#edit: feel free to add on btw

[cocajimmycola]

yeah you claim to be normal about introjects but what about introjects who have exomemories different to canon? introjects who are in relationships with other introjects thatd be deemed problematic in canon? source compliant introjects? source divergent introjects? those who refer to source as themself? those who seperate themself from source? those who are transgender in a way thats different to their canon identity? those who have different sexualities than canon? those who are a completely different age than in canon?

are you really normal about introjects?

[cowlovely]

okay! so. i’ve seen many people online say multiple times that the deleted scene of arthur giving merlin his mother’s sigil—

(you know, this one👇)

is essentially a medieval proposal, and that that’s probably the reason why the scene was cut. i’ve never really thought that much of it, but coming across the comment again earlier today, it made me wonder if it was actually historically accurate at all.

the short answer is no, but the long answer is a little bit more complex.

i spent about an hour or so combing through articles and other online resources, and couldn’t find a single source vouching for sigils/seals being used as a way to propose. i did, however, find these two pieces of information:

which make it clear that sigils/seals and signet rings reflect the same meaning and purpose, and that inheriting one signifies family ties and marks you above common men. signet rings were sometimes used as engagement rings (in fact, the ring arthur gives gwen in the series is a signet ring with his father’s sigil), but engagement rings were more commonly ornate gold bands set with precious stones like sapphires or rubies.

but! regardless of the fact that it isn’t technically a medieval way of proposing, i think you can still regard it as such, given the fact that it is essentially marking merlin as arthur’s family (his mother’s side no less!), and that arthur proposed to gwen in nearly the same fashion with the signet ring. i rest my case ✌️

[pinkeoni]

The Big AIDS Metaphor Post

In her essay "Why Are Americans Afraid of Dragons?" from her book The Language of the Night: Essays of Fantasy and Science Fiction, science-fiction and fantasy writer Ursula K. Le Guin writes—

"The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, of your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny."

It would be easy for me to claim that Stranger Things is a show that utilizes its science-fiction elements as an AIDS metaphor, but that only goes so far without being able to prove that the show is in fact employing said metaphor. "The show takes place in the 80's -> AIDS was a big part of the 80's -> therefore the show is about AIDS" isn't an airtight argument in itself. I can quote famous sci-fi writers all day but that still wouldn't prove that the Duffers themselves are actually following similar trains of thought.

So here's my big long post about why the show is utilizing it's science-fiction elements as an AIDS metaphor.

Lengthy discussion of rape, violent homophobia and drug use below the cut.

A Brief History of HIV/AIDS in America

For those not in the know about HIV/AIDS, and in order to all get on the same page, here is a short recap. For my information, I will be this timeline from hiv.gov as well as this timeline created by History Channel, as well as some of the supplemental hyperlinks provided. Any other sources I use will be linked throughout.

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus is a virus that attacks the body's immune system, making it highly susceptible to infection and cancers. The virus can progress to a more severe version of the infection, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. The virus spreads through bodily fluids such as semen and blood. The most common ways for HIV/AIDS to spread was through unprotected sex and sharing needles while using drugs.

The initial cases of HIV were present in America in the 70's but become much more rampant starting in the early 1980s. Because cases of AIDS were most commonly seen in gay and bisexual men, there was a large misconception that AIDS was a "gay plague" or a "gay disease" as it was nicknamed. By 1984, 3,500 Americans had died from AIDS related illnesses.

The reason that AIDS epidemic got as deadly as it did is often attributed to the Reagan Administration's failure to act, something that President Reagan denied. Reagan would not publicly acknowledge AIDS until 1985, despite U.S. health officials being aware of AIDS since 1981.

Understanding just how entrenched this metaphor is in the story will include going through each season and examining in detail how each one plays into this metaphor.

Season One: Establishing Metaphor & Government Cover Up in Early Years of Epidemic

The AIDS metaphor is most closely connected with Will's storyline, although it's not exclusive to Will nor is his storyline exclusive to AIDS. Furthermore, the supernatural elements of this show are multifaceted. AIDS is but just one of the metaphors expressed in the show, but for the sake of this post it's what I will be focusing on.

The setup begins following Will's disappearance in episode 1, when Joyce introduces Will's queer coding to us.

By 1983 the terms "gay disease" and "gay cancer" had been in the public vocabulary for a couple years now. So when Joyce brings up his queerness in regards to to his disappearance in a show that takes place in the early 1980s, there is a subconscious correlation that can be made in the watchers mind. His sexuality is significant to the why he went missing, otherwise why bring it up?

We then hear through Troy exactly what the town believes happened to Will.

I think that Troy essentially being a mouthpiece for his father is significant to show that Troy's beliefs are not exclusive to him and they do not exist in a vacuum. Troy's homophobia is a product of his environment, which includes his home and by extension, Hawkins.

The specification that Will was killed by "some other queer" adds another layer under the surface of Troy's statement, one that implies that Will was raped before he was kill, otherwise, again, why bring up sexuality in the first place? This was the attitude toward gay men— they rape and kill little boys.

