#imho that would be nice

[qqueenofhades]

Okay, sort of on that note: I know we are all thoroughly enjoying the Bird App's destruction and drama and firing shots in the air to keep our property values low and complaining about Twitter users moving here and all the rest. But I'm gonna be real with you for a second and offer a Hot Take that might well get my Tumblr elder credentials revoked:

As long as they are willing to play ball with us and understand the rules of the road and etc (and lbr, we have plenty of absolutely idiotic Disk Horse of our own, that will never go away), we should a) actually be glad that they're coming here and b) recognize the far more sinister aspect of Twitter's slow motion Jenga collapse. Because it's all fun and games until the massive human rights violations and democracy destruction starts (or rather, continues). Why is that? Well:

As noted a few weeks ago when this insanity started, the second-biggest investor in the Twitter takeover, apart from Musk himself, was the Saudi government. Now, I have a friend whose PhD dissertation in sociology I have been copy-editing/proofreading for the last few years (he is originally from Saudi Arabia but doing his PhD in the UK). A huge part of his research is about how ordinary Saudis use Twitter HEAVILY, and as a replacement for the freedom of speech they aren't allowed in any other formal aspect of their country, despite many cosmetic reforms and plans for greater international investment and openness. The Saudi government, while tolerating this newfound criticism on the surface, has also routinely jailed these citizens for one critical tweet about them, including those made while the person in question was not in the country. In other words, they're not nearly as happy about this as they like to pretend, even if they're putting a good face on it, and especially during the Arab Spring and other attempted uprisings/calls for reform in the region, Twitter was a hugely effective way to circumvent government narratives and get out community information. After all, it is the biggest communication platform in the world, and anyone can instantly use it.

So, enter Musk: a petty alt-right billionaire who pals with dictators and can do anything he wants by burning ungodly amounts of money. He partners with the Saudis. Two weeks later, Twitter is going down in flames, its entire top legal team has quit, Musk is braying about bankruptcy, advertisers have fled, it's 50-50 whether it survives the year. And yes, this could be because Musk is a sociopathic idiot, since he is. But if you consider that this one evil prick can literally destroy half of the world's only medium of quasi-free speech and community organising just by throwing $44 billion at it... well... that's a lot more sinister than just him wanting to make "free speech" for all the absolute dregs of the Internet who adore him. In other words, it starts to look awfully deliberate, and Musk is anything but a fan of democracy, community organising, and all the rest.

Anyway: Tumblr doesn't function the same as Twitter, we don't want it to, and we are able to laugh at its burning corpse because many of us don't rely on it as our one and only place of meaningful speech and ability to criticize the government. But if Twitter DOES go down in flames, it will be a huge and irreparable loss in a real sense, and in that case, if you see a Twitter user poking their head in here, give them some rules of the road, advise them to change their icon, and otherwise let 'em stay.

[topsyturvy-turtely]

idk maybe life would be easier if we'd realize

✨everyone got their own issues✨

and that if we were

✨actually trying to be nice to each other✨

then maybe we'd actually be

✨happier and more efficient✨

what do you think?

[patron-saint-of-emesis]

Ms Dental Assistant (i lov her) told me to do absolutely nothing today. like? YES MAAM. gonna camp out on the sofa and fuck around with my lotr dvd bonus features

[mo-ok]

jochaku + sekisha

[shallowrambles]

The virgin-whore, purity-corrupted phenomenon as it pertains to Andrea Kormos:

///

ANDREA: We have everything we need right here. The operation is still perfect. We can ride the high seas, plunder together. We can have the life we always wanted.

BENNY: What I wanted was to leave a burning crater behind. I wanted to put your memory to rest.

ANDREA: But I'm not a memory. Benny, I'm right here.

BENNY: What I loved – it ain't here anymore. It was snuffed out a long time ago by monsters like me... like what you've become.

ANDREA: You think you're better than me now?

BENNY: No. I think we're all damned.

ANDREA snarls and her fangs descend. DEAN stabs her from behind and then cuts off her head. BENNY and DEAN look at each other before BENNY looks down at ANDREA’s body.

///

I mean, yes; on the one hand, Benny doesn't quite imply that he's better than her, but he does imply that she's worthless, nothing--just a shadow of the idealized woman he put up on the trophy shelf as his "Reason for Being." All for deciding to live the exact life Benny had lived for so long. He doesn't even try to convince her to overcome or to compromise. He just...gives up. It's quite tragic and alarmingly indicative of how Benny views his relationships as a whole, as well as his place within them.

