#did i say this would be short

[murderoushagthesequel]

new fic rant because i binged all of A Full Guide To Gardening For Amateurs by @aphrsditea in one day

tbh i'm kind of worded-out rn, i used up all my words in comments and my own personal fic rant so i'm keeping this short and sweet but that doesn't mean i loved the fic any less because it was phenomenal

as a person with adhd, i found this fic really inspiring. i suppose it gave me hope for my own future in a way? both through james and through the author. as much as i love icotfs there's this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that my brain will lose interest and i'll have to let go of it but seeing that this series of fics was completed gives me new motivation and confidence in myself (don't worry i will not give up on icotfs, i will fight my brain tooth and nail)

as for james, yes, he's a mess, and he's accepted that. he knows it'll get bad again and he knows he can get through it together with regulus which just, are you fucking kidding me that's so cute. and also regulus is there to remind james to eat! idk that just made me happy, because i forget to eat or put it off. and finally, just reading this connected with my brain in the way not many other fics have because my brain works similarly to james'. i don't have bipolar so of course there's differences but the ranting and rambling is very relatable which honestly is probably why i read this so fast. it just makes sense to my brain.

regulus! regulus, my love. i love him, could you tell? this man fucking went through it. and he ended up with the best because he deserves absolutely nothing less. like he may have gone off the rails but andy and cissy were there to pick him back up and get him help! and he healed! and is he fully okay now? no, but that's okay, because he has his family and the love of his life and a cat.

my brain is beginning to shut off now so that's all but i fucking loved this so much and will be reading afgtsofsl next.

[zivazivc]

my brainrot about these two can be measured in liters

[sevenines]

i saw this tweet and found it interesting for two reasons. one is that some people base how good cartoon network would be to toh by how it treated su, and despite the fact that su’s treatment by the network was considered poor at the time, now its thought to be exceptionally good in comparison to modern shows.

two is how exactly su got impacted by a limited budget. a common criticism is how characters like connie, peridot, and lapis are left out of missions. but balancing a lot of characters is not only hard but also costly (extra animation, extra voices—it’s been revealed that the show is limited to a set number of characters per episode otherwise they’re over budget). animation mistakes are not uncommon since retakes cost extra. the entire reason the original show got cut short was due to loss of funding!

[worstloki]

AU where Loki doesn’t interfere with Thor’s banishment at all and it takes Thor years to prove himself worthy and when he returns to Asgard everything is just. The same. Nothing seems to have changed at all and everyone greets him like his absence was a minor obstacle that didn’t fundamentally change Thor and the worst part is Loki stepped down from the place as regent without any delay and Thor can’t help but feel there’s something underlaying the way his brother looks at him now and won’t let him touch him and Thor doesn’t know what he could have missed because he doesn’t think he would have found anything wrong with the things around him and how everyone behaves if he hadn’t spent time on Earth reflecting.

[tritoch]

the realization that rielle is like probably 17-19 (per her comment about being due for the elezen growth spurt) puts an entirely new spin on that line of quests lmao particularly every time she's like sidurgu dude i am not your surrogate daughter. imagine constantly being treated like an orphaned waif child by a 26 year old man with depression and it's literally just because you're a short teenager and he met your mom one time. remarkable stuff.

[anonymouscheeses]

Chaggie human AU except Charlie is a demon Vaggie summoned.

Yknoww??? Stars??? Cuz morningSTAR??? Okay I'll stop *sob*

Here's most of the body design. This is my actual first drawing of them, I made the vest for Charlie a darker yellow but for now feast your eyes upon the minion lookin ahh 😭 (The cape was supposed to be yellow and the vest/suit thing was blue but it clashed with Charlie's hair and shoulder.... things.)

