#i just needed to get this out of my system lol

[paintpencilink]

I used to buy all my jeans from a feed/hardware store on the edge of my city. They used to have one or two brands of women's jeans that fit well, were $30 a pair, and would at least hold up for like five years of constant use. But now even at the feed store, they're $60–$80 a pair and they wear out in the crotch in eight months. That's not clothing, that's a shitty subscription service.

I am now buying $15–$25 Wranglers from the men's section. They fit fine and are sturdier/warmer. In fact, the majority of my clothes are from men's now.

Here's why.

Messages from the women's section in US clothing stores:

- it's not cheap fabric with short fibers! it's ~soft wash.~ it's slinky and form fitting.

- because your goal is obviously to be sexy

- and not, for example, ecologically friendly

- or cost effective

- or warm

- or to cover your junk

- it's like gift wrap! you can use tissue paper!

- wait you want slightly more of our cheap-ass "fabric"? SHAME. SHAME UPON THEE. go to the PLUS SIZE SECTION, populated by SAD CLOTHES and AGEISM.

- oh those don't fit either? lol!

- all our sizes are based on fairy dreams anyway :)

- btw are you sexy yet? no of course not

- you haven't bought new clothes in six months. ew lol you're so out of style

- you need to buy underwear? well here's 270 options, 14 of which will fit you, 2 of which are remotely comfortable, and 0 of which will hold up after a year or two

- and a giant store display featuring a badly photoshopped woman in a satin nightgown nobody would ever actually sleep in

- are you sexy yet?

Messages from the men's section in US clothing stores:

- [ford truck commercial voice] these clothes are RUGGED and HARD WEARING so you can do REAL WORK like a MAN

- clothing sizes roughly based off garment measurements; not always consistent but an attempt was made at least

- all the most common sizes are sold in the same section from the same brands and styles

- you should buy THESE pants because they're INFUSED with TECHNOLOGY

- and FORGED with EXTRA POCKETS

- and they're WEATHERPROOF down to -2000 DEGREES

- so they're $50 instead of $20 like our basic jeans :)

- (which also have multiple pockets that are each bigger than some purses)

- you're still wearing the same t-shirt and jeans you've had for the last 6 years but now there's a hole in the armpit you don't know how (or can't be bothered) to fix? haha same bro. props for being vintage. here's another identical one. see you in 6 years

- AMERICAN GROWN COTTON [bald eagle screech] and GENUINE LEATHER [horse galloping noise]

- (sometimes/in some places our quality is trash anyway and we still double our prices every 5 years but shhhh)

- boxers or briefs? pick these and get extra support and ventilation for your GIANT—

...That said.

It's not a perfect fix, but even for larger or very curvy bodies, it's worth checking out all the men's brands you reasonably can. I still like women's socks tho. If you haven't tried socks from women's—do it. Those double layered slipper socks are amazing actually.

Quick note for trans gals: I'm so sorry y'all 🥲 you're walking into an incredibly expensive and inconvenient system. (Again.) Just know that the struggle to find something that fits well is, unfortunately, an experience shared by basically all women these days.

I'm so pissed right now. I know that fabric has been declining in quality for a while but I just bought new pajamas from kmart and they are literally see through. Not just through one layer of fabric either; I can see through the leg, that is, through 2 layers of fabric. These aren't clothes. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have strained soup through cheesecloth thicker than these pants. These are men's flannel pajamas, the kind people wear in winter, and they are made if shittier thinner fabric than even the most bargain bin bullshit halloween costumes. This "flannel" feels like plastic and is thinner than a chux wipe. Why is this even for sale.

