#but that picture is. not. the one most people are painting lmao.

[nsfwitchy2]

It’s fascinating being asexual and also finding sex as a concept fascinating and also loving your body.

I love sex as a concept. I don’t have…. Really any desire to partake in it? I’d like to one day just to see what all the fuss is about, but that’s really about it. I have very few sexual fantasies involving me and the ones I do have are rooted in wanting stability and security and a family. I LOVE sex - because I think fetishes and kinks are fascinating. The reason i started creating porn art in the first place is because I LOVED psychoanalyzing fictional characters and seeing how certain parts of their personalities or their trauma or their interests could play into sex and fetishes.

And I love my body. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted. I don’t mind if mutuals ask me for nudes, because I love to show off. I think my body is beautiful and I want to show it off - my body is the gift that keeps giving, and baby I am ALWAYS feeling generous.

And sometimes I forget that like…. If you draw porn and you talk about sex a lot and you dress in skimpy clothes people will assume you like. Want. Sex. And then I’m just left looking like the surprised pikachu meme whwoahwowjdoej

The thing is I like compliments and I like sharing my body but I really only flirt with people if we are like. Close and intimate friends. And so so many mutuals online hit on me and idk what I’m supposed to say cause I’m just like “uh thanks I guess?”

[thrashkink-coven]

Super easy and cheap devotional acts for beginners.

A nice cup and some clean, fresh, water on the altar can often be all you need for daily offerings

Grow a plant on your altar, use your weekly watering as a devotional act. Hermes is currently helping my peace lily grow :)

Draw their sigil on your nails and then paint over them with nail polish that matches their color correspondences.

If you can’t acquire alcohol for your deities (wine, vodka etc) because you’re too young, white vinegar also works. The quality we’re looking for is the purification aspect. White vinegar is natural, antibacterial and never goes bad. You can leave it on your altar until it evaporates if you want.

If you work with a deity involved with self love like Aphrodite, investing a little more time into your skin care and scent can be very rewarding. Nothing super boujie, it can be as simple as getting some nice smelling lotion at the dollar store.

Food and water offerings don’t have to be external, especially if you’re in the broom closet and don’t have an altar. Reserve the first bite of your meal for your deity. Savour its taste while you think about them. Pour yourself a crisp glass of cold water and guzzle it as a devotional act.

Use a washable or dry erase marker to draw sigils on your shower wall for bath rituals. It’ll come right off when you’re done.

Tea bags are just bags of dried herbs. You can use these as offerings or draw sigils on them and burn them for witchcraft. No one is ever suspicious about a little tea. Adding a tea bag to your water offerings also gives them an extra kick.

A couple dollars at the thrift store will take you a long way. I love thrifting items because they’re usually well loved. I especially like thrifting spirituality books that past practitioners have written in. Sometimes my deities communicate with me through the books that are available on any given day. If I was just talking to Leviathan about the power of water and I see a book about Hydromancy, I know that he’s sending me a sign. Like, 90% of the books Lucifer has sent me popped up at the thrift store. Most expensive one was $7.99. (and I tag swapped it for 2.99 😊 thanks, Hermes-

and on this note, literally steal. Not from small local thrift stores, but I mean this with my whole chest, steal from Value Village. If you can sneakily swap a tag and get something for cheaper literally do it. Value Village gets all their inventory for free I literally do not care. Corporate thrift stores don’t deserve rights. I steal from Value Village as a devotional act to Hermes 😊 lmao )

If you don’t have money to spend on really nice paintings and posters of your deities for your altar, start buying books about them. It’s a double win. A book about Greek religion will certainly have multiple beautiful sculptures and paintings of Aphrodite that I can cut out and put on my wall. A book about angels might have a cool painting of Lucifer. Books about Goddesses, ancient religions, anthropology, astrology etc. You get the opportunity to learn, and if it’s a book you don’t particularly care too much for, you can take it apart for imagery. People ask me all the time where I got all of my paintings and pictures from. BOOKS.

Does your deity have a kind of complicated sigil that you love but you also kinda hate redrawing every other day? Sorry Cerberus (Naberius) I love you but that sigil is so complicated babe.

Learn how to block print! It’s very simple. You get a block of linoleum (usually pretty cheap, I think mine were like $5) , some ink (~$10), and a carving tool (varies depending), and make a sigil stamp! All you gotta do is draw your sigil and carve it out nicely one time. You can still bless it and imbue it with your energy, and you can easily put it on prayers, talismans etc.

Chalk is your best friend. Use it to draw sigils on the floor or wall that can easily be wiped away. You can imbue special chalk and use it for casting circles if you don’t like the mess of salt.

[muletia]

i read your post about megatron showing off like a bird. so perhaps i present you.. the other obsessed!bots showing off?

obsessed!optimus prime making sure his paint is in it’s best shape, practically shining from the amount of work he put into it and silently hoping, praying (and probably screaming) that you’ll praise him and, if you’re past the relationship faze, peg him enough to were he can act normally around the autobots to get another mission done without daydreaming again.

obsessed!ratchet constantly talking about his experience with his hands (he’s quite the medic, wink wink *dies*) and skills over the course of his long life, even talking about some of the impressive feats he managed to pull off.

and hell, maybe even some of the decepticon’s lean into this too. i especially think starscream would be the most likely to do this.

obsessed!starscream would probably brag about his feats when he was decepticon commander and things he did on Cybertron. Making sure to be in his best condition and showing off what his jet form can do, even doing those words made in air some people do with planes.

you are so big-brained anon, i love your ideas!!

i’ve decided to expand on optimus’s concept a bit and threw in a few other characters

optimus definitely forgets to take care of himself sometimes, or he simply doesn’t have the time due to the busy schedule. if we add a sprinkle of obsession to the mix, his lack of self-care can easily be attributed to the hours he spends daydreaming about you, you, and that one night you shared just a few days ago. but when he does finally get around to looking after himself and polishes his paint to the point where you can see your reflection in it, he’ll silently beg for crumbs of praise from you. he might still have that resting prime face, but if you compliment him, bro is mentally screaming, giggling, and kicking his feet like a schoolgirl. he might even strut around proudly after your kind words, shocking the rest of the team.

i haven’t written about him yet, but… smokescreen showing off his speed to impress you? or honestly, doing anything extreme to get your attention. handstands, backflips, showing how agile he is. and when he takes you for a ride, suddenly he’s drifting or doing donuts. isn’t he just so cool? please, say he is—smokes will do absolutely anything for your approval.

soundwave will bring you gifts. did you mention a game you’ve been dying to have? a few days later, a copy of that game shows up in your steam library. are you into diy? he hands you an enormous box of various types of yarn. or brings you shiny, colorful stones that caught laserbeak’s optic during patrol. imagine him presenting you with a giant gold nugget or gemstones worth a fortune.

knockout will use his body but in a more sensual, seductive way. he’s always polished and pristine, and his finish practically screams for attention. but if, somehow, that doesn’t work on you, knockout is more than willing to behave like an absolute attention whore. oh no! he’s totally accidentally dropped something on the floor! and instead of bending down like a normal person, he’s about to give you the most sensual show you’ve ever seen (picture that one scene with megan fox from the first transformers movie lmao).

[rosyandraw]

idk if this is redundant on your end but thoughts on Damen needing to talk during sex? in the books it isn’t even dirty talk it’s just endless want for Laurent and how long he’s been waiting for him and how different Laurent feels. Also in canon & in ur own writing

Definitely not redundant! You have just knocked on the Damen Character Study door in my head lmao but it's late and idk how much sense this will make so i'm sorry in advance.

Mini meta on Why Damen Likes to Talk During Sex in Canon

First and foremost words are hugely important to Damen, not just during sex but in general. It is part of the reason that Vere trips him up so badly, why he just doesn’t get it. Because Vere is a veil of word play and innuendo, it’s double speak and flowery bullshit and lies.