Season 8 is, in a sense, about mirages. It's about trying to desperately convince yourself things that are not real are. (Or that things that are real aren't.) It gives it an odd, dreamy quality. These mirages are somtimes idealized, baggage-less relationships and jobs/roles (friends, family, and otherwise) that COULD be good, if not for them representing idealization/escape/etc. (It's even echoed in Cas's wish to be a hunter solely to avoid the consequences of his genocide. Naomi's brainwashed Cas is an idealized angel without the baggage of chaos.)

Importantly, these mirages never let you down. But real bonds don't stay forever in that liminal limerance of "never letting you down." Strife and perseverance and deciding if they're worth tackling (or not) are precisely what transition bonds of all kinds into the latter phases of committment and stability (or ending). Every study and pop book lands on a similar conclusion.

But what happens here? Before Andrea even lashes out, Benny absolutely demolishes her worthiness, lameting that she's no longer the uncorrupted, unblemished idea of Perfect Woman from his memories. He cruelly says this to her face, rather than actively discussing alternative futures or seeking any kind of meaningful discussion about overcoming vampiric cannibalism. Ultimately, he cannot bear that she became sullied by his father in what amounts to a symbolic chess game of moving the chattel between the two men.

What if this person isn’t really as magnificent as we thought they were? This transition is painful, but it’s not a catastrophe. In fact, our emotional and relational health depend on it. For each of us to move forward in our development, we must face the fact that we’re different people with distinctive needs that will never mesh entirely.

Disillusionment is the dark, wintry season of love. By now power struggles have risen fully to the surface.

It’s a paradox: when we feel good about ourselves, we’re more likely to feel generous toward others.

- Linda Carrol

And now? He doesn't offer an alternative to Andrea. He doesn't offer insight into why that life ultimately never worked out for him. No, it's just a verbal lamentation that this blossom named Andrea has withered in the face of life's tribulations. (It's also insanely hypocritical, as Benny is equally corrupted as she, and he has worked on the high seas, plundering and eating for likely much longer, even if he's "recovered" from the lifestyle now.)

But Andrea isn't allowed to exist in this flawed state. She's not allowed to even hear a verbalized shade of gray or a potential compromise. It's either she stays unsullied or she has to die before she disturbs that holy, past image. When Benny gives up on Andrea, he gives up on his own image, too: "We're all damned," he says. All or nothing. Black or white. Benny's symbolic suicide was magnanimously present from this moment on. Not just because of how Andrea was killed but because of how he dismissed and dehumanized her prior to her aggression. He cannot see a possibility beyond Purgatory. He cannot see potential for true shades of gray in the new Andrea or himself. For him, life becomes a ticking countdown to self-annihilation.

///

BENNY: My life changed when she entered it, Dean. Everything I had been or done up to that point just... seemed to vanish... into what we had become together

This describes phase one of love, a merging, an innocent unrecognition of the complexity of The Other. It's a very immature love, an image of perfection that clearly Benny still longs for. "You cannot become like me. You exist to inspire me to be better, to meet my needs / nourish me with your blood, and to be the reason for either my rebellion / triumph, or the fridge for my emotional pain."

Once we emerge from the Merge, some of us will be able to reunite with our lover with new maturity and deeper, if perhaps less intense, satisfaction. It depends on our ability to reconcile two distinct needs: to dwell in the delights of the other and to stand firm in our own space. - Linda Carroll

They did not survive that middling doubt, denial, disillusionment phase. (And that's okay! They're both in bad, hopeless places.) What's surprising is Benny didn't even try. This shows an immaturity and complexity Benny never quite gets credit for (he is often The Feisty, Smooth-talkin' Idealized Blood Brother, and the flaws and red flags he does portray are not Seen due to the idealization and his incredibly short tenure.) In terms of narrative...Benny is the peer-addict Dean would hypocritically support compared to Sam's wholly unsupported stint as addict - this happens in so many families! I think of it as analogous to supporting an illness with lip service in church or by doing time and donations to your local soup kitchen, but you don't have sympathy for it within your own home or family. For Dean, this is subconscious. And for Sam, it's a symbolic sore spot: you enable his addiction but you judged mine. Anyway, Benny is so zeroed in on his own fatalism, that he had already decided deep down that they'd both die. They're both damned. It's tragic for them both, but it's especially tragic for Andrea.

