#i can't believe they actually. communicated.

[iamyouknow-yours]

My first therapist participated in medical gaslighting - ie insinuating I was not autistic and that I was "just anxious" and not in fact chronically ill. Turns out I'm both. This fucked me up for years (still fucks me up tbh) and it delayed my diagnoses that could have radically changed my life. It also encouraged my mom and family to participate in said medical gaslighting and force me to go to school (which was actively harmful and traumatising for me and my sense of self worth).

I really like my current therapist. A lot. She is incredibly helpful. She's knowledgeable about autism and chronic illness and disability. She also actually listens to me and takes my feedback and just really gets me.

But goddamn if my choices were no therapy or my first therapist? No therapy all the fucking way baby!

My second therapist was also pretty shit and actively made my relationship with my mom worse.

So yeah jeez, therapists are still human beings who can be extremely biased and complex. And they are in a position of power over you where you make yourself vulnerable. So you really gotta make sure you trust them and that they have your best interests at heart and that they're not abusing their power (even unknowingly, like I don't think my first therapists were thinking mwahaha let me fuck up this patient, they just had extreme biases and blind spots and were ignorant about a lot of things).

Also!! There are different types of therapy. CBT is one of the most common types of therapy and it is really effective for a lot of people. But for others (especially neurodivergent people), it can be harmful. There are lots of types of therapy and not all of them work for everyone.

An incomplete list of things in no particular order that help me alongside therapy and alongside each other, all of them have pros and cons and fall short in some areas (also I'm still chronically disabled, none of it cured me, sorry)

Psych meds (there are so many types out there, I'm on 3)

Online chronic illness group chat support group

A good support system (excellent, weird friends - it's really important to be friends with weirdos, it's good for you, I'm a weirdo too) (also my mom <3)

Accommodations (mobility aids, stuff at uni like extra time, all that jazz)

An OT who specialises in chronic illness and neurodivergency

A dietitian who specialises in neurodivergency and has learned about my chronic illnesses for me

Having hobbies - create stuff, it's good for you. It's okay if you don't keep the same hobby after a few months. Just keep doing stuff.

Exercise (yeah I know but unfortunately doing some stretching and going for a walk with my dog does actually help my mental and physical health, does not cure me though shut up Barbara)

Meds n shit for physical stuff

Animals - having pets, I recommend, it's like touching grass but woah they're in your bed

Drinking enough water and eating regularly (again I know, it's not gonna fix you but dear lord I feel like shit when I don't do these things, and yes sometimes it's really fucking hard)

Journalling

A truly fantastic GP/managing doctor (I cannot state how much I adore her, she's so lovely and believes me and listens to me and just excellent)

Learning how to rest properly - did you know there are different types of energy and different types of rest? Obvious right but I was only resting my body and now I'm learning to rest my brain and get emotional rest and social rejuvenation and be in nature and have a sense of community - these are all important!!

Reminders (so many reminders) and google calendar (I know google sucks, give me a good alternative and I'll use it) and Shovel (I got it when it was cheaper, it's a planning app for adhd people that I can't live without for uni)

Media I enjoy - fics, youtubers, shows, movies

Leaving the house for fun reasons as much as I can (uni, errands, and appointments don't count, walking the dog half counts, but I need to leave and go to an event or cafe or go to a friend's house) (this ends up being not as often as I'd like but it's important to me)

Getting enough sleep (one of my psych meds has the truly fantastic side effect of making me sleep well practically every night. I can't state enough how much this is fantastic. Did not cure me though, don't worry, your aunt wasn't correct)

I have gotten quite a few asks which can be summarized as "my therapist doesn't believe me and keeps blaming me for my problems, but I know I have to stick with therapy if I want to get better-", and I need everyone to realize that therapy isn't inherently good and effective, nor is it always necessary for getting better. Having a bad therapist can actually be more harmful to your recovery than not having one! If your therapist makes you worse or doesn't help you, it's okay to walk away, whether to find a new one or to find healing in something else. You are in fact not morally obligated to see a therapist just because you're mentally ill.

[gynandromorph]

In the comic with the censor bars shiloh talked about it as if censorbars are something that just like happens sometimes i kinda want to know if that has some lore background or anything?

Additionally since everyone is specifically in a printed comic does this mean people technically read eachothers speech.

