? They seem to gather mid-week.”

Jason let out a sigh. “I can make it work. Ta, old man.” He made sure to toss off an especially insouciant salute as he sauntered away. Sure, he was willing to put a little effort into maintaining their relationship, but he couldn’t be too compliant. If you gave Bruce an hour of your time, he wrote you down on the schedule for an hour every day until one of you fuckin’ died in a warehouse explosion. Something like that.

He wasn’t that trusting, though. Jason took the information that Bruce emailed him and did his own legwork. He wasn’t stubborn enough to bother redoing digital work that Bruce had done or gotten from Babs. That would be a waste of his time, and he valued his time. But he scoped out the cult’s meeting place.

Of all the undignified things, it was a rented room in the community center. Jason found himself sheepishly breaking into the office to check on the reservation and poking around the room itself.

There was nothing special about it. It was a shitty room with shitty paneled walls and cheap, well-trodden grey carpet. It boasted a few too many tables, arranged in a U shape, and a whiteboard pushed up against the wall that hadn’t been cleaned off well enough to erase what he was pretty sure was a reference to their lord and savior, destroyed of worlds.

So. That was a point for Bruce’s cult thing.

He hadn’t really doubted it, if he was honest, given that this had originated in a tip from Zatanna. She had told him as a courtesy that some creep had moved their base of recruiting and operations into Gotham.

Apparently, recruitment was going pretty well. The room could seat like, twenty? Jason counted chairs and left.

He came back on Wednesday at 8pm with the Batman and an attempt at a good attitude. He probably wasn’t going to need any of the weapons on his person. They were going to check in so that this guy knew they had an eye on him and that he would be suspect number one if there was any hint of people or cats being sacrificed.

Bruce fucked off to peer in the windows, like the giant caped creep he was. Jason took the front door, nodded congenially at the old man in the office, and knocked at the room the cultists had reserved.

He could hear Bruce internally curse through the comm. It was silent, of course, but the quality of the silence changed. “Knock knock,” he called, since a literal knock hadn’t done it. He opened the door without waiting. “Just checking in, heard you’re new to town and that you tried to feed Zatanna’s shitty little cousin to the god of Death?”

The room stared at him. A whiteboard marker squeaked to a stop. He idly followed the sound to the board. A …. Huh. that looked like some kind of mystical bullshit.

“You’ve been touched by death,” said the fraud himself, a man in his fifties with a wildly pretentious robe that was wrinkled from the paper bag he’d clearly used to carry it in. He outstretched the hand that didn’t have a blue whiteboard marker in it. “You would be a perfect sacrifice to our Lord.”

“So will it be,” said about half the people there, at the same time a young woman said, “No shit?” in an impressed tone.

Jason rolled his eyes through the helmet, unintimidated by the room of weirdos standing up. The kind of people who gathered at a community center on a Wednesday night were not going to summon the God of Death. Light glinted off the window where Batman was clearly weighing the possibility of breaking glass and swinging in. Jason silently waved him off with a headshake. They weren’t to the point of property damage yet. He took a couple of steps into the room with deliberate swagger. “What a lucky guess,” he drawled. “The Red Hood has had brushes with death? No one but a legitimate prophet could possibly make such a statement.”

“I’m not a prophet,” said the man, and turned back to his white board. “I’m a devote.” He rubbed out a line with the meat of his hand and then hurriedly wrote in ‘The Red Hood’ in a tilted cursive. “The sacrifice!” he shouted, throwing his arms wide and accidentally making a big blue line through his evil little sigil or whatever it was. The elderly lady to Jason’s right opened up her bag, thrust her hand in, and came up with a fistful of -

“Salt?” Jason asked, confused and unimpressed as the silly twit threw her handful of salt at him. “Thanks, I’m better seasoned now,” he snarked. He pulled out a gun easily. “Alright, let’s get serious. I-”

The whiteboard was glowing. The blue letters were glowing green.

“What the fuck?” Jason said. The windows exploded with broken glass as Batman decided now was the time to make his entrance. He barely got to see it before something hooked unpleasantly on his body and soul and twisted it sideways.

The world was green now. Holy shit. Jason spun a circle on uneven ground and gaped. “...Egg on my face,” he said. “I’ve been sacrificed. Consider me embarrassed.” A quick check showed that his comm was useless. It was giving off a steady little eeee of static that kinda sounded like screams. Whimsical. Jason turned it off.

He wasn’t panicking yet. The void wasn’t that freaky. It was weird, sure, but there weren’t any demons or enemies. He flicked the safety off his favorite gun just in case and frowned into the darkness.

It was like he was standing under a spotlight with no light source. There was ambient lighting in all directions, but the world faded into darkness only a few dozen feet away. He took some experimental steps to determine that, yeah, the field of visibility traveled with him.

Well. Time to get moving. Jason walked. There was nothing for the first - hour, he was gonna call it an hour. He got antsy and started jogging. The green stretched on, placid and infinite in a way that was really starting to piss him off. “Hey!” Jason barked into the void. “Anyone there?”

There was an answering electronic whirr. He stopped in his tracks. Jason looked in every direction, including up, and only saw the fucking thing when it was basically on top of him.

The vehicle was probably most equivalent to a spaceship, he decided, as what was probably a 3-man craft at most parked. The top clicked. It opened from the top and someone bounded out. “Hey!” came an annoyed male voice. “What’s the deal, bud?” The stranger landed in front of Jason with crossed arms and a pissy expression. His white hair floated above his head as if he was the little fucking mermaid in the ocean.

Jason scowled, the back of his mind cataloging the other guy’s outfit as pristine and undamaged and his musculature as athletic. “What’s it to you?” he asked, defensive. He didn’t know if it was safe to give information to this guy. “I might be a little lost,” Jason conceded.

“A little lost,” the guy repeated, and then- okay, he flew in a weird little flippy circle, scowling all the while as Jason gaped. “A little lost.” He scoffed. Then he let out a sigh that made his whole body look smaller. He uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair. “This is a weird question,” he said, making it sound more defensive than apologetic. “Did you uh.” He scowled, like the words were distasteful. “Look,” he tried again. “Are you delulu, or did you get caught up as the sacrificial bride? I told Frank to knock that shit off.”

Sacrificial bride. Jason felt his brain go offline for a moment. Say what now.

“Helloooo,” the… was this rando a god of death? He was impatient. He flew way up into Jason’s personal space and snapped his fingers. “Someone just smashed metal trash bins together at my grave to get my attention, basically. No, it’s more like one of those spam pop ups that says there’s hot girls in your area?” He made a gesture at Jason. “Only it’s loud. It’s ringing in my ears, and I had to come track you down. Do you think this is funny?”

“...Sacrificial bride?” Jason finally managed to croak out.

Weirdly, this made the other guy relax immediately. “Just found out, huh,” he said, sounding much more sympathetic. “Yeah, okay, we need to sort out a spiritual divorce immediately. And then you can go home and there will be no more hot girls in my area and I can get back to my ess- my work.”

Jason took a few moments of grief and confusion to accept his apparent status. “We’re married?” he said weakly.

The white haired man looked a little sheepish. “Marriage is probably not quite accurate,” he said, and Jason felt a little bit of relief before the guy continued, “It’s more like you’re my concubine?” He sounded mortified by this. “I didn’t want this!”

“No, no,” Jason said, meaning both that he believed it and that he needed this conversation to change directions immediately. “I- who are you?” He gestured at his– what the fuck was the other side of a concubine relationship? King was the associated word that came up, but that…

“I’m nobody, really,” said the white haired man weakly. “But I may technically be King of ghosts or whatever. The Infinite Realms.” He scratched at his face. “So… yeah.”

They stood in utterly mortified silence for a long moment before he seemed to remember something. “You can call me Danny,” he offered.

“...Call me Jason,” he said.

“Thanks, Jason,” Danny said genially. “So, uh, this is a mess, right?” He started floating away backwards. “I’m going to hunt down my mentor and advisor and get some uh- advice, I guess. Do you wanna come with? Or should I come back and check in once I’ve heard from him?”

Jason weighed up his situation, the conventional wisdom about getting in vehicles with strange men, and wondered how useless his gun was going to be in this situation. Danny had never reacted to it being pointed at him, so his guess was ‘utterly unhelpful’. He put it away. “I’d like a ride, thanks,” he said dryly.

They made some stilted conversation on the ride. Danny was clearly trying to hold back and give him no identifying information. That was fascinating, because it implied that there was something Jason could do from the human world to track Danny down. It was also reassuring because there was no reason to withhold information if he’d planned to keep Jason prisoner, so, ya know, that was a good sign.

Anyway, Jason got a lot of information from Danny.

Danny was a terrible liar and he misspoke like, all the time. Jason was pretty sure he was in the ghost equivalent of school, like college or something. He talked like someone in Jason’s age group would, so he’d probably died very recently. Maybe he had been a college student when he’d died and he just hadn’t given up on that degree yet, honestly. Jason managed to drag the conversation around to education. He got nowhere with asking about literature but he hit the jackpot with science. Danny was still babbling about a telescope when he landed the …ship outside of a wonky clocktower.

Jason took off his safety belt and froze in his tracks when Danny absently stopped him with a cool hand. Jason looked down at that hand.

“You had better stay here,” Danny said. He shook his head slightly. “Clocky doesn’t like everyone.”

He melted into the chair as if he had never wanted to get up. “Alright,” Jason said.

Danny was out of the spaceship by the time that Jason realized something was very wrong with that interaction.

He hadn’t decided to sit down. He hadn’t wanted to sit back down. Did- did he actually think it was reasonable to stay behind, or would he have argued and gone in normally?

‘...I think Danny did something.’ Suspicion swirled in his gut. Jason tried to take the safety belt off and stand up. He couldn’t. It was like his muscles wouldn’t respond to it.

Well, that was pretty fuckin’ evil. His pulse picked up in his throat. It… It was some kind of compulsion? He had to do what Danny told him to do? That was really fucked up. He was starting to feel really unsafe now. He wished he’d hung back with Bruce. He wanted someone to bring him home. And weirdly, he felt betrayed. He hardly trusted Danny, didn’t know the fucker well enough to, but he hadn’t gotten that impression off the guy–

‘It wasn’t him,’ Jason realized. ‘It was the binding ritual. Danny said it wasn’t like a marriage, it’s not equal. That’s why I did what Danny wanted me to do.’

Well. Well then. If Danny didn’t know that Jason had to follow his orders, Jason was most fucking certainly not going to spell it out for him. It was a grim calculation to make, but it seemed the safest. As it was, Danny seemed to want to get rid of him as fast as possible.