In early 1984, there was a study conducted by the American Journal of Medicine to trace the sexual partners of a cluster of patients with Kaposi Sarcoma, one of the common cancers that killed AIDS patients. The study identified a flight attendant as "Patient O" who was among the first to exhibit symptoms of HIV/AIDS and had a rather active sex life with a multitude of sexual partners. The study was soon misconstrued by the public to claim that there was a Patient Zero who was "a promiscuous or even malicious gay man who single-handedly and knowingly touched off the AIDS pandemic in the United States."

Another crucial factor of the metaphor is the cover-up and blame shifting from the government lab, the exact thing that allowed the problem to escalate and become as deadly as it did to begin with. In the early years of the epidemic, Reagan slashed the budget of public health agencies like the CDC, and it would be years until he ever made a speech about it let alone even mentioned AIDS publicly.

We see how adamant the lab is to cover up any supernatural involvement with Will's disappearance in an attempt to cover their own asses. Framing his death as an accident was their call, all while being acutely aware of what the actual problem was. This confrontation from Joyce to Brenner puts it pretty aptly.

Tangent About Barb

This AIDS metaphor is something that I thought of when I first watched the show back in 2016 (humble brag) but what tipped me off the most wasn't Will or the lab but it was the fact that Barb was the other victim shown.

Barb's queer coding was clear to everyone and their mother. Hell, there's even a joke about it in the Bad Lip Reading of the first season. Barb, Nancy's short haired female friend who takes issue with Nancy's new relationship and has a hard time fitting in with with all of the heterosexual antics of Steve's house party. She's singled out, and while the rest of the gang get to casually enjoy the pleasures of sex, while Barb, another member of the queer community, sadly loses her life. The show cuts between Nancy having sex with Steve with Barb being killed to emphasize this stark contrast.

Season Two: Personal Effects of HIV/AIDS & Social Stigmatization

Season one was surrounding Will while not really showing us much of his pov, but season two dives right in to his perspective.

So, remember when I talked earlier about how Troy, and by extension the town, believed that Will was raped? Well, he wasn't exactly wrong.

This moment wasn't lost on me when I originally watched the show, although I think I ignored the implications because I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. But it's pretty well spelled out— A long, tentacle-like organ used for the sake of reproduction (Will "births" D'Art as a result of this), is inserted inside of Will's mouth without consent.

It's been a year, and Will is still dealing with the trauma of what happened, along with all of these new changes to his life. Will frequently attends doctors appointments at the lab, where the lab themselves aren't completely confident what is happening with him either.

When cases of HIV/AIDS were first appearing in the U.S., health officials were unclear as to what exactly this virus was and how it worked, only that clusters of otherwise healthy gay men were suddenly developing rare and aggressive infections and cancers.

Owens refers to the spread of the Upside Down very clinically— describing it as some cancer. One of the first articles published about HIV/AIDS in America before more information was known was a New York Times article titled "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals." The cancer the headline refers to being Karposi Sarcoma, the rare skin cancer developing due to their weakened immune system.

HIV/AIDS in itself isn’t the disease that patients die from, but instead the weakened immune system allows for diseases to take over the body without much defense. After his visit to the Upside Down, Will faces a series of “True Sight” visions as Mike puts it, which allows for a destructive foreign entity to invade Will's body and slowly take it over.

HIV.gov lists the following as some of the symptoms of AIDS:

"Rapid weight loss"

"Profuse night sweats"

and "Memory loss"

To the government agents in the lab, we see just how disposable Will is to them. In their words, if it kills him, it kills him. (thank you to @emblazons for being the one to point this out to me)

Owens may have held more concern for Will, but he still continues the government cover-up started by Brenner in season one. We also see the fallout of Barb's death, with Nancy and Jonathan fighting to uncover and reveal the truth. Owens is the one who tries to put a stop to their exposé of events to Barb's mom.

Not only is Will facing trauma and his body being ravaged by this new illness, but he's also facing social stigmatization, something common among gay men with positive HIV statuses at this time. There seemed to be some sympathy from the townsfolk when Will was missing and presumed dead, yet he faces animosity almost seemingly because he came back.

The "Zombie Boy" Nickname

I once made a whole separate post about this, but Will's "Zombie Boy" nickname from season two fits in with this AIDS metaphor.

On a surface level, the nickname is in reference to the fact that Will seemed to come back to life despite having a funeral and being buried. In a literal sense, however, his peers are quite literally referring to him a walking corpse that spreads disease. Individuals suffering from AIDS often have very short life expectancies, and zombies are the re-animated dead that aim to infect and kill as many people as possible. It is a very coded nickname.

In the post that I linked, I speculate the possibility that some people in town may even believe that Will has HIV. Remember earlier when I mentioned Troy's comment "he was probably killed by some other queer" which implies a belief that Will was raped. The town don't know about any of the supernatural goings-on, but they do know that Will went missing, was found in a cabin a week later, was hospitalized shortly after and attended frequent doctor visits through the following year. I don't see a reason that malicious rumors would cease, especially considering that they already continue to be cruel and ostracizing with the Zombie Boy nickname.

Look also at this moment of Will getting weird looks as he is being pulled from school to attend his doctors appointment. Why so much stigma around simply going to the doctor?

