#but I quite disagree with others

[graveyarrdshift]

*slowly backing away bc i've read marxist literature once or twice* 😔

NOOOO DON'T GO PLS I LOVE YOU BESTIE PLS DON'T HATE ME 😭😭😭😭

[v1-kisser]

Proship dni for my comfort thanks.

I feel like everyone portrays F/Os as these romantic, perfect all around lovers, and while that's all well and good! I prefer F/Os who are flawed, who don't always say the right things. Who can sometimes be petty or selfish. F/Os who have a habit of seeing conflict as a contest on who can talk the loudest, instead of a conversation. F/Os who run out of patience sometimes and have to go cool off mid-conversation, even if they're right. F/Os who struggle to communicate their emotions.

I find comfort in the idea of a relationship where mistakes like that are allowed and given room to breathe. A relationship where, no matter what the conflict is, the walls eventually come down. Maybe it takes hours, maybe days until you're both calm enough to work it out. Maybe it takes several conversations to solve it, but each end in Hey. I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

You're not perfect, and neither is your F/O. That's okay. That can be beautiful, too. There's not a hug that's more comforting than the firm, tearful one after reaching mutual understanding. Knowing that you didn't mess it up too much, you didn't break things permanently. You couldn't if you tried. They missed you... and you've got some serious affection to catch up on.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm sorry I let down my guard.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[roomba-mangga]

thoughts on thistle and yaad's dynamic that i vomited in the tags of another post but will now try to articulate here: they're not actually family, or at least they shouldn't be. not in a conventional sense anyway. framing them as uncle and nephew (even in a non-literal, silly fantasy world way) rides more on technicality than anything concrete.

what i mean by this is yaad calls thistle by name and says he and delgal were raised "like" brothers. he talks about thistle like he's an outsider imposing himself into the melinis' space, and it's clear that thistle was never legitimized as a member of the family. for thistle's part, though we don't know how he would treat yaad pre-demon brainrot, it's safe to assume based on the way he punishes him—turning him into a doll—and how little is shown in the way of any sort of relationship between them that thistle only cares* about yaad as an extension of delgal (otherwise i'd expect something like kabru and milsiril, because it's not like another complicated interspecies family dynamic would be out of place, yet there's next to nothing on them even in bonus content, just their scant interactions in the main story).

in essence, they're strangers to one another. thistle's desperation to preserve the illusion of a family, a model where he doesn't even fit, was the snare they were caught in for the past thousand years of stasis. yaad-as-nephew is a prop to uphold that illusion, and thistle is playing a role he's unfit to play. in the context of post-canon interactions, attempting to reconstruct that facade would only be a reenactment of trauma for them both (in a deeply compelling way i'd love to watch unfold, tbh), as that "uncle and nephew" framing places thistle in an implicit position of power over someone he's already traumatized through misuse of authority in the past, a role which also perpetuates his adultification and yaad's infantilization in turn. it'd mostly be an obstacle to any real connection.

best to burn the melini family bridge, i think, and if there's still anything salvageable left in the rubble, let something different supplant it.

[otomotoelzhinee]

I love your comics shreebs very much. Well here my question.

Who was the first to confess his love for each other? shrike or beebs?

Thank you so much!! Gosh, this one I left pending for a while, very sorry about that.

This one has been hard to figure out for me, as I think both characters have a likely chance to confess their feelings for the other:

None.

For as friendly as they are with one another, I find it difficult Shrike would ever tell Beebs about his feelings towards him, which seems obvious as he avoids being vulnerable with others. He's the one most likely to withhold info from Beebs or even lie if necessary. (Not out of maliciousness necessarily, but out of a selfish desire to preserve himself, or even just avoid being made a fool out of.)

But so could Beebs, as there's many things he hasn't told Shrike about his past. I feel that, in Beebs' case, although he trusts Shrike for many things, he also can't quite trust him for others. He still tries to give him the chance to prove himself, but there's a certain fear of that trust being broken over Shrike's inability to control his own impulses and being... Well, not really emotionally intelligent.

There's also the awkwardness of falling in love with someone who's not just a friend, but a business partner. "What if things become strange if I tell the truth, but he doesn't feel the same? Will we be able to go back to normal? Will he think differently of me?"

Change is a scary thing, even in small ways!

Of course, ideally, they both like eachother. But they don't actually know what the other feels.