So that was it. He’d play along and get Danny to spit him back out into Gotham, a young hot divorcé free on the streets.

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Man over Machine

( Please come see me on my new patreon and support me for early access to stories and personal story requests :D https://www.patreon.com/NiqhtLord Every bit helps)

Alien: You must understand our line of thinking.

Human: I understand it is stupid beyond measure.

Alien: *Sighs

Alien: It is only logical to use mechanical soldiers in modern warfare.

Alien: Anything less is purely barbaric.

Human: You reduce war to little more than 1’s and 0’s.

Alien: What we do is remove needless bloodshed.

Alien: No longer are brave soldiers dying on forgotten worlds, no longer will families grieve for loved ones who will never return; no longer would we need monuments to the fallen.

Alien: Disagreements could be settled without a drop of blood being shed.

Human: You turn it into a game.

Alien: Exactly.

Human: No; you’d be turning war into a game, and that’s never a good thing.

Human: You can’t reduce war to a simple equation.

Alien: It sounds more like you just wish to continue your carnal desire for violence.

Human: Do you think so little of us?

Alien: Yes.

Human: ……

Human: *Sighs

Human: We’ve tried using machines in war before.

Human: On the surface yes, it did appear better.

Human: Military causalities were but a fraction of what they would have normally been had we used real soldiers, but there were other problems that soon cropped up.

Alien: Such as?

Human: Lack of morality was a large factor in the programs discontinuation.

Alien: Morality?

Alien: What use does a machine have of that?

Human: Because not everything is always black and white; there are shades of grey that only a living breathing person can recognize and handle.

Alien: Absurdity

Human: We used the robot CS95 battle machines during our initial conflicts. When it was deployed it was programmed to treat anyone holding a weapon as an enemy combatant and terminate them immediately.

Human: They cleared out an entire city in a single day before issuing the all clear signal.

Human: When living soldiers arrived to provide relief efforts they were horrified to discover that the entire city’s population had been massacred.

Alien: While tragic it sounds like a faulty programming error.

Human: I would say a big fucking program error.

Human: The programmer had not thought it necessary to properly define the scope of the term “weapon”, and so the machines began their own search on what classified as a weapon.

Human: There isn’t an item in human creation that hasn’t been used to murder another human, and so the machines deemed everyone they encounter a valid target.

Human: Men, women, children, soldier, civilian; it didn’t matter.

Alien: A lapse in programming quality still does not outweigh the benefits of bloodless wars.

Human: That’s what we thought and so we added additional layers of programming to better define combatants. So the next time they were deployed they would not make the same mistake.

Human: Unbeknownst to anyone an additional line of code was slipped in deep within the programming that designated anyone with a specific skin pigment as an active combatant, regardless if they had a weapon or not.

Alien: Why would they do that?

Human: They were what we call a “Nazi”, and thought people of a select orientation only deserved to live.

Alien: That’s horrible.

Human: Yeah.

Human: They kept spouting that shit from their court-martial all the way to the hangman’s gallows.

Human: The point being still that because the machines lacked any sense of morality they followed orders without question, causing untold damage and destruction on innocents.

Alien: Refinements in programming and further oversight can still correct such problems.

Human: So can a living soldier with a conscious.

Alien: Come now; a soldier can just as easily follow orders as the machines did and have the same result.

Human: The difference being that not all of them would.

Human: Some of them would realize what they are doing is wrong and question it, and if needed refuse said orders.

Human: We have even been aware of our short comings and made it the law of the land that if they feel an order is unlawful they can refuse it entirely.

Alien: Yet another contradiction.

Alien: Soldiers are meant to follow orders.  

Human: Wrong.

Human: Machines are meant to follow orders blindly.

Human: Soldiers are meant to follow orders with integrity.

[oceaneyesinla]

Fabric and Feelings

I've been thinking about Sanemi and how he ended up confronting Madea. This is my idea on how it might have come about

Content warning: brief mentions of harassment

Divider by @/cafekitsune

Sanemi couldn’t say he particularly liked being paired up with the new recruits, but sometimes there just wasn’t another choice. He grudgingly accepted that they were useful for gathering information, especially if they were still bright eyed and eager, friendly and approachable in a way Sanemi himself hadn’t been since childhood. So, despite the fact the quality of their members was dropping with every passing year, they still had some small uses.

The demon he was tracking at the moment was proving elusive, a fact that had already put him in a foul mood even before he had to call in support from one of the new Mizunoto, barely a month out of Final Selection. He figured you would be just another poor excuse for a Slayer, still shaking in your boots at the thought of a demon.

He met you just outside the village, and the first thing he noticed was your uniform. It was hard to miss; with a skirt that barely covered the tops of your thighs and a shirt that hardly deserved to be regarded as such. A slit down the middle revealed the swell of your breasts, and he imagined it was only the single small button at the top of your white undershirt which kept everything even slightly covered. It wouldn’t do a thing to defend you against sharp claws and bared teeth, which was the whole point of the fabric it was made from. It was supposed to give new Slayers like you a vague chance of surviving past the first week without being maimed by the low level demons you were sent after.

Was this really what Demon Slayers were being given these days? Well, he couldn’t really judge, taking a look down at his own uniform, jacket and shirt unbuttoned to reveal muscle built and scars gained from years of fighting for survival.

His eyes landed on yours as you stopped in front of him, and you were quick to look away with a slight flush in your cheeks and a hand fiddling with the hem of your skirt. Great - one of those. The Slayers with stars in their eyes and fantasies of having lives and families and the ones who treated the Hashira like they hung the moon and stars. Stupid idiots never realised that the Hashira were just as painfully human as the rest of them - what separated them was the will to destroy; the bone deep desire to see every demon eradicated, no matter the personal cost. Sanemi had learned over the years that their own death wasn’t the worst thing a human could experience.

“Shinazugawa-san. My crow told me to meet you here. What’s our mission?” Your cheeks were still red, but your voice was steady as you addressed him, eyes already scoping out the area around you both. Maybe this wouldn’t be a complete waste of time after all.

“Come on.” He didn’t wait to see if you were following, taking off in the opposite direction. It wasn’t his responsibility to babysit you.

***********

Your mission was proving successful, and Sanemi almost felt bad about his initial assessment of you. As expected, people looked at him with guarded concern, but as soon as you opened your mouth, they were at ease, chattering as if you had lived in this village all your life. It reminded him of Masachika, and Kanae, and he pointedly ignored the way his heart clenched at the thought. That attitude could never last, not in the Corps. Masachika’s blood, a permanent invisible brand on his skin, and the memory of the dead look in the younger Kocho’s eyes at Kanae’s funeral were stark reminders of that.

You just had a way with people, and he had to admire that. He knew he was hard on the new recruits (and for good reason) but he wasn't too proud to acknowledge when someone proved themselves useful to the Corps.

That natural charisma was starting to work on him too, though he would rather eat glass than admit it. A few days after your reconnaissance began, he found himself watching as you regaled a couple of old ladies with an animated tale, your hands moving as you told your story. They were enchanted, as everyone else had been thus far, and as they walked away, Sanemi heard them comment on how you were ‘such a nice young girl’.

You seemed more relaxed than you had been when he first met up with you, and by the time you split off from him to chase leads on opposite ends of the village, his opinion of you had improved drastically. He still hadn’t seen you fight, which was the make or break factor of any Demon Slayer, but he was impressed with your perception, and the way you kept up with him - seamlessly following his lead even when he didn’t bother to tell you what he was planning.

He also liked the way you called him out afterwards. It was almost amusing to watch you grumble and bitch about his impulsive actions before you suddenly realised you were badmouthing a Hashira and your jaw snapped shut, a pretty red flush covering the apple of your cheeks. Usually, he would have the guts of any lower rank Slayer who mouthed off to him for garters but something held him back in this case. It had been a long time since someone actually gave him a hard time - usually too busy being terrified of his reputation or his attitude to even consider it. 

His solo questioning went well, and he finally felt like he was cornering the demon prowling this area. Hopefully, your exploration had been just as fruitful. As he walked towards the centre of the village to meet back up with you, he barely paid any mind to the sound of raised voices - not an uncommon occurrence, and never usually worth getting involved in.

That was until he got closer and realised he recognised one of those voices. His lips pulled into a frown as he rounded the corner and found you facing off with a civilian, eyes flashing with anger as you argued with the man. Great. The Corps struggled enough with its reputation as it was - the last thing they needed was random recruits having it out with civilians in the street. He didn’t bother to focus on what you were so pissy about as he stalked over, more concerned with ending this little spat and drawing attention away from you both, “Oi, Y/L/N! What the hell are you doing?!”

You whirled around to face him, mouth opening but he just held up a hand to cut you off, “I’m sorry about her, sir. She needs to keep her temper in check. I’ll handle it.” More than a little hypocritical, coming from him, but soothing the guy’s ego was probably the quickest way to end this little drama. Sanemi was familiar with men like this; they didn’t like women to stand up to them, or to fight back, and the last thing he needed was this guy feeling belittled and raising a hand to you.

Thankfully, the man accepted his apology and walked away, casting one nasty glare back at you before he did so. Sanemi took a breath to centre himself before wrapping a hand around your upper arm and dragging you away from the scene, careful not to grip too tightly; he would never want to hurt a woman, no matter how pissed off he might be.

He shoved you onto a deserted side street, turning you to face him, “What are you doing, picking fights with the locals? I leave you alone for a couple of hours and you start causing trouble.”

You scanned his face, studying his expression and he couldn’t say he liked the guarded look that grew in your eyes as you did so. Jerking your arm out of his hold, you stiffly briefed him on what you had learned in your time apart, succinct and to the point. He wanted to assume you were angry with him, but something about the way you held yourself just didn’t fit that. Your shoulders were hunched in, as if you were trying to hide away, to make yourself smaller, and you wouldn’t meet his eye even as the pair of you planned to meet up just after sunset, near the border of the village. Your intel matched, and Sanemi was certain this was the night the demon would fall to his blade.

As soon as the plan was set, you turned on your heel and stormed away. Sanemi just shook his head - whatever was going on, hopefully you would get over it before tonight. You both had a job to do.

*************************

The wait for the demons to appear was awkward, to say the least. You hadn’t said a word to him since you met up at sunset, and you were pointedly avoiding looking at him, feigning interest in a nearby tree. Part of him wanted to say something - now he had cooled off, he felt a little bad about not hearing you out. He made an assumption based on past experience with hot-headed Slayers, but that didn’t quite fit with what he had seen of you so far, nor with how you had closed yourself off after he confronted you.

