#damn i did not expect it to be this long

[tubbytarchia]

gg buddy am I right (ethubs doodle that I don't know what to do with)

[the-way-astray]

"First, let's remember the fact that this poll WOULD NOT EXIST if Sophie was a boy. Like at all. You'd see these flaws and think that made her/him actually realistic."

You're right! And we don't actually need to imagine Sophie as a boy to see this phenomenon at work. There's a male character in this very series that has most of the flaws OP listed.

His name is Keefe.

Let's break this down, shall we?

"I cannot think of any likeable qualities that Sophie has."

A subjective opinion. I'm disregarding this since there's no way to either confirm or deny. I feel the same about Keefe, but I recognize that that's just a me thing.

"She also has little to no flaws, and the ‘flaws’ that she DOES have don’t impact the story in any way, and they’re only played off for laughs and are, essentially, meaningless."

This person did not list any of these so called "meaningless" flaws that are supposedly "played off for laughs", so moving on. Keefe also has little to no flaws, and the ones he does have are often played off for laughs. One of Keefe's biggest flaws is the way his guilt masks his reasoning abilities, making him stupid and run headfirst into danger. Here's a quote: “‘See, but “smart” isn’t my brand. I’m more “reckless dream guy without a care”! It’s part of my whole “bad boy” image.’” (Legacy, 95). See how Keefe jokes about his stupidity, making it out to be trivial? If that's not "play[ing] off [flaws] for laughs" then I don't know what is. As for "meaningless", see how Keefe's flaw of recklessness still, nine and a half books in, has not been reflected upon, developed, or changed from? If that's not a "meaningless" flaw, I don't know what is.

As for Sophie, I cannot think of a single time her flaws are played off for laughs (there might be something, if there is, tell me). If you're referring to her clumsiness or so-called obliviousness, neither of those are character flaws. She's just clumsy and she gets made fun of for it. It's not that deep. People around her find it funny that she can't see that she's the object of three crushes, and make fun of her for that (which is, admittedly, slightly less amusing). That's not a flaw. Flaws Sophie has in the beginning include her inability to stand up for herself and her tendency to run into danger. Both of these are at least somewhat developed by the time book nine rolls around. Do I like the way it was executed? Not really. But I can say that there has definitely been some development there. A flaw cannot be meaningless if it has been developed and grown from. Therefore, Sophie's flaws are not "meaningless".

"Additionally, all the fucking characters are either in love with her, like her, or are evil. I hate it."

This statement actually applies to neither Sophie nor Keefe. The three characters that dislike Keefe to some extent and are not evil are Ro, Grady, and Tam. As for Sophie, there's Stina. Stina is not evil and does not like Sophie. Yes, she is villainized by the story for not agreeing with Sophie, but she is not evil: Stina is just another fifteen (fourteen?) year old girl who is caught up in a rebellion. Because of some very, very poor writing choices, all the development she received in the eighth book was hopelessly and mercilessly mangled. However, she is still on the team in the ninth book, and she does make some very good suggestions and points here and there. And in Legacy, before the great massacring of her development, she and Sophie did not like each other, yet she still was seen as an important part of the team and appreciated for her efforts. So despite the fact that she is villainized, she is not evil, yet she does not like Sophie.

"At this point in the series, Sophie has FIVE FUCKINF ABILITIES (where most characters only have one, or maybe two if they’re lucky)."

I assume the person who wrote this is completely up-to-date on the series. "At this point in the series", Sophie's abilities have been very obviously overshadowed by Keefe's, who is even more OP than Sophie is. At least all of Sophie's abilities are abilities that have been heard of and studied and such. All of Keefe's abilities, with the exception of empathy and polyglotism, are brand-new and incredibly overpowered. And it always annoys me when people state the literal premise of the series and then go and bash it without thought. Have you maybe considered that Sophie's OPness is the point of the series? Perhaps Messenger is trying to tell us that, at a certain point, it doesn't matter how strong or powerful you are, wits and good planning will always take precedent. Perhaps this is a segue into more development on Sophie's recklessness, which is the exact opposite of good planning, which she will need if she wants to take down the Neverseen. Maybe before saying "This character is OP!", think about why that's a bad thing. Yes, OP characters don't tend to be the greatest if they just win every time and hose down the enemies without breaking a sweat, but in KOTLC's case the literal exact opposite happens. So what point was attempting to be made here, I cannot say.

"She is honestly…so fucking stupid. Like, it’s not even funny at this point. Not only has she burnt down a storehouse with enough evidence to basically convict all of the bad guys, but she also tries to JUSTIFY her actions, saying that she was burning all their supplies (while also burning the things her organization needed)."

If you think Sophie is stupid, you better fucking think Keefe is stupid, too. He is literally the stupidest character in the entire series, hands down. He gave Sophie a tracker from the Neverseen, brought back false caches, compromised Alluveterre, gave the Neverseen some of his blood, thought he could sneak into Ravagog by himself and take on the ogre king by himself when he's never even seen the place before, and he couldn't stay out a conflict even if every single person was screaming at him to. The things I listed here are only a tiny piece of the full scope of his stupidity, by the way.

With regards to what was said about Sophie, this part stands out to me: "she burnt down a storehouse with enough evidence to basically convict all of the bad guys". Do you know how the elvin justice system works? They don't do evidence or witnesses like humans do. They don't have lawyers or prosecutors or a jury. The Council literally just decides if a person's guilty, and if so, what their sentence will be. (Think Alvar's trial.) And the Council are fully aware of what the Neverseen are doing. I bet they even have their sentences picked out. Trust me, no evidence is needed. (Side note: I'm not saying that's a good system, by the way. I'm just saying, given the circumstances, evidence is not necessary, and everybody knows that.) Evidence is not what matters here, what matters is winning the war.

