#bc when the book first came out everyone pointed it out. usually because of the baffling description of 'a financially shrewd santa claus'

[springlock-suits]

Be the change you wish to see in the world (make more fat William)

Why are there barely any fat William designs out there, esp considering its canon (in the books at least) like genuine question

[crazilust]

My thoughts on these placements

based on my last lover. PSA: this might be biased. don’t take it TOO seriously, it’s mostly for me to purge this relationship. LETS GOOOOOOO !!

1. Gemini rising

Have you ever felt hella special to someone and then you see them interact with someone else and you’re like “oh. i’m… i’m just another one of their friends.” this is what it feels to be around a gemini rising sometimes. most of the ones I know, are either extremely popular, know alot of people or at the very least just hang out regularly with a bunch of people (might just be colleagues and not necessarily friends but they’re often surrounded). And they have this way of making you feel special, and funny and entertaining but most of the times, they’re the ones controlling the discussion and the flow of it.

when it came to my ex, he knew so many people and every person he was interacting with, he knew a little detail about them, and it made the person care so much about him. Even though he didn’t as much. Somewhat flimsy, it’s hard to know a Gemini rising’ true intentions with you.

2. Sagittarius sun

Sags don’t have the best reputation in my book, and he certainly didn’t help the stereotypes. The thing with Sags sun that I find hard to understand is the constant lie they have between who they truly are and who they want to be. It’s a constant battle of “don’t look too hard into my flaws bc soon enough I’ll be this grandiose super star and therefore you can forget about the awkward nerd you have in front of you.” Most of them are nerds, truly. But they hate it. As opposed to Aquarius sun’s desire to be different and their ability to stand on their two feet even tho they’re being outcast, a Sag sun’s deepest fear is to be seen as the weirdo they are. (that unfortunately they associated with being a loser)

If you’ve never been close with a Sag, you’ll be the first to deny this claim. “What?? The Sag I met was THE life of the party! No weirdo here.” or “The Sag I met was a boss ass btch, she had everything under control and very educated!!”

And that, my friends, is what we call a front. Sure, they can be the life of the party, usually very keen on getting their diplomas, but if you don’t know them, that’s the only part of them you’ll get to see cause it’s the part they deem acceptable.

I’m not even gonna comment on the commitment issues, cause yall… you know it already lmao.

3. Virgo moon

Nobody hates an underdeveloped virgo moon more than they hate themselves. So critical, judgemental and harsh. They notice absolutely everything that you do and instead of going to you and confront you about the issue, they’ll keep it in, and throw it back to your face the minute it’s convenient for them (when they effed up). Very hard to love because they simply can’t accept that you love and accept their own flaws. I remember my ex asking me litteraly all the time “How can you love me if I’m not as pretty as before” (it was in his head, he was just as cute) “How can you love me if I don’t have a job?” (He had lost his job for only 2 months at that point) No matter what I’d say, he couldn’t believe that I loved him wholeheartedly, no matter what.

Sometimes, when I look at a virgo moon, unevolved ofc, all I can see is pain. Virgo is an already hard sign to have imo (sorry!) but in the moon placement, it’s just sad. These natives are so harsh on themselves and accept no help whatsoever. And if you do try, they’ll do everything to push you away and trust me, one thing Virgos do is succeed.

4. Libra Mars

As a scorpio mars, libra mars is not my favorite placement. But as I checked my vedic chart and I do, in fact, have a libra mars, I hate that I understand why they act the way they do.

They care so much about everything being perfect, everyone getting along and most importantly being at peace with the ones they love. The cliches are true for a reason, they dislike conflict and yes, are passive agressive but it’s because they don’t want to lose the people they love with petty drama.

So they don’t say anything, and they accomodate even tho that one thing irritated them and then when you confront them about something, they bring you everything you’ve done wrong for the past six months. That’s the part I hate, ofc, but I also hate that I get it.

I get it. They’re the biggest people pleasers and when they don’t say anything about something that upsets them, they actually think they’re doing it for the greater good. They obviously analyse everything you’re doing wrong, but they don’t mind not saying it cause they’d rather be at peace with you. So how dare you don’t do the same for them?

That’s the mentality. Unfortunately for them, it brings bigger conflict because then you feel betrayed they never said anything to begin with. UGH.

SPEAK YOUR MIND, Libras of any placements actually <3

5. Sagittarius Mercury

If you consider yourself soft, delicate, sensitive, do not date a Sag mercury. These people are ruthless. As friends, I find them hilarious and fun to be around, but as lovers I would never do that to myself again. Just never <3. They are very blunt (which doesn’t mean they won’t lie! We’re talking about a Jupiter ruled sign here yall), but in a way that won’t make you feel good about yourself. They’ll often use humour to attack you and then use it as a shield the moment you call them out on it (i.e : It was just a jokeeeeee!)

Gives very good advice, I’ll give them that. I think sometimes I can have a little bit of tunnel vision and with Sag mercuries, they’re able to tap you on the shoulder and be like “Have you consider this tho?” in the most casual way and you’re like “oh.. no. yes. you’re right”

6. Aquarius Venus

If you love the friends to lovers trope, you’ll just love dating an Aquarius venus because that friendship-like relationship will be the foundation of your dynamic. Everything feels fun, the complicity is at an all time high.

But the commitment.

Now, I’ve read multiple times here that Aquarius venus is actually very committed to the person they love when they like you. Well, I guess I wasn’t his person cause I only felt the commitment phobia.

Anyways, I still loved the dynamic of the relationship, but I can’t lie, it didn’t feel serious at all.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~••~•~•~•~•~•

Well that’s all for me, today. Love yall!!

Remember, these are the big 6 of my ex so it is biased nothing to take too personal but if it applies and resonates, great💛

B.

[intairnwetrust]

You know I am usually someone to easily call out Xaden (especially on his communication issues in Iron Flame *cough* call out *cough* lol )

But now I actually need to defend him in regards of what he said and how some people receive it:

"In the years after my father died, I forgot what it felt like to be loved. [...] But then you (Violet) gave those words to me, and I remembered..."

And then you have responses like:

Garrik, Liam, Bodhi, Imogen: What I am? A roach?

Basically pointing the finger at Xaden, what about your friends who love you?

Where I need to say okay first valid or rather understandable response.

Buuut I think people are to harsh here on Xaden. I'm deliberately simplifying this here, Xaden's life consisted of two parts, the revolution and survival. Violet gave him love outside of that. It was something new, something, looking at the quote above, he didn't even knew in the beginning he wanted or maybe didn't dare to want. (Also Violet is awesome! Who can blame him? Edit: and look his new BC he is a total simp for her, as he should be)

"Now, Riorson."

I can't keep from wincing. She never uses my last name. Maybe it's because she doesn't like to remember that I'm Fen Riorson's son, and all my father cost her, but I've always been Xaden to her. The loss feels like a bottomless abyss, like a death blow.

"I've always been Xaden to her" and look how shattered poor boy was when he thought he lost that. With Violet he was not Fen Riorson's son, he was not his last name which symbolizes the proclamation of the revolution, the continued existence of the revolution. He was just Xaden with Violet. Just a man.

But now let's look at his love for his friends and at the beginning of the very same letter which brings you an understanding of his feelings

"Then I entered the quadrant and became the monster everyone needed me to be, and I never regretted it."

Who is everyone? Every person being part of the revolution. He consciously tried to forget the feeling of love because that would help the revolution best. Cold and calculating. But who is also part of the revolution? His friends. With his friends he was also Xaden, but not only. The revolution became a huge part of their lives.

I think with his friends their love and loyalty became the same thing for him. That's why Xaden said only when Violet came along he remembered what love meant. Don't get me wrong, in a healthy relationship it goes hand in hand but it's not the same and I think it just became too blurry over time and given circumstances alas being key figures in a revolution.

