#but I'm feeling optimistic

[yeleltaan]

// Hello everyone! The time has finally come once again: I’m done with the semester and free from exams!

I’ll be gradually returning to activity here as well as resuming work on threads. My efforts are going to be divided between a variety of hobbies besides writing that I've also been neglecting, as well as working on some life habits, so this might be a steady but slow improvement. That being said I expect that the sheer stress that's been lifted from my shoulders is going to make a substantial difference in my ability to do things here.

I've mentioned before that I wanted to review my list of mutuals, and that's still the intention, but before taking that measure I want to get a better understanding of what my energy and mood for RP is right now. I want to test how comfortable I am in this blog and the dash without the outside influence of studying impacting my experience.

I hope you're all doing okay, and if not, I hope your next days are brighter :]

[sciderman]

How did your meeting go with the surgeons?

it was memorable

[violent138]

Superbat parenting babies would be a breeze in my humble opinion. Bruce's medically well-versed enough and immune to even enhanced interrogation levels of sleeplessness, and loves kids and would probably be happy reading them stories to sleep every night.

And Clark could always tell if the kid swallowed fridge magnets/batteries/something else. Also, tell me which baby wouldn't enjoy Clark's presence and calmness. They'd be like little hamsters cajoled by the steadiness of his hold.

[canisalbus]

I've had Ludovicas girlfriend on the brain for months and finally sketched her out. I see her as the opposite to machete in that she has dark colours and softer shapes. Her ears and facefur kinda blend together and she gets big soft browneyes..

.

[blueskittlesart]

*sigh* thoughts on Nintendo's botw/totk timeline shenanigans and tomfoolery?

tbh. my maybe-unpopular opinion is that the timeline is only important when a game's place on the timeline seriously informs the way their narrative progresses. the problem is that before botw we almost NEVER got games where it didn't matter. it matters for skyward sword because it's the beginning, and it matters for tp/ww/alttp (and their respective sequels) because the choices the hero of time makes explicitly inform the narrative of those games in one way or another. it matters which timeline we're in for those games because these cycles we're seeing are close enough to oot's cycle that they're still feeling the effects of his choices. botw, however, takes place at minimum 10 thousand years after oot, so its place on the timeline actually functionally means nothing. botw is completely divorced from the hero of time & his story, so what he does is a nonissue in the context of botw link and zelda's story. thus, which timeline botw happens in is a nonissue. honestly I kind of liked the idea that it happened in all of them. i think there's a cool idea of inevitability that can be played with there. but the point is that the timeline exists to enhance and fill in the lore of games that need it, and botw/totk don't really need it because the devs finally realized they could make a game without the hero of time in it.

[firehose118]

thinking about how tommy is uniquely positioned to help eddie in s8

under the watchful eye of catholicism, eddie would have been raised to believe in the nuclear family. this is the schema of family eddie has been trying to impose on himself and chris, at least in part because he feels like it's his fault that chris doesn't have a mother. he feels like their family is incomplete without a mother

whether eddie is actually straight or not, it's clear that he's chafing within the confines of this unexamined, prescribed, idealistic kind of heterosexuality. ryan guzman has said as much: eddie is trying to force the kinds of relationships with women that he feels like he's supposed to have, rather than ones that would actually make him happy

tommy spent decades in the closet; hiding both from himself and from the outside world. he had to come to terms with the reality of his desires and with the fact that he was not sexually or romantically attracted to women, no matter how hard he tried to force himself to be

tommy had to accept that the life that he grew up believing he would have—the one that he was told over and over again was the only acceptable way for him to live—was not a life that could ever make him happy. he is not what he thought he was supposed to be, but there's nothing wrong with that

now it's eddie's turn to learn this. he is trying with increasingly disastrous results to recreate 1:1 what he and chris had with shannon without remembering that it fell apart the first time—without allowing himself to remember how miserable he and shannon both were. eddie thinks he can force these relationships to work because he's done it before and he was happy. but he didn't, and he wasn't

maybe eddie is gay. maybe he's bi, maybe he's ace. maybe he really is straight and he just has a lot more work to do to disentangle his ideas of romantic partner and mother of my child from each other—to see a relationship as a partnership for himself rather than as payment for a debt he feels he owes to his son

eddie needs to stop getting into relationships based on guilt—based on obligation and what he thinks is the right or even the only thing to do—and start figuring out what he actually wants out of a relationship for himself

regardless of what, exactly, the writers decide eddie's core denial is going to be, tommy is the most qualified person to help him through it right now. tommy has been there. tommy knows how hard it is to date a woman who is perfectly lovely on paper and to just not be able to love her the way she deserves—because of him

tommy knows what it's like to feel broken because of this. and tommy knows what it's like to fight his way to the understanding that he is not

there was nothing wrong with tommy: he was just trying to force himself to be someone he is not because that's what was expected of him

there is nothing wrong with eddie: he is just trying to force himself to be someone he is not because he thinks that's what is expected of him

tommy can help eddie get there

[calimera62]

"RIP to KaiShin shippers" this

"My sincerest condolences to the KaiShin nation" that

FOOLS! You think it will stop us or prevent us from shipping KaiShin?