The 1984 Reelection of Ronald Reagan

In 1984, Ronald Reagan won reelection in one of the biggest election wins in history. And— subsequently continuing his and the governments silence towards the AIDS epidemic.

Season two takes place in the week leading up to the reelection. There are small set pieces that draw attention to this, such as this election sign in front of the library.

If the date November 6th sounds familiar, it should.

Dr. Owens mentions the anniversary of Will's disappearance. The one year anniversary of Will's disappearance is the same day that Ronald Reagan was reelected. Will's trauma is being purposefully associated with that day.

I've also made a separate post before just about the Reagan/Bush '84 signs that litter the lawns of Hawkins houses. They appear most notably in the Halloween episode, building to when Will has his true sight episode that night. There is one clearly in frame just before Will is separated from the group, called a "Zombie Boy" and a "freak" (two very coded nicknames) before he falls into his vision.

We also get a clear view of the Reagan/Bush sign outside of the Wheeler house before Will describes his experience to Mike.

A Tangent About the Wheelers

And now the question on everyone's mind: Are the Wheeler's homophobic?

Ted and Karen Wheeler are not violent, homophobic bullies. That would be a massive reach. But it would also be a reach to say that they are vocal allies. And maybe that's just what the average middle class family

In the very least, the Wheelers are passively contributing to a system that enables homophobia. To be honest, they are probably just going along with what everyone else is doing. Like I said earlier, Reagan was an incredibly popular candidate for the 1984 reelection. The Wheelers have the privilege of being able to comfortably conform without having to worry about much of the consequences. (I'll talk more about the Wheelers later)

In the episode where Will is possessed by the Mind Flayer, Joyce calls the school and we get an extended shot with Reagan's portrait in the background. The shot begins with the portrait slightly obscured, then the camera dolly's in towards the receptionist with the portrait still in frame. Shortly after this Will is possessed in the field. Here is one of the camera begins the shot and where the camera ends the shot.

I also wanna note that when Joyce calls in this scene, the receptionist makes a side comment about her and rolls her eyes. There's a clear animosity towards not only Will, but the whole Byers family, including the adults of the town. Including Reagan's portrait in this shot is meant to create a subtle correlation between him and the stigma that the Byers' face.

Season Three: The Façade of Patriotism Over a Dying Nation

It's 1985, Ronald Reagan has been reelected, and this season introduces Hawkins Mayor Larry Kline.

Is Larry Kline meant to be Ronald Reagan?

I would say that Mayor Kline is probably exemplary of American politicians in a broader sense (in fact the Duffers may have been making allusions to Trump with his connection to the Russians) although the fact that he's in office the same time as Reagan is still significant.

In the beginning of the season, Mayor Kline is being met with protesters outside his house, not unlike many of the AIDS awareness protests from the 80's.

The townsfolk are angered with Kline for building the mall and running some of the small businesses into the ground. During Reagan's run, he implemented a system of economics called "Reaganomics," which aimed to cut taxes and support economic growth. Although critics of Reaganomics will point out that his policies had actually increased the wealth gap, making the rich richer and the poor, poor. I want to keep this post about the AIDS metaphor, although I wanted to point this out as it is a connection between Kline and Reagan. And as I said earlier in this post, the metaphors are multifaceted and not just about AIDS.

But continuing, later in the season Kline puts on a big 4th of July festival to celebrate the independence of his country with neon lights and flashy fireworks. Meanwhile, the people of his town are dying right under his political reign.

During season 3, the AIDS metaphor actually moves away from Will, with the focus of his story shifting slowly to romance. This was setup at the Snowball at the end of season 2, and season 3 hints at some of Will's feelings for Mike which will be carried into season 4.

But the metaphor is carried on by Will's name twin, Billy.

Billy and Will sharing the same first name, that being William, feels significant as Will basically passes the baton to him and Billy now becomes the focus for this metaphor. We learn from Max that Billy is very sexually active, and in the beginning of the season he has eyes for Karen Wheeler. It is while he is on his way to this illicit sexual affair when he is "infected" by the Mind Flayer. (this was pointed out to me in the comment of one of my posts, but have since lost it. If you are reading this— thank you.)

Billy then passes the "infection" along to a girl he was flirtatious with, before the "virus" begins spreading over town.

There is also language and rape imagery associated with being flayed. There is the repeated lines "hold still" and "it'll all be over soon." When Heather's parents are flayed, they are tied up something is forcefully inserted orally, not unlike what we saw with the tentacle inside of Will in season one and his possession in season two. (I first saw this pointed out by @kaypeace21

The flayed begin to eat chemicals, and Nancy makes the comment that Tom, one of the flayed, appears to have been on drugs. Another common way that HIV is spread is through the sharing of drug needles.

HIV/AIDS in the Press

Nancy's arc with the newspaper this season reminds me a lot of how AIDS was first being reported in the press. Nancy begins her search for a story with stolen fertilizer and diseased rats, not realizing that there was a much bigger and much more dangerous story at hand. One of the first reports HIV in the media was from a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from 1981, which cited five cases of pneumonia in previously healthy gay men in Los Angeles. While still a deadly number, it was relatively small compared to the massive number of AIDS cases and deaths that would soon follow.