[daffodils-and-viscera]

we all agree how much these two interactions mirror each other in ozzie’s and sinsmas, with the reaching out and the moving away and these 2 idiots will learn how to hold hands one day they just love subconsciously pulling away too much

but i would like to submit to the court this similar scene from apology tour:

and say that there is so much evidence of blitzø's emotional growth between apology tour and sinsmas based exclusively on those two scenes

like. oh my god it's beautiful i love him so much

in apology tour stolas is so sad and blitzø wants to offer comfort but he doesn't know how!!! he's stuck in self-loathing mode and he doesn't know how to cheer stolas up and it's heartbreaking to watch!!!

and then some asshole who is BETTER THAN BLITZO jumps in and asks stolas to dance. blitzø lets him go- if he can't make stolas happy, clearly someone better is the answer.

and the worst part is that it works.

stolas (visibly at least) is so happy!! he's dancing and twirling and smiling and kissing and that guy is so obviously better than blitzø if he can accomplish that.

like.. look at that smile we love this birb so much 🥺

bUT IN SINSMAS

blitzø has done some work on himself and it shows soooo much in everything about how he treats stolas, but specifically the scene at the end is the perfect showcase.

stolas is sad, and it's an impossible situation but blitzø is able to offer comfort the way he wasn't in apology tour, opening up about barb but not making it about himself

there is nobody who would be better than blitzo right now, because blitzø has grown enough to be exactly what stolas needs in this moment. they have a bit of a talk, but remember what made stolas cheer up last time he was sad like this????? dancing

we know that stolas still isn't happy per se, but just the fact that blitzø could see him and be there for him in this moment shows us just how far he's come

and then stolas does his lil laugh and smile

and it's not as big or shiny or intense as that glimpse of him in apology tour, but it means so much more because we know it's real

stolas just lost all contact with his daughter for 100 years! of course he's not happy! but there are moments like this that can bring him joy and blitzø is just so wonderful in this moment entire episode

sloppy making out is not what is called for in this moment, and blitzø reads the situation so well and he's such a good support system for stolas

there's a profound point to be made here along the lines of 'blitzø IS better than blitzo' but i can't get there in words lol just imagine i ended this post really cohesively ❤️

they’ve come so far! i can’t wait until they learn how to not flinch away from each other’s hands!

[kirkwallguy]

i agree with your takes on dragon age's relationship with queer content a lot. a straight female inquisitor (bonus point if elf) gets the most romance options, zevran and leliana's romance feels secondary *by narrative* compared to romances of characters who's a warden/king alistair and morrigan, sebastian being bisexual being a cut content*

* i just don't get it why the templar boys always got to be straight. like why can't men engage with their romances and experience this narrative when chantry and religion is so important for the story of these games? after all romance adds a different perspective for all characters.

here we have veilguard, the pansexual crew, and well... the romance content is the weakest in franchise

and i'm not saying queer romances were bad btw!! its just that i wish people who wants to play mlm or wlw get to see such perspectives in the story or these characters' stories too. like a male warden romancing alistair and all the juicy stuff that comes with it (the hurt or angst or the complications. are you sparing loghain? did you just marry the love of your life off to his sister-in-law for the future of your beloved country? did he become a drunkard visiting bars after bars because of the decisions you made even tough you were intimate?)

no exactly! i do tend to want to give them some slack given they're very Of Their Time (for a 2009 game even including bisexual options was scandalous, and dorian's bare bones coming out narrative was pretty standard for 2013 tv shows / rare in aaa games) but it annoys me when people act like they're these flawless beacons of queer rep that you can't criticise just because we should be happy with being given anything at all. even if you don't count seb, 1/2 of the games pretty much require you to play an f/m relationship in order to experience a narratively relevant relationship. i find dai more insidious tbh because like... sure, don't make solas bi for whatever reasons you want to give. but cass and blackwall? there's 0 reason for them to be straight lol. (especially the bait and switch where you're allowed to flirt with cass as a woman for AGES before she turns you down despite characters like cullen shutting you down on the first flirt. it's funny when you do it intentionally but just feels cruel otherwise?) at least leliana and zevran feel like they're doing the most they were allowed to do

a gay or bisexual chantry/templar character who struggles with their sexuality would be SO interesting. honestly it would require more introspection about thedas' attitude towards sexuality than da has ever done - i feel like they could have done a fun subplot with this in da2 honestly.

and the thing about the dav characters is... they went to great lengths to make sure they avoided the playersexual allegations, multiple characters had a past where they dated people of various genders, taash having a preference for women was mentioned (in the weirdest way possible) but i still... don't know how they feel about their sexuality at all? neve is a tevinter mage, did her liking women play a part in her seeing through the issues with the system? does bellara have any lingering feelings about irelin at all? did harding realise she didn't have to be straight when she joined the inquisition and met people outside of her small ferelden town? (potential extra dialogue for an f/f romancing inquisitor???) it doesn't need to be a big Thing, but just a one-off dialogue during romance (davrin m/m exclusive dialogue on your date: "the first time i brought a man to meet my uncle i was so nervous etc etc") or a comment during a banter. it just establishes a little bit more about the characters and stops them feeling so flat... then again ig that's an issue with the whole game LOL.