“Never marry a man you haven’t already divorced,” she said. - Linda Carroll

///

Better to be a fond memory than a constant, festering disappointment, eh Andrea? I wish we'd gotten to see Andrea reigning over Purgatory, if I'm honest. I'd have liked to see her grapple with everything.

///

DEAN: You ever fall off the wagon and feed?

BENNY: Some questions you just don't wanna ask, brother.

[0ystercatcher]

ngl choosing a fictional character or a weird common noun for a name was so deeply cringe to me even when i was in the depths of my non binary self id moment. like youre gonna use this name irl. at university. at work even. why would you call yourself fern. are you retarded. i wouldnt have said retarded back then but like are you??? bc that giving retarded

[seokmins]

I mean all I have to say is that there are definitely people who would walk up to me and tell someone/me that we were friends after consistently making fun of my body and what Asian eyes looked like and how non-native English speakers talked and people I considered friends either laughed along or slightly chastised them only for it to repeat again and again. So like, yeah it sucks people don't care about what comments they make because sometimes things hurt and it's not cool but that will never change. However, when you're in the public eye as a celebrity figure, you should prolly watch what you say and do off or on camera because you're kind of setting an example / perpetuating harmful rhetorics whether you intend to or not 🤷🏻‍♀️ 🫡

[jadeyarts]

Thank you for answering my question about your fop as if I could ask one more question - how do you think Timmy would be as a dad? I know you kind of went over it in the original answer but I’d love to hear more if you have more to share. It make me so mad that they made Timmy jacked and like a bad dad when his own dad is a thinner guy and you would think Timmy would be a good dad since he cares so much about family :(

(previous ask for reference / adult timmy)

okay the stars have finally aligned for me to answer this: IMHO i think timmy would be a doting dad and prone to spoiling his kids - since such a major component of his character in the og series is how often he goes out of his way to do nice things for people. i think its probably kind of on his spouse (gary in my fanon, but i'm not opposed to it being molly... lol) to be the rational one and put a foot down if he's indulging them too much.

i also personally like the idea of timmy being a stay-at-home dad so a babysitter isn't necessary all that often - and when one is needed he makes sure to only leave his kids with someone he can completely truly trust, usually chloe. so i've been considering the idea that he's a children's book writer and he gets a lot of input from tammy and tommy about what kinds of stories he should write. so they probably all tell each other a bunch of stories and come up with ideas together.

timmy believes in the importance of play and imagination so he makes sure to share that with tammy and tommy.

[mysterycitrus]

I find the whole topic of Dick’s emotional competence really fascinating because it’s clear that has an understanding of emotions in a way that Bruce has completely suppressed and cannot because he straight up doesn’t talk about emotions but while Dick recognises and understands it -

He never really uses it for ethical reasons ( exceptions like E.G having that call with Tim after he talked the jumper of the roof because if that was Bruce well .. I don’t think it would of helped much )

He mostly uses it for tactical reasons and manipulation.

And despite being able to use it on others and have emotional intelligence with them when it actually comes to him …. Well it goes less well because he holds himself up to this insane standard BECAUSE of Bruce .

Its especially interesting because Dick has wished before that unlike Bruce he could bottle up his emotions and shut it out .

Idk correct me if wrong but it’s nice food for thought!

dick grayson is sooooo normal i want to study his brain under a microscope. yeah id say that’s a pretty fair interpretation of his rich inner world — i do think that like bruce he tends to force himself through emotional trauma by brute force (we see this in the 96 run, for example) — but he’s also really cognisant of other people and specifically how he’s viewed by other people.

there’s this panel out of titans 99 where vic is like “i can’t believe dick lied to me!!” and the other characters say yeah. that’s normal for him. he’s a manipulative person when he wants people to do what he says, yknow? i mean i do think he does it for good a tonne, he just uses shortcuts to cut to where people are hurting. like….. he will explain to u ur emotional intricacies to get u to open up. he’s similar to bruce in the sense that they both care — possibly way too much — but while bruce struggles to express that dick is a lot more outwardly open, but also u never know how much of it is a facade.