Also I understand when people say they want to see more of Xaden's friendships, same I am no different, but the lack of these relationships is due to the fact that the books are currently only from Violet's POV, after all they are Xaden's friends and not hers. I mean every chapter we had in his POV there were always interactions with his friends (except his chapter at the end of IF) and we can all agree we loved them (I hope so lol)

I hope it makes sense what i am trying to say i just think people are to harsh here on Xaden became in the end of the day he cares for his friends. Both sides would go through hell for the other, if you look at their lives you can safely say it's their "I love you"

[moodywyrm]

loser college barista ellie

physics major ellie williams who works part-time at an on-campus coffee shop, because somehow she has time for it? it's really just because she has a terrible sleep schedule and an unfair amount of natural academic talent (undiagnosed something!).

Ellie, who hates the smell and taste of coffee, working in a coffee shop. she'd never admit it, but part of it is because it reminds her of Joel and somehow that keeps her sane amidst her terrible workload. He comes to visit sometimes, and, every single time, Ellie sneaks him free black coffee.

Ellie, who does readings and homework during her shift, especially since she works the slow hours where pretty much everyone is in class. So like, 10am to 3pm.

Coincidentally, those are pretty much the exact times you have a break between your classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And studying in the library gets Exhausting at some point, so you eventually shifted to studying at the coffee shop.

Ellie didn't really notice at first, because, honestly, being a physics major is full time job. She did however think you were very cute every time you came up to get your drink. You always smelled good, a welcome reprieve from the heavy coffee smell she dealt with for hours. The more you came, the more she noticed your clockwork schedule, your signature scent, the twinkle of the door chimes at almost exactly 10:15 every MWF.

Fuck, can you imagine being one of Ellie's regulars? Shout out to the anon who came in to tell me they'd became a regular at a coffee shop bc now this is ingrained in my mind. At some point, when she sees you approaching the shop, she just starts prepping your order.

she calls you by your name and you think she's so suave and attractive, but in reality she's freaking the fuck out on the inside. she gets nervous talking to pretty girls!! especially pretty girls that she sees every day at her work while she's wearing the nerdiest apron in the world.

she slowly but surely develops a debilitating crush on you, literally because she spends so much of her time looking over at you and seeing how intensely you study. you spend hours sitting there, switching between books and notebooks and your laptop, a cute little furrow living permanently between your brows. she takes note of the way your grip tightens around your pencil when you're frustrated, or the way you calm down when you open a book that has nothing to do with your studies. she also notes the longing looks you send towards the pastry case.

she had to be so brave about it, but one day she finally got the courage to bring you one of the pastries you kept staring at. doesn't even give you a chance to protest before she says "it's on the house" and scrambles back behind the counter to beat herself up because Who Says That! What if you didn't want that pastry or any pastry! What if you think she's a weirdo now!

She's literally driving herself insane, but she manages to look over at you and sees the little smile on your face as your bite into the treat. You light up, because it's so good and Ellie was so cute, and honestly that makes it all worth it for her.

I know in the second game Ellie doesn't eat much, likely as a result of all the trauma she experienced, and I think this would transfer over to a modern au in a less trauma-related way. She doesn't eat much when she's on campus for some reason! Which means she usually doesn't take advantage of the one free food item she gets on every shift, although she always take the free drink. Sometimes she'd give them to Dina or Jesse if they mentioned they hadn't eaten that day or were otherwise hungry, but on MWF, that treat is Yours.

What's funny and so loser of Ellie, is that, even when she's giving you a free pastry three times a week, she has yet to have a prolonged conversation with you. The routine is always small talk when you pay for and get your drink, and then pining stares when you sit down to study, a thank you when she brings you a treat, and a little goodbye when you head off to class. that's it. Dina 100% clowns Ellie for it because girl c'mon, you can feed her but you can't talk to her??

no. no she can't.

There's so much about you that just makes Ellie wanna go into the backroom and Scream. Like when you showed up with two friends and you were so vibrant you lit up the room. On your own you were always quiet, beautiful and quiet and relatively calm. But with you friends, you were so bright Ellie had to look away. And god, your laugh! She loves your laugh, and the way you look after your friends, buying their coffees and making sure they eat, helping them study. She already knew you were sweet, but god now you're downright angelic in her eyes.

Ellie is Enamored!! Infatuated!! Crushing so so so hard!!! and she doesn't know how to flirt with you :( what will she do!! (probably go to Dina about it) (but that's for another post <3) (that's all folks!)

[presidentofthelipglossclub]

rescue bots headcanons !!!

chase has very strong opinions on pretty much everything. anything from the best multiple of 12 to how ants work (his opinions on these two are 60 and "they are very civilized creatures when they are not stealing food")

heatwave needs the most fuel out of everyone because he's a quadruple changer, and because synthesizing water from the air is surprisingly exhausting

blades watches the most mature television out of all of the original four. he's the only one who's watched anything rated higher than pg-13

boulder does volunteer work at soup kitchens and homeless shelters on his off days

none of the og's speak neocybex because of the whole stasis thing

blades' medical knowledge is super outdated (again, stasis--most of the major medical breakthroughs came after they left)

the first time heatwave met wheeljack he tried to deck him. they did not get along (this surprised optimus bc he thought they were very similar and would therefore get along)

quickshadow is jazz and prowl's kid

hightide and optimus used to on and off date (both ratchet and megatronus hated hightide)

boulder reads such a wide variety of books that he sometimes forgets what a normal frame of mind is. like, he reads books for toddlers to classic literature to those books of facts about ancient history. there are a lot of books in the bunker.

salvage dropped out of engineering school and then got a job loading up transport ships. always sort of regretted it, but kept his loader job up until stasis

blurr and heatwave were both trained as professional pilots. blurr had the transport ship he and salvage worked on, and heatwave was/is the main pilot of the sigma

quickshadow was one of elita-one's team members until the squad was disbanded

hightide is a cityspeaker and his suit was a gift from a titan

boulder has minor claustrophobia. it normally isn't too bad, but part of the reason he loves nature and the outdoors is because he feels free/not restricted

all the original four rescue bots were dorm mates during their academy years

heatwave didn't even want to be team leader it just kinda happened because of his natural talent for leadership. the others elected him as their leader and he just went with it.

chase is a night owl and usually does most of his tasks at night. he likes the quiet and also that means during the day he can focus completely on rescues

blades gets "grounded" ridiculously often by dani. like, "no tv for a week" type grounding not "no flying." blades thought it was the second one and was thrilled, and then devastated when he learned what she actually meant.

boulder is a clean freak. not a germaphobe, but he needs everything to be tidy

blades bet heatwave that he wouldn't make a "deez nuts" joke to optimus. he lost that bet but it was so worth it for the pained look on optimus' face when heatwave did it

hightide REEKS of salt. it's constant and everyone hates it.

blurr and salvage were both neutrals before they became rescue bots, which is why they've never done combat

all the official rescue bots (everyone but blurr and salvage since they were trained later and never went to the academy) have an outlier because forged rescue bots are built that way

also all the official rescue bots can easily bench press optimus. like, one handed. they're all ridiculously strong (again, rescue bots are just built that way. super strength is very important)

heatwave is ultra magnus's and hot rod's/rodimus's kid (he was raised by them)

rescue bots (official ones, not blurr and salvage) are exclusively cold constructs. they have to be manufactured to achieve the abilities necessary for their line of work (super strength+speed, outliers, olfactory sensors, different optic types, ability to scan extra alt modes, etc.)

after rid2015 the bee team was trained by the rescue bots to become rescuers (this is canon)

at some point before rba heatwave sorta became everyone's boss. pretty much every cybertronian of significant influence listens to him or works for him. this happened in a similar way as how he became his team's leader (on accident and because he just naturally takes charge)

the original four rescue bots are ambassadors to earth and technically all have government jobs but they just also do other stuff (teachers at the academy, rescuers, god knows what else)

game night, movie night and karaoke night are sacred traditions to the team and are taken extremely seriously. hightide refused to look at salvage for a month over a game of scrabble. optimus and bumblebee have both been forced to join in multiple times.

way more but that's where imma stop this post for now

[hyohaehyuk]

NBC News: The stars of ‘Interview With the Vampire’ on adapting the immortal love story for TV

I only find that small video of the interview. i dont know if there is more bc there is transcriptions of their quotes in the link that i didnt saw in the video

“Vampires intrinsically are about yearning and love — immortal love and yearning over the ages,” Reid told NBC News, citing the famous immortals Nosferatu and Dracula as examples. “They’re very emotional, desperate beings who have to survive eternity and don’t usually want to do that alone. When you read Anne Rice, you see that in Louis and Lestat.” 