And yes, she does try to justify her actions. While, certainly, I think that Sophie could've been smarter on that front, we have to remember that she is not a full-grown woman. She's a fifteen year old girl. Her decision was reckless, sure, and it was guided by emotion, absolutely. But we have to remember that Sophie's fifteen. The series also acknowledges that? The first thing Forkle does when Sophie gets back is sit her down and walk her through her thought process and have her learn from her mistakes. That is character development.

But wait, you may say. Keefe is also fifteen (sixteen?)! Doesn't that mean that we should excuse his actions on the basis of age, too? Not quite. Keefe ignores good advice. Plenty of adults advise him not to do something he ends up doing later on down the line. They tell him not to go to London, with good reason. He does it, and drags Sophie into it because she's tearing up her mental health over what will happen if he goes alone. They tell him not to go to Ravagog alone, with good reason. He tries to, anyway. They tell him to follow Lady Cadence's lead when in Ravagog. He ignores that, as well. Keefe actively chooses to disregard good advice even when provided with every logical reason to. He's an emotional thinker. Sophie simply gets caught up in the heat of the moment and her reasoning goes out the window, which is not the same as being an emotional thinker. Nobody specifically instructed Sophie not to start the fire and provided good reasons for that beforehand. Is getting caught in the heat of the moment a good thing? No. But it is a far cry from actively disregarding good advice because your feelings are hurt.

And the last thing I will say about the storehouse fire is that Sophie is grilled over that decision several times by several people. Where has Keefe ever been grilled, over and over, for losing the caches? Or for giving Sophie the tracker that got her attacked? Or for compromising Alluveterre (which, by itself, is a way worse offense than the burning of the storehouse)? Or for giving up his blood? Or for any of the countless reckless, stupid things he has done? Never. Grady calls him out on it a few times, then Sophie strokes his ego and he throws himself a pity party and the matter is entirely dropped. Why the special treatment for our poor, misunderstood Keefe? May I remind you that the only reason Sophie even went looking for the caches in the storehouse is because of Keefe's own stupidity? Why do I never see any mention of that? The answer is that it's all a matter of perspective. The series repeatedly shoves the storehouse fire in our faces, so we as an audience see it as a worse offense than all those things Keefe has done because they get dropped quickly and easily fade into the background. You could almost forget about them. I bet most people don't even remember that Keefe compromises Alluveterre, and for no good reason, at that. Why? Because it's a small, throwaway detail. If you are going to call out Sophie for the storehouse fire, you best be calling out Keefe for the hundreds of equally stupid or more stupid things he's done, too.

"She’s also said to be clumsy throughout the series, but the SECOND she needs to use a knife, bam; she’s amazing at it, and has perfect fucking aim."

This is definitely true of Keefe. Have a quote for proof: “'Oh, so that’s how it is?' Keefe shouted, whipping one of Sandor’s weird throwing stars at him. The silver blades clipped the figure’s shoulder, tearing his cloak and making him drop his end of the net.” (Exile, beginning of Chapter 58) (I don't have a physical copy, sorry). This is Keefe's first time using a throwing star. And he hits the figure. And on his very first time sparring, he beats the literal ogre king, even though he'd had no battle training up until that point. And I'll finish with a quote that summarizes my point: “‘Ugh, I shouldn’t tell you this, since it’ll just make you think I’m even more messed up than you already do---’ [. . .] ‘All I know is, weapons and blood don’t bother me the way they bother other people, so . . . yeah. Feel free to think I’m super creepy---’” (Flashback, 161). He's literally less affected by violence and blood than other elves. He's able to train easier. If that's not OP (for a KOTLC elf), I don't know what is.

Now what about Sophie? It's true that she's pointed out to be a "quick [] study" by Bo while learning to throw knives, which Sandor says is because she's "special" (Flashback, 515). But compared to Keefe, she really isn't overpowered at all when it comes to battle training. And I wouldn't say it's the "SECOND" she needs to use a knife; it's specifically stated that it takes her a while to get into the rhythm of things: "But by the time her lesson was finished, she'd found a rhythm [. . .]" (Flashback, 515). She trains just like everyone else. It's not actually that OP. And unlike Keefe, she is affected by blood, as shown by her reaction to Sandor's rigging the dummy with lushberry juice. So I would say Keefe is more OP in this regard, and strangely so.

"Also, all of the guys are in love with her."

Also applicable to Keefe. He's described to have girls literally lining up at his locker to give him presents. He's described to be very attractive, and we know that Biana and Shayda Adel are only two of many, many girls to have had a crush on him (canonically).

"All of them."

Simply not true. Tam isn't in love with Sophie, for example (and thank goodness for that). It seems Jensi isn't either.

"I also find it annoying how she always goes on and on about how she has a different view on the world, since she was raised by humans or whatever (she lives in a world with elves), but she actively avoids and/or tries to sympathize with elves that have no ability, making them feel worse in the process. She has no idea what it’s like to feel powerless in a world where you’re surrounded by power, and I fucking hate that about her."

Keefe did not grow up with humans, so I cannot make a claim that he's like this. However, in Sophie's case I don't even think this is true. Sophie never "goes on and on about how she has a different view on the world". That's Forkle and the Black Swan about what their hopes for her were. What Sophie "goes on and on about" is the fact that she's the moonlark and that she was designed to have a role to play in what's happening. Aren't these the same? No, they are not. Sophie asserting that she's meant to be a part of the fight to bring down the Neverseen is not the same as asserting that she's meant to have a different world view. Now, is asserting that she has a part to play in the "war", as I'll call it, any better? I would say not really, but I also don't think she really believes it herself. Sophie is fifteen. I believe she's internalized what Forkle has projected onto her, his hopes and desires for her, and is simply parroting that dogma back. I don't think she actually wants or thinks that. I think this is simply an example of how she's been manipulated by the adults around her, even those with supposedly good intentions. But that's just my interpretation.