it also makes it more impactful when he is profoundly known by others — specifically the fab5 and kory and babs and bruce. he has (imho) some degree of depersonalisation about his identity and his body and his autonomy, so people seeing through the performance and wanting to protect the core is truly. chefs kiss

it’s so interesting!! i cannot emphasise how much more of an interesting character he is when writers actually incorporate his intelligence into his stories. like people will follow him to ends of the earth because despite how bitchy he gets u know he’s going to do the right thing, even if dick himself doesn’t necessarily believe it

im literally rattling on the bars of my cage like

[gowns]

if you ever find yourself thinking "i don't want to talk to this person about this problem, it would be so awkward and create tension"

one of the most uncomfortable conversations i've ever had was also a positive influence on the rest of my life.

when i was 18-19 years old, i moved out of the college dorms and into my first apartment, with my college dormmate + two random ladies we found on craigslist. we didn't really have anything in common, but the ladies were nice enough and they thought we were nice enough so we all agreed to move in with each other.

i have ~executive dysfunction~ and i was raised in a barn, so i really had no clue how chores worked or how to keep a common space clean. common 18-19 year old issue, tbh! the ladies from craigslist were a few years older, around 24-25, and they seemed increasingly annoyed with me as the weeks went on.

at one point, one of them knocked on my door, and said we needed to have a talk. she took me aside, sat me down on the couch, then listed, one by one, all the things that she noticed that i didn't clean, things i kept messing up, various ways i was inconsiderate of my other roommates. she said "maybe it's because i'm older than you, but you're really dropping the ball here, and we need to get on the same page with chores." she made a chore chart and handed it to me. and we followed it from that point on...

having to have that conversation was so anxiety-inducing! i'm sure it was hard for her, and man, it was hard to hear for myself. my face was red and hot, and i mumbled some excuses, but i knew she was right; i had been an inconsiderate clod. how could i do better?

well, i followed the chore chart, i gradually looked up more ways to take care of myself and the apartment, i gave my other roommates a lot more space and notice about things... i was still an inconsiderate clod imho but i was trying. i was really trying!

and to this day i think, wow, that one awkward conversation leveled me up in a way that tip-toeing around the issue, or passive aggressive remarks, or whatever, would have never gotten through to me. it had to be a direct conversation. she had to be honest and i had to be open to it. and we both were better off for it.

more often than not, just being direct and addressing something that's bothering you head-on will yield the most results. you might annoy the other person; they might completely disagree or get defensive. but at least you get the peace of mind of knowing you spoke up, and honestly, even when the other person has their walls up, they tend to marinate on it and change happens regardless.

anyway, if you needed any motivation to talk to someone about something that's bugging you. this is it. might as well do it now. no point in doing it down the line, when the damage is already done!

[sushiisiu]

i always get a little sad when people tell me they like scollace from just my fan art and haven't checked out any of the source material because like nothing i make is going to ever fully represent their dynamic and the joy of shipping to me is really engaging with the canon material and going crazy over breaking down the crumbs of content. and it's a nice comic series! even just watching the anime you're missing out on a lot without context from the comics.

so i guess for the record for anyone who's interested but don't know where to start, /especially/ if you're just here for roommate yaoi. start with the comics. it's the most "scollace-heavy" and it's only 6 books. starting with the anime would probably leave you really confused on why anyone ships them (or what's going on if this is your first exposure to scott pilgrim media) the movie is a fine entrance piece also, imho. like it lets you in on the dynamics between each character and the general plot (even though the characterization is pretty boiled down, but hey a lot of shots are 1:1 to the comics so that's fun.) but yeah. don't let my silly gay drawings dictate your shipping takes. read the books yourself! they're fun and if you're a fresh adult that still feels perma-14 you'll probably find it fun too.

also they're stupidly domestic all the time

[livelaughlovesubs]

uh! hi, i saw in one of your tumblr posts that you decided to open up your ask box for requests soooo, being aroused excited to see this up, i got a request, an early birthday gift for myself (June 4th!)

so... temperature play with nikolai? can be with ice cubes, or hot wax (or both??) but i just really wanna have a scenario that includes that cause imho, i want to have our GN reader torture in more than just ass pegging (no offence tho, it's hot af)

you don't have to answer if you don't have a big idea of what to do or like. i misread that you had requests opened (i’m a bit dum), i'm just a big fan of yours, and i might actually ask more requests like this in the future, so be on the lookout! okay, thanks!