And are there any other silly details related around the fact that the comic is a printed comic.

absolutely no background, just thought it would be funny if censor bars were a thing the characters actually saw and interacted with, and if they treated something absurd like that as if it's completely normal and chill. the fact that it doesn't make sense and doesn't have an explanation is part of the joke.

also, yes, characters read each others' speech bubbles. sound is a specific visual stimulus to them processed as a separate sense much in the same way smell and taste are different to you despite the fact that they are both just chemoreception. reading something and hearing something are virtually identical to them... the actual container of the text dictates whether it's received as sound or written word, imo. Jessie's Commandments read like written word when she says them even though she is saying them out loud because they're in a square container. A book cut into a rounder shape would probably actually seem to produce sound to them. My opinion on this is largely informed by the fact that pictographs can also be used to communicate sound -- meaning that the letters themselves are not the only component of sound. Pictures sound like something to them if they're surrounded by a "sound circle." color and size mediate the qualities of the sound. color probably informs characters of both timbre and pitch based on saturation and luminosity.

Facts about their book world... stuff is made of ink drops for them. they know this as a scientific fact. I believe I called them tinctures... yes, i did.

atoms to them are probably called inklings, made up of various tinctures, and yes they're both shortened to inks--

their world is 2d, but top quantum scientists have observed at least that their world may be 3d in a Z-direction, because chasms resembling paper's microscropic texture has been documented.

there are 2 competing theories about how the universe will end called "the big rip" (the paper fabric of the universe will rip apart under the ever-increasing weight of more inks) and "the printer running out of ink" (things stop existing altogether as ink erodes from the fabric of the universe over time, and isn't replaced). unlike our universe, theirs isn't expanding, so they don't have a solid understanding of what's happening to matter in their universe. big rippers believe inks must be continuously added to the universe, because there had to be spontaneously generated inks at the start of the universe; it agrees with the theory of spontaneous generation of the universe, which the majority of scientists accept as a proven theory. the accepted explanation amongst rippers for a lack of observation of growing ink is that it's happening in deep space, which is completely saturated black. the fabric of their own universe can only actually absorb so much ink leading to pure black -- after that, adding more ink is possible, but you can't observe that more ink has been added, because saturation has already been achieved. adding more ink then warps and weakens fabric of the universe, unobservable to them. it's like their version of dark matter. printer theorists believe that ink is slowly, spontaneously disappearing from the universe, because they can observe the process of ink degradation on the real actual paper they're printed on. this does not necessarily disagree with spontaneous generation, because there was a "nothing" which the universe may return to for them, but it offers little explanation for why ink would be disappearing. opposition to the theory generally argues that the ink observed to be "disappearing" could simply be displaced. to note: they don't see the universe as a story book, they simply refer to the fabric of it as paper due to its resemblance to the texture of paper, from their perspective. it's just like how we call the stuff our universe is made of "fabric" even though we don't generally believe we live on a tapestry.

elements in their universe are named after different hex values instead of typical chemical elements. there is, in one single panel, a small portion of old high school notes in Jessie's notebook shown

a periodic table with unrecognizable chemical symbols.

their world is flat because they live on flat paper. you could probably fall off the edge. the stars are Literally shaped like stars and the moon literally changes shape over the course of its cycles. uuuhhhh. i'll write more if i remember anything else--

[insanewaykathy]

I've heard that the writers chose to make Chakotay so desperate in Coda because it was a safe area to show his feelings for Kathryn, and that makes a lot of sense. Coda just boggles my mind, but here goes. What was real and what was Kathryn's imagination?

Real:

He's trying to revive her.

Then he uses a hypospray on her and she wakes up.

And this is also real, she really wakes up, first because there is no cut from one scene to another, he stops the resuscitation and then takes the hypospray, and she is not watching, she was unconscious at that time.

So this actually happened:

Chakotay tells her that he's going to get blankets and that they need to contact Voayger. See how this scene is rich in detail and emotion:

And then we have this shot of him running, but there's no one watching. If it were a hallucination, she would see him running, but the image is captured from above.

Hallucination:

When he comes back and talks about the burns in the case, she is already sitting down, this part is probably just in her head, because that is where she enters the cave and the time loops start afterwards.

And then we have them returning to Voyager and I believe that at that moment the alien started having trouble convincing her that everything was real, because the Doctor starts talking some nonsense, like for example, the fact that she contracted phagia, she ends up refuting everything, and the alien starts to get desperate and without options.

So the alien resorts to something more realistic. Back to the accident. And we have this scene:

Then we have a flash, clearly showing the change of scene.

And this scene is real:

The alien wants to make her believe that she is dead and is a spirit, so he shows her the real scene.