Before he could broach the subject, rustling from beyond the bushes caught both of your attentions, and for the first time that night, you met his eyes, silently agreeing a plan. Sanemi unsheathed his sword and watched as you did the same before gesturing towards the clearing ahead of you - time to end this.

*********************

His sword slashed through the demon’s neck, and a thud signalled the end of his fight. Immediately, Sanemi scanned the area, finding you standing across the clearing, a demon of your own at your feet, its head rolling towards the treeline. He straightened up and flicked the blood of his sword, hissing as the movement pulled the new gash in his arm. Self-inflicted, of course, but still hurting like a bitch.

He was impressed - you held your own. Before this, he was convinced he would have to step in and save your ass like he usually did with new Mizunoto. However, you took on the weaker of the two demons like you had been a Slayer for years. However, you hadn’t escaped unscathed, which wasn’t surprising given the amount of exposed skin on display. After all, the uniform was supposed to protect against low level demons like this. A particularly nasty set of claw marks was dripping blood down your leg, and he could see the pain lining your face no matter how hard you were trying to hide it as you limped over to him.

He called out to his crow, “Get a couple of Kakushi here. She needs to get to the Butterfly Mansion.”

“No. I’ll get there myself.” Your face was pale with blood loss, and you already looked a little unsteady on your feet even as you argued. The throbbing of the wound on his arm made him a little quicker to anger, and he couldn’t help the rush of frustration flowing through him as he was reminded of just how little protection you had from the uniform you wore. Yes, his uniform was exposing, but he wasn’t fresh out of Final Selection and prone to catching a demon’s claws during fights.

There was no way you could get to the Mansion in your condition, and he told you as much, watching as your face scrunched up in frustration, “That thing you’re calling a uniform didn’t do shit to protect you. Shut up and wait for the Kakushi.”

He saw the flicker of hurt in your eyes, but before he could apologise, it morphed into anger as you squared up to him, “I know it doesn’t protect me, okay?! I know it’s revealing - I see the way people look at me. Men treat me like a doll to stare at and play with. I spoke to Madea when I got my uniform, and I begged for a new one, but I was told it wasn’t allowed. So I make do with what I’ve got. Your judgement isn’t needed or appreciated. I thought you were different, but I guess I was wrong.”

Rage burned in your eyes, but he could see tears welling up on your lash line, face flushing a blotchy red with emotion. Your voice stayed steady despite all that, just as it had the first time you met. Was this how you felt then, too, when his gaze found your clothing before anything else?

“Goodbye, Shinazugawa-san. I trust you can report to the Master alone.” Somehow, you managed to make the honorific tacked onto the end of his name sound anything but respectful as you stalked off, gait remarkably even despite your injuries. You didn’t even give him time to respond to your outburst, which he honestly couldn’t blame you for. Guilt began to curl in his gut, and anger wasn’t far behind. You had mentioned one Kakushi in particular - Madea - who was responsible for the design of your uniform. Once Sanemi had reported his - your - success, he would pay the man a visit. The piece of shit was abusing his position to objectify the Slayers his uniforms were supposed to be protecting, and Sanemi wasn't about to let that go unpunished.

*************************

A few days after your mission, you were still feeling more than a little bitter about the Wind Hashira. You really thought you were getting on well - after that initial eyeing of your uniform when you first met, he had been nothing but respectful. His eyes never wandered below your face and he never once commented on the too short skirt or the uncomfortably revealing shirt. For that, you were grateful - you were all too aware of just how scandalous the uniform was, and you couldn’t shake the discomfort you felt every time you had to put it on. It made you feel vulnerable and exposed - a horrible combination when your job was to fight man eating demons.

You thought the Wind Hashira was different, and even had plans to ask him to spar once your mission was over; maybe even become his friend, over time. His reputation preceded him, and you had spent the whole journey to the mission site fretting over how best to make a good impression, and not earn his ire before you had even begun. Over the course of your mission together, though, your opinion had changed. More than once, you had caught him watching you, eyes studying you with curious concentration, and you felt your cheeks heat up at the memory. The last month had made you hesitant to find yourself under the gaze of others, but something about the way he looked at you made butterflies flutter in your tummy. 

Then he walked in on a man harassing you in the street and still decided you were the one causing trouble. At first, you thought it an act - playing along to get the man away from you. As he chewed you out in that alley, you came to the realisation that there was no act at all.

His comment after your fight with the demons just solidified your opinion. He was just like the others; judgemental, making assumptions about you just because of the clothes you were forced to wear. You had managed to hold your tongue after the incident with the civilian - you knew it would do you no good to get into a fight with a Hashira. However, the pain in your thigh and the humiliation burning through you made something snap, and you lashed out, hurt that he would judge you so easily, without even a chance to explain why you continued to wear such a degrading uniform.

Despite your lack of regrets around telling him off and storming away, you were still a little worried about potential repercussions - he was a Hashira, and you were just a Mizunoto. That worry is what made you jump at the sound of a knock on the door of the private room you were staying in at the Butterfly Mansion.

“Come in!” You were hoping it was one of Shinobu's little girls - they were so sweet, and always willing to keep you company as you recovered. The smile you wore for them quickly fell into a frown as instead, Shinazugawa stepped into the room, “What do you want?” Your cold attitude probably wasn't the best way to avoid punishment for disrespecting a Hashira, but you couldn't help it. You still felt a flood of humiliation every time you thought back on that night.

He didn't speak, walking forward silently to deposit the stack of cloth he was holding on the end of your bed and folding his thick arms over his chest. You looked up at him curiously, but he refused to meet your eye, choosing instead to feign interest in the bed frame.

You reached out for the bundle, lifting up the item on top. As you unfolded it, your eyes widened; it was a uniform jacket, and as you held it up by the shoulders, you noted silver buttons neatly fastened all the way down. It … would cover everything. No more scandalous slit revealing the swell of your breasts, and no more wandering eyes lingering on exposed skin. Your hands were shaking a little as you looked through the rest of Shinazugawa's gift - skirts, still the same style but now long enough to protect your modesty, and shirts, designed to fasten properly and leave nothing on display.

Tears pricked at your eyes as you picked up the final item - socks. You had assumed he wasn't listening to you, when you complained to him one night in the Wisteria House, about how the boots you preferred to wear would rub at your leg. Looking at these now, you just knew they would rise to just above where your boots sat.

You blinked up at him, trying to clear away the building tears, “Why?”

He looked up then, locking eyes with you and you could tell he didn't know what to do with the tears pooling in your eyes. He cleared his throat, a brush of red colouring his cheeks as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

“I … was an ass.” A surprisingly honest confession, and one you weren’t expecting. You stayed quiet, giving him space to speak his mind. This was a side of the Wind Hashira you hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing during your mission, and you found that you liked it, “You didn’t deserve me giving you shit, especially for something you were forced into. You’re … alright. For a newbie.” He folded his arms back across his chest, muscles flexing with the movement, “I went and spoke to Madea. He should think twice before he tries this with anyone else.”

The growing smirk on his face made you think it was a hell of a lot more than a polite conversation, and you were grateful, but the double standard kind of pissed you off, “So you’re allowed to confront him, but when I call someone out for groping me in the street, I’m ‘causing trouble’?”

“That guy did fuckin’ what?” To his credit, Sanemi seemed genuinely outraged on your behalf, “Why did you not …” His rant stopped abruptly, and the anger faded as quickly as it came on, replaced with shame instead, “Shit. I never gave you a chance to say anything, did I?”

You could have held it over him; stayed angry, or thrown hurtful words his way. You didn’t really want to though. Remorse was obvious in the way he was staring at you, and he had more than proven that he was a good man. Even your Cultivator hadn’t confronted Madea about your uniform, and Shinazugawa had done it without hesitation. Holding grudges was never your strong suit anyway, and you always were a sucker for a pretty face. You felt a smile tugging at your lips, “No, you didn’t, Shinazugawa-san. I could consider forgiving you … if you promise me a sparring match once I’ve healed up.”

The wicked grin you got in response lit up his face, and you just knew this would be the beginning of something great.

[piratefishmama]

Fake it Till you Make it | Part 16

Watching Eddie scope out his surroundings was… a sight to behold. He didn’t just walk from room to room like any normal person would, no, much like an adventurer, cautiously taking in their surroundings in a new place, in a new dungeon, stretching his neck to look around corners before stepping fully around them, gently touching walls to balance himself as he stretched.

Walking with his heel off the floor, quiet as a church mouse, going from room to room, appraising each one with varying sounds of approval while Steve watched in fond amusement.

It didn’t escape him, how lucky he was. How lucky he’d gotten, how rare it was for people like him, for people like Eddie, to feel comfortable enough to just be in a place that his parents also occupied. That running into his father on the second floor, midway through twirling Eddie from the master bedroom on one side of the hallway to the other where another door awaited his eager exploration, wouldn’t result in some kind of fight, that neither he, nor Eddie, had to hide who they were and what they were doing.

It didn’t escape him that he was lucky. Not just in the freedom he had either, but that he got to see Eddie comfortable. Got to see him light up like Christmas had come early, got to witness the exact moment downstairs when he’d relaxed in Steve’s space.

When he’d taken in all that stood before him and found comfort in it. Steve knew he was lucky that he got to see that. So he wasn’t about to take it for granted.

He wasn’t going to squander the opportunity to make the most of it. Of Eddie’s childish glee. Even if it was all based on a ruse. It was a mutual ruse. A ruse they were both aware of. There was no unfortunate reveal waiting at the end of the tunnel, no high school drama where some asshole pulled the wool from someone’s eyes to reveal none of it was real!!

He was going to make it as real as physically possible, and hopefully… just… continue. After the holiday. Maybe a conversation could happen to clear up any possible misunderstandings but… Steve wanted. He wanted the ultimate nerd currently scoping out the bedroom closest to the home theatre.

“We don’t want this one” Steve advised, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest as Eddie poked the mattress with a single finger, as if that would accurately test the quality of the mattress, as he’d been doing for each room. “The home theatre doesn’t have proper sound proofing, if someone wants to watch a film later, we’ll be able to hear it through the walls.” It’d been a solid DIY job on his grandfathers part.

No professional involved, just ‘yeah I can do that, stand back Mags, let a man work’ and that was that. He'd even put it on the second floor, absolute madman.

Steve always pictured his grandmother just standing there, in the same pose he was currently standing in, watching with fond exasperation as her husband went to work on a project he was deeply inexperienced in, and completely unqualified to tackle.