If Shrike were to confess, the only possible scenario I can imagine is him being drunk out of his mind. Yeah, it's that old trope~

I feel that Beebs probably doesn't think highly of himself, so in a random conversation with a couple of drinks, they start to open up just a bit with eachother. Beebs would feel embarrassed saying he doesn't think he's that attractive, that he can't see himself being liked by someone else.

To which Shrike beings a long, almost nonsensical ramble, not really thinking about his words or how to articulate them.

"Nonono, no Beebs, listen. Listen-- HIC! Bee... You are, SO beautiful, amigo...Ur like, REALLY handsom' an'-- an' tall... An' real nice! And..."

He makes random gestures with his hands before pointing out Beebs in his entirely. "Well y-your such a good guy too, damn it!"

Beebs laughs at this, but Shrike only grows more frustrated, crawling his way over Beebs and getting closer has his rant continues.

"Look, look. When I see u. I see this guy... This nice guy doing his damn best! ...To do da right thing... You are annoyingly nice about it!! You're too kind! And so--" Another hiccup. "S-strong! Th-There's so much about you to love!!"

He grabs Beebs face, with Beebs continuing to laugh at Shrike seemingly so angry over the subject.

"Fine, fine!" Beebs goes. "I get it!"

"No! No quiero escuchar esa mierda...Salir de tu boca otra vez. Okay?"

Beebs nods.

"I love you a lot, man. Donchu know?"

"D'aw, yeah." Beebs replied. "I love you too, man."

"No, no, no..." Shrike's head falls on Beebs shoulder.

Beebs chuckles and pats Shrike's back, reassuring him again that he means it. But he stays there for a little bit, and Beebs just let's him be.

Until Shrike pulls away with a weak grasp, and looks at Beebs in the eyes again.

"I don't..." He mumbles.

"...Say that..." Something, something.

"...Cuz I..."

Beebs calls for him, confused as he realizes Shrike's trembling arms over him.

But before he can put together what's going on, Shrike puts his hands to squeeze his face again, and Beebs heart starts to race with Shrike only getting closer by the second.

"...What's going on."

And just as that thought crosses his mind, Shrike falls on his other shoulder, a long and strenuous snore coming out.

But Beebs stays there, his legs, his arms, his heart, all numb. He can't even tell if he's breathing anymore.

It takes him a couple of minutes, until he looks down at Shrike, completely gone.

He'd take him back to his bedroom, clean after their mess, walk around the place. But nothing is gonna help him release these thoughts, all these questions of what just happened. And more importantly, what will he choose to do about them.

I don't think Shrike would remember anything the next morning, but here it depends on Beebs if he will bring up the situation to Shrike. Or if he will let it pass as another one of Shrike's antics because of the alcohol.

If Beebs can trust Shrike enough to discuss something like this with him, then I'd like to think they would have an honest conversation.

One where Shrike might try to deny everything at first, but Beebs would push him to stop running away from it. And with no other choice, Shrike faces his friend and comes clean.

And with that, so would Beebs.

I also think there's other situations where Beebs could be driven to confess to Shrike, but I think part of me finds it more satisfying having Shrike facing Beebs and being vulnerable.

Probably a first for him, but it gives him an opportunity to trust Beebs, that he can trust someone, despite what his fears tell him. And by extention, so can Beebs. Finding someone to believe in again, to love, even.

[tariah23]

🗿

[merlinmerlot]

some of you may already know of its existence, but while researching i found this old 2000s character shrine for vetinari that has a ton of good resources (quotes, pratchett interviews, synopses) and a bunch of other thoughts and essays that are pretty interesting. at the very least its a fun time capsule: https://www.ealasaid.com/fan/vetinari/

[thatskynews]

hello, i was wondering what joining/helping out with the blog would entail, to see if i would be fit to help since I’m interested in helping :D

Honestly mostly Anxy and me just quietly sit in our own corners and see what is needed or unposted typically, but for anyone who's curious this is quite honestly my thoughts on it:

have access to the official sky:cotl discord's news channels (news, known-issues, vault-of-socials, and quick-dev-update)

No bigotry of any sort (this is very much a strict rule: any transphobic, racism, homophobia, sexism, support of genocides, etc will not be accepted here. If you respect people it's very likely you're fine)

Be nice to people if possible (neither me or Anxy will bite- I only react negatively if you do something horrible to others.)