As for "she actively avoids and/or tries to sympathize with elves that have no ability", I have no idea what this says. I assume it meant to say "she actively avoids trying to sympathize with elves that have no ability", which is blatantly incorrect. There are several instances where she thinks about how unfair the matchmaking system is to them or just how unfair things are for them in general. This quote in particular comes to mind: “'Seems kind of unfair,' Sophie mumbled. 'You can’t control how much talent you’re born with. Why should you live a lesser life?'” (Keeper of the Lost Cities, Chapter 16). This is what she says when Edaline explains that the talentless have their own city (basically segregation) for "their kind of work".

As for that statement about power . . . ability restrictor anyone? In a world where abilities equals respect, status . . . power. She was stripped of her . . . abilities. She became talentless. Powerless. And it crushed her. She literally went into a period of severe depression over it, remember? So this is also blatantly untrue.

I would say that statement is more applicable to Keefe than it is to Sophie. Yes, Keefe didn't have much power in his abusive household, but he refused to let that make him powerless. He fought back any way he could: he drew, he pulled pranks, he got in trouble. He has never been put into such a state of powerlessness as Sophie has been. He always had something.

"Finally, she decided that even though her friend was fucking going to die/being tortured/black swan secrets were going to be leaked/being forced to betray all of his friends, it was more important to get a hot date instead."

I . . . have no idea what this is referencing. A little clarification does wonders. I assume this is referring to how much time Sophie spent with Keefe when Tam was with the Neverseen? I have no idea. And when does this so-called "hot date" take place? As I recall, that's the book where Sophie and Fitz are tentatively dating. But this couldn't be referencing Fitz, because Sophie doesn't talk to him one-on-one in that book at all, except once when she's recovering, once when they break up, and once when they make up after Tam has been rescued. So . . . what is this "hot date" that I apparently missed on my reread? What??? If this is referring to Sophie's quest for her biological parents, yes, I do agree that priorities could've been shifted and Legacy was unnecessarily focused on romance (in my opinion, but I'm aro-spec, so take it with a grain of salt, I guess), but we also need to understand that Sophie is a fifteen year old. And she does eventually move the biological parent search to the bottom of her priorities list: "We're pausing the biological parent search." (Legacy, 521).

And what about all the times Keefe puts Sophie above his other friends, just because he has a crush on her, just as Sophie put her dating life above Tam? He uses his emotional breezes only for her, with one exception in Nightfall. He could've used one on Fitz in Flashback when he was getting worked up over Alvar. But he never does. Why is that? Because he doesn't think to. Why doesn't he think to? Because Sophie is always his top priority. And this is not good at all. He reserves his breezes and his sad backstory almost exclusively for Sophie, because he prioritizes her over everyone, because he has a crush on her. How is this any different from Sophie prioritizing her dating life over Tam's situation (and feeling incredibly guilty about it, may I add)? Why do I never see anyone talking about that? It's largely the same thing.

"My hate for Sophie Elizabeth Foster is a burning, inferno of passion. Hate does not even describe it."

My hate for Keefe Sencen is a burning inferno of passion. Hate does not even begin to describe it. This is made more annoying by the fact that nobody every calls him out on his shitty behavior, while simultaneously proving that they find certain qualities he has annoying by calling them out in other characters.

(Everything I wrote here is expanded upon a lot in my grand Keefe rant coming soon.)

HOT TAKE TOURNAMENT!

PRELIMINARY #261

Submission 493

Sophie Foster from Keeper of the Lost Cities is a terrible protagonist.

I cannot think of any likeable qualities that Sophie has. She also has little to no flaws, and the ‘flaws’ that she DOES have don’t impact the story in any way, and they’re only played off for laughs and are, essentially, meaningless. Additionally, all the fucking characters are either in love with her, like her, or are evil. I hate it.

Spoiler territory after this.

At this point in the series, Sophie has FIVE FUCKINF ABILITIES (where most characters only have one, or maybe two if they’re lucky). She is honestly…so fucking stupid. Like, it’s not even funny at this point. Not only has she burnt down a storehouse with enough evidence to basically convict all of the bad guys, but she also tries to JUSTIFY her actions, saying that she was burning all their supplies (while also burning the things her organization needed). She’s also said to be clumsy throughout the series, but the SECOND she needs to use a knife, bam; she’s amazing at it, and has perfect fucking aim. Also, all of the guys are in love with her.

All of them.

I also find it annoying how she always goes on and on about how she has a different view on the world, since she was raised by humans or whatever (she lives in a world with elves), but she actively avoids and/or tries to sympathize with elves that have no ability, making them feel worse in the process. She has no idea what it’s like to feel powerless in a world where you’re surrounded by power, and I fucking hate that about her.

Finally, she decided that even though her friend was fucking going to die/being tortured/black swan secrets were going to be leaked/being forced to betray all of his friends, it was more important to get a hot date instead.

My hate for Sophie Elizabeth Foster is a burning, inferno of passion. Hate does not even describe it.

Propaganda is always encouraged!

And remember to reblog your favourite polls for exposure!

[kindaasrikal]

(CLICK FOR BETTER QUALITY TRUST)

(https://www.tumblr.com/kindaasrikal/767634820849401856/click-for-better-quality-i-swear-it-looks-better reposted and made the drawing better, check that one out instead please 🙏)

Toxic jaya is so good look how cute they are Jay is definitely not about to stab her.

I’m not entirely sure about the filters on top, so here’s a version without it under the cut as i try to figure out how the filters should be despite me somewhat liking it maybe possible idk whahwh:

If you see anything weird or stupidly drawn, no you don’t.