I won't lie, the revelation hit us badly but we will rise like the phoenix, stronger than ever, and keep shipping them and making and enjoying content about them, no matter what movie 27 revealed.

The KaiShin nation will go on!

[bixels]

What did/do you like about Pharah?

Uh, gameplay-wise, I really love characters in shooters who rely on three-dimensional movement techs. Chaining together hover and jump to stay in the air for as long as possible and keep momentum is so satisfying, and picking enemies off from the sky made me feel like a bird of prey. I was a good Pharah main.

Story-wise, there unfortunately isn't much to canonically go off because Pharah is so underutilized and neglected. Her personality's pretty boilerplate "heroic hero" (she's literally inspired by Captain America).

But it's the crumbs/bits and pieces that I really latched onto. Pharah's a confirmed lesbian; her short story with Baptiste implies she harbors a crush on Mercy (fucking thank you.). She's biracial Egyptian/First Nations. She has major mommy issues, having grown up both admiring and resenting Ana. She's the bridge between Old Overwatch, inspired by the idealized heroes who surrounded her childhood, and New Overwatch. She's one of the only inter-generational characters in the cast; someone whose experiences span the gap, which is why I seriously believe Pharah would make a great main character.

There isn't much to go off of, though; she's a very uncomplicated character (she's a soldier for a private military corporation, lol.). But that just means she's a blank slate character, so I've seen fanfic writers run wild and create some really interesting takes on her. My favorite interpretation of her's a dense, herbo gym-bro type (a lot of her liens are about work outs, exercising, and playing sports) who's easily excitable under her seemingly self-serious, armored visage. We see how she tends to gloat and hype herself up when she's on a streak too, so Pharah definitely has a competitive and boastful side under her more professional and militant performance.

Now Mercy? Mercy is a real complex character.

[cosmic-light-fics]

Before and after watching The Bear Season 3

[applecoreart]

Been awhile, crocodile 🐊 In all honesty, I was feeling kind of stressed about character design issues I was having, so for awhile I just put all that stuff aside and focused on understanding anatomy better. Also studied a lot of Milt Kahl animation frames for gesture and simple shapes in character design. I actually had a big grin on my face when I finished these tonight instead of feeling disappointed-- the proportions and shapes feel better, and the hair is more natural in shape and greasy like I always wanted it to be, but kept struggling to draw.

[tiktowafel]

hello everyone there's snow where i live (freaking finally) so i'm coming back from the dead with winter pony art

it's,, probably a little generic lol, but i still think it's cute! my process here was also different than usual (even though it might be hard to tell by the end result?), i'm trying out new things and i think i'm onto something

happy late new year, hopefully i'll start posting more haha

[soniianeak]

Called a medic?

[deliriousblue]

finished the episode of peaceful property and i'm still thinking about it an hour later.....the thought crossed my mind when home startled at the mention of the car but i didn't expect them to actually go there because when is a show willing to have one of the lead characters literally have killed the other and have gotten away with it freely.

up until now we've seen home's family taking advantage of people and we've seen the way that home treats others (e.g. forcing peach to perform when they moved in). but now we're forced to directly contend with home not just being complicit in his family's actions but actually having himself done something that is inexcusable.

and on top of that the way that peach's tremor is explicitly a physical manifestation of his guilt over (in his mind) causing chef hong to die, directly preventing him from being able to pursue his chosen career. meanwhile home due to his family's wealth and status was able to go on with his life as if nothing had happened! they're similar right up until they're very much not.

also just loved how setting the episode at the restaurant let us get insight into peach while still fulfilling all the right notes as a ghost-of-the-week and the way that this time peach was the one to receive solace and let go of his (metaphorical and literal) ghosts....really good episode.

[sgt-tombstone]

It's still wip wednesday (barely) so have this excerpt from the continuation of this post, featuring Johnny meeting Price and Simon for the first time (and immediately being so down bad for Simon, it's a little embarrassing for him tbh)

He had never had an issue with meeting new people before; his parents often said that he’d never met a stranger, but he usually won people over with his crooked smile and crude sense of humor, and something told him that wouldn’t work here. Mr. Riley was, evidently, more than wealthy enough to hire someone more suited to his tastes if he didn’t find John agreeable or professional enough, so John had to be perfect. Perfectly put together, perfectly polished. All things John MacTavish… wasn’t. He squared his shoulders with a deep breath and stepped out of his car. The walk to the front door was short, and he hadn’t decided if that was a good thing or not before the door was opening, revealing one of the largest men John had ever seen.