No beta spoilers or leaks¹ are allowed to be posted here. (I mean it, especially as someone WHO has access to beta: that is suppose to be correctly tagged and kept away from the main sky tags if possible as simple skyblr etiquette. yes this includes tagging us in them, tag me instead if it comes to it.)

These are very simple and direct things from the top of my head. Asking for help is always allowed here, I've definitely asked for help before and we do talk about our thoughts on certain details when it comes to it. We're both fairly timid as a warning, but I do believe we're fine and open about new mods.

¹In information about Sky's history: they can be mentioned, but usually do not mention leaks if possible, especially if they're still of possible future content.

-Ymir

[seventh-district]

not even gonna tag this properly bc i don't wanna get Involved but i do have some Thoughts i need to get out into the void so here we go

(aaa quick edit: CW for mention/discussion of Boothill leaks)

[hereforthefunnyguys]

Being really passionately into your own genderbend au is all fun and games until someone has a different completely harmless headcanon about something you happened to have an extremely strong-set belief in and oh no it appears i have written a small essay in my tags on marik ishtar gender identity. How did that get there

[otsukare-katsukare]

i think the extent to which the sami backlash has been getting to me lately is teaching me a lot about myself and how i engage with media and fixations... i feel bad saying it, but i lowkey really wish sami had lost at mitb. for a few reasons, but when it comes to the actual storyline stuff im honestly torn on it, on the one hand it didn't feel like bron put sami through enough pain/didn't generally feel like sami should be able to put him down with one finisher, but on the other, they are telling a different sami story now from "perennial underdog" and this has added more complexity to the bron story, etc.

but really, the truth is that i just wanted sami to lose so i could stop seeing all this negativity. specifically the kind of negativity that says, he doesn't deserve all this. he's not worthy of it. he's boring now. he just wins all the time. if it was just, i don't know, people being mean about his look, or from an earlier time saying he's too silly to be credible as a champion or something, that would be fine. i could just roll my eyes at that and move on, or get performatively indignant. but this. this really gets under my skin. these little criticisms that for some reason, I'm hearing in my head like they're directed at me, he shouts too much in his promos and it's irritating, his finisher is weak, he never should have even had that match with gunther much less won it. it's like second hand imposter syndrome, and i find myself rooting for my favourite wrestler to lose, all because i'm worried that people are getting sick of him being on top, and I feel better knowing he is universally loved and not getting the prizes he's due, than the other way around.

[roaringroa]

they should make a life where you don't have appointments, work, school and scheduled events every single day for months on end

[marsbotz]

Saw your tag saying FSM haters come fight you. Here I am! Frankly I'm not so much of a hater as I am just of the opinion "wow this guy sure Started All This Shit" but I'm absolutely willing to hear your view of the matter if you're willing to share! Love some Friendly Fandom Discourse (it's healthy tbh) come at me bro 👊 👊 👊

HI LOL.... my personal opinion is that the FSM gets a lot of hate for similar reasons to wu (which i also think are unjustified but that's a different post). like you said he gets a lot of the blame put on him for starting everything that's to come in the show, but i don't really feel like he intended to do any harm.

the FSM was born into a war. when he was still a very young child, he was forced to choose one side of himself, of his family, and destroy the other. and so he ran away. but this world he runs to is chaotic and dangerous. and so again, he is forced to fight for the right to live in peace along with the inhabitants of this world.

but even in this new world, he wasn't safe: the oni followed him, determined to bring him back to fight for them. and after them, the overlord. his whole life, especially when he was younger, he had been fighting, or running from forces that aimed to destroy him.

i believe the FSM was incredibly paranoid throughout his life, worrying that at any moment everything would be ripped away from him. this can be seen in how secretive he was, how much of his history is hidden away. the mech used to win the war against the overlord was sealed away where it could never be found. he granted elemental powers to select people to help keep him safe. even in his death, he hid away, in a place that even wu could not find.

this paranoia carries on through his sons. he taught them both to fight, to protect themselves, when they were also very young. one of the earliest moments we see of them is them fighting with swords! and though he loves them, they are not immune to his secrecy, or his fears. when they steal the scrolls and enter the serpentine territory, he never fully trusts them again. when garmadon gets bitten and starts to turn to evil, he's desperate to cure him. and i don't fully believe that the FSM intended to make garmadon feel broken or "wrong"... just that his fear has so consumed him at this point that he can't see the damage he's doing to his children.

