#because its just so obvious that That's What It Is

[weaselle]

so i can't find any hard numbers about shark deaths or injury related to shark cable biting. I can tell you a few things that might help you though

So, i know i said "we know this happens regularly" but it turns out "it used to happen once every couple years or so" would have been much more accurate

Cable biting happens waaaay less now than it used to, and it was never all that often to begin with. Currently it's because we mostly use fiber optic cables instead of copper core now, which means we are using flexible glass to conduct light instead of using copper metal to conduct electricity, and that probably means the cables aren't as interesting to sharks, which have special organs for sensing electrical activity in the water. But before that switch, cable companies did engineer to prevent shark bites from being effective.

In order for a shark to take damage from biting an undersea cable, it would have to bit though all the insulation and get to the metal, which would short the cable out and require an extremely costly repair, which means the corporations commissioning the cables are moved by the only thing we can really trust to motivate them -- they are highly incentivized by money to make sure sharks can't get their teeth through the insulation.

We have been laying underwater cable for well over a hundred years by now. From 1901 to 1957, cable failures due to all fish bites (not just sharks) was just 28 times in those 56 years. In the next 50 years there were only 11 cable failures and probably none of them were shark related. Cable companies started using tougher sheathing materials over the insulation which helped, and so many of the cables switching to fiber optic really seems to have made a difference too. As far as I can tell, there have been zero suspected shark related cable damages since 2006

There is a percentage of cable failure/damage where the cause is not able to be determined, but it is extremely unlikely that sharks are involved -- it is usually very obvious when a cable is damaged by a shark because of the kind of damage and because they tend to leave teeth in the insulation when they bite. It is normal for a shark to loose a couple teeth biting a thing; their teeth do not have roots the way mammal teeth do, and they regrow an infinite number of teeth their whole life. Teeth are semi-disposable tools for them.

Also sharks bite things for the same reasons we touch things with our hands, and a lot of the time they bite something to learn more about it so they aren't actually biting very hard (i mean, still hard enough for their teeth to slice delicate human tissue, which is how what to a shark is a simple investigative bite can become a serious injury for a human, but they are often biting things with much less than full power when they just want to see what it is)

And finally, I can assure you that at least the shark in the photo above was totally fine, you can see that same shark bite happen in this video, showing the shark to be merely curious and maybe slightly confused by its experience with the cable

[fluffylino]

loner ! minho - drabble

you've observed him in your classes. he's hot. he's always by himself. little did you know he was fascinated with you too...

-contains mature themes (risky sex oops)

minho's in your class. he's there almost for every single lecture. never skipping unless he didn't show up to uni.

theres something about him that makes your heart race. maybe because you were just like him. the silent ones in the class who mostly sat right at the back where you could be at peace and avoid most interactions.

somehow the two of y'all never sat together, sometimes sitting on opposite ends of the small class or maybe on the bench infront. you watch him at times whenever the lesson content gets boring. taking in the sight of him paying attention.

was he really paying attention or was he just lost in his thoughts?

were you ever in his thoughts?

did you ever make an appearance in his mind?

.

.

its a long day. back to back lectures since 8 in the morning and you're tired. this time your class was being held in a small private classroom that nearly no one knew about except the people in this specific class.

neatly taking off your shoes outside the carpetted stairway.

noticing the larger pair of combat boots that are tucked away from all the other shoes.

mindlessly you keep your shoes near his. because he had mindlessly been doing that for the past few weeks. placing his shoes next to yours.

silently entering the class, only to realise you had losf track of time in the canteen. 10 mins since your class had begun and here you were.

heart thumping nervously at all the eyes on you, as you quietly scutter to an empty chair. the teacher has made all of y'all sit in a semi circle. for more integration and freedom.

and you find yourself seated directly across minho. taking in the sight of him entirely as your professor absentmindedly continues talking about something.

your eyes can't help but trail down to his hands. watching him crack his knuckles and adjust the rings he wore on his digits.

the black shirt complimenting his physique and his leisure way of sitting making your stomach churn with arousal.

why were you finding him so ravishing today? seeing him so upfront worked wonders on your imaginative brain.

blinking slowly as you thought of how his fingers would feel against your body. maybe even between your legs...

blushing heavily when he glances at you briefly. and from the corner of your eye, you swear you see him hide a smirk.

.

.

class is over and you're about to leave when you feel a gentle hand on your shoulder. and you're quick to turn around.

masking on a kind smile which immediately falters.

"wait back with me..." its him.

bag slinging across his shoulder as he stands beside you. quietly waiting for everyone to leave. with a long stride, he closely the door of the classroom. latching it smoothly and for a second you think he's uncomfortable with you.

what if he noticed how obvious you were.

"u-uh is everything o-okay?" you mumble, taking a few steps back when he stands in front of you. minimizing the gap as much as possible.

"i don't know, you tell me..." he lets out, tilting his head with intent. your mouth opens and closes. going speechless and every single coherent thought escaping your mind.

"...i d-don't know" you stutter unconciously. struggling to maintain eye contact with him. looking anywhere but at his eyes.

"do you...." he starts off. clearing his throat before looking at the latched door for a second, turning to purse his lips at you in a somewhat shy manner.

your bag sliding off one of your shoulder's and falling on the ground with a soft thud when he holds your chin.

making you look up at him the whole time.

"do you want to eat ramyeon...with me?"

minho whispers. purposefully leaning closer to breath heavy on your parted lips. your own breath shaking as you unconciously refuse to create a gap between y'all.

"or am i just eye candy for you?" he adds with a playful tone.

"no! i mean...n-no. you're more than just...that"

you mumble, cheeks heating up furiously. eye candy? that meant he knew you were watching him.

"well this eye candy's wondering if you just wanna keep staring at him or instead do something about it..."

.

.

.

"is this what you were dreaming of"

minho whispers huskily, hand stuffed down your pants. pulling you higher up on his lap. fingers tracing over your cunt. your nervousness dying down when he touches you like he's meant to be the only one touching you so intimately.

"m-sorry" you whimper. feeling concerned with yourself for imagining such vile things. filthy dirty thoughts during innocent moments.

"no baby, this is what i dreamt of too"

rubbing his middle and ring finger up against your folds. teasingly feeling up your clit. knowing that this was the first time you'd let anyone touch you like this.