“This is the quintessential vampire story, really,” Reid added. “It’s this yearning and love and intensity, with all of its darkest elements brought to the front, and told over the centuries.”

“There’s something so beautifully domestic about Louis and Lestat in the novels. They have this homeliness, this deep connection that they always come back to, no matter what’s happened,” Anderson said of translating the vampires’ complicated love affair on screen.

“But then they’ll burn each other’s houses down, as well,” Reid interjected, laughing. “It’s vampire love. Murder is our love language.” 

Anderson and Reid’s approach to the protagonists’ fiery relationship was very much informed by Rice’s many novels involving the characters, which collectively make up the Lestat-focused Vampire Chronicles series. Reid came to the project as a longtime fan of Rice and the vampire genre, which he said he almost had to push aside in order to approach the role effectively. And Anderson, although he dove deeper into Rice’s work after being cast, also had a healthy grasp of the characters from reading the first few books in the Vampire Chronicles.

“I feel such an affinity with Louis. Although I do love Lestat in the book series, particularly ‘The Vampire Lestat’ on” Anderson said, referencing the second book in the Vampire Chronicles. “There are times that I don’t envy Sam.” 

“He’s very complex,” Reid responded, referring to Lestat. “Heis a vampire. And he behaves in ways that you would want a vampire to behave — otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading vampire literature or looking at vampires.”

“Reading the script for the first time, even before I was attached to it, I could tell that it was the right approach to the material. You could really feel that there was a huge amount of respect for the books and what she was trying to say,” Reid said, referring to Rice. “And the lightness, the humor, the love story, the drama, the absurdity — all of that’s there.”

Rather than taking the approach of color-blind casting, Jones reframes the story so that Louis, who begins immortal life at the beginning of the 20th century, is dealing with the racism and limitations of the eras through which he lives. This, Anderson points out, brings another dimension to this character’s defining struggle with immortal life.

“Because Louis’ central preoccupation is his humanity — and what he still retains from it and what he’s lost from it — if you cast him as a person of color but then don’t factor in his race, then that would read as phony,” Anderson said. “I don’t really see what the point would be. “There are examples of colorblind casting where it’s a fantasy character and you don’t need to go there. But, because Louis’ ‘human-ness’ is so central to him, I wouldn’t have wanted to do it if we weren’t going to bring the real world into it in that way.”

“The characters are intrinsically linked to the city. You walk around the French Quarter and you hear an Anne Rice tour every 100 meters. So it was incredibly important to everyone that New Orleans remained this character,” Reid said, describing the city’s role in the series almost as if it were an actor.

“Mara [LePere-Schloop], the designer, created these beautiful sets. I mean, they were just stunning. When I walked into the Rue Royale set for the first time, my legs buckled,” he added, referring to the street on which the vampires’ luxurious home resides. “It was incredibly transportive.”

During filming, the actors lived in Rice’s beloved hometown for about six months, soaking up the city’s infamous late-night culture while depicting her nocturnal creatures.

“If you’re gonna live anywhere in the country, that’s where you want to live at night,” Reid said.

[kuroppiii]

DON’T FILE THOSE DIVORCE PAPERS. but i thought emma was boring i desperately need ur full take geek out plz tell me what I don’t see

i would NEVER divorce you pookie??

(us actually)

everyone gets film freaky in their own way!!! its ok!!!

two film essay posts in less than 24 hrs by ro, someone needs to sedate me or something

( sort of spoilers for emma (2020) under the cut , but nothing explicit , really )

!!! disclaimer i think to really fw regency-ish movies, kind of inherently calls for being into things like their original source material. and trust!! i know its not for everyone!!!

personally, i'm actually a big fan of reading those old and classical kind of books. as in, i have a full, clothbound, BOX SET, of jane austen's novels (emma being one of them). my literature teacher recommended me to read pride and prejudice ONCE and i've been hooked ever since.

yknow people joke that back then that it was all "oh my god you can't show your ankles!!!" and yeah, that's pretty much what it's like when you get down to reading novels from that time 😭 but that's what makes it so entertaining for me! the bridgerton series (which i also really like by association) is an easy example of this. i once saw someone say bridgerton plays out like a kdrama and YES!! that's the level of yearning and pining and slow burn i feed off of

upfront, i liked the movie–even from when its first trailer came out–because its aesthetics visually were just so nice. like yes!!! pastels!! pretty flowers!!! hats with feathers!! tea parties!!! big poofy dresses!!! (and anya taylor joy)

but it was when i watched it for a second time, i found a lot of why i like this specific adaptation of emma is because i think it really got across the vibe of jane austen's writing–especially the humor.

ok now stay with me: i'm not saying you have to read the whole original novel to get it, bc basically i would summarize the reason why the humor is so dry (when usually you would think this rich and old-fashioned vibe of a story should be much more over-the-top and dramatic) is because jane austen was always trying to make fun of all the social constructs of her time. especially for women! (heavy on how her works were ones of satire!)

like it all plays out so bare-bones that you just can't ignore how ridiculous everything sounds, which is what austen felt about all the rules and expectations emma and the other characters were trying to uphold the whole story. i also find that kind of humor from the movie very charming in a simple way, too.

the whole vibe of watching the movie and its characters is very much unserious, and it's a personal favorite in that watching it and listening to the soundtrack makes me feel ok to wallow in my emotions like the characters do. it's very cathardic in that way to me. but yeah by no means is it very action-packed or even conventionally "dramatic", so i get how it can wind up boring.

the character development of emma is always so interesting to me though. it's subtle, especially on the first watch, but it always warms my heart when she goes from thinking she's got everything figured out, to seeing the value of true friendship in harriet and even mrs. bates (MY FAV CHARACTER I CANNOT LIE SHE'S SO FUNNY), and that making her more open to questioning her and her life more, including not being as perfect as she once thought she was.

and that's really why we get that payoff with her and knightley, because he's known her all this time but when she finally recognizes her imperfections and embraces them, that newly found self-awareness us what pushes him over the edge in love. then we get that BEAUTIFUL confession scene under the tree. 🤭🌳

it very much fits the genre of a "romantic" movie, in that it romanticizes everything. but not to the point where it lets you forget what everyone's wants were, and that there were genuine struggles grappling with all those societal rules at the same time.

bc at the end of the day those rules were efforts meant to promote values that could hopefully lead a life of morality, responsibility/duty, and respect to others and yourself (arguably there are rules we face today that try to promote the same things, but they just look much different than rules about showing your ankles lol). i think in emma it's interesting to see just how each character tries to navigate those rules to get what they want out of life from them, and i think it's just a very beautifully-made film overall as well.