At this point, actual communication with Voyager occurs:

And there's a very important clue in this scene that gives it away as real. Tuvok says that the transports have crashed, and at the end of the episode, we see Tuvok and the Doctor on the planet trying to revive her, but they don't take her to Voyager because the previous statement was true. So that part can't be a hallucination.

Hallucination:

Honestly, this alien is not very smart. He shows her that the transports are down, the scene cuts and she is already on Voyager. Total inconsistency.

And then Chakotay just walks out of sickbay and he was super calm at her wake, whereas moments before he was desperate and crying.

And then we flash again, which cuts to a real scene:

And further ahead, another flash, showing another real scene:

One last flash and she finally wakes up, after literally sending the alien to hell:

And then she and Chakotay walk out hugging each other like this:

And then, you know, he gives her a flower and they go on a date on the holodeck:

THIS IS PLATONIC AS HELL!

[starlitnightdream]

Love Of The Divine Tree FINISHED THOUGHTS AHHHH

I LOVED THIS DRAMA GORGEOUS BEAUTIFUL AMAZING YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WATCH IT. ( if you watched till the end of the moon and are in pain please watch this it will heal you)

Small review: Amazing drama where both ml and fl are very very likable. BOTH ARE AMAZING. This one does not raise your blood pressure heh both are perfect for each others stubbornness to save each other hahah.

About the ending: A great ending . Both come out of the final boss fight alive. no one person waiting in front of a reincarnation tree or whatever ( been there done that in the beginning of the drama instead ) A wedding scene ( fancy hair accessories yay) A proper happy ending they contributing to overpopoulation at this point lol was seeing him do all the work and was like NO? this can't be? the whole drama they were equal -but then they said they drew lots to see who was the shifu and who was the disciple for the day and I was like ah okay fair enough ( best would be alternate lmao but whats the fun in that for them ig)

Now we move on to some longer thoughts ahah. ( btw I still have lots of screenshots to post but wanted to post this first)

Su Yishui: adorable cutie who has done no wrong (if you actually think about it its basically nothing lmao) other than that one time man thought getting the spirit spring would be good for him.he blames himself for mu qingge's death which is pathetic bec its obviously everyone else's fault but his bruh why the guilt for something he didn't do AHHH. anyways best boi. (this drama also shows that tantai jin could have lived happily if he met someone nicer) man went through so much to save mu qingge and xue ranran later best shifu and disciple lmao. ALSO towards the end? they reveal man was so good to people even without mu qingge lmao bro was doing side quests saving everyone woahh. but man really thought mu qingge would blame him after she died to save him?? where did that genius go su yishui?

Mu Qingge/Xue Ranran: Best person su yishui could have ever met she sees him and decides yes this dude shall be saved. can't blame her lmao bro looks amazing and also was literally a sweetheart inside all that hissing cat exterior lmao. The efforts to save him man respect to her. another best shifu and disciple right here too ahah. The fl we all need who literally tells ml nah not believing those harsh words you say to push me away lol. ( because some fls really after the ml cares for her the whole drama one incident and they believe ml is bad???) Love her for defending him every single time and being there for him.

Wei Jiu: this dude was there for the comic effect you cannot convince me otherwise lmao. He and elder Tu could be the main characters of the usual misunderstanding filled drama lmao. Man is not a villain bahaha. man's pretty clueless lol.

Elder Tu: she needs to stop hiding her thoughts lol and with wei jiu especially lol crazy combo there both of them need to just COMMUNICATE BRUH. also she was crazier for giving up after one try wow. her full life she never told him anything and once tried it and decided to give up? not a fan of her hiding it from him because she should have told him he isn't that bad. if she told he def would have done something nice lol.

Su Yu: this guy started off good hmm thought he would just be the dude who liked fl lmao but man had a mini villain arc right there but then went back to do something great in the end lol. but also didn't like him ever since he purposely tried to make Su Yishui think Mu Qingge liked him. that hairpin scene was low ahhhh if he specificvally searched for the hairpin bec he knew what Su Yishui's mom had done.

Mu Ranwu: total evil bish. had no reason to become a villain but still somehow became one lmao. like even su yu fine his brother who he saved poisoned him.. but mu ranwu? her sister SPOILT her. still she got her killed and almost killed her in second life also that bish.

