#clunky but hey

[kri-babe]

"Down, down, down by the river..."

[lucabyte]

A belief in Nominative Determinsim

[arsenicflame]

It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.

At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return. 

It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzy’s face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.

Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug. 

“Israel-goddamn-Hands!” he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging “Samuel-fucking-Bellamy”, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he can’t keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.

(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)

By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still there’s an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mate’s aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.

When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.

Knowing that something’s different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal he’s been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. “Israel, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safe”

And Izzy… hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam “...We’re staying in port for a week. Ask me again then”

That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.

[lollytea]

Amity's introductory scene bothers me to no end because it does not remotely reflect the kind of character that she is and the personality that is presented is only going to get flat out contradicted in future episodes, rather than recontextualized. But Willow's introductory scene on the other hand? Remmy the rat kiss. Perfecto.

[jellyaibo]

ok heres loser if she was a protogen

[3-aem]

thinking about my exit interview that was super informal but at one point i was like okay i will say something positive about the team and my ex manager was like okay

and then we both sat there in silence for a solid minute

[lilpomelito]

i don't remember in which fic i read it but I absolutely love the trope of steddie dating pre season 3 and steve trying so hard to get eddie and robin to be friends mostly so they can have fun being the (to his knowledge) only 3 gays in hawkins together but robin is like ew no i'm not letting you tell your weirdo friend that i'm a lesbian he deals drugs he could be dangerous I don't want to get hatecrimed are you nuts? and eddie is like steve for fuck's sake we are not telling your random coworker who until last week barely tolerated your presence about us what if she goes around telling everybody we're gay and we end up being chased out of town by a mob of angry homophobes?? and steve is in the middle like. please. i can't do the hannah montana shit anymore with my bestie and my boyfriend. but he can't out robin or eddie without their permission so he's destined to suffer

[fordanoia]

Fandom: Gravity Falls || CW: -  || Stan comes to Gravity Falls, but when Ford doesn’t show up he has to go looking for him. Amidst, a strange house and a mysterious presence he tries to figure out what exactly is going on and where Ford disappeared to.

Chapter: Faulty Tech

______(~3.3k words)______

[necronatural]

it would be so funny if tumblr became good because the dev team isnt stretched thin maintaining their investor-pleasing changes that take months to roll out only for everyone to get mad at them. id love it

[apothecareful]

good god you just are not a serious person if one of your main critiques of veilguard is graphic/artstyle related. there are for sure some things relevant to the goals of the series to criticize but dragon age has always been at its core stylized in all of their more advanced game engines. i'm so sorry everything doesn't look like a AAA game or a classic crpg but perhaps consider that was never the stylistic point

[goatswithtoast]

Part 2, Lloyd

Lloyd Montgomery Garmadon was born to Monk Garmadon and Misako in the Southern Air Temple. Morro had been born not long before, and the two grew up together.

Both had grown up hearing stories of Garmadon's father, the Air Nomad Avatar from the last cycle. He had settled the world into peace and order during his lifetime. He had many battles with powerful benders and spirits, but he never quit and always found a way in the end.

Both the boys loved these stories and would ask for their favourites over and over again. They would often play out the battles themselves, Morro (being slightly older) would make Lloyd be whatever villain he, as the Avatar, needed to defeat this time.

Airbenders often get sent to a temple when born and fit into the large family of the temple, (with Lloyd being the exception by being raised by his father) Morro had friends and adults he could trust, but no one who he called a father.

Lloyd's uncle Wu was an immensely spiritual man who had even been to the spirit world a couple of times. He often went on long journeys to the most spiritual places in the world to meditate.

Whenever he returned to the temple, Lloyd and Morro would rush to meet him as he walked up, asking where he had been, if he saw any spirit monsters, did he trim his beard, did he have anything cool for them? Wu would have a small gift for both ready in his bag.

Morro would choose to hang around Wu while Lloyd ran off to find Garmadon and show him what he'd got. Wu would ask the general questions and Morro would answer them somewhat timidly. But by the end of the day Morro will have talked Wu's ear off.

