#i just think its cool other people live like i do

[creatingblackcharacters]

hi, this is a weird question but im curious: how does it make you feel when non-Black people talk about loving art or other things that are significant to Black culture or primarily made by Black people? like where are the lines between appropriation, commodification, and appreciation to you? im specifically asking this with jazz in mind, because ive noticed that most people in the jazz scene where i live arent Black, but Blackness is so central to it and its history. thoughts?

It depends on how genuine it is (and it's usually easy to tell).

Tbh, a lot of nonblack (lbh here, we usually see it from white folk) people are very weird about Blackness. It's why I had that serious moment about the CBC BHM challenge the other day- everyone wants to enjoy Black culture but no one wants to respect and love Black people.

And you can see that in how people respond to historically Black forms of art and media- how they will love the music of Persona but think jazz is "boring" (fun fact, white racists at the time of jazz' inception thought it was just loud, rhythmless noise that would lure in their white girls into sexual sin and white boys into marijuana- sound familiar?👀)

The lines are gonna be different from person to person, so you shouldn't just take only my word for it. But for me, the line between appreciation and commodification is the presence of actual self-respecting Black people that are safe in the space. Because that's gonna let me know just how welcome my Blackness actually is, in this space that's surrounded by what it's created. Do you just like what we make without consideration for who the human beings are behind it?

That's cool that you like my fashion- but where are the people who look like me wearing it? That's cool you like my music, but where are the people who look like me listening to it with you?

That's cool that you can draw Black people- but do you support Black creators? Do you expect the support of Black viewers for being able to do so, but don't show up for those Black viewers any other time? That's cool that you like Black characters, but do you have Black friends? Are you afraid of your actual Black peers?

Would you still like jazz, if you had to hear and accept the history of antiblack racism and activism behind it? 👀 Or do you just wanna dance?

Because if it were me, and I walked into your jazz space and there were no Black people, and no sort of respect for Blackness- just entertainment- I'm either gonna start challenging folks or I'm gonna walk out 🤣. If I don't feel like I am accepted or represented in a space full of my creation, then it's being commodified. If it's being outright ignored or credit stolen, then it's appropriation.

Hope this helps 👍🏾

[dokidokitsuna]

The Lord of All That Was, Ruler of the Forbidden Land, Lost King of Redgar– Fecto Elfilis: A legendary beast from ancient times, long before the Dream Kingdom or even the rise of Void Termina. Since its reign came to an end, a small remnant of it survived deep underground, tended to by the dwindling population of its people…but the invention of Dream Magic has granted it strength, and with the help of a certain Nightmare Wizard, it returns to its former glory, setting its sights on the Dream Kingdom…

The Meta-Knight (Vessel Gamma): The secondary body of the Meta-Knight, only seen once or twice every hundred years, when the Dream Kingdom is in dire straits. This vessel is heavily modified for speed and power, as well as increased loyalty to the kingdom and all its subjects– although it is physically incapable of speech or smiling, it tries to be as friendly as it can during its very brief missions.

~~

So now you know why Elfilin is a lizard in this AU: so Fecto Elfilis can be a cool dragon. ^^ Simple as that.

I probably need to explain how the Meta-Knight works, though: so it’s really the quintessential example of a Dreamwrought being, taken and reshaped by generations of dream-mages…to the point where the original dreamer’s mind is now more of an abstract concept, part of Dream Magic itself. Thus, it’s become just another parameter, which can be adjusted to fit the requirements of each Meta-Knight vessel. In this respect, the different vessels are like ‘filters’, through which certain parts of that mind are allowed to enter: usually just enough to keep its sense of self stable and offer it a rudimentary intelligence. Vessel Alpha, the one you’re already familiar with, definitely has the widest filter– it doesn’t have much of an identity or a desire to do anything, but it’s at least allowed to think, and draw its own conclusions from the parts of its mind it can access. Vessel Gamma, on the other hand…even if it could talk, it probably wouldn’t have much to say. ^^; Its filter is very narrow, really only allowing it to “recognize friend” and “kill enemy”, and the only emotion it can feel is happiness– either that, or complete neutrality.