"dreamt of dirtier things...so fucking filthy"

slipping his digit past your entrance and you keen. stomach burning with the unfamiliar intrusion.

"thought of you riding me on one of these stupid chairs" minho breathes out. curling his digits upwards to rub your walls. grunting when you grind down on his fingers.

"m-me too...wanted to ride you...want to ride you"

you gasp out, covering your mouth at the risks y'all were taking. an empty locked classroom.

"your s-shoes" and he smiles.

"you noticed. couldn't get over the size difference"

he teases, pulling his fingers out to lick them seductively. deciding to draw fast rough circles on your clit. stimulating the bundle of nerves so fast that you shake in his hold.

"don't you have class?" he asks, knowing damn well that right now class was the last thing on your mind.

"i have you." you moan, praying that luck ws on your side and that you'd get the time to taste him...

.

.

.

.

.

inspired by the dream i had last night AAAAAAA im screaming without the s-

[headspace-hotel]

In the past on this blog i've made so many political posts that were basically just me reasoning through something in my head by writing about it, and they ranged from "poorly articulated, I guess" to "apparently ignorant enough to be straight up offensive."

In hindsight it seems obvious that it was a bad idea to post basically rambling diary entries about contentious topics, especially in a tone that invited audience engagement.

But for years I was like. totally jaded to the concept that any opinion or thought of mine was inappropriate or unwelcome for the internet, because back when I had just a few thousand followers, people would send me shit like "the world would be better if you were dead" no matter what I talked about or how I talked about it.

so it's like woops sorry i promise i don't actually think i'm the smartest and most important person ever. its just that i trained myself to automatically disregard people's responses to my opinions

[abbyclypsie]

VOULEZ-VOUS! - 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐇 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐌𝐒𝐎𝐍

WARNINGS: reader singer, a silly little thing made with love, english is not my first language!

It was a sunny morning in London, and Y/n and Leah Williamson's home was filled with an energy only a passionate singer could bring. Y/n, dressed in a sparkling outfit reminiscent of ABBA's iconic style, was bouncing around the room with a microphone in hand, belting out every note of "Voulez-Vous" with a passion that could ignite any stage.

"People everywhere, a sense of expectation hanging in the air!" Y/n sang, spinning in the middle of the room and dramatically pointing at Leah, who was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed, trying to read a book.

Leah, in her typical calm demeanor, sighed deeply and slowly closed her book. It was obvious her patience was wearing thin. She loved Y/n, but her love for ABBA was reaching its limit.

"Y/n..." Leah began in a calm but firm tone. "Yes, my love?" Y/n replied, still dancing as if she were at a live show. "Don't you think you've sung that song enough for today?"

Y/n stopped in the middle of a dramatic step, looking at Leah with eyes that sparkled with pure disbelief.

"Enough? Leah, it's Voulez-Vous! How can I stop when the spirit of the music lives within me?"

Leah rubbed her temples, trying to find the right words.

"Y/n, I love you and I support everything you do, but you've sung that song... like, ten times. Just today. I'm starting to dream about it." "That's great! It means you're feeling the magic of ABBA!"

Leah laughed humorlessly, throwing the book aside.

"No, it means I can't stand to hear 'Voulez-Vous' one more time. I was starting to like ABBA because of you, but now..."

Y/n put her hand on her heart, as if Leah had just stabbed a knife there.

"Are you saying I'm ruining ABBA for you? How is that possible? They're pure perfection, and I'm just spreading that perfection around the world!"

Leah stood up, walking over to Y/n, who was still holding the microphone like a weapon of defense.

"I don't want to ruin your passion, really. But... maybe you could sing something else? Anything else. Please."

Y/n narrowed her eyes, tilting her head dramatically.

"Are you suggesting I betray ABBA?" "No, I'm suggesting you give me a break. Just a break, Y/n. I need peace. I beg you."

Silence hung between the two for a moment, as S/n pondered. Finally, she lowered the microphone and sighed deeply.

"Alright, Leah. I won't sing ABBA... for now. But only because I love you."

Leah smiled, pulling Y/n into a tight hug.

"Thank you. And I love you too. Even when you're driving me crazy with Voulez-Vous."

Y/n laughed against Leah's shoulder but soon pulled away, raising an eyebrow with a mischievous smile.

"What if I sing Dancing Queen? It's softer." "Y/n!"

The two burst into laughter, with Leah shaking her head as Y/n took an exaggerated bow in the middle of the room. Despite their differences, that chaos was part of what made their relationship so unique. And Leah knew, deep down, that no matter how many times she heard ABBA, she could never stop loving Y/n... even if it was with earplugs.

[a-sassy-bench]

Algorithms

Social media needs engagement to make money. Anger generates more engagement than anything. Think about when you see some ludicrous claim and you get all frustrated and want to correct them and if you do it starts a heated back and forth. That is social media's bread and butter.

"The more incendiary the material, the more it keeps users engaged, the more it is boosted by the algorithm."

It is in a social media company's best interest to boost the most inflammatory content in its algorithm to get people heated and keep them online. When you interact with content, the algorithm starts automatically pushing you more content related to that. Maybe you see someone say something about vaccines and you watch it because it's something you don't know about or because you just need to know what ridiculous thing they are saying. Once you do that, it will start suggesting more content like that to you and it's easy to fall into a hole where the content it suggests gets farther and farther to the right.

From the same article linked above: "When an internal Facebook experiment created a fake account for a fictional user – “Carol Smith,” a 41-year old conservative mother from North Carolina – this account was recommended pages and groups related to QAnon within days of its creation. “Carol” was recommended an account associated with the militia group Three Percenters within three weeks."

But it isn't limited to only your activity.

"Platforms like Facebook use complex algorithms to target ads based on social connections. The Meta Pixel tracks user behavior across different sites and can influence ad recommendations for connected friends. For example, you like a post about hiking gear on Facebook, and your friend, who is connected to you, starts seeing ads for similar hiking equipment even though they haven't shown interest in hiking."