That’s not Damen. His word is his bond, it’s tied to his honour and they mean a great deal to him. He never says anything he doesn’t mean. Ever. If it’s coming out of his mouth he is saying that shit with his whole damn chest and doesn't give a fuck.

The few times he is forced to lie or to say something he doesn’t mean he says it as a strategy play but it barely makes it out of his mouth and he hates it.

For a long time by the time they get to Ravenel Damen has been playing a part. Living a half truth and not saying everything he means. Or wants to say.

Likewise, in Akielos, Damen keeps himself held back. We know this because in 3 books, despite being the darling crown prince and heroic military leader, he mentions 1 person by name that he is actually and genuinely close to. One. He’s never been in love with anyone before Laurent, he doesn’t get close, he doesn’t get particularly attached. If he did Jokaste would have been a Princess and not just his mistress.

It speaks of a whole heap of childhood trauma and issues, thanks in large part to his father and Kastor and this picture that is painted of strength in Akielos being The Most Important Thing. (And i have too many thoughts on said implied trauma to write it all out properly here because it's an essay unto itself.)

We also know that Damen does the talking thing with Jokaste too. So we know it's an indicator of intimacy in bed for him. He's certainly not doing it in Vask, for example. Because Damen values words so highly he does wear his heart on his sleeve, but he guards that heart close. Sharing his feelings becomes something then tied to both the value Damen places on words and the lack of emotional intimacy in his life. To Damen, opening up like that especially during sex, is an act of giving unto its self.

Damen is strong, yes. Crazy strong and the perfect warrior. But he also likes the wordy sad poems and has craved approval (and affection) from his father and Kastor seemingly most of his life. For example, Kastor stabbed him and made Damen believe with words that it was a good thing because it meant Kastor respected him enough to fight him like a man.

It’s the perfect anecdote to draw all of those ideas together. Damen being happy about being stabbed at 13 by his brother because Kastor said it was a good thing to be strong enough to fight properly and bear the consequences.

Words matter to Damen, he assumes they do to other people too. It's what nearly gets him killed.

It’s funny really, because Damen values words but he himself is a man of action and Laurent values action but is a man of words.

When it comes to sex we see them swap places from their usual dynamic and therein lies the intimacy.

Laurent acts and Damen talks. It’s a complete role reversal and it was always meant to be. Pacat has said, several times, that Laurent tops Damen with words all the time and it was a purposeful choice to have Laurent bottom because of this. So to follow that through to it's logical conclusion for the sex scenes to really hit we needed to see them swap places completely and Damen needed to talk.

Laurent is a mouthy little shit but when it comes to his important scenes (the building of their intimacy and their sex scenes) it's never his words that he's speaking loudest with. Like when he just hugged Damen after the meeting with Jokaste in KR or when he went to get ice for him in PG, it's an offering in place of words and Laurent does it frequently: letting his actions speak louder than any of his words because to Laurent words don't really matter, lies are too easy. He's been taken in by words before.

Damen gets to Laurent through his actions and it's Laurent's moments of honesty, of saying something unexpected, that make Damen really pay attention. This isn't to say that Laurent's actions don't get to him, they do of course, but only really when Damen comes to realise that's how Laurent is being honest. Likewise in reverse for Laurent.

It's the language the other understands that allows the distance to bridge, but the intimacy comes in the opposite every time.

So when they fall into bed Laurent instigates with action, all three times they are together. And Damen talks. Because it’s the thing that is important to them that they are willingly giving and sharing and that is what makes it intimate.  

Quite simply, Damen holds himself back emotionally so talking during sex like that is a way for Damen to let go and to let his partner know that's it not just sex. Laurent, in reverse, shows his want through the instigation and by the time it happens they both know what it means: Laurent never does that and Damen knows it. Laurent knows Damen says what he fucking means.

It's such an intimate sex scene because of that awareness.

In my writing I kind of try to take that and run with it. Damen says what he means and what he wants Laurent to hear, because words of affirmation are important to him personally so he makes sure to share that.

Plus, it’s just sexy, you know? Got to love a man who talks in bed, that sex rough voice when he’s so far gone you know what his saying is just the shit flying through his head?

Hot.

Loved this ask so much. I could literally write a thesis on Damen lmao

[bepp-ers]

sorry for vanishing on yall i went to take a nap (for like 9 months)

headcanons about the obey me! brothers and the devildom that no-one asked for, in no particular order. because why not :)

> asmodeus is kind of against piercings that aren't in the ear because they're 'tacky' and unsavoury.

> mammon had an aeroplane phase. he eventually settled on cars, but there are still a few plane magazines stashed in his wardrobe.

> lucifer has grey hair but like. way more than you'd think. he's just really good at hiding it. he may or may not have used some sort of magic to hide it, until eventually he gives up and starts to let it show. that's why in some artwork/pictures he has grey streaks, and in some he has none.

> beelzebub has tried to eat so many of the paintings in the HoL that they have to be sealed with magic, lest he devour another family portrait.

> barbatos' tail is "slimy" or "slick" because it's actually poisonous, like those frogs. that's why he doesn't like people touching it, except for that one picture where Solomon tries to touch it (i reckon he got tired of him trying to touch it so he just allows him to be poisoned lmao)

> demons will eat humans. this is a known fact, although it's usually only very low-level demons who are starving, or have succumbed to their sins completely who eat humans. beelzebub has thought about it a few times but he likes MC far too much to truly consider eating them.

> expanding on the last point, the Devildom is overpopulated. im calling it. i headcanon that demons (particularly glutton demons) casually partake in cannibalism. there are too many demons/other species and as such, the laws basically don't exist. the answer to overpopulation is basically murder, or cannibalism.

> the brothers don't try and tone down the more "demon" elements of themselves around MC until someone mentions that humans don't really like that kind of thing. MC has seen some SHIT man.

> leviathan refuses to eat fish or seafood because of Henry 2.0. mammon has 100% tricked him into eating like a fishcake or something. he definitely cried a lot that day.

> i think all of the brothers snore, except for belphegor (ironic huh). asmodeus adamantly denies snoring, but he does. mammon snores the loudest obviously. everyone else just snores a normal amount, and lucifer falls asleep in his chair/on the sofa a lot so his snoring is heard the most. he's a dad at heart.

> satan hates that people mistake him for lucifer. that's obvious. he hates it so much that he once wrote a book on the subject, under a pen name, and it was surprisingly popular. he doesn't think anyone knows he wrote it, but lucifer knows. he simply never said anything because he was secretly proud of satan for how well he could write.

hopefully these make sense. god i forgot just how much this game actually made me think. i love world building yarhhhhggh

> asmodeus is deathly afraid of head lice. that's it that's the headcanon.

oh yeah the ole ask box is open. send me asks im so desperate ill take anything

[t1oui]

thinking about how living w regulus would affect harry like

he's such a fucking snob about everything. food, decor, fashion, you name it, he's got opinions on it.

he does ballet despite being the least graceful person on the planet. he's somehow pretty good at it, likely out of spite

speaks french

very much a cat person, has a cat named leo who is his baby

like yk how james and sirius are extremely codependent? that's how harry is w leo. both of them can not handle being apart from each other too long

reads a lot of stories

thinks seeker is the best quidditch position

on that note, lots of slytherin house pride. james hates it. harry refuses to put any gryffindor decorations up in his room

harry loves taking pictures just like reg so the house is filled with photographs

and ofc harry is snobby about what types of cameras he uses thanks to reg. james now just lets them deal with the cameras & photography stuff bc he's scared to get the wrong thing lol

harry is taller than reg but bc dysphoria all of reg's old clothes (like quidditch jerseys + hoodies and stuff) are his size so half his wardrobe is from reg's hogwarts days

definitely the type of guy to change his bedding & curtains & everything in his room based on the season. will anybody actually be in there other than him and his parents? not really, but he MUST redecorate

idk what this even means but snobby about candles. this is another thing james is scared to buy him

harry and reg speak french w each other more than english

since james doesn't speak french w harry (i hc he's only comfortable speaking it w reg) harry is used to having a conversation in two different languages so sometimes he'll be speaking french w his friends without noticing

he'll be in the middle of a rant and realize they don't understand a thing he's saying lol

reg and harry control the decorating for every holiday, every birthday, etc.