I like to think it’s designed that way both to make it easy to control (as an extremely dangerous living weapon) and to prevent it from going nuts in such an uncomfortable alien body. ^^; Yeah, the Ministry could probably just torture it into submission, but literally removing its ability to think “SOMETHING IS HORRIBLY WRONG WITH ME” would help speed that process up a lot. 👍

[snugglesquiggle]

why aren't you reading seek?

but for real though, today's chapter was so damn good it motivated me to at least try to write recommendation. i need more people to read it - someone who follows me has got to be willing to give it a try

seek is an original science fiction story set in the radically distant future, updating roughly every week (or lately, closer to every two)

the world is barely recognizable, practically post-scarcity and full of cybernetic modification and AI

in fact, one of the pov characters is one such AI, and the other is so heavily modded i've seen one person derisively call her a cyberfox. this hardly scratched the surface of what's interesting about them and their situation, but this is just a quick recommendation

you can read the first chapter here: https://seekwebserial.wordpress.com/2024/10/18/0-1-0-hack/

i'll admit, the start can be a bit shaky (this whole "guy wakes up in a hostile high-tech facility with no memory of what's going on" setup is definitely not the most inspired of starts, and this is all the more dubious when it's so far still unclear what role he'll play in the long run direction of the story)

furthermore, the structure of Seek is ambitious - and questionable in a way that strains against the foremost issue of a rotating pov stories. there are three perspective characters, each essentially living in entirely different worlds and "eras".

as a result, it feels at times like reading three different novels interleaved, with little tying them together. now, a sense of interconnection has begun to emerge, a dozen odd chapters down the line, but yeah

if you stick with it, though? there's incredible payoff, several intensely satisfying character moments in a fascintating world futuristic to the point of becoming alien

the blurb goes:

Despite our best efforts, few survived faster than light travel. None survived the trip back. So we took a different approach altogether. We started bringing the universe to us. There’s no point. What hasn’t changed in the last four hundred years won’t change in our lifetimes. There’s no point. We’ve solved it. Everything humanity needs, it has. We’ve reached the finish line. There’s no point. Turn off the lights, close your eyes, and cover your ears, nightmares come manifest. Three storylines from three individuals, worlds and eras apart.

as i try to write this recommendation, i'm finding myself trying to summarize all the cool things it does - how society and culture is reshaped by this abundance of resources and automation, and the gross proliferation of advertisement and surveillance that results. or talk about the emphasis the cybernetic augmented place on the fidelity of their mods. but at a point it feels like i'm just doing a worse job of telling the story

so i think the one thing i'd point to as my favorite part of Seek is its portrayal of the integrated "onboard" AI that quickly become more widespread over the course of the story.

there's such a creativity and attention to specificity when it comes to portraying how different people relate to their onboards, down to the formatting flourishes the text uses to set off and differentiate scenes where several different intelligence conversing

but i digress

it isn't just the worldbuilding that gets me, but the character writing, and even the plot has started to heat up - as i said, the reason why i'm writing this now is because the newest chapter (2.6.w) is easily the best in the serial

i have further thoughts on its painstaking tension, the suffocating powerlessness on multiple levels but they don't exactly mean much if you aren't caught up

so yeah. i love this story and i'm hoping for it to garner more readers

if i have to end off with one last piece of bait - we have one protag become taylor swift times a thousand and the other become a terrorist. things get crazy

get in here!

[nozo-muu]

HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING, RIGHT?

Pairings: Lip Gallagher X male!reader, (implied) Ian Gallagher X Mickey Milkovich 

Genre: typical best friend’s brother trope, questioning sexuality, mentions of alcohol and drugs, kissing

Author's note: This is for male readers. I’ve used my shameless OC, Rust Anderson, as the main character, but this can be viewed as an x Reader too (if you change Rust's name to yours lmao, I just don't like using y/n, sorry). I’ve added another OC of mine, whose name is Carina Flores… I also love changing characters' personalities, so sometimes they might be a bit OOC (sorry in advance).