When Nancy brings her story to work, Bruce, one of her higher-ups, sips from this rather patriotic coffee mug before telling Nancy to drop the story.

At the end of the 1985 summer in Hawkins, the flayed have died in a "mall fire" and Larry Kline is arrested for colluding with the Russians, and their patriotic façade is shattered.

In September 1985, shortly after actor and close friend of Ronald Reagan, Rock Hudson dies, of an AIDS related illness, Reagan makes his first public acknowledgement of AIDS.

Season Four: Further Stigmatization & LGBT Witch Hunting

In season four the town is finally privy to the fact that there is something wrong going on, although they are unsure of exactly what. When things begin to escalate, instead of blaming the actual guilty party, they go on an all-out witch hunt.

Once again, Will's pretty removed from the AIDS storyline in this season with his arc focusing on his romantic feelings for Mike. With Billy dead and Will out of town, the baton passes once again for the metaphor to be carried by Eddie Munson.

In the first episode of season 4, Eddie is reading a magazine with an article about the Satanic Panic, a real case of wide-spread hysteria in the 1980's regarding the fear of rising Satanism, supposedly promoted by D&D. The article links the game to violent behavior, Satanic worship, sodomy and murder.

Tangent on Sodomy and Sodomy Laws

Merriam-Webster defines sodomy as "anal or oral copulation with another person." The definition is often expanded to include copulation with animals, although the term sodomy, according to Merriam-Webster, means "especially: anal or oral copulation with a member of the same sex."

While definitions may vary depending on states, some states have specific laws outlawing sodomy, even between consenting adults. In 1986, the Supreme Court upheld Georgia's anti-sodomy laws in Bowers v. Hardwick, after a homosexual man and his partner were arrested after being caught while having sex in his own home. Sodomy laws would eventually be challenged again in 2002 with the Lawrence v. Texas case.

While sodomy can technically can refer to both homosexual and heterosexuals, it is especially and historically has been used in regards to homosexual sex. When Eddie reads the word sodomy here, gay sex is being lumped in and made equivalent to violent behavior, Satanic worship, and murder. Quite literally in season four, Hellfire Club is seen as the evil Satanic sodomizers who bring death to their town.

While trying to find a substitute for the D&D game, one of kids Mike asks mentions 60 Minutes in his rebuttal of Mike's request. This episode takes place on March 21st, 1986. On March 16th, 1986, 60 Minutes played a segment called "Life and Death in San Fransisco," a segment about the AIDS virus on CBS. (EDIT: I originally attributed this to the wrong person, but thank you to @aemiron-main for being the one to point this out. Apologies for my memory mixing up my ST analysts in my head 😔) The archived footage can be viewed on YouTube.

When Chrissy is killed by Vecna inside of Eddie's trailer, leading the town to suspect that Eddie was the killer, she was going there to do drugs. Again, a common way for AIDS to be spread was through the sharing of drug needles. After the town and cops suspect Eddie, the town goes on an all-out witch hunt for him and other members of Hellfire, invoking Christianity as their reasoning. In Eddie's words— "Hunt the freak, right?"

Does this mean that Eddie is queer?

The black handkerchief in his back pocket and Joseph Quinn's flirtatious ad-libs with Steve are not completely lost on me. And the AIDS coding here does seem to be pointing in that direction, but here's what I think.

Eddie's actual sexual orientation, and by extension that of Hellfire, is beside the point and doesn't actually matter in the eyes of the town. Every member of Hellfire could be straight and every member of Hellfire could be gay, but what matters is that Hellfire Club is a group of outsiders that participate in recreational activity that is deemed dangerous, and that in itself is queer, regardless of who they may actually be attracted to.

Another Tangent on The Wheelers

During Jason's religious spiel in town hall which invoked the witch hunt against Eddie and Hellfire, we get this shot of Ted and Karen Wheeler upon remembering that Mike is a part of Hellfire. And boy do they look terrified.

This moment, right here, is what I believe to be the Wheeler rug pull. They may not have been signing up to witch hunt their son when they put that Reagan sign in their front lawn, but this is what it leads to. They're being confronted with the most extreme end of their forced conformity and they fear what they see. I think part of what causes this change in character is because they know Mike, had Mike not been a Hellfire member, who is to say if they would have changed their tune or join in the witch hunt. At the end of the season, when the news reports that the giant gate in town is a "doorway to Hell," both Ted and Karen scoff at the report, calling it "hysteria." The conformists are beginning to un-conform.

Concluding Thoughts & Season Five

Providing a story about HIV/AIDS through a science-fiction metaphor is both practical and ethical. The metaphor allows the show to tell the story to a wide audience without the reliance on outside knowledge. You don't have to be an expert in HIV/AIDS history to understand the story that it's trying to tell. It's ethical as well in that it doesn't force it's incredibly young actors to have to act out being raped and developing HIV/AIDS.

With Eddie Munson dead and Zombie Boy back in town, I think that the AIDS metaphor will shift it's focus back to Will. I think we may see a colliding of the AIDS plot with his romance plot. How do you pursue romance with a HIV+ status? Can you?

The way I see, season 5 has the choice to go in one of two directions:

But first, a short tangent about my uncle

In recent years, I came to learn that my uncle was HIV+, something that wasn't known to me when I was younger. Him and his partner are both in their sixties, and they currently bought a plot of land in which they plan on building their dream house together.