One day when running around the temple, they overheard Garmadon and Wu, who was in between travels, talking about some pressing matter.

"We've been over this Wu, we don't know for sure it's him. The test can be wrong sometimes!"

"Brother, he was born in the right timeframe, I'm certain it's him."

"We don't know the exact timing though, They could've been dead for weeks before They were found!"

"Don't be ridiculous, the body was in too good condition to be dead that long."

"Good condition?! They were crushed under a boulder Wu!"

"Two weeks is the longest it could've been there. I'm telling you, that boy is the Avatar."

That was all Morro needed to hear to believe it.

With the dates that had been mentioned, Morro's birth was set firmly in the window of 'Avatar possibility'. And Morro was already starting to train.

While Lloyd was sent to fill a bucket, Morro looked for any water bending scrolls or examples he could find. Morro would spend days trying to make the water move, but at most he only made ripples from accidentally blowing air on it instead.

After a long day of trying training, and hours of listening to Lloyd "I don't think you're doing it right Morro. They look like they can feel the water" Morro snapped. He threw his hand out and sent a blast towards Lloyd, but at the same time the water in the bucket whipped out in front of Lloyd. Both boys were stunned. They stood in silence for a second before Morro gave a whoop. "Did you see that Lloyd! I bent the water!" Lloyd cheered with him.

Reinvigorated, Morro threw himself back into training. Lloyd got to help by holding the scrolls up. They never got the same results but Morro knew he could, he had done it before.

Then one day, Garmadon and Wu call Lloyd inside. They don't notice Morro copying a scroll by a bucket and Morro doesn't see them looking deathly serious.

Lloyd didn't know what they had called him for. Garmadon and Wu shared a look, took a deep breath each, and told him.

Lloyd was the Avatar. Not Morro.

"But I thought it was Morro?" Was the first thing out of his mouth.

The brothers glanced at each other, in warning almost.

"While both of you were born in the possible time frame, we confirmed it was you through a test, a test that Morro did not pass" Wu informed him.

"Lloyd," continued Garmadon, "we only tell you this now because the world needs the Avatar, and while I would prefer later, it needs him sooner."

Lloyd was told of the Fire Nation's recent movements into the Earth Kingdom that were causing the kingdom to gather forces. By the time Lloyd would've mastered the elements the Fire Nation could very well have conquered half of the Earth Kingdom. He had to be ready to handle this conflict.

Wu sorrowfully insists that Lloyd had to be told now to have time. Garmadon hides his reluctance and reassures Lloyd that he's well able to do this, he already learned Air, what's three more?

So Lloyd gathered his belongings, shared a goodbye with his mother who made him promise to visit when he could, and set off on his dragon, (an odd animal for an Airbender to have, but Lloyd found him in a bush when he was younger and insisted it was "Too cool to leave to die" So the dragon came home and was named Ultra on account of how ultra cool he was.)

And so the Avatar's journey begins.

Part 1 (Nya, Zane (+Kai)) | >Part 2 (Lloyd) | Part 2.5 (Morro) | Part 3 (Meetup) | Part 4 (Cole) |

[quirkle2]

i wish i wouldn't do this to myself. why do i buy games on steam and then not play them for a while and then hate them and request a refund way outside of the refund time window

[riggedbones]

i wuill say i did love how annabeth in the show is just 🧍 half the time she does not explain shit ever. godbless. they were right when they said her autism. and also being twelve

[charnel-doll]

too old to feel comfortable calling myself/being called a boy. not masc enough to fully feel comfortable calling myself a man (though if other people call me a man its like, yeah thats close enough). a guy, though? a dude, perhaps? oh that fits just right

[motheatencrow]

i usually dont post the personal icons i make but i liked how i experimented with this one :]

[cjgladback]

For the first time in a long while, I got to go to a white elephant gift exchange this December! We had a low price ceiling and my practically wins out over any practical joke sensibilities every time, so on the designated shopping day I left my local overstock store with a nice chopstick set, some fancy (not at all mess-free) popcorn, and a dream.