This is supposed to be the night that was mentioned in this fic ;)

God fucking damnit, this took ages. I'm not a big fan of the ending, but oh well. 

Gosh, he was perfect… The way he walked, the way he talked, the way his eyes wrinkled when he smiled. Everyone knew him, everyone liked him, the kid the Andersons had adopted, rumored to be the bastard child of some CEO from the north side. He had the heart of an angel, which was weird to see in the southside. 

He could always be seen sitting next to his friend Carina Flores, another adopted orphan in the neighborhood. The duo was inseparable, having met in foster care before being adopted, him by the Andersons, her by the Flores, and luckily living in the same city. They hung out so much everyone assumed they were dating.

It was a normal Friday; he, Carina, and their two friends, Mandy Milkovich and Ian Gallagher, were hanging out during a break.

People loved talking about those four, an unlikely group, really. Two kids from “problematic” families, the token smart and pretty popular girl and the unbelievably nice child of the Andersons. 

“I want to go home already…” Carina whined. 

“Only two hours of torture left.”  Ian replied.

Engrossed in their conversation, they didn’t hear some older guy approach them.

“Hey! We’re throwing a party tonight. We're inviting everyone, you guys should come.”

Rust turned around, looking up and down at the other boy.

“We’ll think about it, thanks for inviting us, tho.”

“Cool, hope to see you tonight.”

With that, the guy turned around and disappeared. 

“Seems like we have something to look forward to tonight, then!” - Mandy exclaimed, shoving Carina’s arm slightly.

“Yeah, sounds like a plan.” Ian replied.

“We can meet at mine before… 6.30 sound good?” 

“Yeah!” The other three exclaimed.

…

It was around 6 when the doorbell first rang. Rust ran down the stairs and opened it to see Carina, who was carrying a bag full of clothes to get ready. 

“You sure do come prepared.” Rust said sarcastically. 

They made their way to Rust’s room, which was neatly decorated with witchy and music stuff. Turning on some music, they started getting ready, up until about half an hour later, when the doorbell rang again. 

Carina was putting on her makeup when Rust came back with Ian and Mandy behind him. 

“Wow, you guys took this seriously!” Ian said while observing the mess in Rust’s room and the elaborate outfits they had picked out. 

“Antes muerta que sencilla” (I prefer being dead than looking boring), Carina retorts.

Rust chuckles, taking out a bottle of vodka from under his pillow.

“Let's get this started then!” Rust wiggles the bottle while grinning. 

“Fuck yeah!” - Ian exclaims.

They changed the music to something more lively to get into the party spirit and started taking shots. 

The time to get to the party approached. It was 8h30, and the alcohol had already started working its effects. 

They made their way to some warehouse the guy from before had given them. Rust and Karina were dancing around while Ian and Mandy were laughing together, seeing how excited their two friends were for the party. 

Once they arrived, they noticed how lively the atmosphere was. A bunch of people were dancing, making out in the corners, talking… and the bar wasn't short of drinks. 

“I could go for another drink.” Ian said, looking at the group. 

“Yeah, downing a whole bottle obviously wasn't enough.” Rust replies, chuckling. 

“Mandy and I are going to go dance, we’ll join you guys later.” Carina said. 

The guys waved them goodbye while they made their way to the makeshift bar the students had created. A guy from an upper grade greeted them. 

“Oh shit! Another Gallagher. I’ve seen your brother around here somewhere.”

“Lip is here?” Rust exclaimed, raising an eyebrow. 

“He did say he had something to do…” Ian replied.

“Ok then, what should I pour you guys?” 

“I'll take a vodka soda, better to not mix alcohols.” 

“Yeah, I'll take one too.” 

The guy poured their drinks and handed them to the pair. 

That's when they felt a hand on their shoulders. Turning to see who it is, they see Lip, cigarette between his lips. 

“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.” Rust exclaimed, smiling. 

Ian rolled his eyes and turned fully to his brother. 

“You didn't say you were coming.” Ian stated dryly.

“I didn't know you guys would be here. Why bother telling you.” He looked around. “Where are the girls?” 