the one thing harry knows how to do that reg doesn't/reg didn't teach him is cooking. reg never cooked for himself as a child so james was the one who taught him

doesn't look like it most of the time but all of harry's clothes are very expensive... did i mention he's a snob

harry is such a dry texter/writer... he's such a dick about grammar when it comes to writing even tho he can barely string a sentence together when speaking

deeply sarcastic (look! a canon detail! we never thought we'd see that on this account, did we?)

will take his partners on the most expensive dates & whatnot like it's nothing... cedric the farmboy™️ is not prepared

writes sad boy poetry when he gets annoyed w someone... like harry will storm off all pissed and then he comes back 20 mins later with a beautifully written, very angry poem for whoever made him mad

has so many clothes & different curtains and bedding sets for different seasons that he also uses the closet in the guest room (reg takes up 99% of his and james's closet for the same reason)

has an inherent hatred of fake plants

bedroom is simultaneously tidy and so messy a hurricane might as well have come through

leaves a book behind everywhere he goes

secretly the worst sense of humor lmao

he may not have gotten his love of drawing/painting from regulus, but you def see reg in the way he is, you guessed it, a massive snob about art supplies

soooo indecisive. redoes his room at least twice a year

an asshole when he gets less than 10 hours of sleep... he's mildly tolerable after 3 cups of coffee (black, of course) but you might as well just ignore him until he gets a nap in

on that note is very good at making coffee and is, drum roll please, a massive snob about it. who would've guessed (somebody count how many times i've said snob in this post and comment it please and thank you)

if he doesn't like a gift he's horrible at pretending he's happy w it so people usually go through reg whenever they buy him something... this goes both ways too, people go through harry when buying something for reg

is visually james and lily's but in personality is really just reg's (and also lily's... he definitely inherited his spite from her lol)

is a crazy cat lady by age 20

at least 10 pictures of leo in his room... he has whole photoshoots for her and she poses for them

might as well not hang out w harry at his house bc he'll make out with his cat the whole time

loves going to art museums w regulus

he's a, surprise surprise, snob about art. james just doesn't comment on art altogether atp

his vocabulary is a weird mashup of french, english, and hindi that makes it very hard for anybody who doesn't know him well to understand what he's saying lol

looks angry until he smiles (he got this from lily but a life with reg has perfected it)

needs a golden retriever to his black cat in any given relationship (enter cedric and cho) (yes i'm going to push my rarepair on everyone reading this)

tl;dr being raised by/living w regulus has turned harry into a massive snob about literally everything and regulus is proud of it (blink twice if you need help, james)

[meanbossart]

I appreciate how you write Astarion so, SO much. I feel like way too many fic writers infantilize him to a point where I honestly start wondering if I'm the one who misinterpreted him so badly.

I'd love to know more about what you think of his character and his arc. Personally I saw him and immediately went "oh god this guy is gonna be the irritating tumblr sexyman of the year🙄" and it took me until Araj basically to warm up to him. What were your initial thoughts and did they change much while playing the game?

OH thank you so much!!! That's a shame if it's the case, and a little surprising to me, to be honest! While he's definitely written be an aloof jerk a lot of the time, I always found him to be surprisingly mature and introspective whenever he's not dishing out witty remarks. He comes off to me as the kind of person who learned to benefit from seeming dumber than he actually is, overall.

HAHA I had a VERY similar experience, not just towards Astarion but all the characters, really (I really disliked Shadowheart at the beginning, too). I had only seen pictures of him and pretty much expected a vapid character that was being carried to stardom because of a talented VA - and because people go nuts for anne rice style vampires lol.

While I was definitely enjoying his voice lines from the start (Again kudos to Neil) I definitely wasn't expecting much else. He piqued my interest after so devastatingly turning my character down at the tiefling party without me even having inquired, and that's when I, the gamer, was like "well, alright, I GOTTA fuck this guy now" (this is also where DU drow's personality began to come out as you can probably guess)

Obviously, if you have two neurons to rub together you can gather pretty quickly that he's not trying to woo you because you're so interesting and wonderful, so I started getting curious! With that dynamic being so different from what you usually expect of romances in these types of games, plus the charming way in which he is written, I started being won over.

I think what really did it was how gradually his attitude changed when responding to new, mostly trivial dialogue options and doing his greetings as you earned his trust, and ESPECIALLY with how he responds to your tav when you express any kind of fear or insecurity during his romance - which was with a lot of sincerity and confidence in his resolve to support you, and in you as a person, a complete 180 from his usual front - Which, again, makes me all the more surprised to hear that he's often painted with such an immature brush.

And obviously he has a DEEPLY ugly side to him (if you've read ANE, hopefully it's clear that I know this, and that I like to explore it just as much as anything else lmao) but it's very interesting to me how it seem to always come in the form of outbursts, rather than a constant evil-streak, usually followed by a glimpse of self-awareness. It feels very much in line with someone who's actually making a great deal of effort to manage their RAMPANT emotions and going through a lot of internal conflict in the process.

GAH. Yeah if you can't tell by this friggin' thesis I just wrote, I love the way they wrote this character a lot and I was definitely proven PROFOUNDLY wrong in my first impression of him - which, if that's not irony at it's finest I don't know what is.

And as an aside! I also very much appreciate that he's a "queer" coded character who's effeminate (in the Old Homo kind of way, but I digress) and flamboyant, but taken Dead Fucking Seriously. With as much progress as we've made in LGBT rep in media, I still often feel like gay men will only get that kind of treatment for as long as they "Aren't That Gay" (I know Astarion doesn't have a set sexuality - But lets not mince words: stereotypes exist, and he fits into most of them) and as a thin-wristed gay guy who's a little too found of linen shirts, I can honestly say that experiencing a character like that helped me with my own confidence.

[romiiq]

Her name Part 4 (final)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Tw: sadness? Lmao

Rafe sees the post by accident—your hand, adorned with a ring that glints too perfectly in the sunlight, a smile shining even brighter. And the caption: Forever. He studies your fiancé. He’s tall, his head is covered in perfectly brushed waves, each strand catching the light in a way that highlights the effortless charm he exudes. Freckles dot his cheeks, giving him a boyish charm that complements his sophisticated demeanor. But it’s his eyes that draw the most attention—bright green and filled with warmth, they seem to sparkle with genuine affection every time he looks at you, making it easy to see why you chose him, makes it harder to hate him when he realizes why you seem so utterly happy standing by his side.

You’ve let yourself fall fully in love again, and it shows. Your Instagram paints a picture of quiet joy, shots of you laughing with the guy who looks at you as if you were his entire life—your head leaning on his shoulder, his lips pressing a kiss on your forehead. Every photo radiates a contentment that is undeniable, telling him that you have finally found a place to rest your heart.

It hits Rafe like cold water, his chest tight, as if he could feel the pull from miles away. He stares at your photos longer than he should, letting his mind wander back to the days when you once looked at him that way. He thought he’d left you behind, made peace with it, but now all those careful walls he built come tumbling down. He misses you. Desperately, even in that bittersweet way that’s tinged with regret and love that never quite faded. But he can’t reach out. He shouldn’t. You’ve moved on, just as he thought he had.