[fagcrisis]

poppy war thoughts, aka this book was so bad it made me want to get a goodreads account just so i can shit on it in an official capacity

so what initially sold me on this book, is that despite my friend ellis absolutely hating rf kuang's babel, ive only ever seen raving reviews for it anywhere else, and a brief description of its magic system reminded me of gergő és az álomfogók. i love that mainstream fantasy is finally starting to rely on drawing from cultures other than the sort of western mainstream and i was actually super excited to get into it. well it sucked (this contains spoilers obviously)

its 11 am this is not gonna be very structured but let me start off by listing some things i did enjoy. first of all its low hanging fruit and im better than this so im only gonna shit on tpw for being so directly about the sino chinese war that the only actual interesting bits of exposition in the book was what was just a description of actual events a Little bit. listen lotr is about ww2. its fine its all fine. anyway, i had fun with the bits of worldbuilding that were yk, actually worldbuilding. the magic system was really interesting and just super not explored enough, the book handled drug addiction about as sensitively as the dare program, but nevertheless it was a cool concept. shamans who have to get high as hell do do anything and then putting those guys in a combat setting is crazy. really fun concept. speaking of shamans i loved jiang. his archetype is impossible to fuck up and he was loveable and fun till the very end. uhh what else. the fight descriptions were good its something kuangs is decent at, as someone whos watched just truly an inordinate amount of wuxia as a child i rly can appreciate a stupid convoluted fight scene. oh i found it hysterical that the west was just one country that was really fun.

NOW ONTO THE SHIT I HATED

rin is incredibly unlikeable i know its not the point of every book ok but tpw isnt good enough to have a protagonist who is just impossible to relate to this isnt 1984 okay this is contemporary ya. i GET that she sucks and thats the point but im supposed to emphatize with her and throughout the book she just seemed stupid and easy to manipulate and not very interesting. shes an incredibly shallow character which is i guess what happens when you base your ya teenage girl protagonist on CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY MAO ZEDONG. HELLO. anyway. all her personal relationships are very much carried by the strenght of the characters close to her, and because most characters in this book are not very interesting that makes for a shitty fucking protagonist.

most of the conflict in this book is extremely artificially generated until maybe the second half of part 3. everyone in rins life is unnessecarily mean to her because shes just so smart and good at things. the part where they accused her of cheating on the exams and she owned them like crazy came to define much of the book. some kind of mean cunt whose purpose in life is to cause misery is an asshole to rin bc shes so smart and strong and talented, and she owns them with a witty remark. she punches nezha on the first day of school for fucks sake.

speaking of the school, the majority of the book is spent at sinegard academy and it is an extremely predictable and dull affair. i long for the wizard of earthsea. kuang is not a very good writer on a technical level and everything that she tries to imply she ends up spelling out (usually by having a character say it out loud) only a couple pages later. you can get through 2/3rds of this book by just reading every other page and correctly guessing what has happened and what will happen. in possibly the funniest paragraph of part 2, rin thinks about how everybody thinks altan is the coolest guy and yet he has no friends and at this point shes been experiencing quite severe racism from all of her peers and then instead of leaving you to figure out the quite obvious conclusion kuang literally has her say "oh his skin is dark and mine is too. i wonder if he knows what racism is like" just, truly hysterical.

her feud with nezha is unbearable, i knew immediately that he would become a romantic interest because a ya protagonist cannot hate a boy for perfectly good reasons. it always has to be bc shes horny. anyways thankfully when she starts studying with jiang, jiang is there and the terrible dullness of it all is lifted somewhat

as i mentioned before, the actual historical elements in the book elevate it greatly and the third part is almost enjoyable in some sections. however, unfortunately, this is also the part of the book where rin and altans darkling situation begins. i have a sinking feeling altan may not have died, which sucks because i hated this bit. they have virtually no relationship to eachother except altan yelling at rin occasionally. now again there were bits and pieces of their relationship that i didnt quite hate, but honestly i still dont entirely buy the rin is a seerly thing emotionally because she is so detached from it. the revelation only seemed to shock her a little bit and then she was busy with being at war and her boss hating her, when she actually gains the power of the phoenix at the very end its her own hatred and egoism fueling her rather than any connection to her people. overall this again comes back to her being quite weak as a character, and the worldbuilding suffers as a result of that

in any case, ill mull over continuing the series. the ending was actually quite strong i love a genocide as a result of being a stupid fucking 19 year old (dont quote me on this please), so maybe the next one is better maybe ms kuang learned to write inbetween these 2.

[atomicwinnerdreamland]

Do you have any silly hc’s and ansgty hc’s for NY?

**it’s fine if not lol**

Hii! Ooo thank you for the ask, and I may have a few of both kinds of hc's for him :D

New York's silly hc's:

-He has tried ice cream and soy sauce together because he read about it in a book and surprisingly, he doesn't hate the combination. (the book is King of Wrath by Ana Huang, which is set in New York)

-I like to think that he tries on the shoes of the bigger states in the statehouse because he finds fun in doing so. New York was wearing Texas's huge dress shoes and tripped on them, and Alaska so happened to be nearby and helped him up, which got Alaska to be the one to first notice this habit of his.

-He and Louisiana read picture books together on nights when they can't go to sleep. Sometimes they're picture books that New York himself wrote, other times they're picture books that New York finds in his local bookstore that he thinks Loui would like.

-Whenever he's angry at a certain state, he paints a portrait of them that portrays them in the ugliest way possible. It could be a painting of the state's face with the ugliest color combos and/or purposefully messed up proportions or he may paint a part of the state that the state considere to be ugly or unattractive (ie. if here were mad at Texas, he'd paint Austin bc TX thinks that Austin is ugly, California w/ Bakersfield, Michigan w/ the border shared between him and Ohio, etc)

-He sometimes likes to wear his coats on his head like a wig and walks around the statehouse as he's doing so. And he likes to style it too: sometimes the coat looks like a whole ass muffin on his head (think of how people with long hair wrap a towel around their hair after a shower). Everyone else thinks he looks insane, but he's happy doing it for some reason.

-He hides candy in his beanie and nobody knows.

New York's angsty hc's:

-He has a terrible relationship with sleep. He can't sleep because of flashbacks of his past, he can't sleep because of his workload, and sometimes he doesn't sleep on purpose just to punish himself.

-He likes to lock himself in his room when the statehouse gets too loud. It reminds him of his past again (with all the wars and stuff) and he prefers not to interact with anyone at all for a few days to deal with it.

-[TW: self-harm] Whenever he does something that doesn't reach his own standards, he hurts himself in many ways. He indulges in his never ending workload, he stays up all night, he doesn't eat, and he can't talk to anyone without screaming at them (which hurts NY bc he doesn't like hurting his loved ones).

-He likes to cook for others but rarely finds the will to cook for himself sometimes, much less eat. It's the same way with comforting others: he always is the first to try and uplift somebody yet he can never uplift himself when he needs to.

-He likes to disappear whenever he gets too overwhelmed. The fellas in the Northeast always try and look for him whenever he does so, but New York always finds a spot where he knows he can't be found (usually in Wyoming and Iowa since they're usually forgotten, and both states seem peaceful to me), so they just wait for him to return home hoping he's okay. There was an occasion where he came back with cuts and bruises all over his body to the point he was hospitalized, and though the northeast states thought it was bc of a fight, it turned out to be self-inflicted injuries. The northeast now keep an eye out for any sign that NY's stressed out/overwhelmed so they can go talk to him before he decides to disappear again.