Dw abt the shoes, Charlie is shown later and Vaggies is just black Jordan's cuz she cool like that ig 😭

Angel Dust is the crackhead who sells drugs. No money? Get ready for a beat down brutha he about to 🔥 serve 🔥 a punch. (I'm gonna def change his clothes eventually to something else but I like everything else ngl I kinda ate 😍(no i didnt))

Human form Charlie! She looks like Shldon Coper if he went through a furry phase...... that was a HORRIBME comparison what am I on bro 😭..... uhhh just think of any teenage furry who isn't edgy, that's Charlie.

Hey wait a second, Chaggie angst? With ooc Vaggie/Valerie?? Unreal 🤯

PLEASE ASK ABOUT THIS AU IM SO DESPERATE. ANY CHAFACYER DESIGNS OF ANY CHARACTER YOU WANNA SEE (IF THEY ARE IN THE SHOW OFC), ANY FRIENDSHIPS, SHIPS(search for my shipping rank to see what I like or uncomfy with), DYNAMICS, WORLD BUILDING. I HAVE SO MUCH IN MY MIND RIGHT NOW AND IM GOING TO STOP BEFORE I RAMBLE TOO KONG... uhhhhhh, MY ASKS/REQUESTS ARE OPEN. PLEASE. IM IN LOVE WITH MY AU AND NEED PPL TO BE INVESTED AS MUCH AS I AM (ILL STILL MAKE ART BUT PPL NEED TO BE INTERESTED OR ITS LIKE TALKING TO A BRICK WALL)🙏🙏

[dykedvonte]

Honestly I see Jimmy's refusal to put Curly out of his misery less about his weird feelings of envy or his delusions but the fact Curly is all but stated to be a shield to Jimmy from his actions and people seeing the worst in him.

The only characters that Jimmy really interacts with one on one before the crash are Curly and Anya, two individuals he has wildly different relationships with. It's likely that Curly really did most of the talking between them as the pilots and the rest of the crew as staff. They didn't know of Jimmy's more reprehensible behaviors cause they never really had the chance to and Jimmy is subconsciously aware. If they had disliked him more than Anya would have told Swansea earlier or even Daisuke when things got really bad.

It's why he takes the immediate opportunity to blame Curly; He's the shield. He's saved Jimmy's ass more times than he can count and more times than Jimmy would ever admit. Even when he can't really do it anymore, he mentally shields himself from his own faults by putting Curly between them. Letting Curly die puts too much on him because he doesn't know how to function without a safety net.

In the end Curly only lives because Jimmy needs the idea that Curly will inevitably make things better to stay alive, meaning Curly has to live, no matter how much it pains him to do so.

[emborami]

Through the years, from popinjay to coxcomb to maccaroni to dandy to dude

[shadowofaghost5]

Give it up for everybody’s favourite street rat!!!

-

Fanart of Aaron from Fox’s Tounge and Kirin’s Bone, an incredible book by @muffinlance

I worked hard on this an am incredibly proud of how it turned out. If you wanna hear about the process, feel free to check out me rambling in the tags.

[alwayshinny]

Ginny Weasley 👑 - The most underrated character in hp, and the girl who deserves so much more love than she receives in fandom.

[buck1eys]

guys i am begging you to consider the parallels

[starflungwaddledee]

For 💖🎀, what about Marx? Little cute creature concealing incredible magic and uncanny features! I think he could be so mean to her ❤️

oh... anon you are very big brained for this one. he could unfortunately be so so mean to her.... and he has such pretty pretty wings! she would be enraptured instantly.

bonus eye-anim version (cw eyes/flashing gif):

[batbabydamian]

Met Joshua Williamson at NYCC during one of his signings! He said of all the characters he wants to protect the most at DC, it would be Damian because that’s his “baby boy” 🥺 Said he’s tired of people hurting Damian since he’s already gone through so much his whole life.

Asked him 2 questions!

What accent does Damian have?

Others have asked him but he doesn’t want to say, because he wants people to talk about it! He mentioned Damian has only lived in America for 4 years, and would naturally have an accent.

Who decided on Damian’s new hair?

