#i just don't understand this and i don't want it and i'm so. ugh.

[entity56]

Whumpee's skin prickles every time the makeup brush wipes against a bruise or cut, but they dare not move an inch. Their hands bound behind them, all they can manage is to dig their nails into their palms as Whumper brushes on the concealer, then the foundation, to their neck and face. They clench their teeth, both to avoid moving their jaw and to avoid making a peep as Whumper works on their battered face.

Whumper didn't seem the least bit stressed, by contrast. In fact, they practically floated as they walked back and forth from their makeup tray to Whumpee. They hummed an unrecognizable tune, stopping every so often to take a sharp breath in. It would be soothing if not given the situation.

The vent blows cool air up Whumpee's legs, through the fabric of their expensive clothes, giving them goosebumps. Whumpee can't tell if the shivering is from the cold or the fear.

As Whumper sits back down on their cushioned stool in front of them, they cock their head and tsk disapprovingly.

"Darling, what's wrong?" they ask. "Why are you shaking?"

They lean back a bit to observe the fine garments adorning their malnourished body, and squint.

"Are the clothes I got you not good enough?"

Whumpee stares uneasily. Did they expect an answer? Movement? Last time they'd spoken without permission, they'd been decked across the face. The silence seems to displease Whumper, and they put the makeup brush down and cross their arms.

"When I ask you a question, you answer. Are you really that ungrateful?" they ask. Whumpee's throat constricts with dehydration, and they gulp thickly and clear their throat before attempting to respond.

"N-- ugh. No," they cough, casting their eyes down to Whumper's knees. "I'm not. Thank you."

"Thank you...?" Whumper prods.

"...Thank you, sweetheart." The words leaving Whumpee's mouth made them sick, but they heard Whumper giggle a little.

"That's better!" they chirp as they pick their makeup brush back up. "Now, eyes back on me. We wouldn't want to smudge your makeup, now, would we? All that work on your pretty little face would be such a shame." They snap their fingers. "Eyes on me, darl."

Whumpee looks back up at Whumper, into their eyes, piercing, almost painful to look at. They shut slightly as Whumper smiles and sets back to work on their foundation. The humming resumes, this time in a recognizable tune-- 'You Are My Sunshine'-- and Whumpee tenses up again. Stiff as a statue; don't move an inch. Don't move an inch. Don't move an inch.

The makeup was itchy and caked onto Whumpee's face like mud. They were grateful their hands were bound, or they'd try to wipe it off themselves. That didn't mean it wouldn't drive them crazy, of course, but at least there wasn't any risk of getting in trouble.

Whumper sighs as they cover the last inch of Whumpee's face, and they stand up and walk back to the makeup tray.

"You know what, Whumpee?" they say lightly, as if discussing the weather, as they browse the eye shadow. "Hold on-- look at me, maybe warm tones?-- Whumpee, you're absolutely beautiful. It's as though you've walked directly out of a painting, hmm? I could just stare at you... all day..."

Whumpee stares at them silently as they pause, collecting their thoughts. They turn over their shoulder at them, studying them hard, as though the next time they'd turn around, Whumpee would be gone.

"So I don't understand... why are you making me taint your beauty?" they ask sadly, resting a hand against their cheek. "Why would you work so hard against me? Why would you make me need to leave such ugly marks?"

Anger-- and shame?-- bubble up in Whumpee's stomach, and they cast their eyes back downwards. They feel their ears heat up with the emotion, and they wish in that moment that they could just be back in bed, even if it was next to this horrible, horrible individual. At least the blankets were warm.

"Answer me," Whumper demands, a slight note of irritation in their voice. Whumpee hears their foot tapping against the tile.

"I'm not making you do anything," they say quietly, their voice wavering as they spoke.

"Hm?" Whumper questions, furrowing their eyebrows and setting down the eye shadow pallette.

"I'm not making you hit me." Whumpee shifts uncomfortably in the small wooden chair. "I'm not making you torture me. I never wanted to be here."