Jaya with Nya being so deeply in love yet so heartbroken over the one person she gave her entire self up to and showed her true self and colours too no longer loving her as she is tipped in a constant cycle of never having what she truly wants in her grasp, and Jay feeling the most complicated emotions towards a women so deeply in love with him to the point where when his desires for evil becomes stronger then his hope for good ever was, he knows he must use every tool, weakness, and strength in his arsenal. And Nya’s undying love for him is exactly what he needs to break one of the ninja’s most strongest and reliable members.

[whereismyhat5678]

I DID IT I DID THE ONE TWITTER THING-

Granted I did some tweaking, like adding Brick in the back with Gus cuz I thought it’d be cute 😅 and having a hard time choosing a third character but I chose Pizza Head! ✨💕

Original photo underneath:

[wispforever]

Crucify Him

[unordinary-diary]

Blyke in Season 3.

This is my prediction. With the way Season 2 ended, I think they’ll find Blyke months later looking something like this.

Shit happens to people in prison. Terrence was murdered in his cell, Rein was worried about being killed by other inmates, hell, Blyke’s already pretty banged up in the finale and he’s been there for 2.5 seconds. Not to mention that the Authorities seem to have no problem torturing kids *COUgh* Keon.

Perhaps it’s a bit pessimistic, but the story’s been getting a lot darker lately. I doubt Blyke’s getting out of prison without a little extra trauma at least.

Latest Chapter as of Prediction: Side Story — Triple Threat (1)

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

random but it struck me that age is just another parallel/anti-parallel that Jon and Jaime will share. Jaime was 16/17(?) when he made the fateful choice to kill Aerys, which forever besmirched his honor and caused him to be “the Kingslayer” (deragatory). Jon was about the same age, 17/18, when he made the fateful decision to march south against the Boltons, something that will undoubtedly dent his already shaky reputation and could cause him to be “the deserter” (also deragatory).

We always talk about how Jaime stagnated and wallowed in his nihilism after Aerys’ death, never growing or maturing past that point; in a way, he was always mentally stuck at 17. Jon could very well die given the wounds he received during the mutiny, and though he will be revived, he will be always be physically stuck at 17, never maturing past that point. But I think Jon has been more successful in a way that Jaime never was in that he figured out quite early (when he was 15) that though he may lose his honor, he must keep pushing for the greater good. He understood the concept of “a bastard’s honor”, and is even more fortunate to receive Tyrion’s lesson of using one’s lowly position/lack of honor to his advantage, which he has been doing to enact what he considers to be the moral goods (ref “bastard” “guilty of that, at least”). P.S: I also think it’s funny given Aemon’s advice to kill the boy in order for the man to be born. Ironic that Jon will always be a boy physically.

Jaime grew physically but not so much mentally. Jon grows mentally (it’s actually his strong suit as a character how much he matures with each book) but he will have sacrificed the ability to age normally as a boy would. Jaime lost his honor at ~17 and is characterized but years of (mental) inaction. I think Jon, on the other hand, will lose his honor but will be more and more prone to making decisions, because to hell with it all.

[mxfortunecookie]

added a bit more to the animation(animatic?) i posted previously

I was just gonna add this reblog style under that post, but tumblr wouldn’t allow me to do that …so here we are

now it's 7 frames instead of 4 😧, also fixed Cross’s arms a bit so they don’t look like they are elongating nearly as badly (I believe they still slightly look like that, but oh well, I tried)

Not postin the frames this time because no :)

Anyway, in short, I love them, have a nice day \(ü)

Credits-

Nightmare: Jokublog

Cross: Jakei95

[drrav3nb]

KING CANUTE and QUEEN EMMA in VIKINGS: VALHALLA | SEASON TWO

[qiu-yan]

EDIT: just realized that i should clarify something. what i meant by "feel bad for nie huaisang :(" was that jiang cheng felt bad for nie huaisang after nie mingjue died, because having to assume the burden of sect leadership while still grieving was something jiang cheng understood as well.

that poll option does NOT mean "jiang cheng thinks nie mingjue is abusing nie huaisang" or whatever. i should have made that clearer and i'm only realizing now my phrasing was in fact Dogshitte. i'm sorry.

[triglycercule]

sometimes i like to think that horror comes to dust's room late at night just to talk to phantom papyrus. no he doesn't wanna talk to dust. horror probably doesn't even CARE if dust's awake at the asscrack of dawn or rambling off to the hallucination too loudly this late at night because he just wants to talk to phantom papyrus

horror's not delusional enough to believe that phantom paps is actually real and his own papyrus like dust does but sometimes he really wants to,,,, so just for these short moments between them he wants to pretend that the hallucination is his papyrus. that he gets to talk to his own brother before everything went to shit and before he ruined his brother's life. yeah sure phantom paps kinda says some crazy stuff that horror's papyrus never would back then but so what?? dust's papyrus is the closest thing he's got and at least he doesn't have to deal with the guilt at even LOOKING at his brother's face (the sunken eyesockets,,,, the uneven teeth,,,,, yeah no) because there's nothing there. horror doesn't have to do anything but keep his back turned to dust and just talk to papyrus through him

they both keep their backs turned to eachother when they do this because neither of them can stand looking at eachother. dust especially because hearing horror sound so much like how he was before. horror sounds so lighthearted and relaxed and just,,,,, normal that it almost reminds dust of himself. maybe if he closed his eyes and tuned out his own voice he could just imagine the moment being a conversation between himself and paps back then before he had to kill him over and over. dust doesn't want to have to look back and see horror's mutilated skull and his permanently replaced eye. he doesn't want the fake scenario he's choosing to indulge in right now to be broken

and then i think they talk like that for a long time; because horror has a lot to say to paps about himself and what he regrets and dust has a lot of reminiscing to do on the good old days before he lost himself :3

[words-without-rules]

[igotsnothing]

I gave Greg a small makeover (hair/eyebrows, skin, irises, no more mutton chops, but I did not touch bone structure or any of his features) and brought Lou to the lot to see what would happen and then when I opened the game THEY WERE STANDING THIS CLOSE AND LOOKING AT EACH OTHER LIKE THIS and really, what am I supposed to do? How am I not supposed to write another damn story? Seriously.