Wang Suizhi: Clown who liked mu ranwu because bruh what is there to like in that shallow evil person. she saved him? thats crazy she tried to kill her sister then but okay I guess... bro was crazy sacrificed his life for her. so not worth it.

these were random character thoughts lol there more but laterrr

still can't get over xue ranran and all the others saying he looked bad with the marks on his face lmaooo its was just some pretty lines bahaha the man looked equally gorgeous lol not much difference with the marks gone ahhh

[xiomara42]

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe I've actually started writing a little something. I haven't written a story since I was 20 (that's more than 20 years ago folks!) and I think my last fanfic was about BG2! Guess all the fabulous fanfic writers in this community inspired me. And Emmrook of course, let's not forget that.

I have this little idea in my head, I'm taking some liberties as I'm really not a DA lore buff but I'm having fun! So here's a bit...

PS: I'm not a native english speaker so... like yeah...

Painted gold

The meeting had dragged on for four hours, and Rook had spent most of it wondering which of them would be the first to pull out a blade and knife the other.

She’d always been more of a let’s just get on with shit type of person, but today had been filled with faction meetings—endless talking, cajoling, and trying to sway people to her side. Absolutely exhausting. Her head had felt twice its normal size.

Even now, tension clings to her. Her body is still jittery, starved for movement. She contemplates hopping to Rivain with Taash, running a mile or two along the beach with the waves lapping at her heels, the breathing rush of the sea calming her frizzed nerve endings.

But no—it is late, and she doesn’t fancy breaking her neck running in the dark. Rivain’s beaches tend to be littered with bones. The thought of spearing her foot on one sends a shudder through her.

She steps from the rippling surface of the Eluvian, leaving a blurred vision of Antiva behind. The heels of her boots make echoing clicks as she walks from the Eluvian room to the library above. It must be later than she thought. There is no sign of her companions—only a cold cup of coffee left forgotten on the table.

She nabs the last biscuit from a plate littered with crumbs and stuffs it into her mouth. In three quick chews and a swallow, it’s gone.

Idly, she walks around the table, perusing the books left open or bookmarked. Is it too late to go to the kitchen to get something to eat? Lucanis would probably still be awake anyway—sleep seems just as elusive to him as it does to her some nights.

She sighs and puts down the book she’d been looking at. She isn’t hungry—just restless.

Maybe I can go count the fish in the aquarium…

Her feet drag a little as she mounts the stairs to the balcony, one hand trailing lightly along the railing. A soft flickering light spills from Emmrich’s doorway as it opens a crack.

“Rook?” His voice calls hesitantly.

Their relationship is still in its early days, and they’ve both come to an unspoken agreement that it should remain just between them—for now, at least. Not anyone else. Not just yet.

They’ve shared a kiss, some longing caresses… Rook is happy cupping their little flame in the palm of her hand. It’s far too delicate a thing to be out in the open.

“Emmrich,” she answers, her feet coming to a stop by his open door.

“Darling,” he breathes out.

[5leggedlamb]

while I do relate to SOME. emphasis on SOME aspects of shadow milk - namely the crushing weight of both loneliness and helplessness (and the, KOF silly, KOF theatrics, except mine are better, 100% -eats him to establish dominance-); I believe his character could've been handled a bit differently. I don't really like the legendary costume thing (and how they made shadow milk more on brand with pure vanilla's theme, like please let them live in their own respective lanes? please?? keep them separate you don't have to go so far as to have matching outfits with your coworkers as far as I'm concerned) or how devsisters commercialized and capitalized off of the chapter 8 and the sort of "bond" shadow milk shares with pure vanilla. I think Shadow Milk can be a likeable character, no matter how much I want to shake and squeeze him but the way Devsisters is playing in the fandom's narrative/fancy bothers me some. Like. Most of the time, canon and fanon are two separate things, sometimes separated by an ocean - what am I saying, an ABYSS, and I'm fine with that, I even feel like it should stay like that. Sure, developers and creators are allowed to play into the fanon's shenanigans, and ultimately I'm just a nameless user on the internet what am I going to change about that; but I do believe it should be kept somewhat at bay. Like this whole PV/SM thing is… How to say. Somewhat invasive, almost. And I don't really like the way Devsisters has played into it SO MUCH (that tier list video. can we. like. ok it was funny, but do it for the ancients and other beasts too at least please). I would've preferred to be able to fully enjoy my Pure Vanilla without constantly being reminded of the clown.