-[TW: suicidal thoughts] He likes to think about not being immortal & what life would be like if only he were to be able to die like normal humans. Sometimes he doesn't have the will to live and finds it so hard to accept that he can't just die. This fic by @xechoecho88x is a great story that ties along with this specific headcanon if you're interested in reading something like this :D

-He has a severely damaged wall designed for when he needs to let out some anger. To go along the lines of this, he likes fire and burns random things to keep himself at ease. The only thing that he regrets burning is an old necklace given to him by a friendly old lady he met & befriended in upstate. Her death took a toll on him and he burned the only thing that reminded him of her so he wouldn't mourn as much, but all he feels now is regret.

That's all I have, I hope you like it :D Thank you sm again for your ask, I appreciate it so much <3

[zeroducks-2]

I have a confession: I kinda don't get people who LOVE characters like Stephanie, Duke or Jean Paul. Like,,, they are so boring and there's nothing interesting about them??? Made only to be a self-insert for readers?? Also, there are fans ready to literally tear you apart when you 1) don't consider Duke to be a member of the batfam and 2) don't mention Stephanie when you talk about The Four Robins. Which makes it even more crazy bc gurl,, you really that butthurted over a character as shallow as Bella from Twilight...?

It took me some time to decide how to go about answering this ask, because first and foremost I want to confirm that yes, it is unfair and gatekeepy to nag at people when "they don't consider Duke a member of the Batfamily", or if they don't mention Stephanie when one talks about The Four Robins.

First of all not everyone has read every DC story ever - I surely did not - and on the contrary, I suspect that the majority of casual DC fans don't even know about Jason, Tim and Damian, assuming there's just one Batman and one Robin (who they don't really know is even named Dick Grayson). Hell, when I read Under The Red Hood for the first time (and I did as it came out!), I had NO IDEA who Jason Todd was. I had read random ass comicbooks up to that point and I just assumed that there were "other Robins" after Dick went on to become Nightwing, but in a vague and non-contextualized way.

It's as simple as many people not knowing that Stephanie and Duke even exist (or they just saw them once in a fanart) because maybe they just read some random comics without any real context, or because they have been focused on the JLA and just recently got into Batman stuff, because they only know the "Batfam" through Young Justice, or for a number of other reasons. It's not on them to be knowledgeable on every single facet of the Batman lore, and no one should expect from a fan to just know ALL the characters like the back of their hands, and include them in the "batfam" scenarios always and all the time (also because one of the reason why people often don't know about Cass, Steph and Duke is because DC does not push them. Finding stories with these characters gets increasingly more difficult every year, thank fuck people don't know them). Or maybe they have read comicbooks with Stephanie and Duke and they decided they dislike them, which is also a totally fair reason not to include them in their art or whatever.

And to be honest, if we wanted to be coherent then we should fuss also with those who don't include Carrie Kelley among the Robins, but no one does that because Carrie isn't famous enough for people to whine about an "all Robins fanart" which doesn't include her (I personally don't care about Carrie, I'm saying this just to point out the hypocrisy).

It's as it usually goes. You want art with "all the Robins"? Pick up a pencil and draw it or commission an artist. You want comedy skits in written form, or mock-twitter posts or whatever to include Stephanie and Duke? Sit down, think of something funny and do it yourself, or again commission someone. Fan-creators aren't there to fulfill your needs about this or that aspect of a fandom, and there is not one single valid reason to harass them about it.

This though is completely unrelated to the fact that Stephanie, Duke and whoever else might be "bad characters" that you personally dislike. People like characters for an array of different reasons, even when these characters are shallow, inconsistent, not created according to the proper rules of characterization and narrative arcs. Sometimes the reason why people love a character is exactly because they are written to be as self-insert, but it can be literally anything and that is OK. It will often be reasons we don't understand or we disagree with, and that too is OK.

To name one, I personally have no idea how anyone who's older than 12 can genuinely enjoy a Harry Potter book, and I've been saying this since I was 13 myself (so around 15 years before JKR outed herself as a misogynistic piece of shit), but it is what it is - a lot of people like things that I don't enjoy and for reasons I don't understand, and I myself have learned to be OK with it a long time ago.

And let's be clear, I could very well make the case that Batman is a hyper-masculine macho fantasy with nothing to offer to the plot of a story. Or that Tim is a useless filler of a character without anything new to add to the narrative. Or that Dick is a repetitive, whiny bimbo whose plot-lines are always the same. And I LOVE those characters to BITS, they are my precious blorbos and I rather defend them tooth and nail against anyone who dares speak ill of them, but the truth is that criticizing a character is easy.

Take one flaw and make it bigger than any good thing about them, you can paint the most awful picture ever and you wouldn't even be wrong from your personal point of view. None of them is objectively perfect or even close to a narrative masterpiece, so go ahead and keep disliking Stephanie and Duke and Jean Luc, and whoever else doesn't tickle your fancy, but my suggestions is to stop focusing on "how is it even possible that people like them" because there will always be that one character you hate that people can't stop pouring love over. It is pretty much always best to shrug and move along when you see something you dislike, and instead spend your energy on the characters and stories you do like instead, and which make you have blorbo thoughts and butterflies in your stomach and whatever else makes you happy.

And if anyone who's reading this is someone who harasses people for not including Duke and Steph in the group fanarts - please don't. Leave artists be. You want that Robin!Steph artwork, go ahead and draw it yourself or pay for a commission, and stop being an ass to people because they didn't do the thing exactly as you wanted them to do it.

[tigercallalily]

so i’ve been listening to the audiobook of britney spears’ memoir the woman in me and rather than rant at one person with massively long texts or at my parents i just gotta throw everything out incoherently, even tho i’m not quite finished yet

so like, first things first, the writing is not stellar. honestly about what you would expect and it fits if it is a bit slow in the beginning. i saw a review that it reads like a high school girl’s diary which i’d say is pretty accurate for the beginning but less noticeable the farther along

next, we hate justin timberlake and kevin federline. when i was talking to my parents about the book and her relationships, they both said that they already didn’t like jt bc of someone else he cheated on i think and then federline bc he’s a scumbag. they both suck and also the blatant double standard for men and women specifically in hollywood/fame but also just every where. which she points out several times

next, its sexist as fuck and also a problem, but in child custody, if both parents want custody, it’s usually ruled more favorably for the mother. but federline smeared britney’s reputation so fucking well that they gave him more custody of their two sons under the age of 5. like tabloids did such a number on her entire reputation and seems like absolutely no critical thinking was entertained by anyone that hey maybe some of this other shit we’re doing is causing these problems and she can’t get away from any of it

so i was 10 when she walked into that hair salon. i knew approximately zero things except that i was being told that she was going to rehab for drug abuse i think. and i don’t know what was known then but she talks about being swarmed by paparazzi and taking care of two babies by herself and her husband being closed off from her and like??? then she gets her reputation smeared in their custody battle and it’s all very public and i’m sitting here like “yeah, no shit she snapped. that’s a fucking lot to deal with”

finally, holy shit there had to have been some sort of bias, if not corruption, in the courts for her custody and her conservatorship. or potentially the courts were overrun (which is likely) and britney’s case is the one that got the least effort. i don’t know if it’s what i’ve been told or the actual general public opinion, but there was always the dumb blonde, ditz, butt of the joke directed at britney. it always came across as she was stupid. she made some stupid mistakes, which she admitted, but she wasn’t stupid. specifically about the conservatorship, she was lied to by plenty of people and didn’t know who to trust that would tell her the truth or if they would lie for her parents because they were paid by them. sidenote but law is confusing and pretty much everyone is stupid about one part or another which is why laypeople shouldn’t represent themselves. anyway, she knew the conservatorship was fucked up from the beginning but when she said she went along with it because it let her see her sons, it was a lightbulb for me.

again, the writing isn’t stellar but then we get bangers like “At what point did I promise to stay 17 for the rest of my life?” and “My freedom in exchange for naps with my children — it was a trade I was willing to make” britney you can’t make me emo about these things while i’m driving. looking back on my vague memories, it feels insane that the tabloids picked her to completely ruin. bc it doesn’t seem like there was anyone else who ever got focused on quite so harshly.