[ganondoodle]

i dont know if anyone from not here is awake but .... yesterday i had the idea to perhaps bind the champions 2.0 abilities to the inventory/weapons

(totk rewrite "botw2")

so, for example, yunobos would be tied to a permanent two handed weapon (his signature weapon for example) in your inventory that doesnt break and doesnt need repairing (considering my craft and repair system otherwise) but instead needs recharging to recast the ability somwhat like when the master sword looses its power, but instead it just deals the base or reduced weapons damage (perhaps using the ability function via the throwing mechanic, like the MS swordbeams? or a different way to control it when using that speciffic weapon)

teba/tulins would be either a magic bow or arrow that similarly doesnt break/run out (unsure whether arrow or bow is better)

sidons water shield + heal would be tied to a shield

rijus would be tied to the hookshot, when aiming it thered be a button prompt to switch to send the lightning instead, thought to tie it to this bc i wanted it to be aimable similar to the hookshot and combining them saves you from making yet another aiming system and menu

the idea was that i could also use the tie to a weapon as an explanation for how they give it to you without repeating botw but worse (since in botw they are ghosts of the dead and a spirit knowing how to give an abilitiy tied to their spirit to you is more sensical than your childhood friend that didnt even have an ability at all even after a hundred years time last game suddendly not only mastering one but also somehow knowing how to give it to you within .. 5?) the explanation being that the weapon has been charged with their magic over the course of using it for so long or doing so during the dungeon

(like in yunos case, he was the only one that actually had the ability in botw, he always used a .. stone breaker weapon thing, and he gifts it to you at the end; teba/tulin would discover charging their arrows with magic during it and give you the bow at the end (perhaps them having to pull on the same bow to shoot it during a miniboss fight in the dungeon makes it charged with it); sidon would use your shield to channel his magic in a way to make it useful for you and since hes still new to using it, perhaps he gives you the permanent one at the start of the dungeon bc its the one hes been practising it with and at the end gifts it to you since its charged with it (if you leave the dungeon before beating it hed want it back sicne .. its his practice tool); riju charges your shiekah arm with lighting, like overcharging a device just before it breaks, perhaps discovered accidentally during her dungeon ? so we have a variety and not all work the same ... and overcharging bricks your arm for a short time lol)

the possible downside of this is the menuing, but you dont really have to use all of them all the time (maybe longer cooldown but more powerful anyway just like in botw- also each permanent weapon would be the first in the row) and .. anythign is better than those god awful sage ghost controls of canon totk imo lol

other idea would be that its NOT tied to a specific weapon, but just to the category in general, so when you got a shield out you get an extra button prompt to activate sidons ability (very similar to botws system but giving you the control of activating it or not) BUT that has the issue of lacking the explanation on how they give it to you and the downside of not having anything permanent, and while i like my reworked weapon system, also givign players a permanent thing even if not very powerful sounds kinda right to mitigate those complaints without destroying the system outright

[villainintern]

⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆⋆⁺₊❅⋆ ⁺₊❆⋆

Little update here (10k new words total, ~4k per plathru.)

______________________________________________________________

Forewarning, this is a shorter demo update! This is because I've been finagling with the combat hella. Trying to figure out how to make it work. Expect a follow-up-update (another 15kish) within a month!

TL;DR- I'm testing a combat system before I fully move forward and polish/drop more story. Don't want to put my cart before the horse. Would like to know if you guys think it works!

