#idk if this made any sense at all

[onearthwerebrieflygorgons]

So. I haven't used Duolingo in years. I've long since realized just how... sparse... a language teaching tool it really is (virtual flash cards are great for vocab practice, but that's about it).

But I still got a little emotional when I deleted my account just now over their latest AI bullshit.

Duolingo wasn't my FIRST experience studying a foreign language, or even my first experience studying one outside of the classroom, but it's the first one I really got into. Maybe it was the gamification of it, maybe it was the fact that I was using it for Esperanto -- a language with a simple enough grammar that I was able to pick that part up on my own fairly quickly -- but Duolingo is the thing that worked for me.

And sure. In time, I went off and found better resources that were more appropriate for the languages I was into and the ways I wanted to use them, but I still STARTED there. I still picked it back up when they added Latin, and I followed the "Yiddish for English Speakers" page in the incubator for YEARS, hoping it would be a free, accessible starting point for that language.

Because that's what Duolingo has always been to me. It's more a game than a tool, but it's free, and that gamification makes it easy to get into. It was a place to start.

I wholeheartedly DO NOT SUPPORT their new AI-based approach, and I hope all the translators who lost their jobs over it find stable employment elsewhere. If you have an account, I urge you to delete it like I did.

(The app won't let you, but you can do it fairly easily from a browser. I also recommend deleting your personal data -- it's only one extra step, and then you're out for good.)

But I also understand feeling kinda sad while you do it. I felt sad! The owl is cute! It's a fun game! There's a lot of memories there, and a lot of investment if you've been keeping up a streak for a long time. That's WHY the app is designed that way.

You're allowed to feel however you feel about the stupid bird app (no not that one). It's still the right thing, even if it hurts.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

while teen while goblin while aroace while injured while doing your best

[bibewilderedandbuck]

Imagine Buck saying “i love you” first and for the first time Tommy feels behind. He feels like maybe they are moving too fast.

Then he has a talk with some of his team. They’re not AS close as the 118 but they put their life in each others hand’s on the regular and that counts for something.

Andy asks Tommy about last week, when Buck was complaining about his apartment being so far so they started talking about moving in together? Aubree mentions how much he jokes about buying a ring for his beau, and Tommy sits back because he does joke a lot about (he hasn't spoken to Evan directly about it but anytime the kid does something sweet he asks him his ring size). Lucy mentions the time they spend talking and texting, she calls it nauseating with a wink, but Tommy doesn't remember the last time he wanted another person in contact with him at all times and who returned the feeling tenfold.

And after all, with their job they could die any day. He sits in his kitchen and replays the moment Evan said it again and again: "I know I'm dragging you through milestones like a cat with a mouse, and I want to let you know that you don't have to say it back. But I love you, Tommy. You mean a lot to me and I'm so happy we met."

Nine months is the longest relationship Tommy has ever had. And he still wishes he could spend every waking second with Evan.

By the end of the night he's barging into Buck's apartment and sticking his tongue in the younger man's mouth. He stands back and pushes his chest up and smiles and says "I love you too, Evan."

Buck is laughing, he's smiling and kissing his boyfriend back and hugging him tight. He can feel Tommy's heart racing when he puts his hand to Tommy's chest. He expected it to take longer. He'd heard about all the ways Tommy had been hurt before. But in the end it only took a day

then they hear a flush and Eddie walks out of the bathroom. He's smiling because Buck's loft is Not Big and he might have heard every word. For just a moment, they all stand in silence not uncomfortable per say but definitely charged.

Then Eddie says "I love you too, bro." Buck lovingly rolls his eyes and Tommy is cracking up. If it were anyone else he'd probably feel embarrassed but Eddie has shared friendly declarations of love before and its not uncommon for the L word to be passed around a 118 dinner party like hors d'oeuvres.

[im-yotsu]

It's them...the creachur

Also a turnaround for Rainer's tattoos

[demodraws0606]

What Cyberpunk DeadBoy Means and What it's Potentially Foreshadowing (aka very complicated analysis that makes a lot of sense and could happen depending on how colorpalet is feeling while writing the story)

Now I'm seeing so many people like running around wondering what this event could mean for the future for multiple reasons and like I've made like one post throwing my hat into the ring.