John wasn’t a small man by any means, but the impeccably dressed man holding the door open was taller by at least an inch, and the broadness of his shoulders gave him a presence that John could never hope to match. He had short, brown hair, a close-cropped beard that flowed into a truly impressive mustache, and dark eyes peeking out from under equally dark brows. John relaxed slightly at the kindness he saw in them.

“Mr. Riley?” He asked, extending a hand to shake. First impressions were important, and even though they’d exchanged several messages over the app already, this meeting felt like something more.

“Ah, no,” the man said, looking somewhat apologetic as he shook John’s hand. “Mr. Price, I’m Mr. Riley’s personal assistant. You must be John MacTavish.”

So much for good first impressions, John thought as he nodded, knowing that his cheeks were flame-red in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about it, son,” Mr. Price said, waving John further into the house. “It happens all the time. Shoes off here, please. I keep telling Mr. Riley to put some identifying feature in his profile pictures, but he never listens.”

“I listen to you plenty,” a new voice chimed in, drifting in from around the corner, followed promptly by its owner. “Just not about revealing personal information on the internet.”

John’s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he caught sight of the newcomer. His eyes immediately caught on blond hair, honey-brown eyes, and broad shoulders. This was Mr. Riley, he was sure of it. He didn’t know how he knew, where the surety came from, but it was a bone-deep conviction.

If John had thought that Mr. Price was large, Mr. Riley was mountainous. He was taller than John by several inches, and his shoulders and biceps looked unnaturally big where they strained against his black dress shirt. Hell, the man’s entire body seemed to stretch the confines of his clothes; there was a button positioned between his pecs that was holding on for dear life, and the way his slacks hugged his arse should’ve been a felony. John’s mind raced with split-second fantasies, so quickly that he couldn’t have stopped them even if he’d tried; tracing his fingers down the slope of his neck, dipping into the divot of his collarbone, running over wide expanses of bare skin, over sensitive nipples and valleys of vertebrae and ridges of abdominal muscles. The tips of his fingers and tongue itched with the suppressed urge.

And the mask… John had lived through the pandemic, had seen all of his friends and family members wearing cloth and medical masks alike, but none of them had ever looked this attractive while doing so. It should’ve looked out of place, but Mr. Riley’s black mask fit on his face so well that John’s brain didn’t even stutter over it, but he couldn’t help wondering what was hiding beneath it.

John shook himself slightly, forcing himself to tune back into the conversation at hand instead of ogling his new employer like a drooling, lust-addled teenager. He tuned back in halfway through Mr. Price’s response.

“—personal information, such as the fact that you’re not brunette, nor do you wear a boonie hat on a regular basis,” Mr. Price said long-sufferingly, as if he and Mr. Riley had had this conversation several times before.

“You’re not wearing a boonie hat now, old man,” Mr. Riley chuckled, and John’s knees almost buckled at the low, gravelly sound.

“Fuck off, kid,” Mr. Price replied easily, clapping him on the shoulder before making his way deeper into the house. “If you need me, you know where I’ll be.”

“Thank you, Price,” Mr. Riley called after him, sincerity coating his words. He then turned back to John, who was suddenly intimately aware of how alone they were in the foyer. He swallowed hard, his eyes flicking around the room, anywhere that wasn’t Mr. Riley’s unfairly attractive face.

[thorias]

So he planned to adapt the AU story where Rogue and Magneto were married and had a kid, and now we won't be forced to endure that atrocity after all?

FAM, WE JUST DODGED A BULLET!

[thingscanalwaysgetworse]

Still not over Jumanji (1995). Imagine being trapped in a game for 26 years where you have to face all manner of deadly animals (plus a deadly hunter who looks like your dad), and then you get back to the real world only to realize that nearly everyone you know is dead except for two people, one of whom is now a cop who keeps trying to arrest you and one of whom has so much trauma from the first time you played the game that she's convinced you don't exist. Also now there are two kids who started playing the game and you all have to finish it together or else the kids will get stuck too and the nightmare will never end

and then?? you finally complete the game and everything gets fixed but you're suddenly 12 years old again in 1969 like nothing happened?? and then??? 26 years later the kids you helped save don't remember you because technically you've never met??? but you don't even care because they're alive and they have their family again, and you’re happy for them, even if they’ll never know just how much you care about them