- 🃏

happy birthday darling, I hope it’s a joyful day for you - and welcome 🃏 anon :>

Dom!reader x sub!nikolai

Warning: Temperatur play, teasing

“All set.” You murmured, putting aside a lit candle and lighter. Both of it was on your drawer now, among a bowl full of ice cubes. The man who was spread on your bed, all tied up and restrained by a rope, observed your every movement with attendant eyes. His lips were curled into a repressed smile, as if he couldn’t hide his emotions very well. “Are you ready?” You asked him, your hand brushing over his bare body. Careful fingertips danced across his chest, increasingly going lower, until you grazed his soft thighs.

He squirmed ever so slightly as his smile widened into a grin. “Of course, I’m ways ready for you!” Nikolai replied, his tone so cheerful you couldn’t tell if he knew what was going to happen any moment, or if he was just a huge masochist. His eyes scanned the night table next to him, noticing the medicine you placed as preparation. “No need to be gentle with me, I can take it all.” He reminded you while tugging at his restrains. Nothing bulged, good.

“I didn’t plan on going easy on you.” You admitted, then put on some gloves, sliding them around your hand. “Just making sure I have your consent.” The white haired boy laughed, that irritating yet somehow charming laugh of his. After receiving your confirmation that you won’t play nice with him once again, he spoke, “hahahah!! Good, good! Then I have nothing to worry about!” Sometimes he got on your nerves, enough for you to want to shut that mouth of his in multiple ways.

This time though, all you did was sigh in response to his chaotic antics. From the corners of your eyes, you checked out the red candle, to see if it burned long enough. After all, you were going to need a lot wax for this session. “Not yet.” You whispered to yourself, which is why you reached out for the ice cubes. “Finally starting now?” Nikolai asked, and instead of entertaining his question, you shoved one of the ice cubes into his mouth. Then you snarked at him, “Enough, just stay quiet.” His face brightened and he tried to say something, but all that came out were muffled noises and slurps to keep the ice cube inside his mouth.

Without wasting any more time, you took one ice cube and pressed it against his inner thighs, trying out what kind of reaction he might make. “Mhmm- oh!” His muscled tensed and his bulge twitched in anticipation, but you still payed him no mind. Instead you pressed the ice onto his chest, before moving it across his pecs and rubbing it against his nipples. That yearned you a nice flinch from the male.

Crunch.

Nikolai ate the remaining piece of ice in his mouth, sticking his tongue out to prove that fact to you. “It was so cold~” He started yapping once again, causing you to furrow your brows at him. “Mhm.” You hummed as you reached for another cube, bringing it over to his other nipple. “Iiik..! Ah- cold.” He remarked, some drool was hanging out of his lips. This continued for a few minutes, were you’d rub it in circles around his sensitive parts, stimulating his nerves. Every time you did that, a low whimper would emerge from him. Until both of the objects in your hands melted away completely, you did not change to anything else. At that point, his skin has been irritated to the point of becoming red.

“Hnngh!! I think my nerves are numb there now.” The boy said, half joking half serious. Some sweat was collecting around his forehead. His back was arched off the bed so prettily and thighs clenched together. You ran your tongue over his chest, to lick off the water pooling around the area. Still cold. “Ah.. it feels good, your tongue- hm, it’s warm.” A quiet gasp escaped his throat as he looked at you with desire and lust. The feeling of your wet muscle drawing on his chest was amazing, he loved the difference in temperature.

Next thing you did was reach for the candle, and holding it above him. His breath stuck in his throat, you noticed his fists clench around the rope you used to bind him. Instead to dripping the hot wax onto his skin, just as he wanted, you grabbed another piece of ice and pressed it against his half erect dick. “AhhHHH..!! Hnnng, y/n!” Nikolai almost cried out, shocked by your sudden change of plans, a tint of red clouded his cheeks. His legs trashed around, and his sex bounced against his belly. Precum covered the tip completely, so a bit of it stuck to his tummy as well.

When Nikolai clenched his eyes shut to get used to the freezing feeling, you didn’t hesitate to finally drop the hot, melted wax onto his chest. It sizzled on his skin, burning him and causing a bruise. “Hu-hMHMm.?! AHH-, oHhHmmm!!” He immediately moaned out, whining and wincing in pain that has been converted into pleasure. Mouth agape as his entire body shuddered in ecstasy and bliss, you knew exactly how to rile him up.