The fact that it looked good in there was a miracle.

“Okay so, not this room, not the bunk bed room, and not the hot tub room, that leeeaves—”

“Master bedroom, or either of the two on the right side of the house.” The options were actually limited when other people were staying, if it were just him and Eddie they could have any room they wanted, but with his parents there it cut down the options.

“Tch, why’d you have me explore all of em then! We should probably just take the master bedroom, right? Since it’s apparently your house, oh great and powerful Master” Steve raised a brow as Eddie dipped into a low bow, theatrical as ever, his tone teasing, his hair bouncing around his face as he righted himself again. Cute.

“Hmm, you looked like you were having fun, you’re cute when you’re having fun.” And his cheeks coloured so nicely whenever he was complimented, hid behind his hair in a way that made Steve’s heart do a funny little flip flop, he’d file that information away for later, continuing on as if he hadn’t just dropped a flirty bomb on the other man “but you’re right, we should probably just take that one, it does have its own private deck…” oh the things they could do on that private deck. If it were all real. “Usually I let my parents have it buuut…” he had company this time. He’d have more than enough of an excuse to get the private deck, even if he wasn’t going to use it for anything other than relaxing. He had a reason to want a little privacy. “I’m sure they’ll understand us wanting it more.”

Eddie rolled with it, quickly recovering with the out Steve had created for himself, or maybe the guy was just so smooth he didn’t even realise he was flirting. That was definitely it. “Or they’ll think they understand us wanting it more” Eddie winked all conspiratorially, which only served to make Steve laugh leaving Eddie looking upon what he’d done in pride. He made Steve laugh. He did that. He’d done that a few times and honestly the high kept staying pretty fucking high.

How had he been so wrong about Steve for so goddamn long? How long had Steve been this glorious thing, like sunshine in human form?

“Exactly” Steve chuckled before pushing himself away from the doorframe “let’s go get our bags then, our shit wont unpack itself.”

“Actually could you get them? I… I should probably call Wayne, let him know I’m safe. It’s not too late there so he should still be home, is that okay? I don’t wanna leave it too late and have to go through reception at the plant, it’s… not great.” Nine times out of ten he wound up speaking to one of the three other Wayne’s working there.

“Yeah, there’s a private line in the room, you go ahead, I’ll grab the bags.”

“My Herculean hero” it wasn’t even remotely fair how badly Steve wanted to kiss him for how little he did to earn it.

“Yer very quiet, Ed, considerin you called me.” He’d gotten through to Wayne after three rings, reassuring him about his safety had been the first thing on the agenda as he got comfortable on the frankly unnecessarily large king sized bed, but then Steve returned to the room with their bags.

All of their bags. In one go, and Eddie’s brain kind of short circuited. “Huh?”

“Yer quiet, somethin the matter?”

“Steve is carrying everything all at once.” It earned a scoff from the man on the phone, and an amused smile from Steve. “It’s awfully distracting, I dunno what to tell you, Wayne I am very distracted.” Steve’s smile only widened

“Uh huh, well, I’ll let you get on then, gotta head out soon anyway, money ain’t gonna make itself. You sure everythin’s alright though? No red flags?”

“Nah… all green flags here, they’re… they’re nice, y’know?” He hadn’t expected it, so many stories of rich people being awful, but… they were just two extremely hard working people who’d had their hard work pay off. Even on holiday they were still working, it was both exhausting to watch, and deeply admirable. Eddie could never. “I’ll call you again tomorrow to check in.”

“I’ll be waitin. Be safe, son.”

“Say hi to Garfield for me” there was a short laugh on the other end, before the line cut off, leaving Eddie smiling as he put the phone down

“Who’s Garfield?” Steve asked, “other than the fat cat.”

“He’s the fat cat shaped mug I can no longer drink from after the great mug smashing of ’86. That stupid earthquake killed him, but we had superglue, so it was fine, just can’t drink out of him anymore cause he’s fragile.” No amount of superglue could fix the tiny areas they hadn’t been able to fill in with pieces, slivers of pot lost to the dark underside of the cabinets. “Need any help?”

“Nah, you just sit there an look pretty for me.” It had the desired effect, Eddie’s eyes widening, a pretty blush blossoming on his cheeks and the final kicker, he hid behind his hair. Adorable. Perfect. Beautiful. Had they actually been dating he’d have pressed pause on the unpacking, instead, he snipped that last thread holding Eddie’s composure in place with a smoothly delivered “just like that, yeah, God, you’re such a good boy.”

The consequences were immediate.

Part 18

[highprincessofthenightcourt]

Okay, so I was thinking about SJM’s writing and how some parts of it are surprisingly heavy and realistic. That got me spiraling into thoughts about her tendency to self-insert into her characters—something that shows up often in her books.

A while back, I fell down a rabbit hole researching her life and career, and that’s where I learned a lot of what I’m about to talk about. So, SJM was adopted—her exact age at the time isn’t totally clear, but it seems to have been sometime before or during her teenage years. She was adopted by a lawyer and a judge who lived in Manhattan. They gave her a high quality education and introduced her to the arts by taking her to museums, ballets, and operas.

In one interview, Sarah mentioned that although she already loved literature, it was after witnessing a tragic event in New York that she really leaned into fantasy as a form of escapism—a way to cope. During her freshman year of college, she met her now husband (he was an RA in her dorm), and two years after graduating, they got married and started their family.

Now, tying this into ACOTAR: I think aspects of her personal journey show up in Feyre’s story. Imagine the emotional adjustment of going from being in the adoption system to suddenly living in a wealthy home in a city as vibrant as Manhattan—that shift must’ve been intense. And I see echoes of that in Feyre’s transformation: from neglect and isolation (maybe even including things like not being taught to read early on or living in poor conditions), to a life full of love, magic, and purpose. Velaris could easily be a fantasy coded Manhattan—it’s where Feyre finds herself, her family, and her true love.

Then there’s the Archeron sisters, and what parts of SJM they might represent. We know that when the first book was in the works, Nesta and Elain weren’t meant to be much more than “evil stepsisters.” But later on, Sarah decided to give them more depth, and to do that, she had to dig deeper into herself and her own experiences. I imagine that was hard—Feyre was her ideal self, and her arc was so solid: full of growth, realism, and beauty. So when it came time to flesh out the other sisters, it must’ve been difficult to know what pieces of herself to put into them.

To me, it almost feels like the sisters ended up embodying two extremes of her personality—one representing her worst traits, the other her best. And while that’s interesting, it becomes a little problematic because Feyre feels like a full, real person—flaws and all—while the sisters can feel confined to certain “roles.” That limitation kind of hurt their development.

We saw some of this in the last spin-off. The arc didn’t fully land for me—it felt like Sarah kept needing to remind us that the character was “bad,” and it got in the way of any real growth. Maybe she worried that if she let her grow too much, she’d start feeling too much like Feyre? I just hope this pattern doesn’t repeat in Elain’s book. I want her to be her own person—not boxed into a trope, but allowed to be messy and real, with good and bad and everything in between.

And honestly… I haven’t fully figured this part out, but sometimes it feels like through her storytelling, SJM is processing different eras of her life. Feyre might represent the full scope of her journey—her whole life, so to speak. Meanwhile, one sister feels like adolescence: all rebellion, insecurity, aggression. The other feels like childhood: blissful ignorance, wide-eyed hope, and gentleness.

Idk. I’ve written a whole damn essay and I’m still not sure what I’m trying to say. But yeah—just something that’s been rattling around in my head.

[foldingfittedsheets]

Hi! Do have any mattress and bed-related advices for someone (my partner) fat (about 600lbs) with sleep apnea?

We don't have much money, what we have is either donated by family and/or DIY. Our first (metal) bed broke and our old mattress had a sunken spot where my partner sleep. Thankfully our family gave us an old wooden bed that has been reinforced with a DIY structure of wood bars. Not really aesthetically pleasing, but if guess it does the job for now if we're careful of the random nails (I cut myself a couple times). The "new" mattress was my partner's brother old one when he still lived with his mom. It's good quality, but it's getting old now. My partner also has a mountain of blankets and pillows to keep his upper body elevated.

This solution won't last forever and I think we'll have to find at least a new mattress and maybe a new bed soon. Do you have thoughts/ideas/tips about this situation?

:(((( First off: I’m so sorry. It sucks that beds are so expensive when everyone needs them, especially when they wear out under weight so fast.

Long term, the beds that hold up best to weight tend to be firmer. I personally had a lot of positive anecdotal of the very high density foam beds but they’re more expensive. However I did see someone mention how much they liked their Big Fig which is made for bigger folks. The specs check out but I’m slightly wary of coils for weights over 500lb.

I’d recommend scoping Craigslist and Facebook for Tempur or Serta all foam mattress. You could probably find a steal if you’re checking consistently.

For sleep apnea pillows and blankets are really gonna struggle to help. If you can’t find an adjustable look for a wedge pillow, it’ll be better than nothin.

[zel-shadedreviews]

With the success of the first two movies, it gave DreamWorks the ability to milk the franchise dry and release a third instalment. I couldn’t care less due to the trailers and its horrible marketing but I decided to see if this would be the very best out of all of them.

During the Burgen wedding, Branch is approached by one of his long lost older brothers, John Deary, who reveals that they were once in a boy band altogether, before they went their separate ways. It turns out that one of their members is being held hostage by a duo of pop singers named Velvet and Veneer, who are draining his essence in order to boost up their voices. In order to free their imprisoned brother, Branch, John and Poppy must venture across the troll land and recruit their long lost members in order to sing in sync and perform the Perfect Family Harmony.

You know it, I know it. It’s yet another storyline of getting the band back together, only that it’s nothing original or even that self-referential. The Blues Brothers practically gave birth to the entire storyline, yet held up with its amazing scope and treating each meeting as an experience. Even Phineas and Ferb’s literal episode, Dude, We’re Getting the Band Back Together, treated their premise with their writing. This, however, had some minimal stakes and while not completely terrible, it’s not exactly bringing anything new to the table. The entire dilemma cuts from two legitimately-cruel villains and then boring and overdone sibling rivalry, all amounting to some sort of climax involving the brothers becoming in sync by the very end.

Not only that, but I felt that they wanted to make a short or make a separate premise where Poppy reunites with her long lost sister. As if Branch having an extended family wasn’t enough to warrant the sole focus of the movie, they shoehorned in an additional subplot of Poppy’s sister, Velvet, keeping her away from the dangers since they believed that the ogres are still dangerous. For what it was, there’s very little focus as Velvet immediately diverts herself away from the story, until the same Burgen couple show up and change her mind, making her point in the third act incredibly forced.