For an unbearably long moment, the room was deathly silent. Whumpee's blood runs cold with regret as the reality of what they just said sets in.

But the silence is broken with soft footsteps, and Whumpee nearly jumps out of their skin as Whumper plops themselves right down in their lap and gently turns their head towards them. What was that expression? Was it anger, perhaps? Ice cold rage?

No. It was love. Affection and tenderness as they lean forward and whisper into their ear "I never asked you."

Their hands rest on Whumpee's shoulders as they lean into their chest and smile up at them, innocent, endearing. "It's okay. You're still a bit misguided. I understand, darling. I'll fix that right up for you, okay? Then nothing will stand in the way. I'll never have to ruin you again."

They rise from Whumpee's lap, leaving them paralyzed with dread at that implication.

"Now, be silent, my love. We wouldn't want to be late for dinner, now, would we? I'll finish your make-up in a jiffy."

They walk back to their makeup tray.

[discordiansamba]

"what do you want?"

azula refuses to look at zuko as he sits down in front of her cell. it's the first time she's ever seen her too young uncle dressed like the fire nation royalty he's always been, and she thinks she's already sick of it. he's even managed to scrape his short peasant hair into a somewhat proper topknot, fixed into place by a flame hairpiece that reminds her of the ones she's seen in depictions of avatar roku.

"i thought i would visit my great-niece," zuko says simply, "-is that a problem?"

azula scoffs. you've never had any interest in me before, uncle. why start now, after a lifetime of ignoring my half of the family?

at least he has the decency to look properly guilty, she thinks. he even apologizes, which she just rolls her eyes at. what? getting sentimental in your old age? or is it your newly returned mortality making you regret your past choices? whatever it is, she wants no part of it.

zuko just sighs.

i know it's hard to understand, niece, he says, but the way you were raised and the things you were taught were wrong. you are just a child. there is still time for you to unlearn them.

"don't call me a child," azula hisses, "-not with that face."

her great-uncle just heaves another sigh. fair enough, he says. your uncle never liked it when i lectured him at your age either. i guess it's hard to take me seriously when i don't look my age. but i've seen much more than you have, azula. i laid the air nomads to rest. do you know how many of them were children?

"they were weak," azula replies, "-it's what they deserved."

the weak deserve the right to live too, zuko tells her. and clearly, some of his father's soldiers must have agreed with him, because he found plenty of fire nation remains with evidence of scorch marks on them too. they saw an injustice happening with their own eyes that they realized they were a part of, and died trying to protect the air nomads.

"then they were weak too," azula waves a hand, "-besides, everyone knows the air nomads were plotting to invade the rest of the world."

her great-uncle just laughs.

(it's not a kind sound.)

"invade the rest of the world?" zuko asks. "sounds terrible. good thing the fire nation got rid of them and then spent another hundred years at war with the rest of the world."

azula frowns. that's different. the air nomads wanted to force their lifestyle on the other nations. the fire nation isn't doing that. we're just-

"-spreading our greatness to the rest of the world?" zuko asked. "i thought you were smart, niece."

azula bristles. smarter than you, uncle, she hisses.

zuko pinches the bridge of his nose, and sighs. he spits flame as he does, as if he is just barely holding in his temper. fine, he says. i can see we're not getting anywhere today. i'll visit again.

"don't bother," azula says, "-i'm no traitor."

(zuko exhales as he leaves. he has no idea how iroh manages to do the 'wise old man' thing. he'd ask him for advice, if it weren't for the fact that he was so much younger than him. he was over a century old. he should know how to talk to a teenager without losing his temper.

ugh. maybe bumi had a point about him being a fake old man.

he wants to help his niece. he does. he wants to believe that she can change, like iroh changed. she's still so young.

he just has no idea how to get her there. he knows almost nothing about her. he's fought against her, but he doesn't know azula. she's right- he really did ignore her side of the family. he had his reasons, but...