He breathes out, quiet. You are happy. And that has to be enough.

---

Y/N’s POV

The light is golden, spilling through the stained glass like a benediction, casting a soft glow over the congregation as you stand at the altar, heart racing. Nicholas’ hand is steady in yours, his grip warm and grounding. Your eyes glance at the familiar faces of your loved ones gathered in the pews. Each smile reflects the joy of this moment, and you can see your family beaming with pride, their eyes glistening with tears of happiness. Your closest friends, Sarah and Topper, who have supported you through every twist and turn, sit together, their smiles bubbling over as they exchange knowing glances. You smile, realizing just how right this feels.

As you stand at the altar, you find yourself captivated by the depth of Nicholas' eyes, a mesmerizing green that seems to hold the promise of your future, and for some reason you find yourself searching for a hint of blue on them. They sparkle with a mix of joy and determination, radiating warmth that grounds you in this sacred moment. Every sound around you fades into a soft blur, leaving only the rhythm of your heartbeat and the gentle whispers of your vows. Face to face, your fingers intertwined, as you finally hear the words you have been waiting your whole life for.

“I do”. He says, pulling you back to reality, and you can hear the love in his voice, his commitment echoing through the intimate space.

“Y/N, do you take Nicholas to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love and cherish him, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, and forsaking all others, keep yourself only unto him, for so long as you both shall live?”. The words of the officiant echo in the church as they wait for your response, and your soon-to-be husband squeezes your hands nervously.

“I do”. You say, feeling the ring slip on your finger and a wide smile spreads on Nicholas’ face as he steps forward urgently to kiss you, both of you closing your eyes to seal the promise to build a happy life together as the crowd bursts into happy cheers and applause. This is it, maybe this is how it's meant to be you think, maybe it's time to stop searching for a glimpse of Rafe in other people and focus on your new life, you say to yourself as you get lost in Nicholas’ lips.

---

Rafe’s POV

Rafe leans against a tree outside the churchyard, half-hidden among the leaves and shadows as the bells ring their triumphant chorus. He knows he shouldn’t be here. He’d convinced himself he’d moved on. But when Sarah had mentioned where the wedding would take place, he couldn’t shake the curiosity—or maybe the aching need—to see you, just this once, stepping into the future you’d once talked about, now with someone else.

Through the open doors of the church, he can see glimpses: the sweep of your white dress, your smile so wide it lights up the space around you. His heart clenches. You look every bit as beautiful as he remembered, even more so, with a happiness that radiates from you in a way he’s never seen before. You don't look back, don't glance toward the doors, and that hits him harder than he’d expected, the bells mock him as he thinks for a moment to burst into the church and tell you how much he loved you and loves you, he thinks about how he would tell you to run away from there together, and how he wishes you would say yes; and still with that urge he does nothing, too mesmerized to move a finger.

Rafe feels the pang of all you might have been. But he’d missed his chance, let you slip through his fingers, and you’d moved on, carving out your own path without looking back. His chest tightens as he realizes that maybe this was what you were always meant for—a love that wasn’t stained with regrets or almosts, with someone who could be everything for you, and you can be everything to that someone.

But still, he stays, watching as you take Nicholas' hand. He knows his name now, thanks to Whezzie, both smiles bright, so full of love and peace. This is what you need, he thinks. You are where you belong, finding a happiness that could sustain you—a happiness he knows, deep down, he could never have offered. His heart aches, but he wants this for you. He wants you to have this piece of forever, even if it means you’d have it with someone else. He swallows hard, feeling that familiar ache, that longing he’s carried for so long, but as Nicholas slips the ring on your hand, he finally feels a sense of closure. He allows himself one last look, whispers a silent goodbye that tastes like bittersweet relief, then turns and walks away as you kiss your now husband.

---

Years later

The world has turned, seasons became years, and now, in this sunlit beach, they find themselves on opposite sides, each surrounded by children’s laughter and the warmth of families reunited on a perfect Sunday. Y/N sits on a blanket watching her husband playing with their child and Rafe walks behind his daughter, watching her as his wife is buying ice cream.

Fate is whimsical, so it makes their eyes meet across the distance. For a moment, the world seems to stop. They freeze there, both hearts racing and time held in a shared silence that speaks volumes. She hasn’t seen him in years, yet he looks much the same—a little older, perhaps, his features softened by time and life, and in that brief exchange, they both see the echoes of everything they had once shared, the moments that had shaped them, even if they now feel like a different lifetime.

Time has softened the edges. There’s a quiet acknowledgement, a knowing smile, as though each of them holds the memory of what they once were like a folded letter in the corner of their heart. They were each other’s first, that kind of raw, intense love that once felt like it could swallow the world whole. Now, it’s a memory laced with nostalgia and a gentle, lingering ache, Rafe wonders if she ever thinks about him as he does sometimes, and Y/N wonders what would have happened if she ever answered his phone calls.

For a moment, they want to reach out, to speak, to ask how they have been. But they don’t. There’s no need. Their lives have become exactly what they were meant to be, or that's what they convince themselves. But in this silent moment, there’s a glance that speaks of all that was and all that still lingers, retracting their happiness for a second, feeling after years a glimpse of love for each other.

Heaven knows that it is enough for the two of them to have a closure, and so it sends her children calling her name, and his daughter tugging his hand, drawing them back to the lives they had chosen. They turned away with a last smile, just like that, back to their families. They move forward, each wrapped in a quiet acceptance that they had found joy, a different joy, in different places. And this is how it ends: a love lost but kept in that corner of the heart where they keep the things that were once their dreams.

.

.

.

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[cantgetworsethanthistbh]

dumping more of my stancest feels here because i cannot NOT think of them. i read journal 3 for the first time this week and its great because Ford acts like stanley's biggest hater which is pretty fking funny (if not absolutely infuriating at times because omfg stfu you smug prick)

but the moments like this get to me

Ford being blinded by his quest of grandeur, accolades and praise for world changing discoveries, so obsessed with greatness, being the first name people remember, and all the other things his npd-isms tells him he wants.

And then there's "reminds me of camping with my brother. i wonder what he's up to..."

i mentioned in my previous post that stan acts quite a lot like the anchor to ford's boat, keeping him grounded and most importantly, safe from both the bitter and the sweet kinds of evils. but he also represents something so much simpler to ford too: the simple desires he represses so much because its not "good enough" for someone special like him.

he resents stan so much because he represents a "block" against that percieved good enough success he wants, the obstacle that made it impossible to get in a fancy college, become the world renowed researcher, the one who wanted to destroy his journal's and lifes work (even though it was the better, safer option if Bill really WAS that dangerous, which he was) that could still make him famous. because if ford's not "praised and weird" then he's just "weird" and being "weird" was nothing but a pain his whole life that kept him rejected and isolated from the masses. and stan prevented him from that.

(btw "maybe he can prove himself to me" is nasty work my god ford is a douche lmao)

a lot of his projections of something greater comes through with how he treated dipper in the show (his whole spiel in damvtf) and fiddleford in journal 3 where he looks down on the happy life that fiddleford had with his wife and child and saying he was "wasting his talents" making computers. and like, we all know by the way he takes them on high stakes adventures they're not as prepared for compared to him (and end up causing more trouble than not by doing so), he's trying to fill a gaping hole left by someone else. we all know this obviously, we all know what we ship here, but what i came to appreciate the most about it is how much that gaping hole exists in the low stakes

everytime ford is thinking during the "down time" moments, his thoughts always drift back to his childhood, and one person who represents it.

childhood memories, making fun of stans favorite snack, scribbling out a design of the stan o war, whenever Ford lets his mind wander it expresses such an intense yearning for the past before he became obsessed with wanting something more. these are his most utmost and most unfiltered thoughts, which is why he scribles them away or and writes in code. and the fact that he directly says they are about NOT getting married, followed with "wondering what he's doing right now", painting the picture of what his most ideal idylic life is. wanting a return of something lost. wanting Stan back more than anything.

he finally accepts that his dream never really changed, just the same as stan's and so they saild off together for the rest of their days, in ford's own words (which ironically sounds like a marriage to me either way so tough shit ford)

[creatingblackcharacters]

I also want to vent about Elder Scrolls for a second— they have multiple “human” races, and for some reason, they made one pretty explicitly Black

IMO all the “races” should be able to be Black, but that’s not the main point here

In the past games, they gave them these (mostly) rich skin tones, Afrocentric features, and textured hair

(from 1998)

Morrowind (2002)

(appearences in Oblivion in 2005— a game not known for how good its character models look, but at least they tried?)