Would a good supply of visual humour assist a mediocre plot? I don’t think so. From my first viewing of the trailer, I had to suffer from the overuse of the term, “bro” used in different manners. I didn’t know which one was more painful to listen to as at the beginning, one of the brothers makes a statement which references several boy bands around the time. Even worse, there’s even a joke about using old underwear to sniff out one of the members, but luckily, it didn’t go the way you’re thinking at first. The visual humour was admirable when it applied to the differently-designed characters and there was a line that got my attention, but I wasn’t impressed by its unfunny and forced writing. This is coming from someone who actually found something salvageable from the endless dialogue diarrhoea during the first two flicks. Granted, the writers for Trolls had to execute the humour for younger audiences, but why couldn’t they go out of the ordinary more so than one part involving Bridget’s rather risqué line of tying up her husband.

I felt that out of all the Trolls movies, this soundtrack really attempted to squeeze all of the pop songs altogether, even some without so much as a break in between. There was time for original songs to reflect on each brother and their lives, but then there’s a few moments where they had to combine each of the songs altogether.

So, the storyline and the whole joke supply were the weakest I’ve seen, which was weird to say as I felt that their animation was some of their finest. From glitter realities to stuffing landscapes, what followed was maintaining its quality and being able to gain some potential. The trolls bared their expressive nature while each of the brothers were given different designs to not have that copy-and-paste appearance. A nice little mention goes to one of them, a retired member who’s a father, where he’s portrayed as slightly overweight yet is physically active to not dwell into the stereotype of one whose let themselves go.

In fact, the trolls aren’t even the only creatures in this universe as this road trip brought us some more creative-looking races. When the characters reached a beach resort, designed with nothing but colourful inflatables, they meet the residents that were extravagant Muppet-resembling creatures. The villains weren’t trolls or ogres this time, but plastic-looking creatures with spindly limbs and dollish hair, bringing back the Betty Spaghetty aesthetic.

While brief, we’re treated with some solid traditional animation when their vehicle boosted their speed, returning the polished colours from Yellow Submarine. The movie could have benefited more from such the change of style, however.

I could go over the characters all over again, only to a slight relief that there’s no James Corden in this, however, since the sides are gladly left behind. The only one who returned to be part of the crew was the same glitter baby, Tiny Diamond, voiced by Saturday Night Live’s Kenan Thompson; in this, he’s given the small arc of wanting to become his own troll rather than acting as the baby, so he pretty much is subjected to the driver’s role.

Poppy maintains her characteristics with herself sadly becoming more annoying than the first two movies thanks to her inconsistent tone and never taking a break. Branch is always the one to put up with more annoyances consisting of his desperate older brother looking to make amends, seeing how he was the one to split their band up in the first place.

It’s not long until Poppy reunites with her sister, Viva, before the story secluded her straightaway. Her role was as minuscule, which was why they had to bring back the ogres to convince her otherwise, so that clearly had to involve her in the climax. Who voiced her was Camila Cabello, sounding like the desperate and nervous type when around new company.

The brothers consist of four ex-BroZone members who once trusted each-other and went their separate ways due to their eldest’s bossy nature: you have John Dory the eldest, one who’s deeply willing to get the family back together in order to save their imprisoned sibling, but it’s his egotistical nature that gets in his way; Spruce the owner of Vacay Island and a laidback yet overwhelmed father; Clay the prankster, forced into hiding by Viva, before assisting the main heroes by leaving their premises; their main target was Floyd, a compassionate type, being the last one to leave behind Branch, spends the duration trapped in a bottle, held captive by the villains. In order of who voiced and sang as, we have Eric André, Daveed Diggs, Kid Cudi and Troye Sivan.

The villains in question were a pair of elasticated creatures, Velvet and Veneer, two corrupted singers whose voice talents spawn from the life of one of the BroZone trolls. Both differ slightly in personality with Velvet as the manipulative and crueller type, not having any qualms in draining a troll’s life in order to maintain their fame. Veneer on the other hand is shown to be the one with a tad of humanity, through nonetheless goes along with his sister’s plan regardless. It’s not until the end where he fully admits to his crime, becoming a last-minute pathetic chance at redemption, only to suffer the consequences. It’s also refreshing to not bear witness to any contrived sad backstory, growing up in a life of luxury. Who has to put up with their harsh comments was the talkative and optimistic bristle-ball, Crimp, vocals by Zosia Mamet.

Throughout my viewing, they stand as the best aspects of the movie as they’re allowed to become fully-fledged villains, at least for one of them. With Amy Schumer as the passionately-sweet spoken schemer and Andrew Rannells as the sensitive yet easygoing type, they made the siblings an interesting pair, though I felt that they could have been worked on more.

This is hereby the weakest out of the trilogy, though I have a feeling that in four years time, we’ll receive yet again another instalment. I was actually interested in giving this whole trilogy a chance and I’m glad I did so, though I wouldn’t watch them all over again if I had the opportunity. I’ve really got to admit that one of my largest surprises was that I never began to hate the Trolls franchise, let alone each movie.

Final Rating: E

3/10

[kremlin]

a pal asked what video channels i watch for ukraine news/etc and this is the list format i came up with. see if you can parse my mental illness:

https://www.youtube.com/@anderspuck -- dutch former military officer guy, very serious, slight opinion, dry, no-fun, top quality, no brainrot, top pick

https://www.youtube.com/@Gametheory101 -- polsci guy, slightly out of scope, fun, no opinion, slightly reddit, very high quality, no brainrot, top pick

https://www.youtube.com/@Justin_Taylor -- former army officer, child, very fun, very reddit, mid quality, somewhat serious, brainrot, highly opinion

https://www.youtube.com/@Taskandpurpose -- see above, adult, max reddit, high info quality, mid brainrot, highly opinion

https://www.youtube.com/@RFU -- some ukraine guy, every-day, day-to-day map movements, no fun, mildly trustable, no opinion

https://www.youtube.com/@CombatVeteranReacts -- ex army officer, daily, minimal fun, serious, knowlege is there but overextended, good guy

https://www.youtube.com/@EnforcerOfficial -- max brainrot daily spam from child but fastest to upload on new situation. low trustability, very high opinion, very reddit

https://www.youtube.com/@RyanMcBethProgramming -- ex enlisted, top pick, mid serious, highly opinion, high trustability, minimal reddit, wide scope

https://www.youtube.com/@CovertCabal -- tanks

(boy the tumblr post formatter *really* fucked this one)

[enbycrip]

Tbh I love seeing people do things that Maybe Aren’t That Good and people celebrating them for the dedication and scope nonetheless?

I keep thinking about that quote somewhere about the thing about art being a human behaviour and not just a collection of skills that are only worth doing if you are professional-level quality at them. Because I think that mindset is really damaging and stops a lot of people from doing things enough to get better at them, frankly.

I know it’s a big problem for me, esp because, frankly, my energy is so limited that doing things I am Bad At, which for new artistic skills in particular is very energy-intensive and tends to make me feel like shit. Making myself feel awful to produce a Bad product at the end, because it is a new thing I haven’t done remotely enough to be good at it, is incredibly disheartening. I have to *actively* keep telling myself “This has value that isn’t about producing a professional-level product.” And that, frankly, is *difficult*.

One of the things in anarchist activism is making arts and crafts that might not be that good because it’s valuable in itself to disrupt this mindset. Because it keeps us buying cheap things from underpaid and exploited workers instead of making our own things, which may eventually be good, or may eventually just be better than when we started.

And yeah, disableism, including internalised disableism, does come into this. Because there is a social expectation that if, in theory, disabled people *can* do something, we *should* be able to do it as quickly, well and reliably as abled people. And, at least for those of us who deal with any form of cognitive or energy impairment, including chronic pain (because no one who does not experience it *ever* appreciates the cognitive drain that constant pain puts on someone) that is *rarely*, if ever, the case. In my case at least, my impairments actively affect how well and quickly I can learn new skills.

You can almost certainly imagine how well that intersects with ADHD. I can summarise it as “badly”. The frustration makes it *incredibly* difficult to keep plugging away at this thing you are fucking up because you are new to it in a sustainable way, ie by taking rest and learning it in regular bursts. The idea that it has to be professional-level good or it is simply laughable is most unhelpful to me at those times.

Basically; please think about where the attitudes you have learned and internalised come from and the effects they may have on people around you when you display them. It’s not about you being A Bad Person; it’s about the fact that we have all grown up, and live, in a fucked-up society, and we owe it as human beings to learn better and be better than that. To ourselves, as much as anything.

[strawberryj0y]

more tabiori analysis !!

I wanna discuss how much Karasu roots for Hiori (i've talked a little about this in a prior post, regarding karasu's sincerity towards hiori here) and how deep his perception of Hiori is; a testament to just how closely he's been watching the guy to gain this level of understanding. Hence why he has a clear vision of how Hiori can get stronger, shed the weight of the world's expectations, and burst out his cacooon into the player he can tell Hiori is capable of being. Karasu loves stuff like this, after all, he's moved by these ordinary things. [continued below]

During his first appearance during U20 (ch. 129), Hiori's role was introduced as being an anchor for the Blue Lock team - 'a technician of stillness', slightly similarly to how Sae acted as an anchor for the U20 team with his incredible calm and levelheaded execution of passes. I mean just in the chapter before this one, his passes helped faciliate Shidou's vision leading to that incredible dragon drive goal that equalised the game.

But compared to Sae, Hiori's passes had different expectations, both from him and his teammates.

This style of play avoids direct confrontations, with no expectations of Hiori being able to best someone in a one-on-one. His job is to pass to someone else who can. He's accepted it and acts accordingly, passing it to Karasu.

It's a brilliant pass too, even the U20 guys are impressed. Karasu is too but he then immediately starts playfully provoking Hiori; 'You're only good when sending the ball away!' baiting him into a response, 'I can do more than that...'

To which Karasu then directly and with such intensity stares into his soul and says: 'Come on and show me...what makes you special' and passes it right back; a challenge. Hiori quips back with 'Yeah, yeah. Caw on, you crow,' rising to the challenge thrown his way.