“You like this?” You smirked, a sadistic expression replacing the rather nonchalant one from before. The way you seemed to enjoy his suffering caused him to become fully erect, how he adored that unsympathetic look you owned. “Ahh, yes!! More, hurt me more~” The boy arched his back to get closer to the candle, almost making the fire touch his now shivering skin. He subconsciously hold his breath in anticipation.

You quickly pulled the candle back, noting down his mimics. A little wax wouldn’t hurt no one, but a fire was too risky even for you. But this wasn’t enough, he was still enjoying it too much, you wanted him crying and mewing in desperation. Then you brought the burning heat over to his arching cock, dripping down the crimson wax and watching it decorate his swollen tip, which had the same colour as the candle. “uhHmm! Wait- it’s, uGhhH!!” He groaned, throwing his head back as much as he can as tears flowed down his cheeks.

It hurt, it hurt so damn bad, and how it did. At the same time his heart pounded like never before, and every fever of his body was aroused to no end. He could swear he saw stars. “So- so good..! It hurts so mhmm-much.” With such misleading words, you weren’t sure if he was complaining or encouraging you to continue. Though judging by how his useless little dick kept wagging around like the tail of a dog in heat, it seems he enjoyed it.

Once again you switched the item in your hand and grabbed the cold object from the half filled bow, pressing it against his abused member. “No-noO!! Ah, it-HnnGhh, hurttsss.?!!” The sudden change in temperature caused him to squirm around uncontrollably, trashing and wriggling his hips as if he’s putting on a show for you. More precum leaked from his slit, flowing down his shaft and dirtying the mattress.

What a work of art he was, all ruined, hurt and helpless like this. To think it was your hands that made him like this, that created this masterpiece. Nikolai was drooling, melting and crying like a whore. Many rosy marks covered his tattered body, and the wax of the candle dried around his dick. Water mixed with his body fluids, dripping down in a perverted and erotic way. His eyes look like he’s about to pass out, rolled to the back of his skull and pupils all blurry. Not to mention how his cheeks flushed in a dark colour or how his hair was messy and spread everywhere. His lashes were clumped together due to the shining tears, all while quiet sobs slipped from his mouth.

You caressed his face gently, brushing away one tear with your finger before licking it off. Then you peeled off some of the wax from his tip, and he immediately shouted again. When he saw you staring at him, he grinned back at you. That made you chuckle, rubbing his tummy before bringing the burning candle over his body again. “Don’t pass out now, I’m still not done with you.” Of course he won’t pass out, only when his master wants him too. His only response was him biting his bottom lip, bending his body like some common slut as cum shoot out of his disgusting sex.

[cuppajj]

On the Beast Yeast theming thing again, my other hope is that Silent Salt and White Lily have Arthurian Legend/Celtic Folklore themes. Credit to my moot @/darkfluffydragon, they pointed out how there’s a lake in their territory (Kala Namak is a type of black salt) so it could be a Lady of the Lake situation, and personally there’s also ample room for parallels between SS being King Arthur and White Lily being Morgan Le Fey, just a reverse version of them. Outside of Morgan, Arthurian Legend has depictions fae involvement: for example the Lady of the Lake is depicted as either human or fae, and the Fae world has also been in tales with Gawain and Percival, two of his round table knights.

This is also just a hc/hope of mine but I also hope SS is themed after a/the Dullahan. They’re a headless rider who mounts a black horse, carrying their head in their hand and a spine whip in the other. They’re sometimes classified as being an Unseelie fae, which would fit nicely in theme with Lily imho, and on top of that, a common way I see the Dullahan drawn are with billowing flames or smoke coming from the stump of their neck. We have no idea if Salt has anything under their helmet, but with how smoke/flame pours out from behind their helmet like a ponytail/feathers, it could just be because the helmet contains the flames inside it right??

BUT then there is the question of where SS’s head would be, which yeah idk, but the Dullahan hc/theory is too fun to pass up imho. As someone who likes Celtic folklore and was ecstatic to see crk fae, I hope we get more references!

[wehavekookies]

Hello Kooks !

My DM is planning a Curse of Stradh campaign, and I'm wondering what class to play. Without spoilers, do you have suggestions? Things that could be fun thematically?

Hope you have a nice day !

Oh awesome, i hope You have lots of fun!

As for classes:

Cleric or Paladin can be fun, cos they have a narrative built-in stance towards the undead shenanigans (and both direction can be super interesting, both leaning towards or going against).