“Somewhere, dancing around. We were gonna join them.”

Lip looked up and down his brother's best friend's body, admiring how well he was dressed and how his clothes hugged his figure. 

“I'll go with you guys, my friend ditched me for some chick. He won't be back anytime soon.” 

Rust chuckled and Ian sighed. They made their way to the dance floor, where their two friends were already dancing. Rust immediately joined them, but the two brothers stayed a little behind, moving a bit awkwardly. 

They couldn't help but chuckle at how their friends were commanding the attention, already having people join their circle while dancing. 

Mandy had already started flirting with some guy, Carina was shining under the spotlight put on her, and Rust, well, let's just say he was a little touchy with a girl that he had started dancing with. 

It was a weird feeling, but Lip felt a pang of jealousy… was it jealousy? He didn't really know, but what he did understand was that he wanted it to stop. 

When he looked around, he found that Ian had disappeared, but he caught a glimpse of him walking out with someone… Was that Milkovich? 

To be honest, he couldn't care less right now. He looked back at the other three, deciding to join them. There was nothing to lose, right? 

As he was approaching, Rust grabbed his wrist and pulled him to the circle beside him. 

Even though Rust was still dancing with a girl, this action made Lip’s heart skip a beat. And the way he was looking at him while still grinding on her. He knew what he was doing, right? He had to.

After a little while, Lip and Rust made their way to the bar again, where they ordered another round. Once they got their drink, Lip got up.

“I'm gonna go for a smoke.”

“I'll go with you, I need some fresh air.” 

They got out via the back door and sat on some stacked crates not far away. 

The weird intimacy of the moment made Lip's heart rate accelerate. It was rare for him to feel like this for anyone, let alone a guy. He sighed. 

This made Rust smile. 

“No luck with the ladies today, huh?” 

“Hmm. Can't say the same about you. That girl was enamored. And the guy at the bar was almost drooling while looking at you.” 

“Someone jealous?” Rust said jokingly. 

He really didn't know, did he? The effect he had on people. The way everyone would feel welcome by his demeanor. The way he would be so enticing while dancing, the way he made Lip's heart rate speed up…

“No.” He said while exhaling the smoke. He handed it to Rust with a raised eyebrow. 

“No thanks, I have enough with the edible Carina gave me.”

Lip chuckled. 

“How… how did you know you were bi?”

Rust looked at him, raising an eyebrow, shocked by the sudden question. He didn't feel like joking around, so he answered truthfully Lip's question.

“Trust me, you know. A sudden crush on some guy you know, the urge to kiss him…” 

Lip hummed. 

“Why? Someone caught your eye?” Rust asked. 

Lip sighed, looking at him. The alcohol had clouded his thoughts, and the weed wasn't helping his case. He leaned in and pressed his lips against Rust's. 

Rust let out a muffled sound. He debated whether or not to pull back. But god, he had wanted this for so long. 

When Lip pulled back, he looked at the other boy. He was scared, to say the least. What the fuck did he just do? Did he ruin one of the best friendships he had? 

“I'm sorry, I got carried away. I…” Lip said. 

“Lip…” 

“It's just… I… I don't know what came over me. You just looked so good, and I wanted to kiss you… I'm sorry.” 

“Lip, I didn't pull away, did I?”

He looked up, surprised by his response. 

“Can I… do it again?”

“Bring it on.” 

They made out for a while until they decided to go back inside since it was getting cold. They spent the remainder of the night dancing together. Luckily, people were too drunk to remember, and Ian was still somewhere with Mickey. Oh, and Carina and Mandy… they didn't care and were occupied with something, or rather, someone else.

[xelqua-the-jester]

Hi there 👋 I thought the little thing about your Creature Feature Au sounded cool and wanted to know of you had anymore info you wanted to share? I love it when people do messy timeline stuff and traveling between worlds and all that, makes my little lore brain happy (:

WAAA this ask made me smile so wide omg. I'd be more than happy to share more about it!!! (my apologies for the shortage been busy in life lol)

CREATURE FEATURE!