None of them are perfect by any means (except for maybe Oblivion’s concept art), but GOOD LORD then we jump to Skyrim

???

SIX YEARS LATER, they reverted to ashy brown paint bucket, and sometimes not even that

Like what happened?

I'm laughing bc I was scrolling through the pictures like okay, okay, that's nice, I like that, i- OH. well. Yeah those are ass lmao and isn't Skyrim the most popular one? I don't get it. They were all really nice beforehand 😅 they fired all the Black people at the studio or something 😭

[bonefall]

Talk and/or rant about why you like Bumble from DotC please?

Bumble makes me want to cry. Her story is just... heartbreaking. She's one of the sweetest, most honest characters in the entire series, and the way she is abused by Tom the Wifebeater and denied asylum by the Moor Cats, then murdered for Clear Sky's arc, genuinely makes me feel sick.

But I've talked about that before. Many, many times. Let me celebrate her brief life for this one post, just covering her during The Sun Trail. Her first appearance in Book 2 where Clear Sky murders her, Thunder Rising, is the start of the scene that begins her slow, agonizing death.

I don't only love her out of spite for how she died; I love her because she was a wonderful, warm, confident character, and an excellent friend. She provided relief from the agonizing Settler group, who are insufferably angsty and controlling of each other, and most importantly, space away from Turtle Tail's awful friend, Gray Wing.

The closer that Bumble gets to Turtle Tail, the more confrontational Gray Wing becomes. He starts to hate Bumble, as if she's stealing his Plan B while he spends all the rest of his time with Storm. I'm convinced that the writers (and the fandom sometimes <_<) believe that this is "compelling romantic drama" which makes Turtle x Gray sweeter when it finally happens, but it just makes me feel like TurtleGray is the Bad Ending for every woman character involved.

After a brief appearance as she witnesses the Settlers arrive on the moor, the very first time we get to meet Bumble is when Gray Wing and Turtle Tail are hanging out on some sunny rocks. She's cheerful, outgoing, and curious, wanting to get to know her new neighbors.

Gray Wing, the POV character, immediately makes an incorrect assumption about her weight, thinking she won't be able to climb. She can, just fine, and she plays an Uno Reverse card on how skinny they are lmao

First thing out of her mouth is, "Oh you are SKIN AND BONES!!" Same energy as grandma who is about to make you feel more full than you have ever been in your entire life, considering she's going to open her home to Turts in a couple chapters.

They get into a conversation where Bumble asks where they came from, and why they left the mountains. She remains friendly and open, just enjoying small talk with these total strangers. She's enjoyable and lighthearted, in welcome contrast to the Settler's group which is full of moping, miserable cats.

(and in my live-read I was even frustrated at the time by how it seemed like the Settlers would have 1 or 2 nice moments, and then go back to fighting or brooding. It's unpleasant.)

In this first interaction it's just a glimmer, but it seems that what Turtle Tail LIKES about Bumble is that she makes her feel special. She LISTENS, unlike how Gray Wing is going to be in a couple of chapters.

She likes telling the shocking tale of giant birds to Bumble, and Bumble is happy that they're away from such hardships now. When Turtle Tail turns the questions back on her, Bumble is happy to gush about her life as a house cat.

She loves her people, playing with their children and always having plenty of food, explaining that when she gets bored she comes to the woods for a nice walk. Then, she mentions something very important.

Historically, there WAS no aggression towards outsiders. Cats like Bumble didn't take what they didn't need, and were left alone for it. This first interaction paints the full picture. Bumble wasn't afraid of the Settlers because there never was a reason to be scared.

CLEAR SKY is inventing the borders to aggrieve random cats. Him. His idea. Before him, you could walk through the forest freely like Bumble did.

This is before the arc irrevocably goes up in flames at the end of Book 3 by committing to a Clear Sky "Redemption," and is forced to create One Eye and Slash out of nowhere for Books 4/5/6. Before that absolutely baffling mistake of a choice, it is clear that The Settlers are the problem.

There WAS no Slash or One Eye. They were retconned in midway through the arc to make Clear Sky and The Settlers look less bad.

After this exchange, Turtle Tail dismisses Bumble's way of life and chuckles at a joke Gray Wing makes about how they'll probably never see Bumble again because she'll be afraid of them... but she's thinking about her. It strikes me as being the same kind of feeling as the swirling, murky feeling of a new crush.

Can't get the chunky kitty girl out of her head, can you, Turtle Tail?

We don't see Bumble for a few more chapters, but in her next appearance, it's implied she's been visiting Turtle Tail for a while. Gray Wing sees them sharing a meal. Please note how Turts is immediately defensive. As if she feels like she's being caught in the middle of doing something wrong.

(Tangent: note the constant suspicion and aggression towards Wind and Gorse. who live here.)

Gray Wing is as oblivious as ever. For a character described as "wise" he's incredibly dense towards the feelings of others. Yet, always, ALWAYS, Bumble is cheerful. This brewing animosity is NOT returned, she's happy to see him again.

He tries to recruit her to the moor group and she enthusiastically declines with a "No way! I love my life, actually!"

As soon as she's out of earshot, Here Comes The Confrontation. The exact one that Turtle Tail correctly anticipated when she got defensive earlier;

"You shouldn't have friends I don't approve of, Turtle Tail. It bothers me."

How can I NOT love Bumble? When her primary purpose is to be a friend for Turtle Tail, while Gray Wing is either ignoring her or sending her on guilt trips through this entire book? She's RELIEF for a woman who's being treated like trash, and every time she shows up she's doing something cute or helpful!

(Tangent: This book's pacing is garbage. The next scene is a sudden fox raid where a billion foxes attack the camp, and then the Settlers reveal that they don't know what a fox is. BUMBLE taught Turtle Tail about the danger of foxes. This is contradicted by the later books where there's cats back at the tribe named after foxes and Quiet Rain calls her shittiest son a foxheart. But there's waaay worse continuity errors in this arc.)

Gray Wing, the POV, hates her for no goddamn reason. It's right there on the page that he can't give Turtle Tail an answer as to why she should stop hanging out with her. The two continue to fight as Turts desperately tries to salvage their relationship while Gray Wing finds ways to snap at her or offend her.

I think the next appearance of Bumble is actually the most cringeworthy, though. I get secondhand embarrassment reading this one.

Turts just stayed with her friend overnight, and Gray Wing throws a fit about it, hissing at her that she's using the wrong terms and that she's forgotten where she belongs. Bumble watches this all happen like 😬, and then when Turtle Tail apologizes for this asshole having a conniption, he hisses AGAIN and whines about how he doesn't need to be apologized for.

But Bumble, up to her very last appearance in this book, is helpful and open.

After Gray Wing is nearly slaughtered by Fox at the border on Clear Sky's orders, so he kills him in self defense, causing Clear Sky to disown Gray Wing as his brother, which is the final straw for the pregnant Storm to run off, and then The Pacing Brothers have a casual chat over the still-warm corpse of the dead lackey, the input lag finally sends the signal to Gray Wing's brain that he needs to go find Storm.