And about the debt thing, I think if they did like more events centered around specific cookies, they might rake in more money. They could even do polls to figure out who the community wants to see next, because I'm sure every single cookie is someone's favorite. I don't know, I feel like I'm not articulating my thoughts very well I can only hope you guys see what I'm talking about jzihek 😭

I can't really speak for Ovenbreak players, as I've only ever played CRK, but I can sense your pain through my screen, stay strong 🙏

That being said, I AM excited about Silent Salt. I secretly hope they'll really play into the "oh they actually betrayed the Beasts" narrative,, AND KEEP THAT BUG DESIGN I AM BEGGING YOU PLEASE PLEASE DEVSISTERS ahem. As I was saying I kinda hope they'll go for the... Yeah Beasts and Ancients must unite against this new, universal threat, because otherwise everyone is doomed narrative. That's what I would do, anyway... Maybe Silent Salt could be seeking to awaken the ultimate cookie,, who knows??

No, Merchant, feel free to complain to your hearts content. I'm certainly much meaner to ugly blue alastoroncelerbillcipherspamton from temu and every last inch of his undeserved popularity. I seethe because as an Ovenbreak player of SEVEN YEARS, none of my faves get remembered in a tweet, let alone merchandise. The dragons, who all took over five years to collectively come out, got a pin set and devsis wiped their asses with them then moved on. I waited over a YEAR for another sugar nova odyssey update to come out because xylitol nova and astronaut are my favorite cookies ever and I'm still fucking waiting 🫠 meanwhile the beasts are getting shat out every 3 months with the most rushed nonsensical recycled plotlines held together with scotch tape because making profit is what really matters here, not competent storytelling. I wouldn't even be this furious if the beasts got equal attention and spotlight but we both know that's not true hahaha 😬 they love to shove their (really badly designed) golden cow in our faces because Smilk was lab engineered to get sexyman tumblr girlies screaming their heads off while not even being 1/4th the interesting character they want you desperately think he is. JUSTICE for burning spice, mystic flour, and everyone else who will get done dirty for this boring walmart Jevil 😒

Oh my gosh 🤣🤣🤣 tell us how you REALLY feel, Anon, let it all out. It's not healthy to bottle up your emotions like that (you might want to stay anonymous though, I don't think either of us want an angry mob at your doorstep lol)

I'm anticipating a ramble (as I am wont to do) so under the cut it goes

Gonna start by saying I DO like Shadow Milk. I really do. It took me a little while for him to grow on me when he first appeared, admittedly (ESPECIALLY his voice...), but I am genuinely fond of the little blue jester man. But he's certainly not my favorite, far from it. That title belongs to Burning Spice and Burning Spice alone lol. The only reason I ever turned the English audio back on (I usually play the game in Japanese, I love hearing my fave anime characters speak lol) was so I could hear that gorgeous baritone of his... Burning Spice is everything to me. I love his design, I love his voice, I love his dialogue, I love his personality, I love him soooooo much. He's my babygirl. If Silent Salt turns out anything like the character I've constructed inside of my head, then he will share the #1 spot with Spice. I'll go ahead and say that right away

I'm upset because, like you said, it feels like he got majorly shafted while Shadow Milk gets all the praise and attention. Mystic Flour as well, poor girl, but I'm focusing on Spice just to drive the point home a bit better. He didn't even get a fucking countdown. What was his little merch thing? That weird ass candle (I thought it was a vase at first lol) and that's it. Furthermore, his story feels the least developed. There was and is SO MUCH that could have been said about him as a person as well as his dynamic/connection with Golden Cheese, that wasn't for whatever reason. Episodes 5 and 6 feel like they're missing something (and you feel what the "something" is in that brief flashback to Spice's past. There's more to what became of him than "I was bored", there HAS to be. Boredom is a symptom, not the cause. I maintain that this theory of mine has merit, and it would've been nice if they dove deeper into it than they did), you know? And I hate it. I hate that Spice is basically the forgotten middle child of the Beasts while Shadow Milk gets all the glory. Seriously, for Shadow Milk:

They changed their YT avatar to him for a while (it has ALWAYS been Gingerbrave, they never changed it once to anyone else all these years). iirc they did this on Twitter too

They dedicate an HOUR LONG commentary video to episode 7 and Shadow Milk (arguably fair, because it WAS the 4th anniversary. But even so. Did they do this for any other Beast? Any other episode? Any other anniversary?)

They give him a costume (a legendary one, at that) plus a set with his Ancient. NO OTHER Beast/Ancient pair has that, and I struggle to imagine they ever will. Do you understand what I would do to have a BS/GC costume set? DO YOU???