I don't have a link for this, but it's obvious to me your IP address plays a part, as well. When my best friend came to visit, all of a sudden all of my ads were for bras. I never get those ads because I stopped buying bras when the pandemic hit and I never looked back. My best friend had just been looking for bras and I was getting ads for the places they were just shopping at now that they were on my wifi. And i couldn't help but notice that YouTube started suggesting I watch a bunch of videos I had never shown interest in, but were made by people my friend followed.

So the algorithm is built to radicalize, our schools focus more on testing and less on things like media literacy, and if you're someone who didn't have a great education you will consume the media without scrutiny and continue to be fed more of that media in ever increasingly problematic ways. Or perhaps you are an unaware young adult/child and you live in a home with conservative parents so the algorithm shows you media that your parents engage in on that same IP address and you fall down the same rabbit hole. Either way it's all the same and we're all being eaten alive by the algorithm.

.

[morthstaar]

Please, PLEASE Tulpar crew x a very shy/introverted reader who is like crushing on the crew really hard but way too shy and embarrassed to tell them but like the crew starts to slowly catch on to them and the way they act different around them. Also I don't mean the crew as a whole I mean the separate characters 😭🙏🏽

ask and u shall receive 😈

-------------------------------------------------------

OH GOD, YOU CAN TELL?

----------------------------

Captain Curly

-oh.. curly knew from the moment you laid eyes on him that you had the biggest crush on him.

-there is no slow realization.

-not at all oblivious to it.

-everytime your eyes would seemingly uncontrollably and totally unconsciously drift to him he would try to meet your gaze with a friendly, boyish smirk.

-does that happen? HELL NAH. you are much too shy to even look the captain in the eye.

-your little heart almost beats out of your chest at any interaction. little or big.

-"Hey, just the person I needed to see. I have a little favor to ask you."

-oh god. suddenly words seem hard to pronounce and the entirety of the english language is no where to be seen.

-after a few weeks, curly would definitely find this endearing.

-i feel like since curly is so outgoing, he would be very intrigued by someone who is the complete opposite.

-curly wouldn't act much different when it comes to you, due to maintaining professionalism as his role as captain.

-he may due small acts like making a cake simply to indulge in your sweet-tooth that he somehow knew about you.

-"oh, we just had extra packets of sugar. i just thought id bake something. you like cake right?"

-cheeky motherfucker.

Intern Daisuke

-dude is so so so oblivious even though you make it perfectly clear...

-you could be making like.. making out with the guy and he'd be like,

-"yoo, we are literally besties right?"

-deadass, he prolly had no idea you liked him for weeks.

-you could be laughing extra loud at his jokes then realize ur laughing too loud, look at him while he isn't looking at you, sneak an extra sweetener packet on his bed when he isn't around,,,,

-his ass still is clueless.

-it takes either curly or swansea's help to realize that you had a massive crush on him but were just to shy to say something.

-once he realizes, he is now all over you and following you around like a lost puppy. not nonchalant at ALL.

-literally tries to pick up the polle statue to show his 'guns' but the statue moves only an inch..

-now he is hyper aware of your actions and reactions, he finds your shyness just SO CUTE WTFFF.

-compliments you to see what you would do.

-"man, have you always been this hot or is it just the sweetener talking?"

-runs away.....

-would steal sweetener packets just for you two to share :)

Nurse Anya

-i feel like she notices how different you act around her, but she just thinks its because you two are good friends.

-she never assumes anything, just her friend being friendly.

-even though you sometimes make it unintentionally obvious..

-like this one time you recommend her a book from your quarters library and her fingers lightly grazed yours reaching for it.

-oh shit. her soft hands touched yours. oh god what does a normal person do in this situation??

-"thank you for the-oh... book."

-well, they don't smile awkwardly, sweat pouring down their face and leave in a hurry with the book still in their hand.

-anya isn't stupid or completely oblivious by any means. she definitely knew from this encounter of your little crush on her.

-she is quite flattered honestly. someone so similar to her truly likes her?

-when she fully processes this information, she is very subtle with how she shows her affection back.

-during check-ups, she sometimes gives you a treat from one of her desk drawers for being a good patient.

-other times she lets you join her late at night in the lounge to just look at the pretty night time screen.

-"this makes me miss home. it's so beautiful."

-you'd look over at her and her eyes are not on the screen, far from it actually.

-her eyes are on you.

-so this is what a heart attack feels like..

Mechanic Swansea

-unpopular hot-take, swansea is actually a dilf and he often has younger men/women confess their feelings to him.

-so because of that headcanon, swansea definitely knows how you feel from the first time y'all met.

-your eyes would subconsciously peek at his open shirt revealing his chest. suspiciously, whenever he would look back, you quickly turn away shyly...

-he immediately thinks he is way to old for this shit. he just got out of a divorce and prolly never wanted to try again. especially with someone younger.

-"what is with this damn younger generation with old people.."

-he tries to avoid you even though you two are co-workers and.. work together. on the same ship.

-as weeks go by, your shyness starts to grow on this grumpy man. he... he thinks it's endearing in a sense..

-he rather likes how reserved you are, and how are aren't as loudmouthed as daisuke.

-he won't act much different to you, but according to the rest of the crew it is obvious.

-swansea leaves little sticky notes reminding you to eat or sleep because and the sticky note quotes,,

-"..the crew doesn't need you passin' out while doin' your job. so eat or i will make you."

-swansea is also much more soft-spoken with you than anyone else.

-he has never raised his voice or spoken down on you. his usual brashness and snarky remarks are now toned down (but not entirely) around you.

-"hey. i didn't say you had to leave, did i? stop puttin' words in my damn mouth and sit."

Co-captain Jimmy

-jimmy prolly doesn't even acknowledge you at first.

-you could be looking at him, thinking he doesn't know that your eyes are skimming over his face and body.

-oh but jimmy.. he does know,,, but he never shows that he does.

-he likes the attention on him. your eyes looking him over when she doesn't even know that he is soaking it up.

-im sorry but he definitely gets off to the fact that you are shy and get flustered easily.

-he loves how malleable and submissive you are due to your shyness. and he uses it to his advantage.

-he shows his affection strongly after he knows your crush.like sometimes he would purposefully follow you places and when you turn around he'd be like..

-"do you mind? you're in my way.."

-i feel like he wouldn't know how to properly express his feelings so he would be kind of unnecessarily mean and cruel.