-----> Also, you can save now! 😌

______________________________________________________________

Essentially, the way I wanted to do this game involved a ton of different little superpowers. 18 abilities total, with like over 50 possible combinations. Giving equal flavor text to all those different kinds of players, making your abilities feel impactful, making them work in conjunction- all a huge task.

It started overwhelming the story (classic IF fumble), so I knew I needed a new approach, but I didn't want to lose any of the customization and flavor text!! I love that stuff.

So I'm trialing a kind of turn-based thing. The update is better at explaining it than I could here! Let me know if this is something you could see working throughout the game (or not! That's cool too!)

If you like to toss up feedback, this one is for u! But if you prefer to read more polished drafts, by all means hold out until the next demo changes. I'll be putting out a sister update super soon, I just couldn't blow past the combat without working out its kinks.

More development blabber under the cut 🤘

🤖 Screen reader accessibility is absolutely on my mind! Unfortunately I keep running into reasons to use special characters 😵‍💫. It's still in my plans to go back through eventually and do a screen reader mode, but I don't expect to start that until I have the story pinned down more. More on this later.

🤖 I found, also, a little plot hole in the prologue. At one point you could get your keycard destroyed and then immediately use your keycard to get lunch at the cafeteria. Something shall be done about this

🤖 I also plan to rework the fight with the henchman on floor four. You can kind of see the combat problems I was running into there- you only get like 1 or 2 choices when attacking him (boring!) because I was only able to write like one for each ability. And it was still so much text lol. That scene will be freshened up, but for now I locked it down. For 2 reasons: the combat needs updating, and also it prevents the aforementioned plot hole

[gamerbot-22]

Touchstarved LIs as Study Buddies

Because when I was studying for my macroeconomics final the only way I survived was imagining a rotating cast of blorbos helping me out (I got a 70% btw)

Recommended Listening: Zelda & Chill Trilogy

TW/CWs: Potential Accidental Canon Deviancy, not proofread.

Can be read as romantic or platonic, whatever floats your boat! Likes and reblogs appreciated!

Special thanks to @asexual-abomination for helping with Lea and Mhin <3

🕊️ Kuras

You two will study and do nothing else.

Okay, not exactly, but it’s 90% study with a couple mental breaks tossed in to keep your mind sharp.

And you can bet your ass he’s making sure you’re drinking water and getting some good brain food in you (good luck with his cooking lol)

He’s not big on the idea of pulling all-nighters, but if it’s a necessity (say, you’re cramming,) he’ll turn into something of a spotter, making sure that you stay sane and make the most of the time you have before you eventually conk out.

Has anyone here seen Elementary? There’s a scene early in the series where Watson helps Sherlock stay awake by showing him how to do squats to get his blood pumping. Kuras does the same.

Also he’s making flashcards! Unironically I think this is a highlight for him.

His Best Subject is obviously any kind of Biological Science, but I think he’s also really good for History.

🪄 Leander

He’s good at studying on his own, but the second he’s in a Buddy System he just starts doing. The Most.

I’m talking like an hour and a half at least of set up where he’s getting drinks and snacks and a nest of pillows and blankets set up so your backs don’t get sore hunched over a table.

Lowkey I think he’s trying to be The Study Buddy Ever for you, but he doesn’t quite clock that all the prep work is eating into your study time and while that can be okay if the test isn’t pressing, if you’re cramming it’s a problem.

Once he’s settled though, he’s actually really helpful.

Very “there’s no stupid questions!” about it all, and will work with you to make sure you’ve got it all down.

Every magician worth his salt knows how to study, damnit, he’s just a social himbo.

His best subjects I think are Psychology and Social Studies. He’s a People Person.

🦊 Vere

He’s either not helping even a little bit by not showing up or not helping even a little bit by being a distraction.

He is bored off his ass almost the entire time, and he will make it your problem by just going on the most random of tangents after he’s done complaining.

And failing that, he’ll just go take a big nap somewhere.

He just curls right up and goes to snoozeville for like an hour before waking up and going “you’re STILL at it???”

If you want him to engage with you—or even just stick around, really—you’re going to have to bribe him in some way or another.

Of course he asks for the most out of pocket shit but tbh I think if you’ve got good snacks and something cozy he’ll just take it as a break.