I've been frustrated with people's unwillingness to realise that this comm is prob foreshadowing because this is not the first time Colorpalet has hidden foreshadowing into comms weither subtely or not

Exemple's being :

-Akito's second comm foreshadowing his third event

-Lower's cover art literally foreshadowing what would happen to Mafuyu's phone in her event

-88 vocals being emurui and nenekasa foreshadowing the kind of dynamic the disbandement arc had with nenekasa wanting to move forward with emurui being scared of isolation

-Probably way better exemples that I forgot

I've seen people make Some assumptions which I don't agree with but there is one thing I think is true

There is 100 pourcent gonna be struggle between corporation/reality and WxS.

Purely because that's been WxS's entire theme since the beginning. They constantly bash you over the head with the theme of compromising with reality and the importance of dreams. In fact the pick of Maiki-P is not at all surprising as he basically has the same message WxS has just... well harsher.

The Big thing people have ignored however is by focusing on the lyrics, they've ignored something that's personally to me even more telling and that's the line distribution

We know for a fact colorpalet loves to mess around with line distribution, weither it's to make characters say lines that fit them or to kind of foreshadow their headspace.

Now something Big happens with the line distribution of Cyberpunk Deadboy that i've seen NO ONE notice and that's in the last chorus (that and also Tsukasa's lines which people have pointed out but it works less on it's own which is why I'm gonna analyse his lines afterwards).

This is the only time the chorus is like that, the others have a much more even distribution.

In fact the distribution choice makes it look like the rest of WxS is Talking to Rui.

It's even more evident considering the lines they chose to make WxS sing compared to only just Rui

Emu/Tsukasa/Nene saying kimi (you)

Rui saying boku (i)

Which honestly makes me think this is colorpalet foreshadowing some kind of issue reguarding specifically Rui. Remember Emu's second event ? The story of Rilley whose imagination was crippled by the industry to the point where he didn't really have any artistic vision until Emu's grandpa helped him.

In fact remember how the flashback that showcases that has Rilley working on a film

Now we get to Tsukasa's line which have been pointed out to be kind of sus but it's not just his lines.

Tsukasa refuses to sing with Rui (unless it's a line they all sing together but i consider those exceptions). In fact pretty much everyone has a duo line with each other except those two.

In fact in the section where Rui has duo lines with everybody, Tsukasa is the only one he doesnt sing with and the visuals make it clear that it's something that we're supposed to find strange

And then we of course have Tsukasa's solo lines

Tsukasa is the only one that say "fuzakeruna" outside of Rui (of course ignoring entire group WxS lines) and i've seen some people pointed out how it sounds like he's saying it in response to Rui's lines. Which I agree with.

Then we got his big boy solo lines

These lines will make more sense with my theory/analysis but right now if we go with the idea that WxS in the last chorus were speaking to Rui and Tsukasa in this comm refuses to sing with Rui then this implies those lines are Tsukasa speaking to Rui.

And this is where the insanity begins because people have pointed out a concerning trend with Ruikasa that I know some people use for shipping fuel but for me kinda feels more so like foreshadowing.

IGNORING all the ARG ass weirdness of the Fixer 2dmv, this choice to switch Ruikasa's colors have to mean something in my opinion outside of just wholesome shipping influence especially considering the two songs they do this are less than jovial.

What this kind of color switching signifies to me is that, Ruikasa somehow are/or will switch places.

And with that let me bring back Tsukasa's lines

These lines stand out because Tsukasa before remembering his dreams was extremely shallow only doing things for fame and probably the money that would come with it.

Now if you think about everything I've layed out I think you can gain a pretty clear picture.

Of Rui falling into the trap Rilley did, becoming jaded and losing the true motivation of his dream (or at least starting to have doubts). Becoming stuck with the struggle of managing dreams and reality.

Rui's costume even has a mask which can be a metaphor for his artistic voice and individuality being silenced .

Which now you get into the line distribution where WxS is implied to be talking to Rui.

And you get to Tsukasa, who is refusing to sing with Rui and in fact seems to be arguing with Rui if we really want to overthink it. In fact almost switching their roles from the main story.