[acourtofthought]

You always have good insight on ACOTAR and I wanted to get your thoughts on something. Sorry if it’s already been answered and I just missed it. Those who hate on Rhys ... The argument is he is always about choice until it comes to Feyre’s pregnancy and him not telling her the dangers of it immediately makes him the worst of men. He also assaulted her UTM.

My thoughts:

On the pregnancy: Was it right to keep it from her? No. However, I didn’t find it malicious nor do I think judging by his character that he would have kept it from her long. He was looking for cure to save her and didn’t want her to panic while he was doing it. We all know Rhys loves Feyre (obviously enough to make that pact) and he made a choice based on his fear of losing her. He lost his family and I think he made a bad decision by not telling her immediately based on that fear. I don’t really count this part of the story as him being morally grey. I just thought it was a poor decision.

On UTM: He drugged and assaulted her? I haven’t read the first book in a while. But from what I remember, he told her she wouldn’t want to remember what happened UTM. He didn’t force it on her and if she pushed back and refused, would he have let it go? I’d like to think so, but maybe I’m being biased in that regard? Now, he did force her to dance while being dressed provocatively. This is where I consider him being morally grey. He didn’t do it out of his own enjoyment, but because he had to keep up the facade of serving Amarantha and being this “scary” high lord that people believed him to be. He did a lot of things to keep up that facade and keep Velaris and his people safe. I think he also said he needed to make Tamlin mad so that when the time came, he could unleash his fury on Amarantha. Everyone was literally captured and kept UTM and no one had hope of ever leaving. So, he did some questionable things in order to take advantage of the opportunity he saw in Feyre. Again, morally grey but I don’t consider it evil. He grabbed and twisted her arm to force her to accept his deal. Yes, he did in order to save her bc she was dying in the cell and wouldn’t accept his help. It wasn’t right, but this in my opinion was the worst of his “evil” ways. Well, that and giving up Clare’s name even though he knew Feyre was lying from the beginning. He did some messed up stuff to keep Amarantha sated and give all of them a chance. I don’t want to excuse those actions necessarily, but I guess my point it, I see why those actions were taken considering the terrible circumstances they were all in. This is also my interpretation of what is written, so I understand that everyone has different interpretations of things… but like I said, you always have good insight.

Thank you for thinking of me! Could he have handled the pregnancy better? Of course. But I think people tend to leave out an important detail. In a normal pregnancy, it is 100% about the woman. But in this case, Rhys's life was in jeopardy too. Do I think that was his focus? On his own life? No but, that's not to say it didn't play a part in his decision making process. If I knew that stressing my partner out could lead to stress and an early delivery which could lead to their death, our child's death, and my own death, I might want to see if I could find a solution before approaching them (which was his plan, he wasn't going to keep her in the dark until the end). This is a strange and complicated situation that no one in the real world would ever face considering males don't usually have anything to do with the pregnancy and delivery (aside from offering emotional support). Did Rhys do terrible things UTM? Yes. Would Rhys have done those things to Feyre if he weren't being held captive by Amarantha? If all their lives weren't at stake? I don't think so. Which is why I don't hate on Tamlin for lying about the treaty and kidnapping Feyre from her home. They were all under attack because of what Amarantha had done and they responded with some shitty actions as a result, because they were all just trying to save their worlds. While UTM, Feyre was their only hope for their freedom. And Rhys did need Feyre not to succumb to depression, illness, fear, etc. So he found a way to avoid those things while also playing the role of the Dark High Lord so as not to draw suspicion. Had he shown Feyre kindness and mercy (even to her when no one was watching) his cover would have been blown. Was Feyre a pawn to both Tamlin and Rhys at times? Yes. Was that fair? No. But again, when your at war there really are no good decisions and just as Tamlin kidnapping Feyre made him feel sick, Rhys doing what he had to do made him also feel sick. What matters most is how they treated Feyre once the threat of Amarantha was no longer driving their decisions. And the fandom can go back and forth until they're blue in the face over how good or terrible Rhys was and while debate is fine, it really doesn't matter what our take on it is. Because this is not our story and we are not the ones dictating what is acceptable behavior. SJM is the one telling us, "what this character did was wrong and what this character did is supposed to be forgiven because of "reasons". Someone can dislike it, they can say why her take on it bothers them. But it doesn't change that she wrote the rules and we don't get to decide that Rhys should be as hated as Tamlin in this fantasy world. Like it or not, this is Feyre's story and in her story, Tamlin was her abuser and the things Rhys did were understandable and a lot of readers are simply accepting that SJM decided this is how the story would go. Again, someone can say, "well I wouldn't look at it like that!" and that's fine because we'd all handle things differently in our own lives. But what makes no sense is saying, "how dare Feyre be fine with Rhys but claim Tamlin is the bad guy!" Like it or not, that is the story we got and that is how SJM wanted these characters to be written. It's only one perspective, sure. But in Feyre's story, her perspective about her love interest and what she's willing to forgive is the only one who matters.

[hchollym]

hi, witches&watchers anon here. this is gonna be pretty long and feel free to ask any clarifying questions

world building stuff:

• once again taking some inspiration from the wheel of time, this is set in medieval times, so you've got kings and queens and lords and shit, along with horse drawn carriages. there are also messenger birds, but they're pigeons and the likes, not owls

• witches tend to have an easy time blending in, and they still do thanks to their watchers, but there are witch communities hidden away, and there are some witches who just live in a secluded house in the woods (ex. the weasleys)

• the schools like hogwarts, durmstrang, and beauxbatons exist and operate pretty similarly to who they do in the books, they're just slightly smaller because a lot of families tend to homeschool or send their kids to smaller schools, especially if they live in a witch only community. still, there's the "well i had a great time at hogwarts, my kid should get the same experience" or they just don't have any other schools

• i haven't figured out what is taught exactly, but it's a lot of the basics of magic and how to control it in years 1-5 (starting at 11 still), but years 6-7 are reserved for learning how to bond with a watcher and use your magic collectively (since you've got spells that require multiple witches to do, plus some rituals, and those are a pretty big deal)

• witches themselves are pretty self explanatory (although the name wizard or mage would describe them better) and they have magic and can do spellwork, but their magic is not endless and needs time to recharge, and a witch can even lose their magic if they try to do too complicated of a spell, don't rest, etc., and they are not welcomed by (most) non-magic users bc they "work with the devil" (they don't; magic is more like an energy field only some can tap into).

• watchers were mostly explained in my first ask but i feel like i should reinstate that anyone can be a watcher, including two witches looking out for each other, which has become more and more common. still, the most common watchers are people who have magic, but not enough to actually do much with (think squibs, although they're more pitied than looked down upon). the watcher having magic does make bonding with the witch a bit easier, but it also allows for a greater push and pull between them if they don't get along (cough percy&oliver cough) since the watcher isn't fully connected the the witches magic, but it can also make them stronger if they know how to play to each others strengths

• (everyone's magic is different. for example, percy cannot preform healing spells for the life of him, but he can use oliver's magic to. another example would be olivers family has more fire-centered magic, and the weasleys are more weather-centered, and oliver can make lightning strike by tapping into percy's magic)

• okay so the bonding ceremony is huge and life changing thing nowadays, but bonds only took a few minutes to start and break since witches would run over to someone they trusted and ask they to basically bottle up their magic when the witch hunters came to town. however, those bonds were temporary, and those are the kind of bonds typically used in school, except they do a little ceremony thing to make sure the witch's and watchers magic is compatible

now for a bit of plot:

• if i ever write this, it'll probably start at the beginning of their 6th year, and at the compatibility ceremony mentioned above, and that's when things get a little funky.