-and after he would be mean he would be nice and extra affectionate so you would still like him.

-like you could be working on something and is critical about your work.

-"are you serious? tsk.. move, since you clearly cannot perform a basic task."

-then later he's like..

-"im glad someone on this ship is helpful, like you."

-basically, he purposefully plays with your feelings to get you to confess bc i feel like he likes when women cone to him.....

[lulushults]

something in me genuinally yearns for nalu to become canon, and not because i want to see them be together. well yea i want to see them together BUT more than anything, can we start talking more about how happy both of them would be when they finally accept the fact theyre in love? like lucy finally being able to tell everyone she has a boyfriend, her first ever by the way, and its her first ever friend, her best friend, and the biggest menace in her life, but he makes her feel like the happiest girl alive so she can’t complain. and natsu being able to openly kiss her and tell her he loves her in public, and for him to be able to learn how to communiate because he’d slowly learn how much she appreciates words of affirmation. like they would be over the moon so happy to finally be together, and imagine one day when natsu gets down on one knee? or when they get married? or when lucy finds out shes pregnant with their first child? like, something in me genuinally yearns for them two to be together so badly because to me its so obvious its what they both need so badly, they just havent realised it yet. for natsu to have someone next to him 24/7 telling him they love him, and are there for him, and see and love him for HIM and nothing else. and for lucy to never be alone ever again, for lucy to never fear being left behind again and for lucy to start writing letters to her mum and dad about natsu and how he makes her feel because lucy would obviously want them both to know how happy she is with him. hey, u know what, maybe lucy would even talk natsu into writing letters to igneel and zeref to help him feel better about his grief. like, they need it so bad man😭😭

[mellowdiplomattrashpsychic]

It's funny with all the sudden parents and all, but think about how Danny being Calico is an open secret. It has so much potential.

Like- everyone knows. They dont say, nobody arrests him, but everyone knows and he knows that they know. It a Gotham secret.

And its just- imagine that it helps cover up the bats' identities? Because Bruce adopted WAY too many by now for people to not make any connections.

I bet the only thing holding them off is bad picture quality, stress of surviving everyday, simply not caring, and/or fanfiction. You can't tell me that people haven't shipped Bruce/Batman. You know how hard-core fans could be.

But now? Now it's "more concrete" that Bruce isn't Batman and the kids aren't the other vigilantes. After all, why would Batman keep a rogue as a child?

It's a stupid thing to think about considering Red Hood is still around and Robin (Damian) has a sword. But really, imagine it?

And its hilarious because people are actively cheering on the chaos gremlin. This is what they want! Sure, Bruce does great things with his charities, mass donations, and the WE stuff going (the last one they think is credited more on Tim and Damian though).

But it's not enough. Legal stuff is slow. Inventing and innovating things is difficult. The whole system is corrupt for fucks sake! It takes a hell of a lot more time to get shit done. I mean- look at the parks and plants around! Barely any, and Poison Ivy was out there killing because of all that pollution and plant killing!

Red Hood was making a difference. Sure, it was still dangerous in Crime Alley, but there was a huge difference from back then. It even impacted outside territories, too. So he didn't only help Crime Alley, but Gotham in general with the whole killing thing.

They needed more anti-heroes that made that large-scale change. And that's what Danny provided as Calico.

Also, the original post had "daylight vigilante turned dark" in it. Phantom is an obvious choice to think about but... but what if he wasn't?

Think about it. What other name could he have that he could commit to the bit to?

I just think it would be funny if he had another name. Not related to bats, birds, or (now) cats, but something like Signal in a way. Definitely a change of wardrobe. Probably uses the Phantom alias for big problems (alien invasions, Darkseid, big world catastrophe shit, ghost or magic stuff)

What if he did deal with magic? He's slowly getting rid of the curses in Gotham which is easier in the day since light weakens them (maybe).

That got off track, but yeah, imagine the drama he could cook up with not 1, not 2, not 3-

With 3 aliases!

(Familiar to anyone? Sorry, had to do it)

Just, just about the chaos he could brew. Duplication isn't that hard now that he has time to practice with decent enough sleep ;)

"And? What did you decide on?" Duke asks, fork slipping from his mouth and chewing, focused on Danny.

The boy in question hums. "Oh yeah, I'm totally joining in on the nightlife."

The statement has all of them stopping in their tracks, blatantly staring at the still eating boy.

"This will be my emo arc, daylight vigilante turned dark."

Tim snorts, Jason gives a smirk, nudging the eldest sibling next to him from his frozen state.

"Ooooh," Steph leans forward. "Have you decided? Bat or Bird?"

"New name?" Cass jumps in on the questioning with a small smile, eyes crinkling.

"Will you be joining us tonight then, danyal?" His twin speaks up for the first time during dinner, eyes narrowed and calculating.

"Yes." Is the short reply, with the way damian's lips turn down and displeasure makes itself clear, the intention of giving such a short answer has been met.

"Danny," Bruce gains the attention, leaning forward with his fingers interlocked and brows furrowed with what must be worry.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to feel pressured into this just because everyone else is—"

"I'm more than sure, B!"

The man sighs. "And I won't be able to stop you?"

"Mhm." He gives a nod.

"Okay," his shoulders sag in defeat. "Do you have everything then—?"

"Yep!"

"Even—"

"B, I'm pretty sure I got everything, you can, if in your opinion I am missing something, give it to me later!"

Danny grins, pushing himself up from the table and rounding around towards the door.

"Besides! My whole get up will be a suprise!! So stay awake folks because I'm gonna blow ya all away."

As he leaves, Steph and Duke make sounds of anticipation, curiosity eating at all of them.

(They dont know whats gonna hit 'em.)

"I'm betting 50 bucks that he's gonna be a bat."

Alfred shakes his head at the newfound excitement.

—

What an exciting night.

There is still no sight of their newest, despite oracle's teasing, having apparently already been included in the suprise.

"Well well well," a sly, yet teasing voice makes itself into the open. Catwoman, in all her glory, walks up to the group of bats and birds.

"If it isn't the bat, what's with the gloomy face?"

Batman gives her a nod. "Cat."

Her eyes roam the group and she tilts her head. "Everyone seems to be here tonight." She comments.

"We're waiting," the man shares. "Our newest decided to be more secretive about his debut."