Generally though he’s very much just doing his own thing while you study, it’s barely beneficial to either of you.

Except sometimes you talk at him while he draws you mayhaps…

It’s canon that he’s really artistically talented so I think his Best Subjects are Art and Literature. Those are the two things you have any hope of getting help from him on.

⛩️ Ais

Ais also takes some convincing to come around and help, tbh—

He doesn’t strike me as a guy that really studies, not just because of his personality but because he’s literally part of a Hivemind I’m pretty certain he can just ping for information if he really needs it.

But once he’s gotten settled he’s actually a surprisingly good rubber duck, letting you talk at him about theory and formula while he pokes around your space.

Like Vere, I think he naps if he’s not directly involved but he a) usually gives a head’s up but b) ends up snoring really loud which makes studying a nightmare.

Sometimes he’ll actually pay attention—maybe even leaning over the back of your chair to read over your shoulder sometimes—and you find out he’s really good at actually taking a look at a concept and Getting It really fast.

Just… don’t ask him to explain it to you.

That’s a different skill set that I don’t think he quite has off the bat.

Surprisingly maybe I think his Best Subject is Math/Arithmetic. There’s just something about how cut and dry the formulas are that make it click for him really well. Also lowkey good at Biology, specifically the behavioral side of Animal Biology.

🪡 Mhin

Good Fucking Luck

Genuinely, I don’t think Mhin has either the patience or the social bandwidth to be a decent study partner.

The best you’re getting out of them is someone who’s leading by example.

Mhin will get their own book, sit next to you, and read. And if you make any kind of noise or significant disturbance, they’ll grumble or nudge your chair to tell you to be quiet.

You can ask them to help with review questions if you want, but I think unless it’s something they already know, don’t expect any type of feedback outside of eye contact.

If it’s a regular thing and you get the chance to get used to each other, they might occasionally mention stuff in their own reading that they find interesting/you might find interesting, but generally it’s few and far between.

Just because they’re not really helping doesn’t mean they want to be a distraction, unlike some…

Like Kuras, I think Mhin is really good at Science, specifically Anatomy, but they also have a bit of a soft spot for Poetry and Strategy.

[fox-guardian]

life pro tip: buy miniature cookware. it saves space and a lot of mini appliances come with little recipe books as well. if it's too small to cook a filling meal in one go, simply prep your ingredients so you can make more servings more quickly. i.e. mini waffle maker makes too-tiny waffles?? you will have excess batter just make more. tiny skillet makes too-small portions?? set your chicken and spices or whatever you have aside and make more servings. plus your next serving is freshly cooked oooo. mini baking stuff?? make another batch babyyyy that's half of baking anyway

*DISCLAIMER: this user keeps buying mini cookware because its cute and is also currently fantasizing about living independently and is Coping. life pro tip may not be effective for all readers.

[hvbris]

𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐎𝐍 & 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐋 . 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 or my incoherent ramblings about historical fashion in Panem

After the collapse of society that led to the construction of Panem, it’s likely that, much like with technology, some knowledge was left, but there was a dire lack of resource. Fibers and textiles were natural fibers at first, with things like wool, linen, cotton and silk (which would have been produced in district 8, though the wool would have been shipped from 10). Dyes would have also been natural at first, which limits the range of colors that can be used for textiles. Since everything is shipped off to the Capitol first, Capitol citizens had access to rich, vibrant fabric, while Panem citizens only had scraps (with a focus for cotton and linen, much more practical). 

Now, trend cycles by the time of the 75th Hunger Games are quick, a few months at most. But that’s because their means of productions are greater and more efficient. At the beginning of the Capitol, trend cycles were a lot slower, probably a few years, perhaps a decade for each trend, which would have allowed Panem citizens to follow the trends (or at least try to). This would stop when the trend cycles accelerate, making it impossible for the much poorer Panem inhabitant to follow. 