It's BUMBLE that tells him where she can be found, as always, cutting through tension. Turtle Tail stays behind because she's understandably fed up with Gray Wing, so Bumble brings him where he needs to go. She guides him through the town, over roads, to the abandoned building where Storm is staying.

Gray Wing whines the whole time because he is a loser.

It's also interesting to me that when Bumble's annoyed with him, she doesn't huff or even get rude. She just glances back, and points out that there's disadvantages to his lifestyle too. You get used to it.

In better books, Gray Wing's POV would be considered unreliable in the end. He's an oblivious jackass whose thickness causes him to treat other people poorly, EXCEPT for his monstrous brother, whose violence and abuse he enables through the entire series. Though he's hailed as a "perfect boy so very full of love," he causes a LOT of the problems in his own relationships and familial dynamics.

Smarter books would encourage you to step back and think critically about the events as he perceived them;

Why did his judgement of Bumble begin to harden as Turtle Tail spent more time with her? Did Bumble do anything to deserve this?

Did Gray Wing's behavior lead to Turtle Tail's eventual decision to leave the moor? Were there other factors?

What are the flaws he can identify about himself? How will he grow from this?

Are there broader problems with The Settlers, which may have influenced the mindsets of both Turtle Tail and Gray Wing?

Unfortunately with Gray Wing, the only thing they identify as a "problem" in how he treated Turts in The Sun Trail is that he spent less time with her, as he pursued Storm. The controlling behavior and frequent arguing, the condescension, and the public embarrassment are NOT treated as negative traits to address as the series goes on.

(they never are. These are not directly addressed in any of the other terrible men in the series; Clear Sky, Bramblestar, Raggedstar, etc. only paternal neglect is condemned. Men are even allowed to beat their kids and it will not be called out.)

And breaking through that lens, you see Bumble. Who is just here to be a person that Turtle Tail needs, a good friend, someone who's confident, self-assured, and LOVES the life that she lives. I can't help but feel joy every time she walks onto the screen in The Sun Trail, because Gray Wing is SO frustrating that I'm rooting for Turtle Tail to go somewhere that she'll be appreciated.

It's as if they NEEDED to invent Tom the Wifebeater, who spawns in like some kind of random event just before Thunder Rising (the humans just... went to the shelter and adopted The Worst Cat. No checks on if he's aggressive towards other cats or anything), so that Turtle would HAVE some kind of reason to leave. Because, as you can see here, she wouldn't have gone back otherwise.

[ollieyingdu]

VEIN PV — Analysis and Discussion

“ollie ur a week late” shut ur bitchass vein analysis is never late 🙏

ANYWAY.

welcome to my first analysis post of yingdu about the Vein PV released a couple days ago.

NOTE: this is a lottt of rambling that I’ve tried to categorize for easy consumption. if i repeat stuff or it feels clunky, i apologize!! im still working out how i wanna format these things lmao. thank you for your patience.

OKAYYYY LETS GET INTO IT !!!

lets start with the colors of this PV, shall we?

this PV is FULL of bright colors, nearly eye-strain level with a strong presence of red. Red is obviously Vein’s character color, representing violence and passion that he holds as a mafia boss, but what about the other colors?

in the screenshot I sent above, you can see a presence of bright blues and purples. in my opinion, i think the colors have less of an actual symbolism meaning, but moreso encourage us to draw conclusions about Vein. the bright colors paint his violence as fun, explosive and overpowering. as disturbing as the pv is, it’s clear that Vein is nowhere near disturbed by the things hes doing. the colors back this up perfectly.

also this pv is soooo pretty and i just want all of us to nod in acknowledgement of how PRETTY it is. studio lan i fear u ate

ANYWAY ANYWAY

as present in the lx pv as well, link click likes to show symbolism of their characters in the quick flashes before the pv actually starts. this is one for Vein: The Venus Flytrap.

according to google dot com and plant symbolism, venus flytraps represent persistence and deception. yep good all of this checks out, but why specifically a venus fly trap? can’t they show this with something else? i personally think it has to do with Vein as a character, and we don’t see a lot of that in the pv besides him being a major freak LMAOO. looking at what venus fly traps actually do — they secrete this nectar stuff that attracts flies, and using little hairs on the leaves, they can sense when a fly lands on a specific area and triggers the reaction of the plant closing. the flies outer layer is then digested and the plant feeds on what it really wants; the flies blood. i find this very interesting as i think it depicts how Vein meets shiguang. draws them in with something, closes around them and ends up feasting on their blood (whether literally or figuratively). maybe to trigger the trap, someone has to challenge him, like cxs will most likely do?? there’s definitely a lot to look at with that and I don’t think we have enough information to make concrete guesses 😭😭 but i wanted to bring it up!

along with the flytrap stuff, before the pv begins we see a video game visuals of Vein killing pigs, which I can assume depict random ass ppl in bridon. pigs being used in place of random ppl paint this picture of Vein as a butcher, and this is SO clever on link click’s part. there’s multiple scenes in the pv where vein is handling meat, whether that be killing, cutting or eating it. he’s a carnivore, through and through.

fitting that his symbolism is a carnivorous plant, isn’t it?

the video game aesthetic also gives the idea that Vein killing people is fun for him. he thrives on it. and it dehumanizes the people he kills, both through the pig imagery and that they matter as much as random enemies in a video game level. just a look into Vein’s psyche, very very interesting.

another detail that’s interesting to me; whenever Vein kills anyone in this pv, it’s always depicted with either face or head injuries, such as decapitation. this enforces how BRUTISH Vein really is. let me put it this way; if this pv showed Vein killing people with one methodical shot to the chest, our takeaway of his character would be vastly different. instead of that, vein deals injuries to the face and brain, to identity and control. he takes away people’s sense of self, either sweeping them under the rug or making them submissive to him.

and Vein does this gleefully. he’s shown laughing as he kills those around him, takes away their sense of self—he’s sadistic, incredibly so.

but, even scarier, he is drunk on power.

power is the biggest takeaway I get from this pv. they are telling us, to our face, that vein is the most powerful character we’ve met (before any of you say lx, his analysis with cover that, and i stand by my claim 👍 justtt wait and see).

okay, this considered, how is vein shown to be in power? how do we know he’s the most powerful? I think the answer to all of this lies in comparing him to past link click villains.

a big thing abt this pv is putting Vein on a different level than the villains we’ve seen before in how he exercises his power. qian jin (s2 villain if u don’t remember his name lmao), for example, typically exercises his power through manipulation. albeit, compared to lx he’s definitely worse, but his status and physical prowess allow him to have a good control of situations, such the scene at Chen bin’s house where he plants the money to frame him. Vein, on the other hand, has not only WAY more power, but a much more messy and brutal way of exercising it. in the pv we can see a lot of vein hurting people and it is messy. there’s blood everywhere, on him and on the ground, and he’s laughing maniacally surrounding by braindead henchmen. this is a BIG point on how powerful Vein is in the mafia. he doesn’t care for precision like qj does. Vein kills people, finds joy in doing so, and knows that nobody can stop him. his just has that much power. and comparing him to qj again: qj’s lackey guy had a mind of his own and ended up exercising his own agency at the end of s2. Vein’s lackeys are braindead and submissive, meaning that he surrounds himself with people who do not have the means to challenge him. my guess if that if anyone does, he gets rid of them quick, high off the adrenaline and the fact that nobody stands a chance against him.

this is backed by the loud, cocky rock music and eyestrain level visuals. it’s a nearly overwhelming amount of stimuli to display vein’s nearly overwhelming amount of power.

and in the screenshot I sent above, he’s walking outside the central bank with hooks behind him, flashy hair and all, without a care. the amount of power Vein has to do that is astronomical.