When I was growing up, my mom was an intrepid homeschooling parent who loved event planning, valued cultural exploration, and had married into a Japanese family. Multiple times - sometimes in the setting of a multicultural fair, at least once as a kind of class party (with celebratory takeout at the end) - she faced teaching large groups of children how to use chopsticks quickly and with as little cost and cleanup as possible.

Her answer was popcorn! It's edible, so you get the full motion down, and lightweight but large enough for less coordinated sticks to pinch. It has tons of nubbins to grab and widely varied shapes to experiment with. Specifically, we used air-popped kernels, without oil or toppings, so when it gets overzealously crushed or bounces away and gets missed by a broom, it's basically biodegradable styrofoam.

What I'm saying is, this is my mom's fault. Other than the choice to draw so many hands in one afternoon on the same day as the party, while also baking a snack. That's all me. This primer was delivered in the format of a tiny booklet (if you look up an "eight page zine" that's also a method I learned from my mom, to turn single-sided misprints into notepads), with fewer jokes and tips than I'd have liked because I simply did not have time to transcribe a hashi rest fold or hairstyle. But reformatted (for Mastodon) it looks fairly respectable.

Lengthy image descriptions and full poster format under the cut.

[ID: A title page reads "How to Use Chopsticks" in all caps. The words "without too much mess" are between two straight, orange lines, which start with round points at the left, evoking chopsticks, and end in flared shapes of a silhouetted splash on the right. Below the lower line are the words "by CJ Gladback." All the text is in black, the background is white but appears light orange due to a repeating geometric watermark pattern of CJ's logo in orange overlaid on the whole image; her handle on most sites is included once on each of the following spreads: @cjgladback​

Next is the first spread of four illustrations with their instructions. On the left half of page are two line drawings of a right hand holding one and then two chopsticks, with the text, "The first stick rests on the side of your ring finger's nail and the flesh between your thumb and index finger. Your middle finger's pad holds it securely while it can slide against your thumb as your hand changes posture in use. The second stick is held between the knuckle of your thumb and the middle section of your index finger. This is the one you move to change angles; it may touch but doesn't really rest on the middle finger's tip." In orange, two arrows indicate the rest points for the first stick while small hashes emanate from the points pressed on the middle and ring fingertips and under the thumb's joint holding the top stick. On the right upper quadrant of the page is the text "Hold them close to parallel to scoop." A hand holds two sticks poked into a bowl of rice between the viewer and the palm; a series of parallel orange lines emphasize the space between the sticks. The remaining quadrant's text reads, "Press with your index finger to pinch firmly." This hand is holding an indistinct rounded shape in its chopsticks, with an orange arrow indicating the rotation of the index finger's tip to press the top stick's point toward the bottom's.

Next is the final spread of the pamphlet. The upper right text reads, "Practice with something medium sized and low mess like (air-popped) popcorn." A single piece of popcorn is held in disembodied chopsticks above a full popcorn bowl, with several kernels fallen to the surface below it. Text below reads, "Pick up your dishes to bring close to your mouth to scoop the harder to grab foods." An implied tilted bowl of food (fried rice or porridge with diced pieces) protrudes off the page, covering only the lower left corner. Close-up chopsticks have their points buried in the food and their lines fade out toward the right. The final black text, underlined by two orange chopstick shapes, reads, "but most of all, do what feels comfortable and eat well!" In orange in the lower right corner, the parenthetical "(and maybe knit a scarf)" is followed by a small orange drawing of a steaming bowl of noodles and sliced egg with a noodle line trailing toward two upward angled sticks with loopy hashes indicating knit fabric hanging from them.

The final image is the full booklet in its web format, with the three previous images from this post stacked vertically. Some orange lines have been added between what were pages in the print booklet, to aid reading flow. /end ID]