Because Tsukasa has grown now and how else to show that growth than to switch Rui and Tsukasa's perspectives/roles.

Now how this would happen really depends since there are multiple ways they can go about it with the time they have.

There is obviously mystery dude dude (who i know now is sakaki) who still gives me bad vibes. However there is actually two way they can make mystery dude trigger this sort of plot :

-Mystery dude is malicious and actively manipulates/confronts Rui to make him rethink his worldview

-Mystery dude isn't malicious but instead is just jaded/has been through a lot of industry bullshit which ends up rubbing off on Rui accidentally

But you can even just not have mystery dude involved with this at all (which i doubt but still) because you know what loose plotpoint is still lingering over WxS, fucking Asahi

Rui still has not talked about Asahi to WxS, in fact Curtain Call ends on an explicit cliffhanger which is never really emotionally concluded (at least in Rui's own events, technically the arc ender did but there are still a lot of loose threads from that arc). Why would Colorpalet make Asahi come back after Rui graduates, they could've just had him disappear into the sunset but instead they hint at his potential comeback.

Unless Rui will be forced to again confront similar feelings he did during Curtain Call this time with possibly an added layer of whatever happens during WxS's freelance arc.

Anyways yeah this is overly complicated but then again colorpalet is not being easy with us so...yeah.

[wickjump]

lvl20 cross is my no.1 enemy btw. if i see him there will be an unspecified lethal weapon in my paws and it will be pointed in his general location

[nandorsrelentless]

there seems to be far too many fans who can't seem to wrap their head around the fact that no relationship in the Vampire Chronicles is healthy. every relationship includes an element of abuse/power imbalance by normal standards. literally every single one.

they are all monsters who are no longer constrained by societal rules. so I don't think it's too crazy to expect them to do mosntorus things. the genre is Gothic HORROR. the show really prioritizes the HORROR element more so than other adaptaions, which i love.

i don't need louis to be a liar to enjoy lestat. if louis lied or misremebered things about the fight in episode 5, i literally do not care because it's never gonna make me hate louis. the baseline of what constitutes "evil" or "bad" is so different in iwtv because of the fact that they are NOT HUMAN. Claudia is literally a serial killer and she's still mother to me. ykwim?

the nature of vampirism is they have to kill to survive. so it would be really cool if people could accept louis, armand, and claudia as complex characters who are fundamentally not good people (because they aren't people!) without being racist about it. THEY ARE ALL KILLERS

im more interested in this exploration of the complexities of memory and seeing how the show integrates the other books into this story in a way that hasn't been done before than I am in discoursing about whether louis is a liar or not. who gives a shit???? grow up and realize that there are no good guys here and that's OKAY

[clown-eating-pig]

I was telling my little sister about Gertrude Robinson the other day and she said something that kind of made my brain explode. I was explaining all of the terrible things that Gertrude did in the name of saving the world and how, on the opposite side, Jon avoided doing a lot of terrible things but ended up dooming the world anyways. She responded with the classic, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

And idk it just really struck me. Bc, between Jon and Gertrude, which of them had better intentions? Which one of them ended up in hell?? Crazy crazy crazy to me bc I’m pretty sure it could apply equally to both of them.

[supercalime]

I haven’t seen anyone really talk about this detail, but I think it’s a really interesting choice of words for tommy to say “has anyone ever told you”, instead of what would be more commonly said like “I must say” when he said buck looks like a vision in a cone.

I think him saying “has anyone ever told you” says so much about his character and the relationship without over explaining that no one has ever said that to buck, because tommy is different than anyone else he’s ever dated and that he sees buck differently and knows how he enjoys being seen that way.

[lovecoredeity]

an updated post on Cashmere’s various designs since i created her (not including Cashmere’s “beta” designs when she was a different character, but you do get my first ever “Cashmere as herself” art and her various outfits). i wonder if yall can guess what Cashmere’s class was when i first designed her (currently she is a barbarian)

♡ if you like my art please consider buying me a kofi ♡

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[<==PREV PAGES] [NEXT PAGE==>(not out yet.wait a year.or maybe more.imagine.]

saw alot of comments on prev pages; saying 'i HATE that mean teacher! im gonna FIGHT HIM!!' & i LOVE the energy!! it WOULD be nice. to have that catharsis. but the story of young tidestrider is Not one of catharsis. it is a story of being so small and so special and sucking so bad.