Catwoman gives him a smug smirk. "So I have heard," a chuckle. "I've come here to introduce you to someone, truthfully."

"Oh? Who is it?" Nightwing perks up, having finally decided to join in.

"Me."

Some yelp, whip their head around and away from the lady in black, gasps and cooing (particularly from steph) fill the roof and Danny joins them.

He wears black combat boots, they're heavy just from the look, but make no sound as he jumps around. The front of the boots look like cat paws, they're reaching up to his knees.

Then comes the baggy black pants, knees protected by poleyn and his belt acting as a cats tail. The hoodie he is wearing is also black, with fingerless gloves (only the middle finger is covered) and reaching up to his neck.

Instead of a domino mask, he wears a hood with cat ears and a dark face mask. Cass claps, knowing fully well he took inspiration from her own get up.

The whole outfit is detailed with orange spots, some parts brown and others grayish.

"Meet my new mentee, Calico."

Danny, Calico, waves.

[nmakii]

AND BRUSH, AND BRUSH MY HAIR

— chigiri hyoma x long haired!reader

alt title: chigiri would be my bff bf!!! sighs me and my waist length hair against the world

well… obviously he loves your long hair. he thinks it frames your face perfectly >_<

one of the best past times to spend tgt as a couple is being in his lap while he brushes your hair out. if your hair is long because it’s a hassle to always get a haircut, he wont let you braid his hair in return. :x only if you love your hair as much as he does teehee

++ if you guys ever share an apartment and bathroom, the shelf is gonna be full of hair products…

also loves to shampoo your hair if you’re too tired to do it… something super intimate about letting him exfoliate your scalp as his finger thread through the tangles in your hair. it’s a simple luxury that only you and he’d know the pleasure of

he luvs trying out hair hacks with you. “babe..! i just saw this hack that says your hair grows healthier and longer faster if you use rosemary oil and rice water..! …where’s the rosemary?”

he thinks ur long hairs perfect… doesnt want you to ever cut it… and if you do end up cutting it, it’s gonna be like that meme “told my girl not to cut her hair. she did it anyway and she looked fine af. this is why women shouldnt listen to their man”

if you ever have an important event going on, and you need to look glammed up, he’s MORE than happy to wake up at 5 AM or whatever to style your hair. he luvs u ofc <3

“it’s not too tight, is it?” chigiri asks as he ties the braid he tied on the side, holding your hair from getting into your face. “yeah, it’s perfect, hyo. thank you.” you hum.

“right. well, good luck at your party, babe. hopefully there isn’t someone who tries to steal you away from me while im not there.” he huffs. “heeh, good luck at your game too, tonight. and don’t worry, ill tell them im taken by a gorgeous man.” you enunciate your words, buttering him up and making his heart turn into jelly.

chigiri abashedly, yet smugly grins. “tch… gorgeous? more like drop-dead charming…”

you scoff, taking your purse as he walks you to the door. “hmm… hyo, what would you do if i wanted to cut my hair?” you ask. of course it was a hypothetical, but it was something you were seriously starting to concern…

“haah? how come? you’re super pretty with it, i won’t like brushing your hair if it’s short..” he huffs, the frown on his pretty lips making him seem adorable. “i know… i like my hair too, but i feel like it’s getting too long… like, there has to be a limit somewhere, right?”

he shakes his head. “well…if you like it, you shouldn’t cut it. when it comes to you, you could have obnoxiously long hair like rapunzel— like, to the point where it’s in my face when we cuddle, and ill still think you should grow it longer.” he hums, a hand unconsciously finding its way to you. “plus, why cut it when it makes your title as ‘world’s prettiest girl’ so much more obvious to everyone else?”

he’s trying to spoil you with compliments. he knows that getting you weak in the head would let him get his way. of course he definitely doesn’t use this power for evil… this was just a desperate occasion. “i mean… once, i dropped my pen, so i bent down to get it… and my hair was on my arm, and i thought it was a lizard and i jumped..!” you recount a story from two weeks ago.

“…pfft… ahaha..!” he laughs. “that just means you should keep your hair out of your face… see? a simple braid like what i did for you right now would be enough.” he rebuts your reasons for cutting your hair.

“…whatever.” you groan. “im still on the fence about whether i should do it anyway.” chigiri nods. “well then, don’t cut it. it’d be like you’re cutting a part of my soul away.”

you scoff. dramatic, much? chigiri rolls his eyes at your disbelief. “you laugh, but i’m serious..! just let me be a little bit selfish… and, don’t cut your hair…” he pleads.

[scribeofmorpheus]

From this thread, two conclusions are obvious:

one can be mournful for the loss of complexity and inherent cultural nuances strewn across a race for the last 3 games (the Dalish).

and one can also explain away the softer, more digestible (less conflict-heavy) narrative choices the devs made (for lack of time and resources--looking at you EA) and find enough strands to think the narrative stands on its own two feet.

I personally, am for the former. Dragon Age never shied from its complexity or being abrasive or unlikeable. But Veilguard drops the ball in that it glosses over every hard decision or difficult characterisation with a glossy, rose-coloured sheen--and that's jarring, no matter what.

Suspension of disbelief is a great tool. And it worked wonders for me on my first playthrough. However, the more the game marinates, the more I re-encounter such conflicting narrative 'retcons' (for lack of a better term), the more I realise that there is so much that doesn't hold up as well when held to the light of the other media (not even the games alone, but the books too--rereading the Masked Empire, and the sheer difference in how elves and their plight is conveyed is insane! so many plot points skimmed over just to have confrontations with big-bads and their dragons).

The blight is another that I explained away in my first playthrough. I thought, maybe being blighted doesn't hold the same meaning because this blight is 'older'--less transmutable over mortal bodies. BUT THE CORRUPTION IS INHERENT. That is the whole drive of the fear of the blight. It corrupts. And it does corrupt a member of our party in the final act, but it also feels less severe because we've been standing in blight throughout the game with no repercussions.

This thread should have been about sharing how one interpellation was different, but instead, it was approached from a place of unabashed aggression--one would be more inclined to see your point of view if you spoke of it in less of a condescending cadence.