But anyways, the two choices are this:

Will dies by the end of the season. He becomes one of the many gay men with HIV/AIDS who lived a short life, unable to grow into adulthood and pursue his love life. His story is a tragedy.

Will lives. He becomes one of the many gay men with HIV/AIDS who survived and is able to live a long and happy life full of love. His story is an uplifting one full of hope.

Tagging: @emblazons @italiantv @gaysmindpalace @ven0moir @punkwillbyers @mikesbasementbeets @quinterobb @drangues @basiltonpitch @howtobecomeadragon

[k4zuhiramiller]

can you rec some mgs blogs you like? I need more mgs on my dash

this isnt EVERYONE cause im not at home to check but here's a handful, ask them for recs too cause theres alot of blogs!

shadow-moses, millers-maxi-buns-official, lowpolyotakuconvention, sir-yeehaw-paws, wenomsnake, trans-strangelove, heartoferebor, solidsnakeyaoi, acoffecat, koobinn, revolver-sorrowich-ocelot, bn-draws, mgsvi, solidthesnake, raidendefender, iroquois-pliskin, catboy-otacon

mgs + other things but still goode:

majjiktricks, electrosquash, cypheragent, king-among-knights, lobosfoodbowl, mgsvyaoi, 002700

hope this is helpful :)

[bigender-cowboy]

When I hear ghostbusters, I don’t think of the movies.

THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS

Anyone remember him? No?

How about him?

The werechicken?

[writergracethepanda]

I feel like I might sound like a boomer, but why do streaming services have ads now. I thought the point of streaming was to pay to be add free.

Edit: wow this went viral.

Btw everyone is telling me to pirate, but where exactly do I pirate?

[bizarrelittlemew]

UPDATED DECEMBER 2024 (old version)

a bunch of the old links broke so I decided to do an overhaul of the original post (this version) with new links and resources! 💖

currently (as of December 29th, 2024), images are temporarily blocked from showing up in AO3 work comments due to problems with spam bots. the direct image link will appear instead. this is not an error with the code or the image host.

Are you frustrated you can't leave second kudos on AO3? or third kudos? or whatever-who's-counting kudos?

Well, have I got the html for you!

Plop any of the codes in a comment (by copy&pasting the code under Keep reading - scroll to the bottom of the post) to make an author's day and show your appreciation!

bonus: cookie kudos

SCROLL DOWN TO GET THE CODES (under the cut)!

Feel free to spread and use these as much as you like, however you like!

[ if you enjoy them, consider supporting my ko-fi 💗 ]

I've received a lot of good suggestions for more variants but can't keep up with them all, so here are some resources to make it easier to make your own.

PSD for easily editable text (there is a color fill layer for adding a bit of white where the stroke doesn't cover small holes. I recommend cropping excess empty space out before exporting as PNG)

and here are PNGs of the kudos button for any other editing needs, with and without white stroke:

I currently use postimages.org as image host, but use your favorite. Copy the direct image link, insert it between the quotation marks in the code, add alt text, and you're ready!

<img src="[DIRECT IMAGE LINK]" alt="[ALT TEXT]">

(you can add any image or gif to a comment like this as long as you have the direct image link btw)

if you post your kudos images, I'd be grateful if you'd link back to this post so other people can find the resources too 💗

When you paste into the AO3 comment box, make sure the quotation marks are straight:

NOT curly:

simply deleting and re-typing them in the ao3 comment box should fix this!

Many of the old image links from the original post are broken. I cannot fix them. Please use the new codes going forward ❤️

Second kudos: <img src="https://i.postimg.cc/HxNNFqKH/second-kudos.png" alt="second kudos">

Third kudos: <img src="https://i.postimg.cc/hPVSbszh/third-kudos.png" alt="third kudos">

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nth kudos: <img src="https://i.postimg.cc/vZ7pDS1L/nth-kudos.png" alt="nth kudos">

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[such-a-downer]

🤔🤭

I'm done with loiyor ala charles and jane....

Some funny idea is coming to me with this pic...

[etherealspacejelly]

Some of my opinions, in no particular order

golf courses should be abolished. mini golf can stay. actual golf? no. golf courses take up so much water to maintain their grass, grass which, btw, is a monoculture and bad for wildlife. the area that golf courses take up could be used for affordable housing, or natural areas left to grow with wild native plants that are better for the insect populations. but nooo, we gotta use all this land so that stuck up rich people can play the most boring game ever invented. bullshit.

the police should be abolished. i would settle for defunding but really they just need to go.

children are people, treat them as such. kids have thoughts and feelings that are just as real and valid as yours.

on a similar vein, you are allowed to not want children, but that doesn't give you a free pass to hate kids or be mean to kids. they didnt ask to be here, be kind.

there should be a maximum wage. after a certain point, there is no amount of labour you could possibly do to Earn that much money. your workers earned that money, and you are stealing it from them.

there is a difference between millionaires and billionaires. when i say eat the rich im not talking about actors and musicians, im talking about people who are directly responsible for poverty, hunger, suffering, and homelessness around the world. people who hoard obscene amounts of wealth that No One could ever hope to spend in an entire lifetime and simply watch while minimum wage workers struggle to put food on the table and the elderly freeze in their homes.