Simone - Joshua said he didn’t notice it at first and then he was like “UMMM IT KINDA LOOKS LIKE TIM…”

He let it go because he thought about how Tim has had different hairstyles, and Damian is young and still growing.

[huenistar]

i hate stupid people who ask u a question and after u say no they say the question again, are u dumb??

“can i do ur nails” “no” “can i do ur nails” “no” “WHYYYY” “because i dont want u to do my nails” “WHY?” “no” “JUST LET ME DO UR NAILS” “no” = a genuine conversation i have with my sister atleast once a month

if i said “no” 10 times… do u think ill say yes the 11th time??

thats like putting ur hand on a hot stove twice and expecting a different outcome😭😭 HO I SAID NO

(also pls read tags, it continues what im saying🙏🙏)

[nyatbinary-81]

@vulpixisananimal sifstem art jumpscare!! more specifically i got bored and decided to mess around with sif and mal's outfits.

[freckliedan]

how do i know if i prefer mono or poly

the only person who can answer that for you is you, anon! i am also not booksmart on polyamory; i just know things about me and people i'm in community with.

i think the answer is to ask yourself questions, and be honest with yourself about your answers? and it's ok if the answers to some of the questions are "i won't know without experience."

i'll list some questions i'd ask if i was in your shoes under the cut

do i have the capacity to find more than one person hot at the same time? to have a crush on more than one person at the same time?

those are morally neutural traits either way, and don't mean you HAVE to be poly if the answer is yes; healthy monogamy has room to acknowledge other people are hot sometimes! but basically asking yourself if you have the capacity for poly desire.

on that note: is dating and/or having sex something i enjoy and want to experience more, with more people?

this one's pretty straightforward. beyond having the capacity for poly desires, would acting on them be enjoyable? would it make you happy and enrich your life?

how would i feel about a partner finding someone else attractive? having a crush on someone else? how would i feel about a partner going on dates with or having casual sex with someone else?

does the way you feel about that change depending on the hypothetical other person's gender? does it change if the hypothetical person your partner is being romantic and/or sexual with is someone you already know? (queer relationships often begin with friendship, yknow?)

jealousy and insecurity still happen in poly relationships! knowing those may come up in some of these scenarios doesn't mean you should automatically Not Consider Polyamory. if the amount of jealousy and insecurity that would come up would make you miserable and outweigh any potential positives, polyamory might not be right for you.

but there's some beautiful emotions that come up, too—being happy that the person you love loves someone and is loved by them & finding joy in their happiness feels amazing.

i will also say: if you have negative feelings about a partner having connection with people of one gender but not another, you likely have some biphobia to unpack, and i would reccomend doing so. i don't ask this out of assumptions about you personally, but because i know it comes up with some frequency.

how do you feel about communication? is it something you enjoy? do you do your best to be proactive when you have an upset or need to talk about? do you put effort into commenting on what is positive and what you are happy about? how able are you to notice and express your needs—do you expect others to figure them out witout telling them, or do you take responsibility and ownership of where you're at?

if you don't have experience dating, you can think about your communication style in other areas of your life. you also don't have to be textbook perfect. but communication is a huge part of polyamory. i and the people i am in community with who are polyamorous all are people who love to communicate and self reflect and who have put a lot of time and energy into developing these skills! it takes a lot of talking and being honest about where you're at.

to elaborate on this with personal experience. right now i am in a romantic/sexual partnership with my husband, and a number of platonic partnerships. and three of those partnerships are in a place where we share mutual attraction we might be acting on in the next year 🤞.

knowing there's attraction there and that we might act on it is something i've talked about with those people, but also my husband, and also a couple other platonic partners of mine who i often process things with.

the conversations with my husband have been along the lines of checking in about where we both still are about polyamory in our relationship, how they might feel about my relationships with some of our friends changing, me gauging & processing my emotions, and us affirming our connection.