• i don't know all the details yet but basically percy channels his magic into a gemstone (aquamarine is what i've chosen) so it's more stable since the magic actually has a source and he's not trying to manifest it out of thin air. every witch does this at some point, and not doing it usually makes a witch go insane (once again, haven't worked out all the details)

• anyway percy's and oliver's magic are immediately drawn to each other. like, if oliver doesn't become percy's watcher, his magic might throw a temper tantrum.

• so the two kinds just. stare at each other. they don't know each other well, but oliver is putting all his focus into not face-planting because the pull percy's magic has on his us about to drag him over and yeah something weird is happening.

• but they go through the ceremony as usual and surprise surprise, percy and oliver are paired, oliver gets percy aquamarine and percy gets oliver cats eye moonstone, and it's. intense to say the least.

• now, the first few weeks are always bad, but percy and oliver can feel every little nick or paper cut the other gets and every minute change in emotion (although they can't tell what that emotion is just yet, but they can tell when it's shifted) and they have to be moved into the same dorm and have their schedules shifted around because they can't be more than ten meters apart before percy's chest starts hurting (which is a normal side effect of being away from your magic source, but it's different and no one's telling them why)

• anyway, they go through their 6th year relatively easily after a few hiccups at the beginning (and after they make a truce to work together and stay at the top of their clsss because they're competitive motherfuckers)

• but then summer comes, and percy lives in devon and oliver in rural scotland and they've just started to extend their range to opposite sides of the school, how are they gonna survive opposite sides of an island?

• yeah it's not great for them

• but they make it through and get back to hogwarts for their 7th year, and percy and oliver all but tackle each other, like they've done before after little exercises to extend their boundary, but this time percy's not reaching for his own magic for comfort, but oliver's and oh, this years gonna be different.

sorry this is so long, i just had a lot to explain, but i hope you still enjoy this little au of mine :]

Continuation of this post.

That sounds awesome! I love it. 🥰

The idea of their magic being connected is great, and being able to feel what the other is feeling could lead to some interesting scenarios. Like Percy goes all mother hen when he realizes Oliver is hungry because he forgot to eat, and Oliver loses his s*^t when he realizes Percy feels upset/hurt when the twins prank him.

I'm also picturing them being absolutely pathetic over the summer - like not wanting to get out of bed and everything reminds them of the other - "these blueberries are the same color as Percy's eyes" or "Oliver loves broomsticks" - and their families get so exasperated. 🤣

Regardless, this is a fun concept for a fic, and I hope you end up writing it! Thanks for the comment/explanation! 😊

[dreamsinombre]

idealism-sits-in-prison:

I use stitch fiddle or chart minder (both are websites). There's also the Wooltasia app.

violetdale:

Also, you can google knitter's graph paper and print it out if you want to design with pencil and paper. There are also books of knitter's graph paper available to buy online. You can just colour your designs right in. Knitter's graph paper will give you a more accurate prediction of what your pattern will look like than regular square graph paper because the proportions are designed to mimic the knit stitch.

Ah, thank you for the tips on the actual writing of it, but I was looking more for resources that cover how to calculate sizes and how many stitches to CO or inc/dec throughout due to the tension for colorwork being different. Like, for a regular sweater for myself in Xweight, I CO Ysts, but would that number change for a colorwork sweater since the tension is different? That’s more what I’m trying to find resources talking about. I recently did those Stardew Valley Summer socks and had to restart them after my initial attempt because they were turning out way too small due to the tension. I’d hate to start a sweater with my usual, “fly by the seat of my pants, figure it out as I go” method of designing and end up with a sweater that doesn’t fit and have to start it all over again after getting, idk, 2/3 of the way through. But I’ll be checking these sites and such out when I get to the point where I’m writing down the pattern. I typically just use Excel for the actual graphing of things because I’m lazy. But having the names of a couple websites that also provide the charts is handy, too!

redportrait:

Stitchfiddle is good for designing, I'm using it right now. Re: tension, yes, it is different bc if you don't pay close attention when you're learning your stitches will be too tight--the floats at the back (the yarn you're carrying) don't stretch as much as knit fabric does. I space out my stitches right before changing colors, so that I know the floats are long enough to lie correctly. Not foolproof but much better than nothing. Idk what everyone else does[.] I'm sure there's better ways out there as well ! What are you searching for ? If "stranded colorwork" isn't turning anything up try "fair isle colorwork", that's the way I've heard it referred to most often.

Good to know Stitchfiddle has two endorsements now! I’ll definitely check it out. But I also have knit colorwork before, off of others’ designs, so I’ve already got that initial learning curve of, “oh, I need to space these stitches out.” Which was interesting, since one of my mundane magic powers is perfect tension (non-colorwork, I now have to specify)! That’s the tip that I came across multiple times when first learning: keep your right needle stitches all spread out as you go.

I also know that Fair Isle is one of a handful of different colorwork techniques that come from a specific region. I haven’t delved too deeply into the nuanced differences between those techniques, mostly because I haven’t knit any patterns specific to those regional designs and am not looking to make something specifically in any of those styles. I didn’t realize it’d be so difficult to find resources on just non-regional-specific colorwork!

violetdale:

Look up books by Alice Starmore and Mary Jane Mucklestone. They both have stitch dictionaries for designing your own fair isle pieces, that also include tips and instructions on colour work.

diddlysquash:

If you’re wanting colorwork hats or sweaters, tin can knits has an ebook called “strange brew” that has a lot of the math figured out for sizes from newborn up through a very size inclusive adult where you can plug in your own charts for fingering, DK, or worsted weight yarn. It was really helpful for me getting started. Otherwise, know that in colorwork your tension will differ more than usual between flat and in the round, so if you’re swatching try the speed search technique[.] Sorry, speed swatch technique. You knit across the row on a circular needle, but instead of joining in the round or doing a purl row you slide the work down the needle and then carry the yarn along the back. It’s way more accurate.

Ahh I will definitely check those authors out, thank you! That’s kind of what I was looking for after realizing most of the promising-looking online resources I did find were e-courses (at and least one in-person course) that are quite up there in price and/or not running anymore.

I did come across Tin Can Knits’ Strange Brew, but it seemed like it was just for seamless yoke, and the design I want to tackle first will have colorwork motifs down the body. But! I shall give them a look; TCK are solid and always worth checking out.

I also didn’t know about the speed swatch technique! I do prefer to knit my sweaters in the round (I think seaming might be my absolute LEAST favorite thing to do about knitting. So much so that I’ve been trying out ways to pick up sleeves instead of seaming them on because I hate doing it so much and feel like my sleeves always twist no matter what I do to prevent that), so having a swatch technique that replicates that so I can get more accurate tension would be fantastic. Thank you!

[thebindingofpillo]

Talk about your babygirl (Judas) more, a treat from me to you (~ uwu)~

Judas my babygirl the blorbo supreme, thank you for asking about him because I have SO MUCH to say about the man. I’ve already talked about him (at length) in a different post some time ago, and while it’s a bit old, most of it still kinda holds up. Anyway here’s even more stuff about him (AND A WARNING! MENTIONS OF SUICIDE BELOW!!) (this is gonna be very scattered too, I’m just gonna write stream-of-consciousness style)

Judas (or at least Judas in this current life) comes from a British family of middle-lower class. Both his parents died in a car accident when he was too young to really remember them, and he’s been living with his grandmother ever since. He’s always got a pretty terrible relationship with her. She was always the first to point out any flaws in him (perceived or otherwise) while being absolutely unbearable herself, never putting in the effort to ask for help while still expecting her grandson to drop everything and come to her every call and not speaking to him for days if he failed to do so. Suffice to say, they’re not really close as of right now.