sex ed should start in primary school, at an age-appropriate level. if kids are old enough to ask questions about sex, they are old enough to learn about it in a safe environment. they should be taught correct anatomical names for body parts (penis, vulva, vagina, etc.).

there should be more research into autism and ADHD in adults, this shit doesn't just go away when you grow up.

diagnostic criteria for disabilities, disorders, and mental health conditions should be written by people who have or have had these conditions. how is someone supposed to know if they have autism, for example, if the symptoms are written from the perspective of someone who has never experienced it?? doesn't make any fucking sense.

hostile architecture should be illegal. unhoused people deserve a place to sleep. or better yet, give them houses. there are literal studies done that prove that housing people saves the government money in the long run, so why aren't we doing that? make it make sense

edit: updated to add more clarity to the golf thing. didn't explain that one well enough and left some people confused

[soleilsketches]

afaik he’s always been high school/post hs graduation in comics and other animated media..? i think it was purely a movie decision

more info:

‘06 - high school

new 52 - high school

rebirth - senior yr of hs

graduation day/dawn of dc - graduated from hs

batman brave and the bold - high school (i think he tours at gotham university lol so maybe jr/sr year?)

teen titans dcamu - high school iirc

Question for the more learned DC comics fans

Is Jaime usually depicted in his early 20s or was that purely a movie decision? Cause in YJA he's a teen, but the show tends to be loose with ages they adapt

[thebarontheabyss]

The Prologue is about to get tripled in size 👀

In addition to the 11 options for your cause of death, I'm adding 5 unique variants for each - corresponding to all new paths of grief, so you can *REALLY* customize your death, lol.

(For example, this is the Disease + Anger path)

I can't wait for you to read everything, but I want to fully implement the paths before I release it.

So prepare for a big-ass update, hopefully by the end of July.

BTW, if you want me to add any causes of death to the game, feel free to send your thoughts—I'm already editing everything, so now's the time!

Well, going back to the kitchen.

[selkiechild4998]

Ghoul Jobs in the Ministry!

So, I was thinking. The Ministry is huge, rivaling that of it’s opposite, the Catholic Church. They have multiple locations that are often huge. Humans do most of the jobs, yee, but what about the ghouls? I got some thoughts on that!

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　⛧⃝　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

Security

The most common position for a ghoul to fill, security. It makes sense, they all have strong pray drives, are territorial, and if treated right, are extremely loyal! Guard ghouls can be tasked with multiple things, such as:

Guarding the property lines of the Abbey

Being assigned to high ranking members of the Ministry. Ex. Papa, Imperator, Clergy Members

Extra security during rituals. (Not all the security would be humans ;3)

Guarding forbidden sections of the Abbey. Ex. Veneration of Relics, Catacombs

Nursery

Just like a human nursery, the ghouls have a nursery for their young in the Abbey too. While yes, ghouls are discouraged from baby making, surprises always happen and there are kits to be taken care of. While Ghoul Handlers assist in the nursery, mainly ghouls care for the young. At least one ghoul from each element works in the nursery. Each elements tasks are:

Fire ghouls tend to all kits except for water ghoul kits. They only work with water ghoul pups if absolutely necessary, mainly for the pup’s health and safety. Fire ghouls often teach kits how to rough house safety, as well as how pack structures in the Ministry work.

Water ghouls handles earth fawns, water pups, and the occasional air pufflings. Water ghouls also teach older kits how to swim. They are the only ones who can handle water pups freely.

Earth ghouls work with all elements except for Quintessence. They often make sure ghoul kits are getting the right foods so they can grow properly, which can be difficult because they don’t have access to the normal food these kits would eat if in the Pit

Air ghouls work with air pufflings and quintessence voidlings. They often snuggle for nap time, encourage socialization, and flying lessons for older kits.

Quintessence ghouls can work with all elements, with some restrictions on water pups. They’re great when it comes to medical check ups, nap time, the occasional flying lesson, and supervision. No one is more observant than a broody quintessence ghoul.

Bonus! Multi-Ghouls! Multi-ghouls, depending on their element, can work with different combos of kits. Swiss is the latest member of the Nursery team and with him being a mix of quint/fire, he’s almost always on playtime duties. Kits love him btw!

Housekeeping

Housekeeping tasks are mostly split 50/50 between ghouls and humans. In the Ministry, everyone pulls their weight to help keep the place nice and clean, but they have found ghouls can get a lot more things cleaned compared to humans, simply because they have the abilities to get places humans can’t. The tasks ghouls help with are:

Cleaning the stain glass windows

Cleaning the rafters of the Grand Church building

Keeping pests down (no rats are hurt I promise xD)

Some ghouls are specially chosen for certain jobs, two examples being Sister’s Chamber Ghoulettes, who act as sort of her own little council, keeping her secrets and following her orders. Phil Ghoul is an honorary ghoulette in that group.