They make an exclusive, limited edition plushie (that caused a massive shitstorm iirc, justice for everyone that got fucked over during that and fuck scalpers)

They make a whole ass pop-up store event themed entirely around Shadow Milk and episodes 7 and 8

Why? Because he's the fan favorite lol. He's long since been the golden child of this community, and now we know he's Devsisters' golden child, too. (And they're desperate for money because they're drowning in debt. That's also probably why they released Shadow Milk on the 3rd anniversary: to drum up interest on a milestone anniversary by bringing in a beloved character. Thematically/narratively, Shadow Milk should've been released last. But that's just my opinion.)

Again, I really do like Shadow Milk. I call him "Walmart Bill Cipher" affectionately (and because he genuinely does remind me of Bill. In fact, I think Bill might've inspired SM to some degree). But it's unfortunate that other characters, the other Beasts especially, are pushed aside and ignored just so Shadow Milk can hog all the spotlight. It is with a very intense grimace that I agree that Shadow Milk is a Tumble sexyman. He fits the stereotype to a T. It would serve us all well to accept that truth. He even got added to the Tumblr sexyman wiki before it turned to flour lol. Burning Spice is... NOT a Tumblr sexyman. He is a regular old hunk. Tumblr was never in the business of liking big, beefy hunks, at least not the Tumblr I knew 10 years ago lol.

I'm also, to reference it again, just really disappointed that so little was and is done to explore the other Beast/Ancient pairs - and the fandom is guilty of this, too (not to knock the PV/SM anaylses at all! They're all fantastic and I genuinely do understand and love the deep, complex connection between them!). To go back to BS and GC, because they're my lifeblood (not just for shipping reasons I swear)... it's particularly egregious to me that THEIR dynamic wasn't given the attention and detail it deserves. They are LIFE AND DEATH, the very foundation of the world itself, things I (personally) consider significantly more important than truth and deceit because it is from life and death that all else springs forth. Truth and deceit are things you actively look for; life (abundance) and death (destruction) are just there, everywhere you look, even within yourself. You can close your eyes, ears, heart to the truth and you can learn to shun, decipher, defend against deceit; there is no escape from life nor death. None whatsoever. And so much can be done with that. So much can be done with them. Burning Spice and Golden Cheese need each other in the exact same way that Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla need each other. They parallel each other quite a bit, too. They're so similar and so different. They could have and SHOULD HAVE had so much to say to and about each other, like what Shadow Milk and Pure Vanilla have. But that didn't happen. Didn't happen with Dark Cacao and Mystic Flour, either. All of that love and care and philosophical exploration goes to the clown and the Jesus Christ allegory. Which is FINE, I'm not saying to leave those two hanging, just... show some of that love to the beefcake and the bird, too. And Korean Batman (Cacao reminds me of Batman, I'm sorry 🤣) and Ms. Angel of Death, too. Please, man. Truth and Deceit aren't the only dichotomy that matters and is worthy of thought and discussion

(and oh my God, dude. The Ovenbreak shit. I've been playing for as long as you, and that shit is diabolical at this point. We get ONE dragon update a year, and they always leave us on the most painful cliffhanger of all time each time. (And this last one... I have many issues, but the most glaring one of all: WHERE THE FUCK IS FIRE SPIRIT??? WHY ISN'T HE IN THE STORY??? HE IS INTRINSICALLY LINKED TO PITAYA DRAGON! THEY HAVE AN UNBREAKABLE BOND BECAUSE OF THEIR DEAL THAT GRANTED HIM SOME OF PITAYA'S POWER AND SAVED HIS LIFE! HE SHOULD BE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THIS ARC! HE SHOULD BE AT THE FOREFRONT! IF PITAYA GETS HURT, HE GETS HURT! FIRE SPIRIT'S WELL-BEING IS DIRECTLY TIED TO PITAYA'S AND THE DRAGON'S VALLEY AND BOTH ARE IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY!!! Oh God I can scream about this for so long. I have a similar issue with the Red Dragon arc in CRK, WHY WASN'T FIRE SPIRIT THERE?) I LOVE the dragons, I love their relationship with each other, I love the conflict between them, even the unique bonds/quarrels between specific ones! And their storyline is picked up and dropped over and over again, left to collect dust until they feel like continuing the story. Hell, remember Gingerbrave and co.'s quest to find where that wizard compass is pointing, and to find a place for them to build a peaceful life away from the Witches? Me neither lol. Sea Fairy's great sacrifice with Sugarteara and the cursed pearl? (SF was done SO dirty in Kingdom, she's an actual character in OB and in CRK all she cares about is Moonlight, to the point that she lets an entire civilization fall to ruin because she refuses to do her fucking job) The Xylitol gang... Well, as of writing this, that's the next update... Which will give us another legendary cookie, hardly 3 months after Dreamweaver lol. Fuck Stevia Nova, I already don't give a damn. Give me more Xylitol Nova and Astronaut and that's it

