#just some thoughts really !!!

[hcppyhotel]

honestly i have so much to say about angel and his feelings towards the overlords -- specifically about valentino and vox, obviously.

THIS IS TOWARDS MY PORTRAYAL, specifically. it's very much how i write his thoughts and the way he thinks when he's with them versus when he's not.

with vox, he doesn't see him much as a threat. it's easier to push and press his buttons, despite vox being known to be as cruel as valentino. either way, it still isn't his employer, so angel thinks it's easier to deal with vox. he doesn't take insults or anything really. he sees vox as lower than valentino, so it's not much of a big deal until vox proves to him otherwise. vox is only a threat when valentino gets involved.

valentino, obviously, is a MUCH bigger cause. and more complex an angel's eyes. he sees val as both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. a confidant and his WORST ENEMY. he never knows whether he loves the overlord or hates him -- and most times, those lines get blurred really fast. he loves the popularity, but his status remains the same. it's a really situation to be in, but it's weird that he feels a bit more accepted. and really, he couldn't thank valentino enough.

though there are times he wishes he could flee valentino, he knows that's unable to. there's a part of him that's scared for what could happen without the protection of the overlord. it's what keeps him from really leaving. plus, there's the attachment of going from a nobody to be an overlord's FAVORITE sinner. that's not something that entirely happens, and he loves the attention from val -- and is determined to keep it. whether it's from his performances or pushing his luck. negative attention is still attention. he's addicted to the man, and is scared he's never going to break free. perhaps there's some thoughts that cross him that thinks that if he pushes too far, valentino wouldn't want him anymore, but it never comes and he's still here.

[valenfield-inspo]

Well would of been back sooner today but a plan to get in a 20 min cat nap ended up turning into a nearly 3hr power nap! 😅 Alrighty, I got to watch the trailer today off and on and again still liking a lot of what I am seeing so far! I gotta say I'm surprised they are really exploring Jill's post 5 trauma. I just didn't think they'd do that considering we hadn't really heard much about Jill aside from her e-mail to Barry in Revelations 2 files. I guess I assumed if they brought back Jill, they'd just kind of ignore all that (which was my worst nightmare lol) . I mean they kind of left us in the dark for so long about her! So needless I am happy they are showing Jill coping past the events of 5. Judging by that trailer, she is going to be kicking some major ass!

Look at that man's face! 🥺

I LOVE the concern and worry Chris has for Jill. He hates that she's carrying around so much guilt when it was never her fault with being brainwashed by Wesker. I mean they had been through a lot together since RE1 through RE5 really, so it's nice to see them interacting post 5 💚💙. I never really had doubts they ceased talking to each other, Rev2 files kind of cemented that for me plus the games don't really touch upon the relationships of the characters as the main focus is them (whichever character is in the game at the moment) facing bioterrorist threats each game. I do ship Valenfield romantically (duh this is a ship blog lol) but I just think their partnership is amazing. I'm just happy to see them together on screen post re5. Fanfics , headcanons, and my vivid imagination can do the rest! 😏🤣 I'm also happy to see Jill not just interacting with Chris but really getting to at least interact with Leon as well. I been curious to see how they would work together. To me I always pictured them getting along so it's really cool to see working together some in the trailer. I really hope she gets to talk and work more with Claire and Rebecca. Let the women interact, Capcom! I mean no doubt Jill's known Claire through Chris and Rebecca in STARS and the Spencer Mansion Incident, so it's really awesome to see them all together in the trailer. So seeing Jill interact with other recurring characters besides Chris and Barry is ticking off all the boxes for me. I'm very hyped to watch this film. July 7 does seem so far away with all the waiting but to quote Chris: "Yeah, it's worth it." Especially with post 5 Valenfield and 3 more iconic characters of this series in one movie. Gonna be a great summer with this one!

[no0t2]

yknow there's something i realised, not a lot of people really understand about the art of photography, unless they themselves are a photographer too (or have an interest).

im not saying that people do it on purpose or anything, obviously. just some observations after ive shared some photos of mine ive done. and something i realised within myself, i never really bothered to think about a photograph when i saw it, usually just the subject in the photo and the context, that's it. now that i regularly work with cameras and had personal work done it's like "wow, this is far more intricate than i thought" and have come to appreciate photography more.

[bionigrls]

Redesign your logo, we know how to do it Make the calculations, put them into action

[lovnelymoon]

The Good Terrorist, Doris Lessing (1985)

14.-28.07.23

I have a very complicated relationship with this book.

After reading the quotes on the blurb, I interpreted the book as a criticism on terrorism but more importantly on communism - not so much the theory, as the "lifestyle." And the "communists" shown in this book are terrible people. I hated so many of the characters, especially Jasper. But they also feel incredibly contrived. The idea that every single person living in the squat is just this selfish and stupid is simply not believable to me. It felt very much like a strawman.

After I read up a bit on the background of the book, mainly the fact that Lessing at some point was a socialist, and that she meant this book as an exploration of how people become amateur terrorists, I've gained a new appreciation for it. That doesn't change the fact that I could not suspend my disbelief for these characters. Some commentators say this book is a satire - Lessing only ever referred to it as humorous - and I can somewhat understand that point of view. Still, I feel it doesn't work as a satire because the "joke" relies on the reader believing that communists/squatters are selfish, anti-intellectual and hypocritical. Which I do not.