it's also worth noting that despite garmadon's corruption, the FSM never truly hated him. he was left to protect the golden weapons alongside wu, he recieved the same protective enchanted gi, and was left the same clues to find him after his death. it's just that garmadon was unable to see this through the corruption (which is another post).

perhaps all he did was to protect his sons. that seems to be how wu sees it, at least. because wu repeats this same behaviour with the ninja, even if unintentionally. he brings these kids into a war because that happened to him, and his father before him. maybe he doesn't even realise it's wrong. he hides things from them not only because because he's ashamed of his past (again, another post lol), but because his father always hid things from him. it protects wu, but it also protects the ninja.

i don't believe the FSM was a flawless person. hes one of many grey characters in ninjago, and to boil down everything he did to "good" or "bad" is a disservice. maybe you see him as someone who only ever ran from problems instead of truly solving them, maybe you see him as a cruel and neglectful father. and maybe those are both true. but he's also someone who always tried to fight for peace, for himself and everyone in ninjago, and someone who truly loved his sons, despite the damage he did to them both.

so that's who i think the FSM was. an immortal, all powerful godlike being, yes, but also a scared child who just wanted to live peacefully, and would do anything to prevent another war. and maybe he is, in some way, indirectly responsible for every bad thing in the show, but i think this is more of an after-effect of the countless wars and conflict. he did the best he could, and considering all he went through, i think he did alright.

[keelanrosa]

terfs when a study shows literally anything positive about trans people/transitioning: 'hm i think this requires some fact-checking. Were those researchers REALLY unbiased? Because if they were biased this doesn't count and if they weren't knowingly biased they probably were unconsciously biased, woke media affects so much these days. Have there been any other studies on this? Because if there haven't been this could be an outlier and if there have been and they all agree that's a bit odd, why aren't there any outliers, and if there have been and any disagree we really won't know the truth until we very thoroughly analyze them all, will we? Were there enough subjects for a good sample size? Did every single subject involved stay involved through the whole study because if they didn't we should be sure nothing shady was going on resulting in people dropping out. Are we 110% sure all the subjects were fully honest and at no point were embarrassed or afraid to admit they didn't love transitioning to the people in charge of their transition? Are we 110% sure none of the subjects were manipulated into thinking they were happy with their transition? In fact we should double-check what they think with their parents, because if the subjects and their parents disagree it's probably because they've been manipulated but their cis parents have not and are very unbiased. How many autistic subjects were there because if there weren't enough then this doesn't really study the overlap between autistic and trans and if there were too many then we just don't know enough about what causes that overlap to be sure this study really explains being trans and isn't just about being autistic. How many AFAB subjects were there because if there weren't enough this is just another example of prioritizing AMAB people and ignoring the different struggles of girls and women and if there were too many how do we know sexism didn't affect the results. Was the study double-blinded? We all know double-blinded is the most reliable so if this one wasn't that's a point against it even if the thesis literally physically could not be double-blinded. Look i'm not being transphobic, i want what's best for trans people! Really! But as a person who is not trans and therefore objective in a way they cannot possibly be, i just think we should only take into account Good Science here. You want to be following science and not being manipulated or experimented upon by something unscientific, right?'

terfs when they see a study of 45 subjects so old it predates modern criteria for gender dysphoria and basically uses 'idk her parents think she's too butch', run by a guy who practiced conversion therapy, 'confirmed' by a guy who treated the significant portion of subjects who didn't follow up as all desisting, definitely in the category of 'physically cannot double-blind this', completely contradicted by multiple other studies done on actual transgender subjects, but can be kinda cited as evidence against transitioning if you ignore everything else about it: 'oOOH SEE THIS IS WHAT WE'RE TALKIN BOUT. SCIENCE. Just good ol' unbiased thorough analysis. I see absolutely no reason to dig any deeper on this and if you think it's wrong you're the one being unscientific. It's really a shame you've been so thoroughly brainwashed by the trans agenda and can't even accept science when you see it. Maybe now that someone has finally uncovered this long-lost study from 1985, we can make some actual progress on the whole trans problem.'

[toontownportraits]

i don't get a choice in the matter / why would i? it's only the death of me

[freyjuseggr]

teehee religious crisis time again :)