...he sighs. maybe he should do the one thing he's been avoiding all this time, and talk to the man who'd made his niece like this in the first place. it would shed some light on her upbringing, if nothing else. there was no point in avoiding ozai- not now that he was mortal again.

...he still didn't relish the idea.)

[riddlerosehearts]

...did disney just announce a moana 2 on twitter?? to come out this year??? when we're already supposed to be getting a tv show this year and a way-too-early live action remake next year?? 😐 i really enjoyed moana and have been excited for the show, and yet i'm honestly not the least bit excited at all and a little frustrated and confused because just... what. i literally had to check if this was a parody account when i saw it:

because it is SO WEIRD to announce something like this so suddenly like this and i don't understand where it came from when, again, we were supposed to be getting a disney+ show in the works this year?! is that canceled in favor of this or what (edit because i added this in a reblog but i wanna make sure people who only come across the original post see it: the answer is yes. yes, this is a disney+ series that got canceled and turned into a movie)? 😭 also the only real sequel films, not counting stuff like package films, that walt disney animation studios has actually ever made are the rescuers down under, winnie the pooh 2011, ralph breaks the internet, and frozen 2, and the latter of those just gave me an inherent lack of faith in any future sequel WDAS would create because i don't like either of them. i'm half-expecting moana and maui to be really OOC and then go their separate ways because they're just too different for some reason at the end of this movie.

[teaboot]

Sometimes at work it's not my place to tell people the things I want to say, and I find I often go home at the end of the rougher days to stand blankly in my shower and tell myself over and over what I wish I could pass on.

This accomplishes very little, and mostly just gives me a tension headache, but through it all I think I've narrowed myself down to a few solid things I'd like to tell people the most.

You can't change people. Not permanently, not for anythig. You can support them, encourage them, love them, give them tools and opportunities and resources, but you can't make them change. They can change themselves if they want to, but they have to want to, and they have to want it for themselves, because they're the only one that's certain to be with them forever.

For better or worse, you make your own choices, and blaming bad choices on others doesn't only work to absolve you of responsibility- it also robs you of control. Because if you say you only did something because I did something, then you arent only shifting blame- you're admitting that you cannot control yourself, that you cannot truly make choices for yourself, that other people can control you- and as long as you truly beleive that, you'll keep facing the same problems over and over. You'll keep letting others dictate your choices, because you'll beleive that they can, and you'll never be free.

White knights on horseback are from fairytales. Nobody can help you if ou're not willing to help yourself. To try, to put the dirty work in, to belive you're worth that effort- Act as though nobody is coming to save you. From a struggle, from pain, from bad relationships, from yourself. And when you do save yourself, because you will, because failure here isn't an option if you want to survive, you'll never find another dragon that can keep you prisoner.

Don't say anything to anyone that you wouldn't want them remembering forever.

Doing the right thing in bad circumstances is hard. It's the hardest thing. But if you make the choice to do that hard thing anyways, despite your fear, you'll go on the rest of your like knowing that you're the sort of person who did something.

The present only seems the hardest because the past I over and the future hasn't happened.

There's so much joy ahead of you, the kind you can't possibly understand until you see it yourself.

The responsibility of consequences is often disguised as the power of permission. "I won't do this if you help me", "I'll work on my anger if you do this for me", "I promised you I'd quit, but can I have just one?". The unspoken question is, "Can it be your fault if this goes badly?"

You cant make someone love you the way you need to be loved. Someone can love you very much and still be bad for you, even if you love them very much in return. Two people can love each other very, very much, and try their very best, and still be wrong for each other.

Sometimes being near to someone changes you, even in good ways, and the people you become don't fit together as well as the people you were.

Caring takes work. Even if it's real. Especially if it's real. And the most important gestures aren't the grand, poetic, songs-and-flowers-and-tears moments; they're getting out of bed even though you don't want to. Paying attention to things you don't enjoy. Scrubbing pans, or opening a window, saying "thank-you", or helping carry groceries into the house. The small things fill the big things- without the small, boring, mediocre things, big things feel hollow.