1.) Setting

It takes place in Hermitcraft Season 10 and Evolution, specifically during the midst of Watcher Obelisk trials. This AU does not contain Real Life or Wild Life as a part of its narrative (simply because of continuity / conflicting date reasons lol. Third Life - Secret Life are canon!). When Gem crosses over, it's basically like she's walking straight into a town going mad. The "portal" is actually a Watcher's Update Portal (the ones that the Evolutionists would use in order to jump from version to version). Nobody knows how it got to S10, but it sure isn't going.

2.) "Why Gem?"

Why not! Honestly, she just happened to be the first person I thought of when I was originally thinking about this AU and the pieces sorta started lining up soon thereafter. Considering her performance in Secret Life with raising the Boogeyman Army, her connection with the Watchers seemed like it would be strong enough for her to be the one to find this path.

3.) "Centaur...?"

YES!! I'm a huge fan of Hermit designs with fun and wacky headcanons. This AU is no different and follows a lot of the fanonly accepted tropes (Grian -> Bird/ Harpy Hybrid, Mumbo -> Vampire and/or Robot Hybrid, etc. I'll show off all my designs in due time LOL). That being said, these developments and hybrid changes are not present in the Evolution world. This is because of a few reasons. a.) As stated before, none of the Evolutionists have had these events occur to them yet. (Grian has yet to become a Watcher and gain his Watcher-like abilities, Pearl has yet to become "5 AM Pearl" and gain her moth-like abilities, Jimmy has yet to become "the Canary" and gain his bird-like abilities, (at this point) Martyn (and BigB in this AU) has yet to become Listeners and gain their Listener-like abilities). In Season 10, these events have already happened. b.) Due to being in such an early stage of humanity, Evolutionists haven't had the chance to literally evolve into these hybrid / abnormal beings, hence why they're all so surprised when a centaur shows up!

4.) "EVO!Martyn and EVO!Pearl. What's their deal?"

Well am I GLAD YOU ASKED!

In this AU (and in my own personal view of Evo), EVO!Pearl is a spy sent by the Watchers, specifically to keep EVO!Grian in line. Though not a Watcher, she does derive from the same plane as them, making her highly omniscient in the timeline of her life, including her future. Due to this fact, EVO!Pearl is aware that, at some point after Grian is taken by the Watchers, Grian creates the Life Series.

(Side tangent: In this AU, the Life Series is a seperate universe initially created by Grian, who does indeed have Watcher abilities at the time. After dying at the end of Third Life, however, he is greeted by the Watchers in the afterlife, who basically highjack the Life Series and starts taking control. They manipulate and force Grian to continue the games, even though he knows that it will only result in the cycle of watching his friends kill each other over and over and over again. As a way to try and compromise, Grian asked the Watchers to allow him to "split the universe", AKA live in another universe where his friends don't remember the Life Series (this universe being Hermitcraft) whenever the games weren't in session. The Watchers agreed but reminded Grian that the versions of his friends stuck in the Life Series universe will forever be tortured and exist in a limbo-like state in between the games (Eyes and Ears AU). This haunts Grian in modern day, but he pretends like it doesn't.)

EVO!Pearl resents Grian for the decision of creating the Life Series, considering the fact this means she is aware that he will eventually create a universe where she and all the friends she will make in the future will never escape a cycle of killing each other. This information drove EVO!Pearl basically insane, causing her to lash out towards the Evolutionists (Grian especially who, at the time, didn't even know what she was mad at him for) and distanced herself from them "out of safety". Eventually, EVO!Pearl goes missing entirely (but it doesn't stay that way once Gem starts coming along...)

EVO!Martyn has a similar tale, albeit a bit more complicated. At the end of EVO (which is when I believe Martyn becomes a Listener), he is also gifted with omniscience. It's a bit difficult to explain: Because end-of-EVO-Martyn has this ability, it retroactively makes AU-current-Martyn aware of his eventual fate. Unlike EVO!Pearl, EVO!Martyn is practically unbothered by this knowledge. Knowing that there is a future in which he wins with such glory! (Limited Life) Knowing that, someday, he will fight to bring down the Watchers that currently terrorize his town! It makes him PROUD! There's no shame in what the future holds for him. In fact, he makes jokes with/towards EVO!Grian about murder & betrayal frequently, something that angered EVO!Pearl prior to her disappearance. Simply put: He did not care!