I am very much angry the Veil Jumpers were stripped of their cultural significance in lieu of being a 'blanket' organisation--especially since they're located in Tevinter, founded by elves and deal in dangerous magic (easily exploitable). But I can also see how one can deduce that Bellara's immediate openness to accepting a stranger's aid and the fact the gods returned to be a character trademark: she's aloof, if not overly trusting. YET! that does not explain why Strife (who was rather cagey even with Varric in the comics) would be too. Suspension of disbelief can stretch in places it makes sense--but to ask it to go beyond what can be explained away and blanket everything else? That's indicative of writing where the plot assumes the player will accept the direction because they know they're in a linear story (which Veilguard is--it's linear. The choices matter little. From before and after).

a really cool part about dragon age veilguard is the first scene where you meet bellara, especially if you're a shadowdragon mage and you have neve with you

so to set the scene: bellara, the dalish elf who's devoted her life to the conservation, discovery and protection of her people's lost and ancient history, meets two strangers, two tevinter mages, in sacred arlathan. They tell her, hey your gods are back in the world but also they suck and we gotta kill them, and instead of telling them "fuck off you vile enslaving shem, you defile this land with your presence" like most normal dalish, not only does she instantly believe them that her gods are bad for some reason, they're back among the people and need to be stopped, she also happily starts telling them all kinds of secrets and valuable knowledge about ancient elven magic and is even so kind to, without question, take them on a grand tour of this very historically important and sacred ruin in arlathan to find a truly priceless artifact, a one of a kind archive of ancient elven knowledge thought lost forever, because really, what could these unknown tevinter mages possible want with that!

...

are these writers smoking crack?? is that it? theyre smoking crack??

[faela0]

okay fuck i shouldve said this wayyy earlier but oh my god the relationship between blindfold bandits and wemmbu a lot closer than I thought, because sometime ago flame genuinely considers betraying wemmbu for no reason, like ig also because he uses their resources and flame acts like bfb don't actually care about Wemmbu. But then mane builds a statue for wemmbu, and he tells kab that wemmbu is such a huge help and he makes being on the server fun for him because wemmbu does wtv he wants while pentar and flame just focus on winning and he tells Kab that wemmbu genuinely cares a lot about the bfb considering he hopped on to fight alongside them with a headache after a massive recording because they had asked for his help.

and like that type of care was never shown for his actual team the California girls, yet it was shown for just an alliance? That's like the same level of care that Wemmbu has for Derapchu which again is weird considering they are technically enemies

and it just raises the question of like how Wemmbu chooses who to be loyal to, considering that the labels of 'teammates' and 'alliance' and 'enemy' apparently really mean nothing to him. Like what does loyalty mean to him?

He thought Kab splashing Zam and Mapicc was a betrayal, he does a lot for Derap with lowkey not that much in return, he doesn't do much for mane and flame except drain their resources lol but still they are unbelievably close ( i would consider them teammates but that's just me)

and its obvious he favours some relationships over others and its just so interesting to see how he acts in each one

[whorrorbvby]

an update:

hey friends a lot of people have been asking where ive been on other socials and im sorry for being m.i.a and ignoring everyone’s worries. im not getting into it right now and i dont know if i want to talk about the details publicly. 

i deleted tumblr from my phone about two and a half weeks ago and ive had a friend keeping a queue going on main for me. it might be that way permanently now i don’t know. I don’t know that I want to come back to tumblr if im being honest. a lot of things happened and i just can’t handle seeing certain people anymore so i’ve been hanging out on two of the more safer socials where tumblr people people generally leave me alone. not that im upset with you any of you or anything it’s more of a personal relationship and it just turned me off of basically everything and i just can’t handle a lot right now.  

i didn’t want to stop posting my own content for obvious reasons but i really can’t bring myself to come back it’s too hard and my heart can’t handle it right now. i also haven’t taken any new photos or anything and as of right now i don’t really feel super comfortable in sharing my body in that way. situations have made me feel disgusting as a person and i can’t look at myself. im trying to post more on ig to boost myself back up but i don’t know my self image is kind of ruined now. plus i’ve lost 15lbs from stress and inability to eat because of it and with how many people already harass and bully me for how scrawny i am i don’t want to subject myself in my current mental state to even the possibility of anyone saying anything. 

but like i said i have a friend running main for me and i might have them run this account too and my pepper page just because i do want to go back to making content i just dont know if i can handle posting or being in certain spaces right now. 

on top of what im currently dealing with in my personal life this is just a really hard time for me in general because of the holiday season and close to the anniversary of my best friends death so i tend to shut down a little anyway it’s just my entire world came crashing down again and im honestly starting to give up on even existing. i know im being melodramatic and i need to suck it up and just go back to status quo it’s just really hard this time and i cant force myself into a positive headspace like i used to even for a second. i have honestly never felt this empty and i barely know who i am or what my worth is anymore. 

i dont know if i’ll turn my asks back on. my friend offered to answer anything for me but its better for my mental health if i dont because i know people will ask questions and i dont trust myself to not completely go off on a tangent. im sorry i know im rambling but i feel like a proper update with zero room for misunderstanding is needed and i dont want to sugarcoat or lie to any of you to make myself seem or feel better cuz i respect the hell out of you guys and you deserve honesty if for nothing else. and i appreciate so fucking much you all continuing to support me and hype me up through all the bullshit life keeps throwing at me. 

im mostly on ig and threads right now and on threads im talking about games and movies with new people im meeting and it’s been really helping through shit. if you follow me on snap you saw me say im thinking about deleting everything. my accounts are still up and as long as my friend still wants to help me out i’ll at least have a queue running on main but i’ve deleted every social app other than ig and threads. i wholeheartedly planned on deleting snap last night but it’s the only way some of you get any updates from me so for now i wont delete it but i might make a new one instead just to get away from situations that are bringing me down. we’ll see. if I make a new snap i’ll post it everywhere n put it in my bios. that being said i don’t have a private/nsfw snap and i wont make one im sorry. i still wont sell content outside of what i post on peppers and i wont do customs im sorry. maybe in the future but right now i need to focus on myself and getting out of this headspace before i do anything else. 

but truly thank you for sticking with me and just genuinely being the best crew around. i promise to try my best to get out of this mess of a headspace im in as quickly as possible and im really sorry for basically abandoning everything again but i really am hopeful for the future and just trying to focus on myself and my happiness at the moment 🙏🏻🧡

[polyamorousmood]

they do not make enough matching type jewelry for 3+ people

Platonic or romantic

Tf is up with that

What if the polycule all wants matching necklaces

What if a friend group wants them

Unfair

Its normally actually very easy to just buy 4 of the same necklace! And you should do that!