The second example being the position of Clergy Ghouls. These ghouls are summoned by members of the Clergy and them alone. These ghouls are the more dangerous ones from the elements. They’re favorites are the Shadow Ghouls from the quintessence element, Ancient Ghouls from any element, and the rumored Reaper Ghouls that show up to foretell death in the Ministry.

⭑･ﾟﾟ･*:༅｡.｡༅:*ﾟ:*:✼✿　⛧⃝　✿✼:*ﾟ:༅｡.｡༅:*･ﾟﾟ･⭑

Thats what I got for my headcannons for now! I found that as much as I love my creature dives into looking at how the ghouls are, I love seeing how they fit into the Ministry other than them playing up on stage! Feel free to add to my list btw! Till next time!

Edit: I made a mini sequel to this post which can be found, Right Here!

[burirammin]

Did I just find a really really good clip of marc with clear visor in slow motion? from a motogp game soundtrack video?? spectacular.

But what really caught my eyes was the fact that he was braking with FOUR fingers and that the video was from 2013, his first year in premier class. That made me paused a bit because he is pretty well-known (to me at least) for using just ONE finger in motogp, an index, just like casey. Here's an example with how vale does it for comparison.

So there I go, to do some research aka. googling session that ends with me having a beef with a six years old video for audio editing mistake so catastrophic it cut off parts of interview that could potentially give me more info... and it loops the same audio part again and again and again. Drives me nuts.

Found the same video on videopass yes yess thank you!!

Anyway! It was a video on braking techniques of different riders (with interviews. from 2018) and marc said that of course he use one finger to brake, has always done that. But he used to use all four fingers to do so when he was riding a 125cc bike and then when he pass to moto2 he start experimenting with his techniques and change from one to the other end of the two extremes, from four fingers to just one. Said the technique was a crossover from him training a lot on motocross, where he use just one finger to brake. (Not a word for word quote but close enough)

Here's how he brake in 125cc

And here's how he does it in motogp

left : four fingers (2013) right : one finger (2018)

This is interesting, he's still braking with four fingers in 2013 (though I am not sure when the footage was from. It was definitely from before mid june of that year so, at least before Catalunya) Maybe he was still trying out things even in 2013 despite him saying he start to change it all in moto2? So i took a closer look at his braking hand during one of his moto2 race and guess what?

He did use four finger still in the footages i found, like this one from Valencia 2012

I also look up those slow motion videos of the 2013 season and he's still using four fingers even in Jerez so that too (gif below).

By my limited research he would have change his technique somewhere between the end of 2013 season to before the start of 2015 season (because otherwise this reddit post would not exist and I reckon he’d not change mid-season, or maybe he would. Might look into it later)

Soooo yeah... this seems to be a case of him riding so much, for so long he FORGOT details about HIS OWN riding techniques. My silly cunty boy. Mister Marc 'I don't read' Marquez, maybe you should read btw it might help with your memory 😭

Note : If anyone have more info, please feel free to add on to the post. I'll eat it all up like cake I promise.

[pseudocyance]

Foam headwing ear cuff tutorial

i made a couple pairs of headwings for mcyt cosplays and thought I should share a tutorial on how to make then since it's really easy

You can wear these with glasses!!

I'm making Watcher wings for this one but you can use this to pretty easily make wings with just one per ear

What you need:

A couple of sheets of thin craft store foam in the colors you want

Jewelers wire or floral wire (I used floral wire)

Scissors

wire tools(optional)

A few sheets of thin white paper

Hot glue

Pencil

I think I cropped out all of the scisors/wire cutters but a tw for those still

Edit: also a tw for possible trypophobia/ommetaphobia, the last image has googly eyes and that might be uncomfortable

Gotten several people telling me to do various things with these warnings, it's not really tryphobia in my opinion but I'll respect people that are asking me to add warnings

start out by doodling the design you want and getting the wing shape right

Since my design was pretty complicated I loaded it into procreate(coloring in like i did is optional) on my tablet so I could trade onto a bigger paper

Trace onto a sheet of paper. This is when you can start sizing it up correctly to fit your head. (I'm watching SPN btw)

Cut them out and reshape as needed

Now, very important, draw on the down feathers area. This is what's going to have the wire under it. You can also do three layers like I did with the Grian (red, yellow and blue) wings. I did two for this one because it needed to be lighter due to the three wings.

Lay our your template(s) onto a sheet of foam. I found that taking a mechanical pencil and dragging it across the foam. It creates a really nice groove for you to cut along.

Cut out the top area. I used a slightly darker shade of purple.

This is where you want to cut the feather shapes into the upper area if you want to. Just little angled triangles.

Bend a wire along the top area. Take the bent wire and put it on the lower foam peice. Hot glue at the base of the wing where the wire sticks out. BEFORE IT DRIES STICK THE TOP PART ON TOP. You then go through and hot glue the rest of the wire and top section down after adjusting wire as needed.

If you're doing multiple wings like me then glue them together here and make sure you like the angles. You can also bend your wings using the wire for further adjustment.

Cut the wire that's sticking out

Hot glue another peice of wire on, only attaching it on a small section. Put this behind your ear and bend it around. The sections coming around your ear should almost touch after cutting off excess.

Put a bead of hot glue on the end of the wire. WAIT AT LEAST 30 SECONDS and then lightly squish it in to form a ball. This is just so the wire doesn't stab you. You should do this on both ends.