[shimera]

Ooh I guess I'm doing it... The post about car paint job from the worker's point of view.

Tiny disclaimer: I'm not an overly experienced professional (even tho I've been doing all this almost every day rn) and some things I'll mention may vary from workshop to workshop so yeah I'mma explain the way I've personally experienced this kind of job

Also I'm not talking about small touch-ups like a scratch or a small ship of some sort, this post is about going BIG starting from repainting a rusted corner of a door and to a fully new paint job like if you want to change the color of a whole car.

Don't feel obliged to follow all this in your fics and other works tho, I completely understand that sometimes you simplify stuff for the sake of the plot, and to be honest I do that too.

I also sincerely apologize if some of the terms aren't completely correct as english is not my first language

Warning: long post ahead

So, where do I start... Well, the whole process is in fact REALLY time consuming. You can do all the steps as fast as you can, yes, but still you'll be stuck with drying all the layers of the primer, base coat and clear coat anyway (this can be sped up with some infrared lamps and stuff but if you don't have these... Well, it is what it is). Also it usually takes at least 2-4 people to get the parts ready. Depending on your skills you can do it by yourself as well but for that you'd need to know how to disassemble and assemble a car, the process of preparing the parts you're gonna paint and master your painting skills to get the result you're looking for (plus sometimes you'll need to know how to weld and fix some big dents too). At my workplace all these jobs (except preparing the parts and painting them) are done by separate people, but as I said earlier, it may vary.

DEMOLISHING

First, you decide what are you going to take off the car and how much of it has to go. I'm not really involved in the process of it as I'm not a mechanic (fitter?), but yea usually you need to take off bumpers (especially if they're a part that's getting fixed and repainted), doors, hood, trunk and front&rear window glass are optional most of the time; if the hood or a door is getting painted we usually take it off. The trunk is also taken off to repaint but sometimes it can stay if there are parts close enough to it that get painted as well (for example, I've prepared a trunk and both of the rear fenders, so the trunk stayed on the car). Also most of the time the inner door panels are taken off when the door is painted, the window glass is optional but to avoid damaging it if something goes wrong we keep it in closed position or take it off; door handles always have to go separately. Oh and sometimes you'll have to take the wheels off too if they're gonna get in the way later on.

PROTECT ANYTHING THAT'S LEFT

So, the first step was successful: you figured out what, how and how much to disassemble and may think now you can start preparing the parts-- Oop, not so fast. Now you have to protect anything that you didn't take off and don't want to accidentally damage/get dirty. If the part is still on the car and any door opening is gonna be involved (and believe me, it most likely will) or they were taken off - you better cover the doorways with paper and masking tape, because you don't want the interior to get all dusty and filled with sand!! And the absolute best thing will be to cover all the remaining parts too (there are covers made for that but technically any overly huge plastic bag thingy will do) because you don't want the primer to leave any residue on them. Also you absolutely don't want to damage anything that's close to the repainted part so it's gets covered with some masking tape and/or reinforced tape - the more, the better, you can never be too careful, but remember that it's also kind of a time consuming process (sometimes it takes up to half a day to cover everything up if you're doing it alone, but most of the time it's from about twenty minutes to an hour or so)

REPAIRING AND SANDING

Finally you made it through this step too, congrats! Now the action begins: you need to get that baby ready to get a new paint job.

In my workplace the cars we paint almost every time have some chips (these can rust really well quite fast so it's important not to miss out any), scratches (they can show through the new paint if you don't sand them down completely) and of course some amount of rust, so first thing you want to do is to make sure none of it stays where it was. Most of the time you don't need to take all the paint amd primer off, so that's when you take an eccentric machine and start sanding away everything you want gone. Sometimes if the paint peels off by itself at some spots you have to sand all of it or it might start doing the same in the other spots. Sometimes you'll find out the car was already repaired and there are layers of putty there - if there's no signs of rusting underneath, you want to sand it as little as possible because the other option is to put it all back on by yourself AND make the shape of a part look like it's never been repaired, and it's not a simple task if you don't have years of experience behind your back.

The dents are treated depending on their size: if it's small enough you sand it until bare metal shows up and then cover up with some putty - make sure to really press it in so it won't sag after you finished everything. If it's big you grab some tools and fix it or call someone who knows how to fix those (that's my option at the moment sadly) and get them to fix it. Some putty still will be applied on top to make sure the detail is smooth just as new.

Sometimes it's necessary to wield parts that were too damaged. Sadly, I don't know much of it, but it's most likely a job for a couple hours or so (but there was a really fucked up extremely rusted car that's been in work for almost HALF A YEAR- yeah our wielder quit right after finishing the poor thing😭 and the car itself was released into the wild just a couple days ago). The thing I know tho is that even after sanding down everything you welded, you most likely still will have to cover it all up with putty because it won't be looking good without it. And make sure to use the right grit sandpaper because if it's too harsh it Will Absolutely Show Through after you paint it. Even if you did put some putty on top.

The rust itself may be treated a couple ways. If it's light enough that there are just some spots sitting on top of the metal then you just sand it down and call it a day. If it's so bad that chunks of metal are falling off by themselves or there are holes in it you call your wielder to cut the thing off and put a new piece of metal to cover the hole up. And if it's something in between, you go grab a sandblasting gun and all the protective gear you can find because it's about to get DIRTY. The process is quite simple: all you need to do is to connect the thing to a compressor, get yourself some clean fine sand (or else you'll be REALLY annoyed when you'll need to adjust it every ten seconds because some shit got stuck in it TRUST ME I KNOW (and also it can damage the equipment)) and start blasting the rust with it. But it's also really slow as the range of where the sand is hitting the metal is small, and you'll have to go over the same spot a couple times from different angles to really get all that rust removed. And if you blast a spot for too long it also may develop a bulge. After all this you also clean it all up and (optionally) add some putty on top. If you really want to get it extra protected you can first apply a layer of epoxy primer to the area you just relieved of rust and only after it's cured you can add the putty.