As far as fashion in itself goes, we see in the modern Capitol that people love to alter their bodies. They dye their hair, have tattoos, surgical enhancements, etc etc. Again this is allowed by the advanced technology. But in the past, people wouldn’t have had access to such easy alterations. It doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have wanted to same sort of extreme transformations, which leads me to my next point: corsets, cage crinolines, bustles... There’s no doubt people would have uses similar things to create interesting shapes and silhouette for their bodies. Wigs would have also been a great and easy way to change hairstyles quickly (much like Effie also does in the modern Capitol). We can also imagine that people used masks and hats to create similar effects. 

It’s hard to just make up a whole new fashion history for a whole country, but considering that in the books and movies the “modern” fashion is similar to ours, we can imagine that their history of fashion was also somewhat similar. Fashion would also follow the political and moral trends of the country, which means that post war fashion would have been much quieter and simpler than pre-war. In ABOSAS, Coriolanus mentions that fashion only starts to get louder/eccentric 10 years after the war. 

If you’ve read all this, well, thank you and congratulations 😂

[viveela]

It must be weird to live so long that an integral part of himself is now accepted, he'll need more time to get there too

[emmavakarian-theirin]

alternate bad ending

(inspired drabble under the cut)

Lucanis has been taught to accept death since he was a child. He's trained in it. He's used to it. But that doesn't mean what family he has left isn't important to him. Rather it's what matters to him most.

Then he gets imprisoned and tortured. He watches people die, week after week for a year. He's made to think he's going to die at any moment. Made to think that his family is dead. But he doesn't know.

Then you come along, set him free, return him home to find only one family member left, the other probably dead after all. But he still doesn't know.

Then she's alive, imprisoned by the same person that imprisoned him, the other living relative. But he can't kill him. He won't be the reason to lose what he has left, and there's so little left.

But then there's you, who's shown him compassion he's never known, that there's something more than just family/contracts/enemies. That it's safe to be vulnerable around someone.

But he's scared to get close. Scared he'll hurt you. Scared he'll lose you, to himself, to a god, to something he can't kill.

Then his walls start to break. He doesn't know what he'd do without you. And then you disappear. You might be dead. A day, a week, a month goes by. You're still not back. You're probably dead. He thinks he'll never see you again.

It's weeks of not knowing, and he's wasted all this time fearing he'd only take time away from you, time he could have given you instead of pushing you away, and he's lost you anyway. You could have both been happier, if he wasn't so broken.

Then you're back, and nothing else matters, there's no holding back. He'll do anything to protect you, you are his sole purpose now. This he knows, more than anything.

Then the battle is over, the gods are dead, and so are you in his arms. He couldn't protect you.

He knows death. He knows you're dead.

But only now after decades without, does he remember what it's like to grieve.

[superbellsubways]

computer application yuri blast ☄️

[icewindandboringhorror]

On average, what is the total MONTHLY amount that you spend on dining out*?

*(This doesn't only count going out to restaurants, but also stuff like picking up fast food to bring home, getting a coffee on the way to work, getting a premade sandwich from a grocery store deli during lunch, buying a quick snack from a convenience store or food cart whilst walking somewhere, ordering a pizza or any other food to be delivered to your home, etc.)

*(If you often dine out in groups/as a household: calculate and divide the costs so that you get a Per Person average. This is for YOU individually, NOT the total household/group costs)

(I'm sure polls similar to this have been made before (very common topic), I just haven't personally seen one that I can remember, so, I was curious to do my own! I was discussing this with a group of people today and it was very interesting to see how widely the number varied between individuals. :0c )

(Reblog for bigger sample size if you can, and feel free to explain your answer in tags if there's anything extra to add!)

[rainbowfunks]

she did nothing wrong

[heybiji]

That causes Dande’s resolve to soften somewhat...

[itsmewahoo]

i scribbled these really fast! i thought beekeper!donna would be a fun idea! especially if the game took place during spring/summer. like imagine a meadow of yellow flowers thriving, thats terrifying with donna's power. thats why her house would be secluded because the pollen would get everywhere

i know the dark beekeeper suit wouldnt make sense but lets pretend its the effects of the pollen that make the bees not hostile towards donna. also i thought the medieval beekeeper suit would also be neat but i was too burnt out to draw more

[mewvore]

alien diet involves a lot of cows 👽🍔