Warlock has a big potential to bond in thematically too, especially with some subclasses (more than one but here i don't want to spoil it for you so will leave suggesting the less obvious one to Your DM XD).

Bloodhunter is an excellent choice cos there is a lot of narrative bits in the story that can tie in into this class' interests and vibes.

Druid can be a cool choice too I think, also some talk with the DM would be good regarding a subclass if You want to pull most out of it.

I play a Divination Wizard myself and it also works awesome, and even tho our campaign goes quite away from module as written there is still a lot of very cool hooks in the book for this subclass.

And tbh any other class can work great too imho, but these from the top of my head that have like, natural touch points in the story as is.

Have a nice day too! <3

[ckot]

So i actually planned it as a fast sketch. Buuut Astarion have curles and i have no knowledge to fast sketch curles T__T

I drew it to showcase their relations which are quite a bit complicated and that's why i tried to make their faces emotionless. Cuz we don't like things simple hehe. TW: toxic relationship So a bit of the story

I don't know if anyone cares at all but i'll write some things about them. To tell it simple in my hc there was a dialog between her and Gortash (their relationship are also interesting but i'll tell about it later maybe) when they were first alone after they met in the castle that imho explaines a lot.

-So you, bloodborn murder incarnated, found yourself a pale vampire freak in the woods, he tried to kill you, you got aroused, bedded him, and don't get me wrong, all of those listed are perfectly normal activities for you, till the point where you somehow managed to, what, date him? -Memory loss would do miracles to you. -Will try that next time i'll get bored. -He has potential. I'll fix him -Fix him? I suppose damage to your brain is far more severe than i expected. -He is just not bad enough for me yet. And i'll fix that. -Well, that sounds better, but you got me for a moment.

So what they have I suppose can be called quite a twisted love. He used her, she used him, they will kill for each other, but they also both don't know life without control, hunger and danger all around and habits that they have due to that won't magically disappear. Erayne has some kind of feelings to him only because she've lost memory, her previous self is nothing but a murder and what changed now is that memory loss allowed her to grew her own will and desires that she had before coming to Bhaal temple. But those are very far from being simple nice person or world savior since she was still raised as a drow and i don't think such bloodline and past would not affect what she has become even after their journey.

[stickthisbig]

I've started conducting job interviews at work now? It's terrifying but it turns out I'm really good at it? So if interviewing is daunting, here is my advice from the other side of the table. It turned out to be very long, so here's a cut.

When you apply:

Oh my god please spell check your resume, I beg of you.

Gimmicks absolutely will not help you. You will get so much farther with a resume that is neatly formatted and a cover letter that is straight to the point.

Make sure you count all your experience!! Internships and fellowships count as experience!! The computer system will reject you and I'll never see it in the first place!!

After you've gotten the interview:

If you're trying to get a job in a field you've never worked in (as most of the people I interview are), break down your former employment or experience into the skills you used and keep that information at hand. You used to work in food service? You have experience in delivering an experience at a high quality with basically no margin for error, and you work well under pressure. You were a telemarketer? You have experience at following a workflow and deescalating conflict.

We and every other job WILL be asking you about a. conflict management and deescalation (have examples for how you resolve conflict with coworkers, clients, and bosses) b. personal time management (how you stay organized and on schedule) c. what you do when you realize you can't handle a problem by yourself d. your strengths and weaknesses (see below) Just go on and have an answer ready. You will be asked. There will be questions you're not prepared for. Be prepared for these.

Do a little googling about the company/organization. What will become extremely clear to you immediately is whether they're going to care about you caring about the mission. Some businesses don't. Every non-profit and every government agency does. If they seem like they care, you should pretend to care.

Ask all your questions of the person who is scheduling the interview. I don't recommend trying to figure out who will be your boss and contacting them. Everybody's very busy all the time, none of us are hiring specialists, and we're using the HR staff to act as our buffer. You will look like a nuisance, not a go-getter.

Do look at a map and figure out where you're going. It's vastly preferable to call an hour ahead and say you're unsure where to go than call ten minutes late and say you're lost.