my conversations with friends i am blurring the line between romantic and platonic with have included:

talking a lot about how we feel about polyamory and the polyamory we are doing separately from each other

talking about what our connection at the present means to us and building a solid foundation in communication—these are people i am continually saying "i like xyz about you/us" "i appreciate abc" "this is a way i like being treated" & checking in about boundaries and needs ("is there a way i can show up for you right now?" "i'd love if ___, but choose what works for your energy level!"). it's easy to say no to or hear no from them. and that's in casual conversation every time we see each other!

talking about views on sex and bodies and attraction. me and each of these friends are on similar pages about thinking sex is cool and just another activity, and something you can share with friends. they're people who i know are proactive about safe sex, too.

being open about finding each other hot.

that lead to conversations about whether we wanted to start with kissing and maybe add more to our current dynamic, & in those conversations a few months back i said i DID want that someday, but that things were not good with my mental health and that i wanted to wait to experience that kind of change, but probably less than a year.

my conversations with other platonic partners mostly have covered: me processing where i'm at in the present with mental health concerns and how it effects the potential changes in dynamic; excitement about how much i love these friends; processing past experiences with polyamory and how they impacted my self perception in the present, reprocessing what happened in the past in the now.

that's kind of a long side tangent, but like. best example i could give of the amounts of communication that might be happening regarding a single topic?

it's not always easy? like, it takes effort. but it is rewarding, and fills my life with meaning, and choosing this for myself is how i am able to be my most authentic self, live my values, and experience the most joy.

back to the list of questions.

how do you understand and navigate consent?

i don't mean this just about sex. something i've noticed as a very helpful skillset in many of my poly friends and something i have been intentionally doing since i was a teen is actively practicing consent. valuing others' autonomy and boundaries in all day to day conversations and scenarios helps make it easier in more complex situations? here's a post that has a bunch of examples of what i mean. 

not a requirement. but do you have things to unpack around consent, or an already thriving consent practice that will make exploring polyamory easier?

on that note: how skilled are you at setting boundaries? how are you at responding to others' boundaries? how do you act when you find that that you have been wrong/hurt someone? how do you act when someone has hurt or wronged you? how do you navigate healing and repair when there is harm between you and another? how do you navigate it when nobody is in the wrong for the hurt that happened? how do you navigate it when someone is?

i find it important to ask about these communication skills in specific because like. it is inevitable in all relationships that sometimes you get hurt and hurt others! often we do not know something will hurt us or our partner until it has happened: we're all continually learning.

there are many, many new experiences to be had with polyamory! which is awesome, but also means there are many situations in which someone might realize they are hurt and need to communicate that. will you be able to navigate your own & others' hurt in a way that strengthens connections? will you be able to identify what a relationship-ending hurt or pattern of hurts looks like?

where are you at regarding trust, security, insecurity and jealousy in relationships? have you been hurt in the past in ways that make trust and security a challenge for you? do you feel able to reach out for affirmation when you feel insecure? how do you process jealousy when it comes up? how do you navigate all of these things when a partner experiences them?

equally important to communication imo. i am an extremely unjealous person so can't speak much on this? when i experience jealousy i view that as my heart notifying me of a potential need. "i am jealous that person A is doing something with someone else" = "i want/need more connection with person A, or to communicate about expectations i maybe haven't expressed, or to talk about how comfortable i am hearing in detail about their other connections".

how are your scheduling skills, if you start having a Lot of connections? how much free time do you have to share? if you're currently in a relationship or have an idea of what mono relationships look like, are you (& your partner, if you have one) prepared for that to change in the future?

it might not just be about how you spend your time. sexual boundaries might change; if you and your partner are interested in one romantic connection but starting to explore casual sex, and you've not been using any std protection because you're committed monogamously—what do best sexual health practices look like moving forward? if you're looking for multiple romantic connections, how are you going to navigate social functions (family events, work events) where you maybe can only bring one partner?

are you open to platonic partnerships? what would that look like to you? how would that be different from friendship or best friendship?