But I think you mean paired/coordinating jewelry a la

And honestly I sat on this ask for a long time because y'all need to get more creative! Just because its not SOLD for that purpose doesn't mean you can't USE IT for that. I know being able to buy rainbow shit from Target is a sign of acceptance and that feels nice, but you really think gays didn't do pride before them? Are you really going to let it not being mass-produced by corporate stop you from showing your love?? Come on!

Just buy an earring pack from Claire's and split it between the polycule or friend group! Everyone gets a different color of teddy bear charm!🧸 Its cute, its obvious you all did it on purpose!

Or buy a matching set, keep the earrings, give the bracelet to one person and the necklace to the other!

And like, what happened to making things?? Even if you're not crafty enough to feel confident making things out of clay or doing actual beadwork (neither are as hard as you'd think, though!), Friendship bracelets are SO SIMPLE. You can VERY EASILY find patterns for hearts 💙and letters🔠 and make whatever you want in whatever colors you want for literally <$5 and a couple lunch breaks.

Not to mention, like, going to your nearest pet store, picking out the $20 dog tag that looks least like a dog tag (or not, if you're into it looking like a dog tag) -- then a custom engraving is free. You can do the "best friends" thing still! Or make it more personal with an inside joke or something! For a pretty reasonable amount of money for a gift! Mine even has a machine that handles all that so I don't have the awkward bit of explaining to a human person what I'm doing.

I'm not saying it wouldn't be NICE to see it in stores, of course. It would be nice! But with a little extra effort, we can make something way more heartfelt 💗 We actually have SO MANY options!! Don't let commercial limits bog you down!!

[itsonlypolite]

Hi!!! I have a question :] If you where to give the voices human names, what would you call them? I like to think the voice of the hero would be named Theodore. Along with that, it’d be awesome if you gave the princess and the players names :]

Hello!! Thanks for such a fun question, @just-a-itty-bitty-kitty and I talked it over so first, big thanks to Kitty for all their help!!!! We have explanations for the names we chose not only for all the voices but the vessels too! (I also took the opportunity to touch up my old human voice designs!!)

First batch:

Hero -> Robin : This was one the simplest to come up with but I really like it! I love robin based designs for Heros, and this name invokes Robin Hood and Christopher Robin vibes which I really like! :)

Base Princess -> Sarah : Literally means "Princess", it's perfect.

Broken -> Will : Its a pun/reference to his "broken will". Fitting since his ch 2 is all about agency or lack thereof!

Tower -> Adeline : Tower has SO many good name options!!!! We went with Adeline because it means "noble", but other options we considered were Maria or Hera.

Paranoid -> Harvey : Though the name was initially suggested for vibes, it ended up sticking for the reference to William Harvey, an English physician and the first person to describe in detail the pulmonary and circulatory system!! And Paranoid's the heart liver nerves guy!!! What a perfect match :D

Nightmare -> Annabelle : Famous haunted doll!

Stubborn -> Brutus : The name I think says it all, it sounds like "brute" and means heavy!

Adversary -> Vicky : A shorter, sharper version of the regal sounding Victoria! And "victory" is in the name!

Next round:

Cheated -> Jack : Another easy to decipher choice. Blackjack is a card game, and the way he brings in all the other voices and their various skills for his ch 2 route makes him a "Jack of all trades"!

Razor -> Jill : As the nursery rhyme goes, "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after" Jack (Cheated, as well as the other voices) get silenced first in Razor's ch 4, but Razor isn't far behind from being silenced herself, so the order of events in the rhyme matches. Jill also means "sweetheart" which is fun since it matches how she initially presents herself. It also rhymes with "kill".

Skeptic -> Cliff : Just as a climber always searches for new heights to reach, Skeptic is always on the hunt for answers! Also you fall in the Cage's route, "falling off a cliff", you get it. Full name is Cliff Grey!

Prisoner -> Cordelia : Regal sounding + Cord-elia, she uses her chains as cords in her new chapter 3! Full name is Cordelia Grey!

Opportunist -> Oliver : if you asked Opportunist what his name was, he'd tell you the name of one of his many aliases (Malcom, Jacob, Trey, Sylvester, Nick) but his real name is Oliver! It's a sweeter name than expected, just hidden behind many, many, layers. And it starts with "O"!

Witch -> Hilda : Perfect name for a witch!!

Smitten -> Romeo : I'm almost tempted to say someone calls Smitten this in-game, the connection is so obvious.

Damsel -> Daisy : It's the name of the same flower traditionally used for games of "he loves me, he loves me not", a game all about true love - that leaves a flower petal-less by the end. Her full name is Daisy Grey (sister of Cordelia!)

Final section!

Cold -> Cain : Cain's the first killer in the Bible, fits with Cold's ch 1 lead-in! We also considered Isaac since the vibes fit him so well.

Spectra -> Mary : Mary's a sweet name, but combine it with the idea of ghosts and you end up with "Bloody Mary". Fitting for the two sides she flips back and forth with in her chapter. (runner-up was Carrie)

Contrarian -> Shena : Short for "Shenanigans"!

Stranger -> Catherine : And Kathy, Catie, Kate, and Kitty. Chosen for all the different ways you can spell it and it's many off shoots!

Hunted -> Wren : Wren is a species of prey animal, specifically very small birds.

Beast -> Messalina : means "she who has an insatiable appetite", which is fitting! Also still sounds regal, which I love for Beast.

And Kitty and I agreed not to do ch 3s because that would be way too many but just as a bonus round for the two we accidentally did do:

HEA -> Theodosia : means "god's gift", something about calling her a "gift" slots right into some HEA analysis

Thorn -> Briar : Essentially just means "thorns", perfect

And that's it!! Thank you again to Kitty for all the help!!!