OKAY! big points from this analysis:

Vein is represented by a Venus Flytrap, one of a few carnivorous plants

Vein typically deals injuries to the face or head, which represents the way Vein takes away the identity of those around him.

Using pigs as depictions of random people, it makes Vein look like a butcher, as well as his scenes with meat everywhere

Vein finds a lot of joy in killing people, and is incredibly messy in how he handles it

Vein is powerful beyond comprehension through his Chinatown mafia

one thing i have left out is speculation around vein’s power (or if he even has one in the first place). because my theory for it is connected to another theory surrounding Overthink (the s1 ed), ill go in depth about it there! I’ll try and get that post out before yingdu airs, but be warned it is HEAVY speciation lmao

well guys, that seems to be it!!! i adore this PV, the song is a BANGERRR and we all cheer as we await yingdu!!

next up, lx pv analysis 🙏 drop a follow if ur interested in seeing it (trust me there is SO much to say about it) and check out the tag #ollieyingdu for anything yingdu related i have posted before or will post in the future.

thank you so much for stopping by! please feel free to comment/reblog ur thoughts, i welcome any and all discussion as long as everyone remains respectful.

that’s all for now! see you later 🫶

[dr-spectre]

Frye is super pretty and I'm tired of people pretending characters with "off features" (half the time this means any feature that isnt white but hush(

But this is also coming from someone who's like "damn ventures pretty actually" LMAO

Frye is one of the prettiest Splatoon characters and it's not just because of her looks, it's also due to her personality.

Frye has a very strong sense of fashion, always has a smile on her face, and always brings life and energy wherever she goes. She loves her family to pieces and seems to be physically affectionate (I love that...)

Also Frye is physically strong, able to balance herself on a SPINNING OCTOSTOMP AND CAN SUMMON AN ARMY OF EELS!!! THAT IS BADDASS!!!

I dont wanna speak a whole lot about her physical appearance because I'll feel like some creep.... and I dont wanna be seen that way. But I will say, to those who hate her big forehead and make fun of imperfect features about her, say that to an actual Indian woman and tell me how that goes. Go on. Do it. Cause Frye is pretty much an Indian woman in terms of looks and inspiration. So go. Make fun of an Indian woman's forehead.

Like I'm just saying man... just saying...

"Oh, but it's a fictional character, so it doesn't matter," a fictional woman based on a real-life culture. Saying certain things about certain characters really paints a picture of the kind of person you are, dude. Straight up.

Also, I wanna share one more thing about frye.... I'm about to get into some self-indulgence so yeah...

Frye has the biggest bust out of the Idols and keeps her pants real low.... plus she keeps her tummy out most of the time and I AM A CERTIFIED TUMMY ENJOYER!! Also her butt ain't half bad but shhhhh...

Frye..... Frye Onaga....

just one night.... we can go anywhere you want. We can go to an arcade, have a nice walk through a park, go to a nice restaurant with your favourite foods... watch a movie together... go back to your place and do your favourite activities... talk about each other's interests.... and maybe.... a kiss at the end or something more would be a cherry on top of a nice day.... sigh...

......I'm so lonely.... I need a girlfriend...

ANYWAYS! THIS HAS BEEN ANOTHER FRYE APPRECIATION POST FROM DR. SPECTRE!!! TAKE CARE!!

[spongebob-connoisseur]

So I went to Fan Expo yesterday! I wish I bought tickets for two days instead of one, i couldn't do all that I wanted. Most of my day was just waiting in line to meet voice actors.

Buuut the highlight of my day is that I met Dee Bradley Baker! I got a selfie with him and I asked what was his favorite Spongebob character to play. He said Bubble Bass's mom. He did voice impressions of them both. Its so weird to hear the voices come out of him since I'm used to hearing it on the TV. It was great though.

He LOVED my Slappy cosplay and said it was freaky. I am so so happyyyy. When I took a selfie with him, my friend said some lady also took out her phone to snap a picture of my cosplay. It may not be the most polite thing to do without asking but I really don't mind it lmao

It was my dream to go as Slappy since the first time I ever went to Fan Expo. Which isn't long ago but still. I felt like I was wearing his skin✨

I finally know how Slaps felt like in this instance wearing the Patrick costume

I spent the past week making the head out of paper mache and I'm very proud of it. It's not particularly strong because I was figuring this out while it was foing along. I spent most of my time sculpting and ensuring it LOOKED like Slappy, I didn't give much consideration towards visibility (his mouth is a seeing hole but you can just barely see. Also towards the end of the day, it began cracking around his jaw area so I couldn't wear it anymore. It's fine and easy to fix, I do kinda want to fix it up and make it stronger. Probably put a helmet on the inside and pad out the inside. I also want to give him false eyelashes lmao.

I had a lot of fun painting him though. It was like doing his makeup UwU he's also actually wearing makeup since I used an eyeshadow pallette to use as a highlighter on his skin. He's sparkly in person.

I also made his dorsal fin (I followed a basic fairy wings tutorial to make it) and my sister helped out and made the little gloves from socks. She finds this costume horrifying. I think that's the best part. I chased her around a bit as Slappy.

I also attended a panel and got an autograph from Neil Newbon who voices Astarion from Baulders Gate 3.

Mainly because my friend has been obsessed with the game lately. I didn't think I'd care much until I actually met him. Hes actually wonderful and witty and polite and professional, I could go on and on about it. My friend and I were both gushing about it. Even for the brief moment of meeting him at the table and he shakes your hand with both hands and looks you in the eye AHHHH✨✨✨😭😭

Unexpected but REALLY made my day <33

I ended up missing photo opportunity to meet Spongebob because the line was so long but this is a rare moment where I think it was worth it.

Especially since despite all of that, there are many folks who asked for pictures. Especially older folks. They were able to tell right off the bat that it was Peter Lorre related!

And the ones who were younger and closer to my age were still able to get it. I got a lot of people asking "is that Gomez Addams?" because Gomez is Peter Lorre inspired. Which was the PERFECT opportunity to infodump and tell them that Slappy and Gomez are both caricatures of Peter Lorre. I actually have a printed picture of Peter Lorre that I kept in my tote bag just for this purpose <3

When I was standing in line, one man was looking at the Slappy head for a bit and said "he has a face only a mother could love. He reminds me of a certain actor" to which I just had to say "Peter Lorre!" Hehehehehe

There was also a paramount section where they had Spongebob mini golf.

I actually met a dude while I was in line and he was also a Hardcore Spongebob fan. Its actually crazy to find someone as deranged as I am irl. It was soooo much fun just chatting with him. We ended up traded socials. I kinda wish I stuck around longer but we didn't have much time left ro really explore the con so my friend and I did a mad dash trying to get through as much as we could before the con closed.

All in all, I had fun. I'll probably reuse this costume next year. Perhaps I could find a brown tailcoat suit too so the cosplay can be 100% accurate.