If you're working with bumpers tho it's best if you put as little putty on it as possible. These things are made to be flexible and the putty is not so it can and will fall off if any accidents that involve the bumper being squished happen. If you can sand that chip off - you do it. Also the fact of them being kind of flexible leads to paint developing some cracks that go deep through the layers and sometimes into the plastic as well. This mostly happens when it developed too many layers of paint over the years of repainting the thing, what leads to losing a lot of flexibility of the said paint, so while the bumper gets a hit and bounces back - the layers crack. And yeah if you see it you sand it down COMPLETELY or it will show through.

Last step is to make sure everything is smooth, the layers (top coat, base coat, primer and sometimes additional coats of paint from previous jobs) are stretched while sanding those (so there are no bumps there) and the grit of the sandpaper Was Small Enough because otherwise It Will Show Through.

PRIMER AND SANDING AGAIN

Now that you've got through the first round of sanding you need to put a coat of epoxy primer if there was bare metal involved and 2-5 coats of acrylic primer on top (both preferably two-component and applied with a spray gun). There's not much to say about this except that you most likely will need to do some additional masking. And if you do fuck up on this step (like overflow the paint at some spots that it starts dripping) it's still fixable: the second round of sanding is waiting for you just as finishes drying. The time of curing for the primer depends on it's type, manufacturer and the temperature you're working in, but mostl likely it's gonna take around 8 hours at the room temperature or around half an hour with the lamps.

Now that it's all cured the parts are ready to sand yet again - even if it was all perfect before you still need to make sure it's smooth, looks like it's supposed to look and has enough sandpaper scratches because the paint won't stick to a shiny-smooth surface. So sanding down it is - finer grit this time, but it is still necessary, especially if there were any repairs. The area you're going to sand this time (if just a part of a detail is going to be repainted) also is a lot bigger than you prepared at this point because to make it look as if there were no repaints at all the base coat and the top coat both need to be applied in a way that will not look bumpy. Also there are some steps to take if you've repaired some stuff there: first you sand the thing with your hands and a sanding block, and after that you get a finer grit sandpaper and - again - an eccentric machine and make sure you got all the previous scratches out or else It Will Show Through.

Finally, it's all ready - now you need just to rip most of the previous covers off, tape on some new ones adjusted to the new sanded area (takes a shit ton of time again and you better not miss this step) and you're ready to degrease the thing and FINALLY paint it. At this point depending on the equipment you've already spent around 1-3 days on the thing (including all the waiting and stuff. You absolutely can and will prepare other parts while you wait).

WOW YOU DID IT! NOW PAINT AND NOT DIE

I'm not really involved in the painting process yet (oh the lack of skill), but what I know about it is the fact that the white paint is the one which lets you get away with the biggest amount of mistakes of all. And if the paint has any shimmer/glitter in it... Well, it takes some skills to make it lay flat and not become a spotty mess (if you do fuck up at this point you'll have to repeat some sanding). Also the base coat is usually really thin as it only gives the color to a piece. The clear top coat is the one that's both the heaviest and the thickest because it's supposed to protect everything else. After applying all this you leave it to dry for around 17-24 hours (the more the better), assemble everything back together and technically you're done. Or are you?

MAKE IT SHINY

Now we've come to the additional step. Polishing. Some workshop do it, some don't. In my workplace we don't go an extra mile for it, but we still do polish the parts we painted to give it some extra shine and get rid of occasional dust that landed before painting process was finished and small drips of the top coat. First you sand these - and only these - down with a really fine grit sandpaper (preferably also wet) by hand and polish it until shiny again using different compounds and fur/foam discs and the machine almost like you've used before but this one has even more speed and power. Finding all the dust pieces especially on the big surfaces like a hood or a roof is quite a challenge - sometimes you will miss a couple and will have to go back a few steps back to sand them off. You should also rinse the car after the polishing because it gets quite dirty from time to time and these compounds are not very easy to get off when they dry.

Finally, everything is nice, smooth, shiny amd clean, and you can finally say you're done! Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you learned something useful today! If I missed out on something, feel free to ask any questions, I'll do my best to clear all that up for you!

[cator99]

You know you're about to get the best T shot of your life + some strong opinions on the bullshit ways people are doing it when u go in to a rural pharmacy and the 55 year old guy behind the counter is so jacked he barely fits into the damn lab coat

[razzle-zazzle]

Whumptober Day 05: Sunburn

Healing Salve + "If my pain will stretch that far"

2385 Words; Raised by Serpentine, sometime before "Can of Worms"

TW for mentions of past attempted indirect genocide (the serpentine entombment)

AO3 ver

“I wonder if we should go down to the lake later.” Lou mused.

Skalidor turned his attention to Lou, “You hate the lake.” It was true—the lake was a deep half-flooded underground cavern that seemed to stretch on forever, the other end unlit and unreachable. Lou did not consider himself a strong swimmer, and rarely went down there if he could help it.

Lou shrugged. “I was thinking we might have fish for dinner.” He stepped to the side as an overexcited hatchling barreled between them, a harried parent chasing after them.

Skalidor hmmed. “That does sound good. Perhapss Cole and I can go down there to surprisse you with one.” The tunnel they were in opened up as they reached the central chamber, torches and patches of growing moss illuminating a spiral up to the ceiling high above. Chanting filled the area—there was an active Slitherpit in progress towards the center.