Judas grew up an unbearable kid, considering basically everyone to be beneath him while at the same time being incredibly insecure. He found himself in middle school without a single friend, but he convinced himself that he didn’t need them anyway, so he buried his nose in every book he could find and patiently waited to school in general to be over. This is around the time he met Isaac and Magdalene, who apparently weren’t intimidated by his abrasive attitude and the three quickly became inseparable, with Judas even managing to grow up and not be a prick anymore. The trio stayed strong throughout highschool and college (when Azazel also came into the picture, but I’m not gonna delve into all of his relationships now). He’s currently working on his archeology degree, but kinda put his studies on hold to work so he could support Maggy’s writing. He’s a librarian.

Personality wise he’s… polite. Distant, even. He grew out of being a prick, but he still has a condescending aura about himself, like the whole world is bothering him on his lunch break. This is not true to his partners tho, who have first hand experience of the more chaotic and passionate sides of his personality. He’s also a pretty witty person, and oozes sarcasm from every pore, but doesn’t really like talking to people he doesn’t know, so only his close friends have seen him crack jokes and actually smile. With that being said, Judas would lay down his life for the people he loves, and the fact that in his first life on Earth he had a hand in the murder of his best friend eats at him immensely. So much so, that he usually cannot bear the guilt and usually ends his life before due time. Every single time. In the roughly 2000 years his soul has roamed the Earth, Judas has never reached old age. Belial is also a major factor in his suicides every time, and you can read more about him here bc this is getting long enough already lol.

Speaking of Belial, while not being overtly religious, Judas had a passing interest in the occult that kinda morphed into a quasi-hobby. He likes to collect weird artefacts, ancient tomes and the like, that he stashes in his studio, right next to his school books and dissertations. This interest of his actually meshes pretty well with his passion for ancient history, and he has written quite a few essays about the portrayal of demons, angles and God throughout the ages. He might have tried to use a Ouija board when he was a kid, but it never went beyond that. The only true dangerous artefact in his possession is the Book of Belial, a magical tome that seems to find its way to Judas every single life. He doesn’t even remember where he found it this time, maybe he’s always had it.

More stuff that I didn’t know where to put so you get it here lmao

He sounds incredibly posh when he talks. Dear old grandma thought his accent was too lower-class (and by extension, hers too, but she would never admit it) so she was quick to point it out every time he spoke and ridicule him. With time, she managed to beat it out of him, but his accent still comes out when he’s very stressed or angry. He hates it.

He is also freakishly strong, but as durable as a wet paper bag. He could easily punch a hole in a wall, but would shatter all of his bones in the process. Couple this with a sour attitude and a complete disregard for his own safety and safe to say he’s been in quite a few fights. He’s won some of them, even if he woke back up at the hospital a couple of times.

His hair loss is supernatural in nature, due to the influence of the BoB (and tied to his body being weaker and more fragile that a normal person’s). His hair started to fall out around highschoo, but it’s not a case of simple alopecia like Isaac’s, Judas is completely hairless, doesn’t even have eyelashes.

Cannot stand to have anything around his neck. He even stopped buttoning his shirts all the way up because it was too uncomfortable. Just the lightest touch on the neck is enough to trigger horrible flashbacks and send him into panic

Despite knowing both God and Jesus exist (and the devil too) he considers himself more of an agnostic. For him, knowing God exists and having faith are two completely separate things. This goes the other way too, he doesn’t really believe in Satan either. And if Azazel is to be believed, the guy sucks and isn’t really worth praise anyway.

Tea is also one of his interests. He could talk for hours about the right temperature for brewing and the like, and has to be physically stopped from filling the cupboard with nothing but tea.

Isaac is his best friend, he loves him like a brother. Seeing how things are going with Magdalene, they might even become brothers-in-law too.

Speaking of Maggy, the two of them started dating after highschool and are still going strong. They seem to gravitate towards eachother in every single life. Judas is convinced it’s because they lived in the same period, Maggy prefers to think it’s destiny and stuff like that.

[fromofandfor]

I had an acquaintance once. We called him Badger. Met him the only year I performed in our local haunted house. He'd been kicked out the season prior, an addict struggling to get clean and not yet able to stop himself from taking his anger out on the world. He was the type of guy you'd look at and cross the street to avoid out of fear. The kind you'd expect to rip a book in half rather than read one. But he knew that and felt bad about how he acted in the past matching how he was usually percieved. When I met him, he'd worked hard on himself so he could come back. But the cast, despite most of them being new like me, just looked at and treated him like an uneducated junkie with anger issues and backwoods ideas because he came from bumfuck, nowhere and had a dark past.

i just treated him like a dude. A flawed human, just like the rest of us. He might've been rough and tumble, but his trying was more than the shiny, happy, less self-aware people were capable of. So when he said something dumb, I just conversed with him about it. Gave him space to go on a little rant and express why he felt that way and walked him through other perspectives. Most of the time all he needed was a bit of information. Once he understood, it was like something clicked in his brain and he'd do everything he could to fix his thinking, all the while thanking me for not treating him like crap because of his lack of understanding. It was like watching a baby deer learn how to use it's legs.

My being non-binary confused the fuck out of him, though. He more or less understood trans binaries, but the idea of anything outside of that was like college level physics and he only had third grade math. So I spoke his language. Why give a TEDtalk when I can just say everyone is different, but my flavor of nonbinary is "fabulous question mark" and my pronouns are they/them? He got the descriptor fast ("so fuck it, just... be who you are and screw the ppl who are confused bc them being confused is better than you feeling bad?") but holy hell, he struggled with those pronouns. Oh boy, did they ever fuck him up.

He never stopped trying though.

I've seen this man go stand in the corner and put on his silicone mask to muffle a scream of rage at something small going wrong, but he never once got upset when I corrected him on my pronouns. He always apologized, never turning it into a big deal, usually cracking a joke at his own expense and promising he'd get it right one day.

He never did. We lost him to relapse a little over a year after the last time I saw him, just before the new season was about to start. But he did land on something I hold dear to my heart. Halfway through that season, instead of referring to me with "they/them", he started using "thee/thou". I don't know how intentional it was, but I didn't have the heart to correct him after that. It was thee and thou til the day he died, and those words still make me wet in the eyes.

I know from other friends that he talked about me after I left, that he was sad I didn't come back for another year. They also tell me he was lighter than before. Friendlier, less angry, more understanding. I didn't do that, that was all him. But I know for a fact it was because he felt safe enough to become that person and discover those things. Because I never shit on him for his language, which everyone else always did. What did I care if he was using a slur if he was using it to help himself understand and empathize better, thereby eventually getting to a point where he could understand it was bad and stop using it? If I shamed him for his upbringing and understanding of the world, he never would have wanted to learn or been capable of listening in the first place.

This, as opposed to Brandy, the middle-aged white woman with a full understanding of trans/non-binary, who would use the right language and claim to be an ally yet misgender me on the regular. Usually right after telling me I reminded her of her trans kid as she wondered aloud why they have no relationship anymore (before pinning it on said kid, bc clearly she was a great mom and ally if I was her friend 🙄).

I was never her friend.

"The trannies should be able to piss in whatever toilet they want and change their bodies however they want. Why is it my business if some chick has a dick or a guy has a pie? I'm not a trannie or a fag so I don't care, just give 'em the medicine they need."

"This is an LGBT safe space. Of COURSE I fully support individuals who identify as transgender and their right to self-determination! I just think that transitioning is a very serious choice and should be heavily regulated. And there could be a lot of harm in exposing cis children to such topics, so we should be really careful about when it is appropriate to mention trans issues or have too much trans visibility."

One of the above statements is Problematic and the other is slightly annoying. If we disagree on which is which then working together for a better future is going to get really fucking difficult.