Here are some miscellaneous cosplay pictures:

This one is my favorite <3

[f4ggydog]

LMAO @ that one Pro!Depp Anon! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE TRIAL! YOU ALL HAD MADE YOUR MIND UP BEFORE IT EVEN STARTED! You just rest easy on the fact, that the jury let themselves be manipulated into conceding more to Depp. HOW do you think abusive men EVER got away with their shit in court? By having more money and painting the woman as crazy ("HiStrIOniC PeRsoNalitY DiSordER!"). This is BASIC stuff when it comes to the history of sexism and yet yall are clueless! If you are a woman, anon, then you are already way too fucking comfortable in your thoughtless current privileges (that other women fought and DIED for to make them happen!) to still have a clue… the amount of women who are just clueless over what these people are doing, who fucking celebrated Depp's win as progress for male victims, thinking these people had everyones best interest in mind- have NONE of you ever looked beyond the Google definition of feminism??? It's crazy how you lot happily and naively help misogynistic powerful men dig the grave of women's rights. IF you cared about trials, you would fucking aknowledge, that it's LEGALLY PROTECTED SPEECH TO CALL DEPP A WIFEBEATER IN THE UK! You ALSO realize that NOTHING about an US trial is actually about "facts", right? Do you think, that evidence is being presented in an unbiased manner (how come Amber's evidence got blocked? How come evidence against Depp had to be accidentially unsealed by dumb fans of his?) Do you think, that a defense lawyer's job isn't about lying, manipulation, playing into people's biases? That handmaiden of the patriarchy, Camille Vasquez, wouldn't stop bragging for ages after the trial over how good of a job she did with manipulating yall. Here's how you win a court case: have way more money than your opponent so you can prolong this shit and get the better lawyers aka manipulators. Top it off with a jury that is suceptible to prejudices most people hold. Depp's Kremlin lawyer leaked ONE out of context, falsely subtitled bit of an audio recording to the public and yall with your social media, true crime and Hollywood movies-rotten brains went: "OhOhOh, the secret villainess told on herself, plot twist!" (when she literally didn't, yall quote her wrong to this freaking day). Depp literally flew out to explain the DARVO strategy to an abusive soccer player, who wants to pull the same shit on his abused wife, as we speak. His bff Marilyn Manson tried his strategy as well. Wanna hear some other facts about Depp? Like how he'd brag over assaulting others out of anger when Amber was still in diapers? How so many of his buddies are fellow abusers and rapists? How his former business partner went missing (and hasn't been found to this day) A DAY before he was supposed to testify against Depp in court? The firsthand horror stories others have about him? Like how he once ambushed and shot blanks at a PA, making the PA so terrified for his life that he pissed himself and Depp thought that was hilarious! You all didn't ever believe Amber. SHE'S the one who lost jobs due to divorcing Depp, not him. SHE'S the one who constantly had to change her number, because strangers threatened her with calls and texts, during the time where everyone supposedly "believed her". If you had ever truly believed her, you wouldn't have been so easy to manipulate to the point of writing off: Depp constantly telling on himself and his proven character in interviews, messages and on recordings. You wouldn't write off contemporaneous text messages and emails, contemporaneous therapy and medical records, contemporaneous PROVEN UNEDITED pictures of Amber's injuries, and 10+ witnesses who saw Amber's injuries in person (+ more witnesses attesting to Depp being the abuser, such as their former relationship consultant Dr Amy Banks (a Harvard-trained world renowned expert in Domestic Violence!), who had sessions with them both together! Guess what happened to her deposition: that's right, that ALSO got blocked by Depp's team). Or you really are just THAT dumb. Either way, you are a detriment to all women, anon. 💋

I want that Depp defending anon to come back and read every word of ur fucking post because YOU ATE THEM UP SO GOOD. GET THEM AGAIN GET THEM AGAIN GET THEM AGAINNNNN

notice how that anon didn't come back after I called them out on their bullshit too? Yeah u can't put that shit past us

[yellow-yarrow]

director's commentary for this post (lmao) because I like yapping

the reason why I choose these artworks is not just because they looked good, I thought it was interesting how they treat colors, light and rot

Damien Hirst's Black Sun is made of many dead flies, people have said that this artwork smells gross up close. Its theme is obviously death and disgust (like most of his works), he has also said the flies represent people, and quotes Hobbes saying that people's life without a government is bad and tragic (which I HEAVILY disagree with)

Hirst sells his works for millions of dollars, it's highly commercialized, some have accused him of money laundering and such. Insert the Wompty-Dompty Dom Centre thought:

Problem It's Wednesday evening and something heinously exciting is under way. People have gathered beneath the billowing roof of an oddly shaped trophy building, sipping wine and exchanging opinions. 29-year-old wunder-twins Guy and Keith Joost are the stars of the show, with their bomber jackets and white sneakers -- head curators of this art exhibition. It's the wompty-dom-di-dommiest event of the year and all the cool kids have RSVP’d. Where are you, if you are not there? Solution You're at home, stupid cop, not with the art crowd. You hate them, everyone hates them, even they hate themselves. It's nauseating -- an industry built on sprezzatura and sparkling wine. And, let’s be honest, tax evasion schemes. The Wompty Dompty Dom Centre is the heart of this unholy symbiosis of esthetics and tax optimization, and now that you've internalized it – you can have a piece too!

personally, for me, it invokes disgust both on an aesthetic level (dead flies) and in a conceptual level (rich guy using death to make millions). Tieing this into black being the color of money in Elysium, and the end of the world.

Malevich's Black square is a painting without an object, it doesn't represent the material world, it is independent of it. but at the same time, black is the density of matter in the white empty space.

He said this about this art: "[Black Square is meant to evoke] the experience of pure non-objectivity in the white emptiness of a liberated nothing." "It is from zero, in zero, that the true movement of being begins." (x) ‘In the year 1913, trying desperately to free art from the dead weight of the real world, I took refuge in the form of the square.’ (x)

Important context for this work (like many other black paintings) is that it was made around the time of the world wars, and the russian revolution. Black paintings express the trauma of the world wars, and in this case the revolutionary approach to art too.

quoting from the article I linked:

Malevich had been collaborating with the musician Mikhail Matyushin and the poet Aleksei Kruchenykh on a manifesto which called for the rejection of rational thought. They wanted to overturn the established systems and hierarchies of Western society. Together with poet Velimier Khlebnikov they staged Victory over the Sun, where the characters aimed to abolish reason by capturing the sun and destroying time. The libretto used Kruchenykh’s zaum – a new language of sounds that had no meaning. This sparked something in Malevich.

Similar things apply to White on white. The Moma website describes it better than I would:

[Malevich] "wanted White on White to create a sense of floating and transcendence. White, Malevich believed, was the color of infinity and signified a realm of higher feeling, a utopian world of pure form that was attainable only through nonobjective art. Indeed, he named his theory of art Suprematism to signify “the supremacy of pure feeling or perception in the pictorial arts”; and pure perception, he wrote, demanded that a picture’s forms “have nothing in common with nature.” In 1918, soon after the Russian Revolution, the connotations of this sense of liberation were not only aesthetic but also social and political. Malevich expressed his exhilaration in a manifesto one year later: “I have overcome the lining of the colored sky. . . . Swim in the white free abyss, infinity is before you.”

These molding fruits made out of gemstones by Kathleen Ryan make me think of Damien Hirst's bedazzled Skull artwork, decadence, kitsch, death. The gemstones make the mold feel like it has value, importance, like it's almost sacred. The pale as a "sacred and terrible smell"

Rothko's paintings heavily empathize colors, paintings like these invite us to really experience those colors and be moved by them.

From the Disco Elysium artbook:

Eyes are direct, unmediated input to the brain. You like or dislike something before you have a chance to reason about it. It affects you emotionally without offering you a chance to throw up intellectual defenses first. Witnessing death and good art are materially equivalent experiences: they are visual information transmitted straight to the centers of emotion by way of the eye. This might explain why a person could tear up in the presence of a Rothko painting. If you’re a sensitive enough instrument, seeing his Orange, Red, Yellow in real life feels intense. It doesn’t work on a computer screen though, you’re just staring at some bright pixels imitating the appearance of the painting the same way seeing a dead person is different from seeing a picture of a dead person.

El Lissitzky was also an important figure in russian avant-garde, like Malevich. Well. I put this one in here cause it looked nice and because of the theme of light and the lack of (it's a gelatin silver photograph).

maybe this adds something to the discussion of the symbolism of colors and light in Elysium