not a requirement! but a part of polyamory to me. my platonic partners are people i love and share commitment, emotional intimacy, decisionmaking and a lot of material resources with, and who i prioritize and who prioritize me in return. not sharing sex or romance doesn't make it a less important connection to me. this isn't a part of everyone's polyamory though!!!

what do you think polyamory looks like? if you know there's more than one type, what do you think fits you the best? do you believe in hierarchy? is marriage important to you?

there are so many different ways polyamory can look. i am mostly familiar with relationship anarchy (oppsed to hierarchy) and can't really speak at length about other forms. if relationship anarchy is right for you, how do you square with the fact that we live in a hierarchical society? you can only marry one person. there's benefits, but how does attaining legal legitimacy with one connection impact your others? do you plan on having kids?

what does a rich and beautiful life full of meaningful connections and partnerships look like to you? what parts of monogamy and monogamous culture are a part of your life only because you feel like they have to be? are there parts you would choose away from? parts you would choose to keep?

not all poly relationships are equal triads, though i think that's a popular conception! people don't always choose to live with all or any of their partners—solo poly is a thing!

there's a general conception of what building relationship commitment and intimacy looks like in monogamous relationships; dating, sleeping together, meeting friends and family, living together/becoming financially involved, pets, marriage, kids. being the single most inportant person in one another's lives & meeting all of each other's needs.

some people unpack whether this idea of how relationships function and what is significant to them when they figure out they're not straight, and some people don't. polyamory as i know it exists in direct opposition to the idea that you should have one other partner who is the most significant person in your life and who meets all of your needs.

so figuring out what you genuinely desire and what your life can look like if you live it that way—even if the answer for you is not polyamory? i think it's worth it. having a strong community outside of a romantic partner even before i realized i was poly was one of the best things in my life—i have never believed the one person who's everything idea.

you super don't have to have an answer to all of those questions to start trying things. these are just some more specific things you can think about. and very importantly: starting to explore polyamory does not require the strengths you might develop over time if you find it is right for you.

for emphasis on the not having to know thing:

my path to figuring out i was polyamorous was. learning in a sociology class about poly activists fighting for marriage equality/separating the contracts marriage is and being able to share them with more than one person. going "i love my partner but would marry all of my super close friends i wish i could live with if it was legal". having a several month breakdown questioning if i was in love with all of my friends, including a lot of crying to landslide (glee version) in my car while writing questionable poetry parked at the beach.

me and my partner having been on the same page re: celebrity hypotheticals (if famous person asked me out, what would you do? be happy you were happy, i just would still want to be in your life. maybe watch 😳) for a while. us realizing we both had crushes on our best friend bc we both had sexy dreams about them & talked abt it with each other. assessing that odds were good it was mutual. asking him out.

so basically. the only things i was for sure on at that point were my capacity for the desire, opposition to hierachical relationships & the idea that one person should be your everything, and commitment to treating the people i cared about well. none of us knew what we were doing.

we dated for a year, broke up bc external circumstances were making it impossible for our relationship to thrive and that was the option that would let us keep our friendship, and then moved in together a year after that. all while coworkers. very messy path but he's still one of both of our best friends & family to both of us so. it worked for us.

also, for fun, some of what in retrospect were baby poly experiences i had:

in fandoms, not really getting most ship wars/being way more down to multiship than a lot of fans around me

after first being exposed to poly ships, just really enjoying them and seeking them out, for smut fics but also for relationship focused fics. for no particular reason

thinking it's very stupid that most people treat romance as a tier above friendship, and living that value while dating. (being intentional about prioritizing a couple of close friendships equally to my romantic partnership)

wanting to live in a group setting with the friends i was closest with and wanted to grow old with

i know this is just fifty more questions for you to think about. and i really want to shout it that you don't have to have answers to these questions to start trying things!!!!! trying things is one of the best ways to discover yourself!!!!!!!! but i hope that i've given you things to think about that help you evaluate where you're at?

good luck!