I have a lot more to say (especially about BS and GC, God I could talk about them FOREVER, they're so interesting to me), but I think I've rambled enough lol. All the love for Shadow Milk, truly, but all the love and justice for Burning Spice and the other Beasts and every other character that gets ignored, too

[clairelutra]

not that skip beat pulled a gun on me and squeezed the trigger, but 281 was really something, huh

[unclewaynemunson]

Pt2 to this post

'Is something wrong?' Nancy asks, not long after the two of them have taken their familiar spots on the hood of Steve's car. They're basking in what might be the last warm sunlight of the year, looking out over the quarry, at a safe distance from the edge.

It's become a tradition the two of them share, ever since they reconnected back in March. It calms them both, to just sit here and take in the view, no one around but each other. Nancy is one of the few people Steve can share a comfortable silence with: sometimes they sit here quietly for what feels like hours, side by side, listening to music or to nothing but the birds singing around them. But they also have their best conversations here: it's the place where Nancy entrusted him she wanted to break up with Jonathan; it's the place where they talked about their shared past and decided they would always love each other as friends; it's the place where they finally talked about Barbara in a way they couldn't when they were younger. It's where Nancy talked about the ghosts still haunting her and Steve talked about how lonely he sometimes felt.

Steve huffs. 'How did you guess?'

'When you frown, you always do it with your whole face,' Nancy notes. 'So it's hard to miss, really.'

Steve glances at her side profile. There's a serenity to her features that's still relatively new. It means she's healing, slowly learning how to be happy again. It means she stopped waiting for the end of the world and started believing in a real future again. It makes Steve proud of how far they both have come.

'I had a fight with Eddie,' he confesses. 'And with Dustin, I guess.'

'What happened?'

He sighs. 'It's complicated.'

'Wanna tell me about it?'

The look in her eyes is kind and inviting. Steve hesitates. He wants to, but he doesn't know if he can. It's a risk. It's scary.

But he can't imagine Nancy Wheeler ever being careless with his secrets. He can't imagine her judging him, can't imagine her being as small-minded as most people in this town.

He was planning on telling her anyway, because things had been going so well with Eddie lately and – no, he shouldn't think about that right now. But maybe it would actually be nice to talk about it with Nancy.

'So, um...' His throat feels tight and his hands are sweaty. 'I recently discovered some things about myself. I-' The words get stuck somewhere on the way to his mouth, and he clears his throat.

Nancy doesn't push, but only gives him an encouraging nod, waiting for him to find his voice again.

'I found out I like boys,' he finally manages to confess. 'And I need you to know that – that that doesn't mean that what I felt for you wasn't real. It was. I loved you, and now I fell in love with a boy. And-'

'Steve.' Nancy's hand suddenly covers his, causing him to finally jerk his head away from the view over the quarry, to focus on her face again instead.

Her eyes are wide, and she squeezes his hand.

'You don't have to explain yourself to me,' she tells him. 'We're good. But thank you for telling me. For trusting me with this.'

Steve heaves out a relieved sigh, and Nancy smiles; it's that genuine kind of smile which reveals all kinds of dimples and soft lines across her face.

'We might be more similar than you thought,' she tells him, a faint blush spreading over her cheeks.

'Really?' Her words make his breath catch in his throat. He squints at her, trying to see her in this new light. 'Are you saying what I think you're saying?'

She shrugs. 'I don't know. I'm not sure yet,' she admits. 'Still figuring things out.'

'Take your time, there's no rush,' he tells her. 'But...' He bumps his shoulder against hers. 'When you're done figuring it out, talk to me, okay?'

She nods. 'Okay.'

For a while, it's quiet between the two of them. Some kind of raptor circles high above them in the sky. They both follow it with their eyes until it disappears among the tree tops west of the quarry.

'Is it Eddie?'

Steve blinks dumbly a couple of times.

'Wha- what?'

'The guy you were talking about. The one you fell in love with. It's Eddie, isn't it?'

'Jesus, Wheeler, what kind of sorceress are you?' Steve exclaims.

Nancy laughs again. 'You're not being as subtle as you think,' she tells him. 'The two of you have been hooking up for a while now, haven't you?'

Steve huffs dramatically. 'This is unfair. You know everything; I can't even tell you my own secrets anymore!'

'So what happened?' Nancy asks. 'You said you had a fight with him?'