Here are all of the ones I've made so far

I also gave into my intrusive thoughts and added googly eyes to the Watcher ones a few days later

And yes those are Torchy earrings

WE'RE ALL DONE!!! Send me asks or reply to this if you have any questions and I can also send more pictures if needed. I hope this gets spread around a bit since this is exactly the sort of tutorial I looked for when trying to make these and I think others will find this useful. This can be used for any fandom, cosplay or costume. You don't need to credit me but feel free to share that I was the inspiration

Ty for following along! <3

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Better Novel Scrivener Template

BTW, If you liked the Settings Template, this has that plus more...

The Current Novel Template is out of date, the templates aren't really doing much for you. And the variety of icons is rather thin. I set out to fix this.

The template as a whole is PG-13 as the Character Template mentions "dangerous" things like "Kinks" and "Safe Words" OMG. I know. So terrible. So if you don't want to explain those things to anyone underage, don't download it.

As I am NB, and generally queer otherwise, I have included things like Sexual Orientation, Romantic Orientation and a whole load of things to think about when building CHARACTER, SETTING, WORLDBUILDING. I included things that people often forget by using my Uni and College knowledge.

Please, please read the "Read Me First" file if you want to avoid having to load missing icons. I give instructions.

In case you still opened it despite my warnings or it doesn't work, you'll have to load in the icons manually. In which case this is a reference:

The New Icons are: Domestic Products, Imported Goods, Exported Goods, Laws, and Social Stratification. I added extra icons for Weapons and Warfare in case you're not writing Fantasy. Laser Guns and a Historical Pistol.

I did my best to make it CULTURALLY NEUTRAL. If you want them specific, you're on your own.

I also added if you'd like to load them

All these Icons to the folder so You can finally color code your manuscripts to your heart's content. (My unending frustration with Scrivener).

I added an SVG file so if there is an exact shade I missed on the Spiral Notebook Colors or the Hardcover Books, you can add it.

The Composition Notebook file isn't included as it contains a pattern. However, I made pains to make sure it matches real life colors that exist in Composition Notebooks. You wanted the Settings Template? There are 2. One for City/Towns. One general one.

Zero Organization or Clue on Querying or Self pubbing?

I put up Organization Folders for you.

Here are the Templates you get. Everything is beefed up for you. I spent forever on these Templates and testing them. I also cued Styles to them so it's easy to change the colors. If you want to change something, as the About document says, turn on invisibles.

The Default Styles aren't useless anymore.

If you need a more Definitive Guide, I also made one in the file:

Download the Scrivener Template. It is a ZIP FILE Win Zip or other Zip app should be able to handle it.

Warning: Direct Download https://www.kimyoonmi.com/BetterNovelScrivenerTemplate.zip If you want to Skip the Template completely, but are wishing to add the Icons to your Scrivener:

https://www.kimyoonmi.com/ScrivenerIcons.zip

This template itself is not for sale or profit nor are the icons. Also don’t be the person that lies that says you made it. It’s a Creative Commons License Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivatives by Yoonmi Kim 2024. You may change it for personal use only. Any problems can be addressed directly to me at https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com. If you would like to translate this into other languages, let me know.

Don't be the ass that tries to sell my hard work, 'cause really, it's free. And I spent a lot of pains and time to make sure it's free and easy to use with a lot of subtle UX. Edit: I added even more stuff to the newest version.

Yes, a Pets Sketch, a Fauna Species Sketch a Flora Species Sketch, there is Literature added to the list of Art (I forgot it. lol I thought the mistake was silly, but yeah.)

And I added a Medicine Section with an icon to the technology section. There are two native icons already for Medicine--syringe and pill, but I kind of felt it didn't always give the feel of fantasy, so I made a Mortar and Pestle from scratch to add, but if you're doing sci-fi or contemporary, etc you can change to the syringe or pill.

I added explainers as well for the items to the guide.

Why?

'Cause. I would love to be able to see people put more thought into their worlds/worldbuilding, even if it doesn't show up. Maybe it won't be only horses for animals as pets. Or an occasional dog. Haha. Having a gay dog like Robin Williams would be great.

[kiochisato]

I meant this one btw!

oh ! i made it on photopea ^_^

it's simple , i first upload the gif then kinda clip it into a border , then i added the frame , filter and tada !

i recommend using 20-25 frame gifs because it's pretty annoying to just enable clipping mask to it one by one , i once tried to do it with a griseo gif on the griseo graphics but it had 119 frames :'] .. ( made a plan b after that )

more explanation under cut

here's an example !

like i said , import the gif first ^_^

then use clipping mask to make the frames clip into the border ( ? ) smth like this ! also you might be confused that the first frame should've been "_a_frm1,50" , i actually deleted a few frames because the original gif was about 50-59( ? ) frames .. T-T but in total the frames are actually 39 thanks ^_^

now it should look something like this !! :3

then just add the finishing touches like adding a filter and a stroke blah blah blah . after that , tadaa !!! ^_^

also i do not mind you using this so feel free to use it !

&& my apologies if this explanation is confusing ++ i hate thsi T-T

edit : please check out this post !!!