[samofmine]

i have an idea for a fic but idk if anyone would read it if i actually write it so help me out

sam is 12 when he goes on a hunt with dean and john after begging them to bring him along. it's a vamps nest that preys on humans and keep moving towns after they kidnap and murder their victims.

so, they find them, or actually they find them, the entire plan they went through to catch them off guarded going downhill. a fight starts and two of them get john, 17 year old dean grabs his gun and starts shooting, which is not enough to harm them but it gives john a queue to fight back.

they manage to kill the two vamps but then they look around and - where's sammy?

dean looks to the side just in time to see one of the vamps, the oldest one, drag a mouth covered sammy inside a black van, grinning at him. they start shooting, but its too late. they run to the car to try to chase them but one of the vamps busted the tires.

dean tries to run. he is terrified, heart sunk to his stomach, can't hear or see anything around him but the damn van.

john finally reaches dean and stops him, telling him to calm down, they'll get him, they'll get him back.

they don't.

john dies on a werewolf hunt a few years later.

dean never gives up on trying to find sam. never. not even after john gave up, saying there was no way he was still alive.

10 years later, he finally finds something. two small towns, sets of kidnaps and murders, same m.o.

he's more prepared now, knows how to take the vamps down easily.

he walks into the nest wanting to take revenge. ready for that.

what he was not ready for, though, is finding sammy, taller and with not as much baby fat on his cheeks but definitely sammy. alive. turned.

they have turned him instead.

dean tears the nest apart, killing each and every vampire. sam tries to attack him.

"sammy, no!" he cannot kill his brother. oh god, he would rather die by his hands.

but then, something clicks at sam's mind when he hears the nickname.

"d-dean?" his voice is shaky, so much deeper than the one dean still hears in his dreams everynight.

but it's definitely his voice.

dean can't help but pull his vamp little brother into a bone crushing hug. finally.

[what-is-it-to-be-pk-esque]

Ok I know I'm heavily biased here but like I kinda love that Astarion's romance is one of the few in this type of video game where you basically end up canonically unmarried and childfree in his "good" ending? Just travelling the world??

Like it's honestly the millennial dream lmfaoo cannot believe i chose what would undoubtedly be my favorite option, first try

[terrortriplets]

Within the first interactions of this character and knowing almost nothing else about Fabian other than his dancing, seeing prof. Skullcleaver validate Fabian’s new outlook on his future in dance (and just life in general) in a way that actually makes him feel seen and loved and actually excited for life in comparison to all of the other adults in his life makes me so happy for him. I’m not trying to invalidate all of the other adults in his life, who love and appreciate him as he is. But it’s never to an extent where they solely see him as Fabian making a name for himself in the present, as opposed to Fabian continuously working to make a name for himself for the future. Fabian wanting to take a moment away from the “bad kids investigation mode” to not only get a much needed break from it all, but also to focus on himself in a way we haven’t seen before. A way where he can understand that he doesn’t need to take on the weight of always needing to be on the move or doing extravagant deeds in order to be seen as a valid member of society. He could just be. Live in the moment. Appreciate the journey and not focus on the destination as much as he has.

Freshman year Fabian was working solely to make a name for himself for his future. Junior year Fabian is now working to stop and take in the view on the way there.

[polaroidcats]

which do you think is more likely:

- wolfstarbucks where james thinks he’s dating remus, remus thinks he’s dating sirius, and sirius thinks he’s dating james

OR

- wolfstarbucks where james thinks he’s dating sirius, sirius thinks he’s dating remus, and remus thinks he’s dating james

???

ohhh amazing question!

I like both options!! I think I'll have to go with option B though, I love the idea that Sirius and James are just so close and have their own weird dynamic so James thinks they're dating meanwhile Sirius is like "this is completely normal friend behaviour :)" while they hold hands 24/7 and make out whenever they get bored. (Maybe Sirius never learnt what "normal" platonic affection looks like at home so he never knew what was generally considered normal between platonic friends).