[cosmicjoke]

What people seem to constantly misunderstand about what Akimi Yoshida said regarding how Ash couldn't have just gotten away scot-free from his life of crime is that it ISN'T Yoshida saying Ash "deserved" to die. Yoshida frames Ash as a hero from beginning to end. He's shown to be a genuinely good and kind person, that goodness remarked upon again and again by multiple characters, and his death is seen as a tragedy. That should be enough to convince people that Yoshida didn't hate Ash or think he deserved to die. The fact she frames him in such a positive light shows she understands that Ash is a good person that was forced into doing terrible things for his own survival and the survival of others. So this insistence that she thought he deserved to die because she said in some fan-translated interview that he couldn't just walk away from his life of crime, or that there's a price to be paid for murder, is ridiculous. It relies on nothing but assumption about the character of the author.

It's also a problem in fandom, in general, where interviews with authors, in which they're often giving on the spot and half-baked answers to random questions without any prepreation, are given greater credence in interpreting the author's intent than the actual, published work itself. How about letting the work stand on its own and interpret it as is? I've seen so much hate lobbed at Yoshida for supposedly hating Ash or thinking he deserved to die, when the actual story itself does nothing but portray Ash as deeply sympathetic and tragic. Again, no one could read "Banana Fish" with any level of reading comprehension and come away with anything but the impression that Ash is the hero and a good person who's life and death was deeply unfair and unjust. That fact alone should override any answer Yoshida gave in any interview, especially when it's obvious how much Yoshida hates giving interviews and very obviously, intentionally gives half-assed answers that she doesn't put much thought into. It's clear from the work itself that Yoshida has a great love for Ash as a person and as a character. She based his design off of River Phoenix, her favorite actor, she shares her birthday with him, and again, the way she frames Ash and his actions is as that of a hero, from beginning to end. I don't know, maybe it's because she sees Ash as a hero herself?

Ash dying only demonstrates the point further about how child abuse ruined Ash's life. He was led into a life of crime because of the abuse he suffered, and the fact it was that life of crime that led to his eventual death, with it basically being a gang dispute that got him in the end, only further drives home the point of how devastating and ruinous child abuse is. Ash wasn't a criminal because he was a bad person, he was a criminal because the abuse he suffered drove him to become one, and then, eventually, that life of crime he'd been forced to lead came back on him in the form of Lao stabbing him, which is what I think Yoshida actually means when she says Ash couldn't just walk away from the life of crime he'd lived. That inability to walk away further demonstrates the tragedy of the abuse Ash suffered, because it shows how it forced him into doing things which eventually came back to haunt him, things which he couldn't "escape". Lao stabbing Ash was in consequence to his being a gang leader, and his being a gang leader was a result of the abuse he suffered. The two things are interconnected with one another. It's not about Ash deserving to die because of the lives he'd taken, it's about how the life Ash was forced to live as a result of his abuse eventually led to his death. That's where the whole notion of "you live by the sword, you die by the sword" comes from. It's not necessarily a moral condemnation of the person committing acts of violence, but an acknowledgement that violence begets violence. That violence is cyclical. But the fact of Ash's death as a result of his life of crime only further demonstrates the true devastation wrought by the abuse of children, and that's the ultimate point of "Banana Fish's" ending. It's meant to force us to face, through the tragedy of Ash's death, the tragedy of his life in turn.

[schmirius]

#golden classic #i wonder if this is why their ship was called timecock at some point #<- genuine question btw. why? #this post looks like the culprit [ @schwirrymartz ]

Hello to you, and I'm going to tag in the probably-5-time-reblogger of this post @roxannepolice too! Here I am, a ghost from Doctor/Master livejournal c. 2007-2011, bringing you news about Historic Shitposting! I'm also going to tag in @nostalgia-tblr whose images these originally are.

Short answer: the name came from a bunch of Doctor/Master shippers on livejournal in summer 2007, shortly after Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords aired. Ten and Simm specifically were "Team Timecock," as the last two time lords in existence, linked sexily and tragically by their boners for each other. The shitpost above is from one of many, many shitposts that summer that used the name for the two of them.

Shorter answer: Nos thinks it was probably Snowgrouse, specifically, and that sounds right to me too.

The name "Team Timecock" is highly post-s3 relevant, fandom-wise, because Ten/Simm were ~the only ones left~ and one of the immediate and obvious fix-its for the season was "the Master lives, they really do travel together." Or "they were alone on the Valiant all year, properly cocking it up, overly self-importantly, time lord-style." Either way, it's just the two of them and, you know, they're touching tips. Or having buttsecks, since it's 2007, and also shut up, their anuses might as well be self-lubricating because we get to use alien powers to do it.

///

citations:

First, a caveat: I came to the game a few months late, was not personally interacting with a lot of the people and communities I've cited; certainly I wasn't IMing people or emailing them (which is how you did it. back then). I was at the shallowest level for a lot of this, "leaving some comments." But my memory is good, and I know how to use LJ still. My handle was srevans back then.

Poking around LJ is hard as hell these days: the site is sloww while it's scraping your data/selling it to the highest ad bidder (and the ad provider isn't google! your adblockers aren't helping much!); and LJ hides so much from you on an entry-by-entry basis if you're not logged in. If you want to poke around to see what fandom looked like there and then, I'd suggest the following communities. I've linked to their June 2007 archives pages since the s3 finale aired June 16th, 23rd, and 30th.

slash_lords

sizeofthatthing – the general Doctor Who kinkmeme

best_enemies (my once and forever home)

and its specifically Doctor/Master kinkmeme, which is all versions of the pairing, not just Ten/Simm

new_who, who-daily – general communities

slash communities which are gone, gone, deleted from internet history: dw_slash, dw_yaoi, timecock, timeslash

ihasatardis – THE context for this image. The community was for lolspeak image macros from any and all episodes of Doctor Who. you know, because You Can Has Cheezburger.

The earliest public entry I can find for the word "timecock" specifically is a couple LJ icons snowgrouse created: (1) "twice the timecock" over a promo photo of Ten+Simm looking very srs biz and (2) a blue background with subtle Gallifreyan spiral writing whose text is merely "Timecock tiem."

///

And that's all she knows. If you're on this post and I can find anything else on LJ for you, please let me know! And anybody in the wild who knows more and wants to add on, please do.

just a reminder that nos wins at shipping.