Thrre is honour and dignity in humble work.

If you are a cruel and spiteful person, then you will find every place you visit to be full of the same cruel, spiteful people. This is not because the world is as cruel as you, but because everywhere you are, you will be disliked. This is the curse that comes with being persistently cruel and spiteful.

If you are a kind and ppsitive person, you will repeatedly encounter kind and positive people, because as they grow familiar with you, they will be happier to have you near. This is the reward of being a kind and positive person.

When splitting paths with loved ones, briefly or forever, aim for your last words to always be "I love you".

[dazais-guardian-angel]

kinda wild to me that one of the most compelling aspects of both Chuuya and Kunikida's characters to me, that I never really see talked about, is how they're heavily set on a doomed crash course towards complete and utter destruction, and how I am so, so worried for them both.....

[queen-scribbles]

.

[cosmogyros]

I just listened to a couple songs from current female artists who... all sound the same. Like they've all got that one particular kind of breathy pretty flawless voice. The way 90% of female singers seem to sound nowadays. It drives me bonkers. The only good thing about it is that it makes me feel like, "well, I may not have a very professionally-trained-sounding voice, but thank god I don't sound like THEM at least".

[deaconsleatherpants]

the fuzzy steering wheel and seatbelt covers... 🥺

[muirmarie]

something about getting to the end of something you're making and just like. reconciling yourself to the fact that it's kind of garbage. and then looking at it again a few days later and being like. actually. this is pretty good. and then you get so used to this cycle that when you're at the point of actively thinking something you're making is garbage...you're smart enough to know rationally that you're just In The Thick Of It and it will probably look pretty a-okay in a few days. you're a smart person! you understand this! but somehow. it still just looks like garbage. even though you KNOW what your brain is doing. you know it!! you understand!!!

anyway what's that called.

[shiryawashere]

nothing makes you want to chew your fingernails more than when you proudly mention a hobby project to a friend and they say "oh cool :)" without asking any follow-up questions

[as-rare-as-trees]

Me, working on an actual "serious" artpiece: ahah I'll just mess around, sketch and leave it unclean and messy

Also me, working on a meme artpiece: well, I shall do a fully rendered colored piece, or else

[sysig]

Totally unaffected by this gesture of affection, definitely (Patreon)

[roscoehamiltons]

i've been seeing people say "not everyone can be lewis" in response to what the drivers have been saying in the press conference and media, and what i don't understand is: why not? what's stopping them from speaking about different issues? why is it that lewis is expected and able to be well spoken about various issues in the paddock yet suddenly when it comes to other drivers it's 'oh well he's not lewis so that's the best they can do 🤷🏻‍♀️'

[fritzes]

I got in an existential spiral and I don't know how to get out of it

[running-in-the-dark]

my niece stayed with us last night. it was pretty fun this time, probably because I was feeling better (if I'm already in pain or exhausted, I can't handle it). after we dropped her off, we talked to my mother for a little bit, and then drove to my in-laws. we were there for a few hours and because the guys were busy outside, i ended up talking to my mother-in-law for most of that time. it was... kind of good? I don't know. she actually showed some real emotions, just a little bit, but hey that's more than ever before! I even gave her a weird little shoulder squeeze/side hug, it was so weird.

anyway, I almost fell asleep in the car on the way home because I was so tired, and actually did fall asleep immediately on the couch.

[sandpapersnowman]

does anyone have any suggestions for like. side hustling things? not to get too personal but my mom's work place was destroyed by Helene and she's getting unemployment for now but is thinking she ultimately wants to use the circumstances to relocate up closer to where I live

I want to like. do Something. art commissions? writing commissions?? I have some jewelry I've made that I need to like set up a website to sell or like go to a local art thing and sell or something. I'm getting back into pixel art/animation. idk. I'm gonna be earning more from work with the holiday busies but I want to be able to like Really help her financially bluh