“You and I can what?” Cole arrived before them, the same hatchling tucked under his arm and squirming furiously. He turned his attention to the hatchling—ah, Skalidor recognized this one. Little Pebbline, the youngest in the entire tomb. “You can’t just run around recklessly,” Cole was chiding, as Pebbline struggled valiantly to return to the ground. “You’re going to break your face on a wall.”

“Will not!” Pebbline protested, hanging upside-down in Cole’s arms at this point.

“Pebbline!” And there was Bytar, her father. “Thank you for catching her, Cole.” He smiled, taking Pebbline in his arms, and she hissed her displeasure before subsiding.

Cole grinned. “Of course!”

Bytar turned back into the tunnel, then, heading off with Pebbline in tow. Skalidor could faintly hear her begging to go back so she could see the Slitherpit.

“It’s a good thing you don’t run around like that anymore.” Lou commented, as Cole fell into step with them. “I could barely catch you back then, I wouldn’t want to imagine having to catch you now!”

Cole opened his mouth to respond—

A terrible grinding sound filled the central chamber, the sound of stone against stone harsh and loud. Screams broke out as everyone looked for the source of the noise, and Skalidor clutched his staff and pulled Lou against his side. Cole leapt forwards, arms outstretched as though he might prevent the inevitable cave-in��as though he was yet capable of moving more than small pebbles.

“It’s coming from above!” Someone shouted.

“The ceiling will crush usss!” Another voice realized.

“EVERYONE OUT OF THE CHAMBER!” Skalidor commanded, watching as Dweller and Constrictai alike dashed for the tunnel entrances lining the wall. He started to slither back, Lou still close at hand, once it seemed as though almost everyone was out—Cole!

“Cole, what are you—” Skalidor started, almost ready to go back in just to drag him out. This reckless boy—!

“It’s not caving in.” Cole’s arms had fallen to his sides, and he was gazing up into the shadows of the ceiling with an unreadable expression. “It’s—”

He stumbled back at the same time that the grinding stopped, arm raised above his head as he stared up towards the ceiling.

“Cole.” Skalidor hissed. The whole chamber was clearly unstable, after a noise like that—or worse, it had been one of the tunnels, and Skalidor’s order had seen several of his people buried—

“Skal,” Lou stepped forwards, pointing up towards the ceiling, “dear, look up.”

Skalidor looked up.

His staff clattered to the ground from a suddenly boneless hand—Skalidor ducked down to pick it up, keeping his eyes up on the ceiling—at the top of the stairs that wound around and up, a remnant of when their community had first been entombed generations ago—

Eyes locked on the bright circle of light where before there were shadows.

The light shooting down the stairs was brighter than any torchlight Skalidor had seen before, brighter than any glowing moss. It almost didn’t seem real—never, in all of his decades, had Skalidor conceived of the tomb being opened. But that was what the light had to be, right? Surely, it couldn’t mean anything else.

Faces were peeking into the central chamber from the tunnels scattered about, curious mutterings filling the air as everyone present took in the new development.

“Open?”

“That light!”

“Impossible! Nothing can break the barrier!”

“It’ss ssso bright…”

“How did it open?”

“A monster! A monster iss coming down to kill uss all!”

There was a shape casting a shadow upon the steps. Skalidor gripped his staff, and slithered forwards. Cole fell into step beside him, and Skalidor held his staff in front of the boy to stop him.

“Wh—lemme help!” Cole protested, voice close to a whisper.

“Sstay here.” Skalidor hissed. “I will invesstigate. You will protect.” Cole made a face, but backed off, standing beside Lou as Skalidor ascended the ancient steps.

That the stairs were completely out of use wasn’t actually true—though the tomb was magically sealed, the stairs allowed access to the upper walls of the central chamber—Skalidor passed by murals and carvings that had existed long before him without a second glance. He slowed down as he reached the top, squinting against the light.

The form that cast the shadow stood at the entrance, backlit by light so bright that Skalidor couldn’t make out any features. But their shape was vaguely serpentine—they would likely be strong, if it came to blows. They might even have some of the strange adaptations Skalidor had heard the supposed other tribes of Serpentine possessed.

“Who goesss there?” Skalidor asked, when the figure remained still. After a moment, they moved, slithering forwards and ducking their head. Their neck was very long—a potential handhold for grappling, then.

“Greetingss, my Constrictai cohort.” Their voice was smooth and even, and they moved to the side of Skalidor. They were scaled, just as he expected—but where Skalidor bore the blacks and oranges of a Constrictai, they were violet.

“An Anacondrai?” Skalidor asked. He’d heard the tales—they were the strongest of the Serpentine, the fastest and most resilient. They outmatched every other tribe, and lead the charge in the ancient war—but even they, too, had fallen, or so every tale assumed.

The Anacondrai nodded his head. “Oh, where are my manners?” They offered a hand, “Pythor P. Chumsworth, at your service.” He smiled, then, pleasant and disarming.

“How did you open the tomb?” Not even an Earth Master could break the barrier, nor could they tunnel around it—though there had been plenty of attempts. The tomb was meant to be permanent—a resting place, where those entombed were to die and never return.

“Curious, no?’ Pythor inclined his head towards the entrance. “Far as I can tell, for all the effort they put into making the tombs inescapable from within, that same effort wasn’t given to prevent them being opened from the outside.”

Skalidor balked. “That easy? But why?” There were no intentions to let the entombed out—or else they wouldn’t have been trapped down there for generations. Right?

Pythor shrugged. “Well, the rock was rather heavy. But yes, I could feel the magic breaking as I moved it. The seal didn’t wear off.”

Skalidor hissed. The light seemed to beckon him, and he tore forwards, needing to see for himself that the tomb has well and truly been breached—

Skalidor recoiled as the light from outside the tomb hit him in full. After a moment, he reopened his eyes, slowly enough that, though the light still burned, it did not sear quite as bright as before. His eyes adjusted, to a light level they had never experienced before—

Skalidor gasped.