Karasu then passes to him without even looking, to a spot Hiori's not even at yet, because he knows Hiori will be there. He's acutely aware of Hiori's potential, and that it exceeds the current scope of his role as an anchor; he's provoking him to go beyond the current expectations placed on him. It's almost like he's going head-to-head with Hiori despite being on the same side LMAO (we see a lot of that during this match e.g. Rin and Isagi, and Barou and Isagi, and this is basically Blue Lock's/Ego's entire philosophy). Despite it being explicitly stated that no one expecting a head-to-head with Hiori, Karasu is over here poking an prodding for one lol

And this is when we see Hiori's ego burning, the first time we've seen it show up and Isagi also notices it in the following panel! Hiori maintains the calm and precision of an anchor but something's changed, there's passion in his following play that culminates in a beautiful pass. Passion is also fiery, the opposite of 'still' and 'calm' but if combined all together in a player, makes for a formidable opponent. This wasn't present prior to Karasu's intervention and inspiration.

His first pass to Karasu was brilliantly precise, but this one was elevated to a new level where Sendou even compares its quality to Sae, who is the ultimate standard in this match (and generally).

Having read the two latest chapters (ch. 291 and 292), this interaction really mirrors their NEL face-off, and as a result you can see how much Hiori has grown in that time and it's so wonderful!!! (i discussed these two chapters in more detail here)

This idea of providing inspiration for plays is something that's mirrored in RyuSae's dynamic during this match too; how Sae guides Shidou's inspiration to lead him in the direction of the most explosive play possible. This is exactly what Karasu did for Hiori!

Also, I want to go back to that comment: 'In this moment, the anchor has found itself free...'

The 'free' here may refer to not being marked by any U20 players in that moment, but they're also right there, in the frame and we know how strong the U20's defense and marking ability was during the match, so I'm not really leaning towards this interpretation.

Rather, I think it's more so the narrative referring to Hiori being momentarily free from expectations, allowing him to embrace his ego and craft a skillfull pass that would've otherwise been difficult for him to pull off had to kept playing as he was expected to.

When it comes to Hiori's lifelong struggle with expectations, Karasu was the first person he confessed this to. Not even completely voluntarily at that; his heart was so moved, all his barrier dropped and he couldn't help but spill his inner turmoil to another person for the first time in his life.

For the first time in his entire life, Hiori was told that he doesn't have to live for anyone else but himself. That he should find what he likes, what excites him, believe in himself, expect from himself, and that that's the only way to move forward. Hiori, who was standing in one place, stagnating, rotting away in the intersection between his parents, video games, and football for so long, was finally given the key to move forward. Permission to break the cycle. Not for anyone else. Only for his own sake. This became the foundation upon which his future awakening during the NEL was built. The seeds from which he'd finally bloom into the player and person Karasu saw and was drawn to long before.

Which is why Karasu was so excited to face the new Hiori in the latest chapters, and even before that, earlier in the BM/PXG match, told him he'd been waiting for him to burst out of his chrysalis this whole time :')

I wanna delve into one last thing: Hiori's left leg

Okay, we know how Karasu feels about it, since he outright called it erotic to Hiori's face within mere moments of meeting the the guy which confused the hell out of poor Hiori (and us as the readers, too...) LMAOO

Aside from the fact that he was shamelessly flirting, Karasu has been closely watching Hiori for some time before he decided to make this comment, and prior to this he was genuinely praising his abilities as a player, so he was also being dead serious about how much he appreicates Hiori's left leg LMAO

And to be honest, he's right! In terms of soccer skills, Hiori's dominant leg is his left one and the narrative even draws attention to it during that shot in the U20 match when we see his ego glowing for the first time!

I guess what I'm trying to point out is the fact that Karasu's analysis lead him to recognising all this wonderful potential in Hiori even in his dormant state. He saw Hiori for who he was deep down and he really liked it. In fact, he was so drawn to it to the point where he even began thinking the leg that would be making it all happen was erotic dhjsfgjhsgfj it's like he could envision it, y'know??? like he'd probably think about what an awakened and strong Hiori would look like - how he'd play, how he'd use his left leg to shoot and make those incredible passes we now have seen Hiori curate during the NEL.

Granted, it's still an odd choice of adjective but Karasu is an just odd guy (affectionate). When i started probing for why he'd be so enticed by Hiori's leg to the point of labelling it as erotic, it really started making sense lol

To add onto this, Karasu is a self-admitted hyperaware analyst - he can read people down to the bone. He's aware of how others are perceived, how they may perceive themselves, and in turn how he himself is perceived by others. So he's also careful about what he puts out into the world, and therefore how he interacts with people. This includes the words and phrases he chooses to use in conversation. So what I'm getting at is this: he knows exactly how using the word 'erotic' to describe something about Hiori would come across. He knows, based on his long periods of observing the guy, how Hiori is probably not used to this type of banter and therefore would perceive such a comment, i.e. getting flustered and particularly hung up on it. Yet, he very intentionally used it anyway. So it's clear that he wanted to fluster Hiori. If you pay any attention to their interactions even on a surface-level, this type of teasing is something Karasu really enjoys and indulges in. An example being, as discussed earlier, in the U20 game when he calls Hiori's pass erotic again and all back-and-forth quipping he engaes in with Hiori during that play. He just loves teasing the guy, because Hiori's particular sensitivity and awareness of Karasu generates the best responses.

I know we consider Hiori as being the obsessed one (he absolutely is), but the fondness is truly mutual and reciprocal.

anyway, idk if i could totally communicate my vision with this left leg stuff, but i felt compelled to get this out there so i'll just leave it here for anyone else who might be on the same wavelength as me

and just for fun, here have some cool panels of Hiori and his (erotic) left leg so you can see Karasu's wonderful vision 😭

[centrally-unplanned]

the people need your takes on the new CoAaL chapter !

I liked it! From what I know, even though it itself is half a route split, it has within it two major subroutes, and I have only done one - the "Andy" subroute, let's call it. As such my opinion is incomplete, but anyway:

--- Obviously, it is not surprising or anything, but you gotta respect Nemlei for committing to the bit. You didn't have to have Andy having so deep an erotic obsession, things could have "developed naturally", but if you are gonna half-ass it in the cannibalism incest game what are you even doing. I thought the exploration of his obsession was mechanically well-done - the narrative was what you expected but the presentation of the puzzles and exploration in rooms like this really sold it:

It is the TCoAaL brand and the quality here kept up, the visuals and presentation marry the trauma, drama, and eros all together.

--- The conversation post-initial car talk when you call up Julia to... I am struggling to explain it, powerplay Ashley by shaming her for her inadequacy in front of your ex-gf while mocking Julia for being a shitty girlfriend is top 10 greatest shitheel moments I have ever seen. Their entire dynamic is captured in that conversation:

Get yourself a man who says this to his ex while staring you in the eyes and spiritually meaning every word of it while still being a complete lie to both of you, don't settle for less.

--- The game definitely had the "scope creep" problem I thought it would. It was initially conceived as being at least 25% shorter than it is now, and if you conceive of a heavily narratively driven visual novel like this in a certain way it almost certainly doesn't have the organic room to expand. This wasn't a huge issue at least because Nemlei kept things interesting enough with stuff like new demon lore, but Andy & Leyley def tread water a bit in the middle and some of the puzzles come off like padding. I think this was noticeable enough that in the May patch Nemlei actually reworked some of the puzzles as there was enough pushback on them by players for being unintuitive progression blocks - I would support that change, good on her for revisiting them.

--- The game has always had a lot of "sympathy" for its core duo but allowed the wider world to be comedically crapsack in a way that makes others characters one-note and goofy. This is fine for random cultists (and Julia never had this problem), but the more space a character gets in the narrative, the more serious and nuanced they need to become. Here I felt that the Graves Parents failed to pass this test - you have a lot of screen time of flashbacks about how in particular Renee's parenting shaped Andrew & Ashley, and she is just a bit too cartoonish for my taste. You should see her "fall" into giving up on them a lot more, not just being there out the gate.

--- Right now we definitely need a bit more of the Ashley side of things, but as mentioned I only did one subroute so I am expecting that to solve itself when I do the other one.

--- The part where you pretend to be on a date with Ashley to shake off a cop and he fucking wingmans you and Ashley doubles down:

If you chose "Stomach Issues" over "first date" you fucked up bro.

[the-curse-of-neoclones]

Moderneopets Artist Mistreatment

Edit as of 11/16/23 10:40 AM NST:

Removed names where I failed to do so before. I'm very sorry to the affected parties, this snowballed so far out of my intended scope.

Edit as of 11/16/23 5:30 PM NST

Please see this post for a small update.

As of 11/16/23 10:10 PM NST, Hazer the site owner has formally and publicly apologized to myself and Velu, the other affected artist. As far as I'm concerned he has officially handled the situation as best as he could, and I hold no further qualms with Moderneopets. I hope to hear of its management continuing in this direction.

The following post is left up for archival purposes only.

*****

Hello, I’m wren. I'm an artist responsible for some of the pet assets on the neoclone, Moderneopets. I'm just going to get into it.

Hazer was extremely lucky to somehow cultivate a dense group of largely professional artists to work together to make assets for his site. When it comes to his own management as a site runner, he’s largely hands-off of the art department, which is a good thing! If he can’t be active in the art panel enough to know what goes on in there, he shouldn’t be running it— we have many strong, capable artists on the team who are passionate about recreating the neopets style, who work together on every pet that has been released ever since critique became a requirement. 

It makes sense that, with a project this large, Hazer should have to designate moderators to enforce rules when he is absent. Choosing to bring on moderators was also a good decision. Unfortunately, he chose poorly. 

Art panel issues should have separate Art panel moderators to take care of them. People who are not overburdened with generic moderation duties from the many other channels of the server, for example. In the same vein, artists should not be moderators. When an artist has an issue with another artist, who happens to be a moderator (which has happened many times, with many people— If the mods actually open threads for all complaints they receive, they should have evidence of this & if they don’t they are not being truthful), the artist would likely not feel comfortable approaching that same artist-slash-moderator to complain about what happened. It breeds an aura of fear and discomfort any time there is an issue with an artist/mod, and that is why the two moderators on the team should have to choose one or the other if hazer wants to cultivate a healthy atmosphere in his panel. 

I’ve created many pets for this website. Neopets has been a passion of mine since the third grade. I’m also one of those professional artists I mentioned— my work is also art, industry or otherwise. I care about breaking neopets down into their core, recognizable shapes. I care about keeping them on-model and in the spirit of the original TNT art team, with improvements made where I and the other panelists think they make sense. I have redlined for other artists to an even greater degree, just as other artists have redlined for me and helped me finalize each pet into something simply good: something that made sense to get put on a little passion project website for other people with a similar passion to enjoy. I found the panel to be a community of likeminded artists with which to discuss our favorite childhood petsite while we made art for a clone, as if we could pretend we were making art for neopets-dot-com. It was nice. 