Sirius is trying so hard to date Remus but Remus sees the way Sirius is with James and just thinks "the candlelit dinners Sirius makes for me every Friday night are such a nice friendship tradition so we get some bro-time!" Bro time also regularly includes baths with rose petals and elaborate massages, which is so nice of Sirius!! Remus loves getting his bro-time with Sirius on Friday nights because he spends most of his Saturdays watching James at the quidditch pitch.

Remus didn't think he was dating James but then James would fly over after every game and give him a big sloppy kiss. The other player's partners saw that happen and it prompted them to adopt Remus into their player's girlfriends/boyfriends group. So logically, Remus starts to think he's dating James if that's what everyone else thinks. When Sirius joins them one time everyone gets really confused. I think maybe in this scenario James just really loves kissing people and doesn't always see it as romantic. In general, what I love about this is how fuzzy all the boundaries between romantic and platonic are and how bad they are at communicating with each other, it's like catnip to me!!!

But tbf my fave wolfstarbucks is when Sirius and James are dating and trying to date Remus and Remus is all they're such a cute couple :) and so hot :) I'm so glad they're my friends!:) so sad they would never date me :(

[quietwingsinthesky]

people are saying he « led her on » because he did. the fact that he kissed her in the first episode set the tone for the rest of the season and if you can’t perceive the flirting I’m sorry but how?? he didn’t make anything clear he sent the craziest mixed signals in the world. there’s nothing revolutionary about claiming that Martha was being pushy toward someone who was clearly not interested it’s 1) weird to claim in what it suggests about her 2) factually not true.

I wasn’t gonna respond to this at first because the top half of this ask is pretty much just individual interpretation and I don’t really care about it. Like, no, to me, the Doctor doesn’t seem especially flirty towards Martha. He’s just sort of Like That. That’s his damage, you know, Mr. I need to traumadump on anyone who tolerates being around me for more than five minutes. Mr. If I don’t develop an intensely codependent emotional bond with the companion I have currently I’ll die. It doesn’t read to me as him trying to lead her on because that bit’s honest, and he does it with damn near every companion he’s ever had.

And if nothing else, because we do see Ten when he tries to flirt intentionally and he’s a fuckin dork about it. Kind of guy who looked up romance in the dictionary and took notes. Kinda guy who draws diagrams to maximize kissing potential. It would have been obvious even to me (<- romance-blind as all fuck) if he was flirting with Martha on purpose because he’s not smooth at all; he flirts like he’s gotten lines in a play and he’s super excited to be the main star.

But anyway, as I was saying, that’s just how I see it. And if you see it different, no skin off my back, I just disagree.

But I take umbrage with you putting words in my mouth. I never said Martha was pushy towards him. Because yeah, she’s not. If I implied that she was, then it was a result of poor phrasing on my part. Martha’s not at fault for what she feels, for wanting there to come something of it. No more at fault than the Doctor is for not returning those feelings. It’s a bit weird that you’re assuming that I think one of them has to be the bad guy here when that was the opposite of what I was saying. My point was: When it comes to their romantic subtext of their relationship, it’s weird to pretend like either of them are to blame for them not being in a relationship at the end of s3, and even weirder to assert that as part of why Martha supposedly wouldn’t like the Doctor afterwards when they’re. friends. they continue to be friends into s4.

Martha’s not pushy. She has a crush on her friend. It happens. He doesn’t return it. This also happens. Both of these facts are pushed to the extreme because he’s a time-traveling alien with poor emotional skills and she’s put herself in the position of needing to help him from minute one of meeting each other. That’s why it’s fun to watch, because the Doctor is both so open and so unavailable in turns, because Martha’s feelings for him grow and change as she knows more about her Doctor until she decides to step back.

I don’t know, man. You seem to be coming at this as if one of them has to be The Problem™️. I don’t think either of them is, not so definitively. I think boiling their relationship down to that is reductive and an insult to the way they both grow over s3, to Martha’s choice to continue to be his friend while also establishing her own boundaries, to the fact that the Doctor is able to let her go without immediately trying to kill himself afterwards when she’s not there to catch him.