("What about BigB?" because BigB's relationship with the Watchers doesn't start to truly bloom until the Life Series starts up (in a different universe entirely), he does not have the same retroactive powers (in the EVO timeline, at least).)

5.) "...So EVO!Grian and EVO!Jimmy don't know about the Life Series?"

Nope! Not at this point. Though Grian gains omniscience, he does not gain the retroactive abilities of a Listener, like Martyn. In fact, Hermit!Grian struggles to remember much of his time as an Evolutionist at all due to the fact the Watchers screwed him over so bad when they took him. Jimmy's situation matches BigB's, in which his connection with the Watchers started in an alternative universe, so he has no connection to it during his time as an Evolutionist.

6.) "How can Hermit!Pearl remember EVO, but not the Life Series?"

More Watcher manipulation babyeeee. Because Hermit!Pearl lives in a world where she does not remember the Life Series, her "memories" of Evo are warped. Though she knows she was (and still is) a spy for the Watchers, she has no recollection of ever getting "going crazy" (basically, she remembers EVO as how it actually happened OUTSIDE of this AU lol). Hermit!Grian knows that Hermit!Pearl doesn't remember the Life Series and does his best to prevent her from ever figuring it out due to the fact he fears that, if she were to learn about the fate of herself in the next universe over, it would trigger basically a sleeper agent emotion in her and cause her to end up like how EVO!Pearl did. And Grian does not want to see that happen again.

WOW that was a lot. I've been typing for at least an hour now LMAO

I could ramble about Creature Feature forever, honestly. I'm so grateful to hear that other people seem to be interested in it! If there's any more questions or comments on the AU, please don't hesitate to jump into my inbox!! I'm always so happy to answer them!! 💜

[bumblingbriars]

While not a first generation immigrant child, I still appreciate Belushi: A Biography a lot because Belushi’s family life reminded me of my old home life before my mom and dad died. It also made me feel better about eating bigger portions too because like…. it isn’t just a me thing. It’s just how Mediterranean families eat KAKSJAKSJ

Not to mention Belushi himself reminds me so much of my dad I wouldn’t be surprised if his favorite actor was him. My dad was a big film nut and watched anything and everything that came out back then. Similar mannerisms, humor…

[cent-scratchnsniff]

something bad did indeed happen to that man. spent abt 25 minutes trying to find a better picture of that one (1) offical piece with his eyes open that wasnt compressed or tiny

[xxplastic-cubexx]

dumbass supreme says 'yeah ill play a quick game of rivals before lunch why not' and gets mvp more at 1

[claitea]

just one of those nights again (thought about n so hard i started Physically feeling sad like theres a weight on my chest)

[feline-evil]

Never gonna be over how unutterably pathetic and in dire need of ANY kind of companionship or friendship that doesn't revolve around their band the entirety of dethklok are. I love these horrible idiots who are so devoid of any real connections outside of themselves that they will latch onto anyone unfortunate enough to get too close to any one of them! And GOD help anyone they latch onto!!

[taraxacum-vulpes]

why is everyone pretending like cyberpunk edgerunners is good. the writing is so bad i hate it

[rolex-kaard]

it's actually so stupid

[svnflowermoon]

i am so unexplainably sick of things being called basic as if that's a bad thing. so what if someone listens to mainstream music and makes aesthetic instagram posts and watches popular tv shows because if that makes them happy then it's no one else's business. focus on yourself rather than putting other people down for doing what makes them happy.

[bmpmp3]

thank god for indie devs making like tiny little maximum 10 megabyte freeware games on itchio keeping the art of filesize optimization alive. ASSET REUSE FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sp4ceboo]

ai rant in tags bc im so fucking tired

[whenthegoldrays]

Wait. But what if Henry is majoring in architecture.