It wasn’t perfect, though. In fact, shortly after I joined in 2021 I took a hiatus because the art panel was fairly dead. I came back a little while later to see we had several new species, as well as an art director, and lots of activity! That was very exciting. Over the next year I would reach out to the panel or, if nobody was sure of how to proceed, I would reach out to the art director to propose ideas for how to make the panel a little more functional; quality of life updates, if you will. I don’t take credit for all of these alone, there were other artists with similar ideas all communicating to the director in private, but some examples: 

A designated “collab” zone where artists could seek out other artists to complete pets with. 

“The Purge,” in which the team was whittled down to ~25 current, active artists to refresh the team and allow for new artists to join. 

“The Approval System,” which I first sat down with in my workshop (public to all artists) to hammer out the details with as many other artists as wanted to give their input— a method for pitching new ideas to eventually break through the “new species/color freeze” that had been plaguing us.

Speaking on the approval system: like most things that required Hazer’s direct input in the art team, it was left without response for a very long time. Artists with ideas for custom species or colors would occasionally murmur about their excitement for the system to get a look-over by hazer, to see if our approval system pitch would be approved. But hazer is busy, as we all know, and the pitch sat for a while. We had new & returning artists on the team to keep everyone busy. 

What I would expect from a years-old panel of artists, when new additions arrive, would be some manner of tutorial. New artists would need to know the pipeline (here’s your workshop, you can post WIPs and anything else in there; here’s how you ping for critique, here are the spaces in which to ask for it; make sure you always ping before your work is submitted on-site), and there would likely be some acclimating on both sides. What I did not expect (but should have), was pushback from new artists on things that hadn’t had pushback in a long time. Why can’t [x] color be a posechange? Well, we’ve created many already and none of them were posechanges. Why can’t I use colored lineart? Well, that isn’t in line with the style standards set by this color; see, nobody else is coloring their lineart. 

Suddenly there was a divide between veteran artists, the director, and the new blood. The divide felt greater when Hazer came to his new artist’s aid to say, approximately: “Eh, if someone wants to go above and beyond and make better art, they shouldn’t have to adhere to the guidelines.” Then he threw the art director under the bus for not somehow knowing that his intentions were always to keep the panel loose and unstructured. But don’t worry, that isn’t the first bus and won’t be the last.

My personal investment in the panel waned around that time. I think a structured “work” environment with easily accessible rules and deadlines is necessary to any project of this size. If we didn’t want to enforce color standards, nor prioritize certain colors for release, and anyone could just submit whatever Nice Art they wanted, why not open it up so any user could submit pet art? Why have a panel at all? Isn’t Hazer taking any opportunity to dunk on Leopets because he wants his site to be better? How is this different? 

But I stuck around. This was a hobby I really enjoyed, after all, and I really believed it could get better. It had a good core, and despite my grievances with individual artists, none of them were bad people. 

But I noticed some trends. New artists would receive feedback that they didn’t agree with and retaliate by bringing in their emotions or personal preferences. Any disagreement where multiple veteran artists stepped in to say their piece would escalate to the point of very long messages on both sides, and would need to be left to hazer to give a final input. Often he didn’t come around to it, because he’s busy, as we know. I didn’t step in to every argument; they became cyclical after a while, and I didn’t have the time or energy to spend simply tapping the proverbial sign (or style sheet). I would try to give positive suggestions when I could, for example: I don’t think this color needs another alt for just one single design, but we did talk about eventually making this color that your design would fit into really well. 

I’ve done my time having arguments on the internet. I really just want an art environment where the rules are set and people actually enjoy following them, because I do— I see art rules as helpful guidelines at best and obstacles to cleverly navigate at worst, which is still fun. But of course not everyone is going to feel the same way, that’s normal; that’s life. 

On 11/9 I was given this message by Hazer: 

It reads:

Hello wren,

I am reaching out to you today to inform you that effective immediately you are being dismissed from the Artist and Consultant Panels. This decision has been reached through discussions and based on repeated offences in the form of user harassment and subjecting the panels to a toxic atmosphere, after multiple reports and concerns brought up to us by other users.

While we understand concerns regarding panel management, there is a distinct difference between criticising and condeming the way the panel does things and criticising and condeming users that are on the panel, and we believe this line has been crossed one too many times, further supported by concerns brought to us.

We appreciate the passion and drive of our team—all of them—and we understand you have been very passionate about the panel. Given some of the messages we see, we have also concluded that due to things in the panel not working out as you have wished, it has caused you much stress and upset as well, which we do not want. All in all, we've decided that the atmosphere of the panel and your own enjoyment of the website are hampered by your presence on it. Because of this, we have decided it is best to have you part ways with the staff sections of the website.

Effective immediately after this message, we will be permanently removing you from the panels. While normally we do a temporary removal, in this case we've seen that your compatability with our management and handling of the panel will not improve, and it will just bring stress to both sides.

We understand you have put a lot of passion into the projects you have been working on for release in Moderneopets, and in lieu of that, we offer you the option of having the project(s) still be released even after dismissal. Rewards will still be granted for releases per usual, and credit will still be given. If you decide, due to dismissal, you do not want your unreleased work to be released on Moderneopets, simply state it as such, and we will discard all progress on projects you have been working on to respect those wishes.

This decision is final and will not be revoked.

Best wishes to you,

The Moderneopets Team

[end caption]

My response:

It reads: 

No warnings huh?

[end caption]

Hazer didn’t have an answer for me. I was already removed from the panel. 

This came as a shock. I’d been there for over two years, I felt I had a good rapport with the other artists, I felt I’d been a helpful and active addition to the team. Like I said, I’ve done my time having arguments on the internet… what toxic behavior? Discussions over style guides? Giving redlines to people with permission? Working with the whole team to bolster several new color releases? I had an entire species that Hazer wanted ready to go since March— I just pushed through the Swamp Gas release, I just created the Mystical alt? 

No warnings?

Let me reiterate: I have never been spoken to by any staff about my behavior. Hazer, his then-four moderators— none of them have ever been in my DMs to issue a warning. I have spoken TO the mods about others’ behaviors, and nothing ever came of it. The one time (and I mention this for full transparency only) the art director came to talk to me about something I said, it was stated clearly that it was not a warning, and even so I adjusted my behavior around said issue accordingly. And that was well before the purge. 

But, don’t take my word for it. Here it is from hazer himself, speaking over his mods who were busy telling the rest of the panel that they always issue warnings: 

It reads:

No in this case I do agree that this has been an abrupt situation and I understand the blind-sided-ness of it. No official warnings were given out regarding the actions that resulted in the removal of artists today and that’s on fault of myself and deebs not working things out properly despite the moderation team bringing issues to a us a few times – also due to our lack of availability recently.  [end caption]

So… What happened? Well… here it is from Hazer, in longform: 

For those who use screen readers, above are several enormous discord screenshots; I've placed it in a paste bin here: https://pastebin.com/dHLiBRTF

Two other artists immediately stepped down. Hazer admits here in his message that he and the mods had multiple tickets opened about my behavior, that they had known they wanted to remove me. They never gave a warning, never talked to me until the moment of my dismissal, but they had known it was coming for months? 

Why did Hazer and his gang of mods let me continue working on art for their panel? Why did they let me work so hard to pull Swamp Gas together for an official release? Why did they let me put together a whole custom Alt and workshop it for so long? I’ve been active this whole time. Why did you let me keep working if you knew you wanted me gone? 

I am a professional artist. My work is art. Hazer made the knowing decision to exploit my time and effort for his website. He’s not paying me, he’s not paying any of us. It’s volunteer work. But I did not volunteer to be mistreated like this. To not even be given a chance to defend myself. To him, artists are disposable. To him, if someone has worked on your team for years but speaks up when your friend tries to overturn the system, even civil discussion is cause for disposal. Civil discussion negates years of effort, passion, time and care. 

I didn’t have to make art for you, Hazer. And you don’t deserve the team you have. How many artists have voiced their discomfort with your actions? How many artists are taking a break from the panel because of how you handled this? Ah, wait, you wouldn’t know… you’re busy. 

Hazer and his mod team are just another corrupt group of individuals unfortunately heading what could have been a fun and promising petsite. Everyone who speaks praise of modneo does it by and large because of the new and unique art. Hazer was extremely lucky to cultivate a dense group of largely professional artists to work together to make assets for his site. 

If Hazer wants to show any sign of his potential to be a better person, I believe he needs to formally apologize to his site for the misuse of his power and the mistreatment and exploitation of artists on his team. He needs to apologize to you, the players of his game, the subscribers to his patreon, for allowing this to happen under his watch and under his word. You know you fucked up, hazer. You shouldn’t have sided with your friend without any actual evidence of misconduct. You shouldn’t have spoken about me like I was a toxic, subhuman hindrance to your art team. You shouldn’t have treated me like that. I didn’t deserve it. None of us did. You can apologize to me and the other lost artists publicly.

[whencyclopedia]

Carthaginian Art

The art of the Carthaginians was an eclectic mix of influences and styles, which included Egyptian motifs, Greek fashion, Phoenician gods, and Etruscan patterns. Precious metals, ivory, glass, terracotta, and stone were transformed into highly decorative objects ranging from everyday utensils to purely ornamental pieces. Just as the Carthaginians imported and exported all manner of trade goods, so too their art reflected their vast network of contacts across the ancient Mediterranean but they would eventually produce their own distinctive art which uniquely blended elements from other cultures. The distinctive qualities of Punic art can be best seen in their stelae, jewellery, sculpture, and masks.

Surviving examples of Carthaginian art are sadly few in comparison to contemporary cultures, and they are further limited in scope by the fact that the majority of artefacts come from a burial context and so are predominantly small in scale and of a religious nature. Secular art and objects produced exclusively for their aesthetic value are rare indeed. Nevertheless, enough examples survive of jewellery, figurines, ceramics, and stonework to hint that the Carthaginians were not as artistically impoverished as earlier historians saw fit to claim.

Influences

Carthage was founded in the 9th century BCE by colonists from the Phoenician city of Tyre. This fact and the city's continued close ties with the mother country meant that art was heavily influenced by that of Phoenicia, at least in its formative years. Just as Phoenicia was itself a melting pot of diverse cultures, its wealth based as it was on maritime trade, so too Carthage would become a cosmopolitan city with visitors, residents, and artists from across the ancient Mediterranean. Egyptian art was particularly influential and many motifs are seen in Carthaginian art such as the goat with head looking backwards beneath a sacred tree or rigid standing female figures. Near Eastern art was another strong influence, seen especially in figurines of the god Melqart/Baal. The influence of Etruscan artists is seen especially in Carthaginian pottery decoration from the 4th century BCE.