Pythor slithered up beside him. “Well?” He prompted, staring out at the sights he had already seen.

“It’s…” Skalidor searched for the words. He had thought nothing could dwarf the underground lake in terms of sheer size—and yet. The light bearing down was hot, far hotter than any torchlight, and brighter as well. It reminded him of a festival years past when they had set up a bonfire in the central chamber. Back when Lilly… back when she had still been alive, standing at his side and making sure the smoke didn’t flood the caverns.

But not even the bonfire had anything on this. Skalidor turned his head towards the sky, eyes squinting against the light raining down. It was so bright. He could hardly see—and yet it was still better than when he had first emerged, and couldn’t see at all.

Pythor watched as Skalidor breathed in the outside air—it was hot, bone dry, so different from the caverns—patiently allowing the general to adjust. “Incredible, is it not?” He asked.

Skalidor breathed slowly, just trying to take in the enormity of the sky above him. Brilliant blue—he wasn’t sure he had seen blues so deep—cascading from horizon to horizon like the roof of a cavern—and yet the sky seemed to go on forever in a way that stone did not.

“It’ss something.” Skalidor breathed, dizzy from the magnitude of it. “I never imagined…”

Pythor chuckled. “I think we’ve all felt like this.” He swept an arm out, “I can’t believe this was kept from us—and for what?” his expression darkened. “Because of some trifle like a war that ended long before you and I were born? For generations, we’ve suffered beneath the surface, locked away from all of this world that they’re not even using—!” He paused, taking a breath. “My apologies,” He bowed his head. “I lost control of myself. But the knowledge of all that we’ve been denied—” He cut himself off with a hiss, shaking his head.

“No, I think I get it.” Skalidor spoke. “There’s just. Sso much.” From this perch atop—a mountain, was that the word? Skalidor had to think back to the stories of the surface passed down through generations—but from up so high, Skalidor could see so much. And yet he couldn’t make out anything living—that he recognized. All this space…

The tomb was never really cramped, in Skalidor’s memory—there simply weren’t enough Constrictai or Dwellers in it. Maybe it had been cramped when the original community had first been sealed away—but that had been long before Skalidor’s time. But he had heard the stories, of what could grow up here, of animals much bigger than cave newts. The vast distance laid out before him suddenly seemed so ideal—and yet he couldn’t spot a single surface human, nor any sign of their communities. He absently noticed his tail buzzing. He didn’t quite care to stop it.

“They have all this space that they’re not even ussing.” Skalidor hissed. “We have had to sscrape together what little we could find—”

“They don’t deserve this.” Pythor agreed, “Not one bit. Not after locking us away like vermin!”

Skalidor’s grip on his staff tightened.

“Skal, you ok—OWWW—” Skalidor turned around to see Cole poking his head out the entrance—well, no, the boy had stumbled back into the shadows of the entrance, what little of his face wasn’t hidden behind his arm scrunched against the light.

Skalidor chuckled. “Bright, isn’t it?” Beside him, Pythor’s eyes narrowed.

Cole tentatively reached his hand out into the light. “It feels like I’m sticking my hand in fire.” He muttered, before pulling back. Slowly, he lowered his arm, eyes blinking open—and immediately squinting against the light.

Pythor grimaced. “There are humans in your tomb?” He sounded put out by the very idea.

Skalidor regarded him curiously. “Sssurface humanss were willing to entomb their own kind.” He spat. “But now the dwellers are simply more of our kind—our community—” He looked at Cole with fondness— “Cole is our Elemental Master. Earth, in fact.” There was uncontained pride in his voice, for all that Cole had yet to fully inherit Lilly’s mantle and powers.

Pythor hmmed. “I had heard that a Master of Earth took up arms on the side of the Serpentine.” He stared at Cole curiously. “I had thought it just a tale to tell hatchlings, to give them false hope.”

“Well, I’m real.” Cole replied. He glared at Pythor for a moment more before schooling his expression. “Thanks for opening the tomb.” He said, in tones of quiet disbelief.

Skalidor could hardly believe it himself. “We can leave the tomb.” He murmured. “We wouldn’t be trapped anymore—what you’ve given us access to, I—I don’t know how we could ever repay you.”

Pythor waved his hand dismissively. “Oh, no no! I don’t need anything in return! I just abhorred the thought of any of my fellow Serpentine continuing to suffer in their tombs.” His mouth curled in distaste, “It really was cruel of the humans to entomb us all. They don’t deserve this pristine surface of theirs.” He hissed. “Not one bit.”

Skalidor nodded. “You have my agreement on that.”

Cole leaned against the side of the entrance, arms crossed. When Skalidor glanced back, he could see others had climbed up the stairs—even if most of the watching faces were sticking to the shadows, eyes squinted against the light.

Pythor’s head tilted as he regarded them all. “Well, while I did say that I didn’t need anything in return…” He mulled over his words before continuing, “I was hoping you might join me in my endeavor to reunite the Serpentine once again. It would be so wonderful to take the surface back from the humans, don’t you think?”

Skalidor wanted to. Just looking at the open space spilling out before him, and knowing that there was yet more that had been denied to his people by the sealing of the tomb—he wanted the surface humans to pay for their crimes. To deliver the grievances of hundreds of Constrictai and Dwellers from generations of suffering unto them, and make them pay.

There was one problem, though. “We barely number two hundred.” Skalidor pointed out. “And many of our number are not built for war.” There were the elderly, the young, the sick and those disinclined to fight. Nobody was at full strength—especially not with the current blight. “How will we ever defeat the surface humans, when our ancestors could not?”

Pythor chuckled. “Oh, my practical friend, I have just the plan for that!” He looked to Cole, and then to the cautious faces peeking out of the tomb’s entrance, and spoke.

“Have any of you heard of the legend of the Great Devourer?”