When you walk into the office:

I personally don't give a fast fuck if you come empty handed, but some interviewers HATE that, so definitely bring a notebook and a pen. It's no longer necessary to bring paper copies of your resume. If you're going to interview a lot, may I recommend dropping five or ten bucks on a sketchbook at Michaels or similar? It looks polished and also you can actually use it for things. If you need to write notes to help you remember anything from above, it's okay to write them down. Anybody who would ding you for that isn't someone you need to work for.

If you don't know what to wear: black or khaki pants, nice shirt. Preferably a blazer, but that's optional at entry level imho. Lately I'm finding that the men's sections in thrift stores have better selections? If you've got big hips, you can slit the sides of a men's dress shirt up to your waistline and tuck it in. If you have to come in jeans, wear a belt. If you only have a t-shirt, make sure it's clean and tuck it in. You don't have to prove to me you have money to get this job; you just have to prove to me that you are taking this opportunity seriously by presenting yourself neatly, because you will be expected to be dressed neatly at work.

My sibling in Christ beloved child of God, be polite to every fucking person you see. Oh my god I cannot stress to you how polite you need to be. I cannot believe that this is a thing I have to say, but I sure do! If it's close between you and another person, that snippy comment you made on the elevator WILL lose you that job. Ditto for if they walk you around to meet people. Just be THE politest motherfucker.

When you walk into the room:

When you sit down, what you are looking at is one person who is running the interview, twoish people who are related to your job, and sometimes also someone from HR, unless HR does all the interviewing. One of these people wants to be your hype man. If it's my office, it's me, I'm hype man. I want to have a dialogue with you to see how prepared you are and how good of a communicator you are. I want this interview to go fast and seamless. I'm in your corner. Don't play to the guy who's actively staring off into space. Focus on the interviewer who's most focused on you.

NEVER downplay your own experience. Getting a job you're underqualified for is a problem for future you. If you only have internships, or you only have retail, or you only have food service, or you only have work study, fuck it. You walk in there and act like you've been the goddamn president. The question of your qualifications and the question of your experience are separate. Never act like your experience doesn't count because it's in a "lesser" field.

EVERY. TIME. you are asked about your weaknesses, explain how you have used them for growth. Do not wait to be asked, just slap it in there. One of my biggest weaknesses is giving up control, so I've made a conscious effort to involve other people earlier in the process. If you're not fuckin working on your weaknesses, just try to imagine what would be a good idea. Or maybe work on them? I'm not your dad.

What I am looking for is your ability to answer my questions in a complete and concise way. If you can't give me a specific example, I want you to be able to reflect on your previous work and say "When it comes to X, my experience doing Y is relevant in this way." I am asking you for a synthesis. Most of what I need you to do in this position, I know you've never done. If there is something where I specifically need you to have done X as a professional qualification, there is nothing else you could say that would be right, so you have nothing to lose.

Keep some question in your back pocket for when they ask "do you have any questions for us." It is a hundred percent okay for this to be a softball question, but it's also okay to ask something more probing. You can ask how they handle training, town and gown relations, what the possibilities for employee development are, whether they've done any diversity initiatives, if there's a good work-life balance, what the previous person in the position is doing now, what their strategic planning is like, whatever, just something to prove you're engaged. Do not ask about leave, and do not ask a gimmicky question you saw on the internet. If you can't think of anything, just fuckin ask them how they like working there. That's perfectly fine.

This isn't the time to bring up ADA accommodations. The person who can approve that for you is almost certainly not in the room, and you put us in a super weird position. I am saying this as a person who receives ADA accommodations from my employer and did not disclose my disability when I was hired, as is my legal right. Don't bring it up until you think it would actively prevent you from fulfilling a job requirement or accessing the office. In the before times I had a dude once who called me asking if the building was accessible, because he just wasn't going to interview if it wasn't, and I was just like "...that's fair, my man, but you can come on down."

After the interview:

I fully don't care about a thank you note; I'm unlikely to see it anyway. Some people do. You may send one (1) and ONLY ONE thank you note; generally it should just go to the person who scheduled your interview. Do not, and this is so important, do not email again. I know it is the fucking worst how employers get away with ghosting people but my friend you and I cannot change that. (We do send notices to people who get interviews but don't get the job; people who don't get interviews are informed by the computer system.)

It's gonna be okay. I'm not trying to trick you; I want this to go smoothly, and I want you to demonstrate that you understand how you would use what you've already done to do what I need you to do. I don't want this to be awkward any more than you do. Actually, I want this not to be awkward more than you do, because I have to do this several more times.