'It's fucking stupid,' he sighs. 'Dustin was getting way too excited about the fact that I was gonna be hanging out with you, so I told him I was seeing someone. Next thing I knew, he was telling Eddie all about how I was seeing a girl.' He waves his hands around to make annoyed air quotations. 'I wanted to tell Eddie it was a misunderstanding, but Dustin was there, so I couldn't out us just like that, and he looked so betrayed and heartbroken... He didn't wanna listen to me.'

Steve sighs; he still can't manage to forget that look in Eddie's eyes when Dustin delivered the big news. 'I wish I would've talked about what I felt for him earlier. I should've been honest when I had the chance, y'know. But I was afraid he wouldn't wanna label what we had, that he wouldn't feel the same way – and now we're in this whole mess. God, he must hate me right now, Nance.'

To his surprise, Nancy gives him an unexpected slap against his arm.

'Ouch, what the hell was that for?!'

'What are you even doing here with me, Steve? You should've gone after him, tell him how you feel!'

'I tried, obviously, but he didn't wanna listen to me!'

'So make him listen! You're in love with him, he obviously feels the same way about you, and you let him leave to wallow in a broken heart he doesn't even need to have!' She rolls her eyes and slides off the car, adding something under her breath that sounds suspiciously like an exasperated 'Boys!' before she pulls Steve off the car as well. 'C'mon, time to get your ass over to the trailer park. Right. Now,' she says through gritted teeth. And, well, Steve knows better than to argue with a determined - and truthfully quite terrifying - Nancy Wheeler.

Read the last part here Taglist: @withacapitalp @ultimatedreamer104 @irregular-child @jcmadgirl @estrellami-1 @myguiltyartpleasure @hallucinatedjosten @jaybren @thew1ldblueyonder @melodymeddler @alycatavatar @zoeweee @lolawonsstuff @fairy-princette @saramelaniemoon @phirex22 @krazyperson @xxsky-shockxx (I only put people on this list who explicitly asked to be tagged. That's really no problem, I love to do that so dw about asking, but I got a lot of relatively vague reactions to the previous post that i'm not gonna dissect and interpret, bc I don't wanna clog anyone's notes unwanted. So just to be clear: i consider it a huge compliment if anyone asks for a tag but please do it clearly if you do!)

[faceeeeee]

Did you think I was joking? ....Well I kinda was, in the sense that I haven't redesigned the entire cast...JUST YET!

This is an old render I made last year cause I was mesmerized by the voice actor for this guy and the fanart so- there's that. I've been watching the whole fandom plus the games for a while now and I think it's time to jump in the hype train now that the 7th installment arrived like a week ago.

I'll probably end up remaking this design but for now, this is everything I've got.

[mormonforgetmenot]

I love being queer and I love being a mormon, but there are times when I'm just so tired.

[existentialcrisis-9-5]

Do you think they've ever wished on a shooting star?

Close-up:

Just a quick doodle I did to try and quell my excitement for tomorrow. I'm going away to see my first proper meteor shower! It was at its pique last week, but by the time I was actually able to get people to go with me, everything was booked out. I'm just hoping the weather works with me (it won't :') )

As an unrelated side note, I wasn't keen on drawing the goobers in this style initially, but it's starting to grow on me a bit.

[pluralhottakes]

Weird opinion as an endo myself, but;

Not all "anti"-endos are bad

Im sorta friends with someone who doesn't believe in them and to me thats okay, because they are letting me use the term

Its only when they harass people that it's bad

Just because we dont agree about endos doesn't mean we can't talk or we cant be freinds, its just means that endos are a touchy subject or something else, because to be fair, no one can know it all about neuroscience, no one can know every little thing that can lead to an endo, so not everyone needs to believe in it.

to clarify i am VERY pro endo myself, im just saying that not all anti-endos/endo nonbelievers are harmful and hateful

.

[system-voices]

It's crazy how people (coughs anti Endos) seem all ready to debate and argue about hills they're willing to die on but when I'm actually asking a genuine question about their thought process they don't want to say a word.

Everyone wants to talk until someone actually leads the conversation. I'm just saying. - 👊

[the-starry-lycan]

I would like to know, in the most absolutely completely totally normal way, which Sea of Stars character you find the most biteable.

You read me right.

Biteable.

Mine would be Seraï, Zale, or Brugaves.

[lesovyart]

im so obsessed w them that I made fanart AND my own playlist

[silly-moth-123]

My younger sibling literally blocked my phone number because we got into an argument over capitalism ???

Wow I reached the tag limit on this post

Beware a long vent in the tags lmao