Above all, though, Carthage's art took inspiration from the Greek world from the 5th century BCE onwards. Not only were the Carthaginians appreciative collectors of Greek art, taking fine art as booty from their campaigns in Sicily, but they also produced imitative art. There was a large Greek community at Carthage, and many of these must have worked as skilled craftsmen in the workshops of the city. In turn, they would have taught local artists or the next generation. We know of at least one artist whose father was a Greek immigrant but who signed his work as 'Boethus the Carthaginian' and who became so appreciated that his work was dedicated at Olympia.

There is a general problem of identifying the exact origin of many art pieces which is exacerbated by the Punic habit of copying foreign motifs and styles. Traditionally, historians had favoured the view that, at least in general, finer pieces were imported and more rustic art was locally made. This unflattering view is steadily being revised following the discovery of large workshop areas in the city suggesting a healthy export trade and by new archaeological discoveries so that the position that all of the fine art was imported is becoming increasingly untenable.

Continue reading...

[loveemagicpeace]

☕️☀️Virgo Season🛁🫧

Negative- earth- mutable sign

♍️The symbol for Virgo is the Virgin. In the ancient world, she is the temple virgin, dedicated to the deity. We can translate this as an instinct for self-sufficiency and devotion to practical service.

For Virgos, mind and body are linked; regular exercise and healthy eating help you to maintain effective mind-body balance. Virgo's role is to establish and work according to a system. With planets in this sign, you dislike chaos.

Virgos can often get lost in the detail, unable to see the bigger picture. Sweating the small stuff can turn into an obsessive need for order and control.

🪻Herbs associated with Virgo: lavender (it is a plant that calms and is good against anxiety).

💎Crystals: peridot (a semi-precious stone of compassion, health and abundance).

The symbol would represent the intestine, to which Virgo Government. The Virgin is represented by the image of a girl with a scope wheat in hands, which is obviously based on Greek the goddess Demeter and the Roman Ceres. A virgin girl is a symbol of endurance and chastity. Virgo is an independent sign. They have virgins a strong sense of self-confidence that ensures that their expectation of intrinsic value is not based on opinion of others. Although Virgos are ruled by Mercury in the same way as Geminis, they are completely different - Virgos don't like too talkative people and prefer to be alone than in too big a group. They are analytical and think things through.

🫧Because Virgo is a caring earth sign for the body, takes nutrition seriously and wants to ensure that her body works as efficiently as the rest areas of her Life. That's why it's a healthy choice Vegetables, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, eats a vegetarian diet or adheres to such a diet or different diets.

☁️People born under this sign care a lot about hygiene and are known for being in the zodiac most often they wash their hands.

☕️In virgo season you may be inspired to bring more ritual to cleansing your body and home, to bring order to what feels messy, and to bring surrender where you can’t make change. You are asked to take what feels big and break it down into small steps and little wins, and to concentrate on those steps, on how they compound, on how we evolve through and with them. To clear away all the noise, the extra, the outside, all that is not yours, and to explore who emerges from underneath it all.

🛁Virgo Rising-you will be more inspired about things that concern your appearance, style and personality. You will feel more confident in your own skin and the things you will do. You will find the light within yourself and feel more inspirational energy. Find faith in yourself and what you want to be. Be proud of who you are.

💗Libra rising-you will find a lot of inspiration through spirituality, subconscious energy, creativity. You will be more creative and maybe you will discover talents that you have not yet discovered. Everything you dream can come true, you just have to believe.

🫧Scorpio rising- you will emphasize friends more - maybe meet new people. You will find a lot of inspiration through dreams and interests. You might be more critical of who will be by your side as you turn your dreams into a reality. Follow your dreams.

🧜🏼‍♀️Sagittarius rising- you will find inspiration through the things you do, your career - maybe your parents or an authority figure. You may find yourself changing your mind constantly, especially if you have several goals or a few different professional tracks. Maybe your mind will be more serious and focused.

⭐️Capricorn rising- you will find inspiration through things that you dig deeply into and that are important to you. You will also feel a lot of inspiration through quality conversations. You will have an inner journey about the things you deeply believe into. And in the end you will notice how much you have grown and how intelligent a person you are. And how your life has progressed. Watching podcasts, reading books that inspire you will help you. Have faith!

🌿Aquarius rising-Prepare to be exceptionally introspective. You may have to reflect on whether you are in a healthy situation or entrapped in an entanglement. You will find the most inspiration through insight into yourself. Insight into deeper things will make you think.

🧁Pisces rising-you will find inspiration through good relationships and people. Whether you’re interested in someone new or thinking about rekindling with a former flame, Mercury retrograde will caution you to look before you leap. Go with the flow. Think about who is really there for you and who is not. Chill.

🍒Aries rising- improving your routine health and lifestyle it's the key here. You will be more productive and do more for yourself and your body. Maybe you start new sport. If you have struggled with financial worries, then you may feel more hopeful now. Everything you do is part of the process and eventually you will be where you want to be.

🥨Taurus rising- you will discover more of your hobbies. You will have more fun and do things related to your joy. Perhaps someone with whom you had an affair may appear. You can attract a lot of people during this time. Doing something you really enjoy will be the key now. The Sun is at home in the 5th house, which means that this will bring you even more joy and happiness.

🌴Gemini rising-Virgo sun will warm your fourth house of home and family. Also Mercury retrograde will influence what could be revealed, you may find out some family secrets that could shape your perception of your childhood as well as the home that you are creating at this time. Maybe you will be more inspired through the decoration of the room or home. Look for things that will make you feel warm and at home.

🪷Cancer rising- More and more inspired to talk, think and things related to it all. You may feel like now is the time to speak your truth. You can also travel somewhere or go on a short trip. Don't think too much, be present here and now. Don't worry about things, just be. Sometimes silence is better than words.

🎸Leo rising- finding your value, things in which you see potential and relationships that you think are really good is in the spotlight. The potential for growth and genuine connection lies in embracing reality and collaboratively shaping your journey. U may find yourself debating on saving or spending money more than usual.

✨Ig-bekylibra✨

-Rebekah🌸⭐️⛵️

[downtroddendeity]

@turnkeyassurance saw your tags and figured I'd take the opportunity to pause my descent into madness to give my more sober opinions on the Ni no Kuni franchise, lol. (Warning: I am a humongous JRPG nerd)

The NNK games are really odd ducks, quality-wise. You can call either one a good game or a bad game and call either one better than the other, and any combination of those opinions can be something I think is entirely justified. Both of them have things they do remarkably well and also serious, profound, deal-breaking flaws, and the really weird thing is that there's almost no overlap between those two lists for the two games. What clicks and doesn't about both of them is going to be deeply individual.

What Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch does, with resounding success, is Vibes. It sets out at every single step with the goal of being a playable Ghibli movie, and it sticks to that principle. It's all about beautiful, cel-shaded whimsy. It's a game for people who want to feel like they're wandering through the meadows in the movie version of Howl's Moving Castle. There are lots of puns, and you can befriend all the random encounter monsters and feed them ice cream.

But that's also its Achilles' heel: because it's dedicated entirely to imitation, it has trouble bringing things to the table that are really its own. It has the visual and narrative aesthetics of Hayao Miyazaki's films, but it doesn't have the raw emotion at the heart of them. And as a game, its mechanics combine the clunkiest features of menu-based combat and action RPGs, and while everything about the Pokemon-esque mechanics seems designed to encourage players to collect and experiment with them, the balancing turns attempting to do that into a miserable grindy nightmare.

The other problem is that it... isn't actually the first Ni no Kuni game. Wrath of the White Witch is, in fact, a remake of the Nintendo DS game Ni no Kuni: Dominion of the Dark Djinn, which was never released outside Japan. The reason for this is pretty easy to explain, because DDD had another gimmick besides its aesthetics: it came with a real-life physical copy of the wizard spellbook, and the player had to look things up in it and draw sigils on the DS touchscreen to cast spells. So, we've got a high-effort remake that had to completely cut the central mechanic... and which also expanded the plot so that the original main villain was no longer the primary antagonist. This results in a game with what is very clearly a final dungeon and very clearly a final boss and very clearly a resolution to the story, which suddenly has a completely different plot dropped on it like a fucking anvil that it expects you to be just as invested in even though it hasn't had anything like the same level of buildup.

And ironically, this is almost the exact opposite of the biggest problem with Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom, a.k.a. the one with my new blorbo, the President of the United Union of Eagleland. 2 is an effort to try to cement an identity for the series that can be its own, rather than requiring them to depend indefinitely on borrowed Miyazaki nostalgia. It just has the teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy problem that at some point in development it had a budget shortfall so bad that you can finish the game without ever realizing that there is a continent-sized crashed interdimensional spaceship on the world map.

This game has had a machete taken to it. Don't get me wrong, I genuinely respect the work they did to make what they could with what they had, but you can see the signs of massive scope cuts to literally every aspect of the game. The back half of the game has almost exclusively recycled enemy and environment assets; voice acting has been trimmed down to canned voice clips; the catboy protagonist's ears and tail are barely animated; one minigame was so inadequately playtested that a level 16 mission is massively harder than level 50 ones; and while whatever restructuring they had to do to the main plot still left the final version with a more solid and coherent central arc than WWW in my opinion, it also left a lot of truly gaping plot holes, like oh, I don't know, why the President of the United States got turned into a 19-year-old.

Literally, they just. Entirely forgot to explain that. Half the DLC is just the writers scrambling to fix stuff like that and add a bunch of character development that should have been in the base game.

However, despite all this, I personally enjoyed NNK2 more than NNK1 unironically, not just for Rolandposting reasons. Compared to the first one, it plays much more smoothly as a straight action RPG, and while it can't provide the same knock-your-socks-off aesthetic cohesion, to me it seemed a lot more heartfelt- that is, like a game that was made because people had a story they wanted to tell.

But, well, we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the non-unironic reasons, because the story they really, genuinely wanted to tell was about a magical catboy growing up and learning to become a leader, and somehow, miraculously, they really thought that was the story I was here for too when they opened the game with the President of the United States being isekaied by Nuke-kun.

Sorry, guys, I have a crippling addiction to dramatic irony and my day job is tech work in local politics, you could not have more laser-targeted this at making me specifically laugh my ass off if you tried.