All of this aside: I adored the character of Alice. Not necessarily as a person, but the complexity and believability was incredible. The way she is the most responsible and sensible person among the squatters, yet so childish and annoying in every other context... How she is incredibly perceptive regarding people yet also completely fails to understand her parents. How she is at once a founder of the CCU and passionately against what she calls English imperialist fascism, but also resents Andrew and Gordon for being foreigners, is an anti-intellectual and unsympathetic to the working class and the poor... There's so many contradictions yet she feels incredibly real and human.

Similarly, I felt that Jasper as a villain worked really well. And I also appreciated Lessing's prose a lot, which is why I kept reading even at points where the characters seemed absolutely ridiculous to me.

Overall, then, I'm not sure how to rate this book. I enjoyed it, and I also didn't.

*images not mine

[bespectacled-grackle]

"I love you" is just a thing to say, to me. I could hate someone and still say "I love you." I could feel absolutely nothing towards a person and still say "I love you." Those are just words I throw at people who say them first and hope they stick.

If I REALLY love a person, I'll say shit like "if we were taxidermied animals, we'd be mounted on the same log" and that means so much more to me than "ily." If I really love a person, I'll point out how we're getting wrinkles in the same places because we love each other so much and spend so much time together that we've started making the same expressions. If I really love someone, I'll tell them that no, beige is NOT your color go change right the fuck now.

Love is something I can't say, not if I want to mean it. Not plainly, anyway. Maybe it's because I'm an eldest sibling, maybe it's because my family has always expressed our love in actions and time spent together and unhinged words, maybe it's because I've written poetry for so long that I find more meaning in metaphor than in plain sentences. I don't know. I don't even know why I'm posting this, but it might be because I've said "I love you" in any words except those to one person in every word I've spoken to them in a recent conversation. I don't know. But I did want to put this somewhere, and here is where I'm putting it.

[thebabygronckle]

hey so i Fully Believe that telemachus was not afraid of odysseus in Hold Them Down

people may have told him stories of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, Athena's chosen Champion, Hero of Troy

but mama's boy telemachus sat by her feet as she wove tapestry after tapestry; and penelope told her little wolf stories of his father

how they met, how he tripped over himself to woo her, how he cried his eyes out when penelope became pregnant, how telemachus wouldn't sleep in his cot as a baby because he was so used to being in his father's arms because odysseus would not put him down; and yes, how viciously he defended their family when the atrides came to retrieve him for the war

telemachus? the child of the Unhinged Power Couple? who knew very well how horrible those suitors were, how they treated him and spoke of his mother?

took one look at his dad viciously protecting their home, their family, and thought he was the coolest, strongest person ever (after mom ofc)

[fairsweetlonging]

truth serum / system reveal au where shen qingqiu gets hit with an uncloaking spell that reveals the system in the reflection of his eyes every time it pops up.

during one of his missions, in the treasure hoard of some dragon-like creature, he finds a golden, oval shaped hand mirror, its gaudy style more victorian based than anything (airplane you hack!), that doesn't seem to do anything when he looks into it. but when he does, it reveals the system's screen in his eyes.

he doesn't notice this, of course, because he can't see it, and the system, surprisingly, stays quiet.

the peak lords think he's cursed.

maybe mu qingfang is the first to notice, during the mandatory post mission check-up, when shen qingqiu is scrolling through his most recently accumulated points and mu qingfang can see the strange vividly-blue lines reflected in his pupils. it's gone when shen qingqiu blinks, like it was nothing but a trick of the light.

it comes out when yue qingyuan is visiting and, just as he's done laying out the plans for a new mission, shen qingqiu's eyes glaze over and a bright blue box takes over the whole of his iris. shen qingqiu goes quiet; the thing in his eyes moves, shifts, pulses for a second, like static worms crawling all over his pupils. then he blinks, and it's gone, and shen qingqiu accepts the mission that yue qingyuan was almost sure he would decline.

maybe there is an intervention, when the peak lords corner shen qingqiu at qian cao peak and try to figure out what's wrong, subjecting him to all kinds of treatments and curse-finding spells that turn up empty, they can't find anything.

of course, the silencing threat is still very much up and running. at first shen qingqiu was kind of confused by the whole ordeal, but when the peak lords start describing a "strange blue box", he realizes, with sickening suddenty, that they're describing the system. and he can't say anything.

this only makes everything worse, because their fellow peak lord now keeps evading every question and acts like he doesn't understand. liu qingge points right at his face and asks, "that blue box, what is it?" and shen qingqiu laughs nervously and starts talking about how bright the weather is and surely it's the sky and nothing to worry about!

even worse, during the intervention the system thought it was a good idea to start talking to him, so now even the peak lords who hadn't seen it and who might have been persuaded by light tricks and reflections, get a first row view that no, that definitely isn't a trick of the light.

they try to do the whole thing of "are you in danger, blink twice" but shen qingqiu can't even do that because it's still a direct admittance!

maybe eventually he starts saying vague confirmations that don't actually confirm anything, like "this master hears what you're saying", or maybe he goes with a classic "this master can neither confirm nor deny that." but the system starts warning him for that too and eventually he stops saying anything, which worries the others more.

luckily mu qingfang catches on that every time they ask a direct question about the box or shen qingqiu says anything vaguely confirming, it appears. it doesn't appear when they ask about curses or demons, so it must not see that as a threat.

for a little extra angst: maybe the peak lords keep pressuring him for answers, and at some point shen qingqiu gets fed up and snaps out something like, "why don't you understand that i'm not allowed to answer that!" the system counts this as a direct admittance, threatening it's existence. so it punishes. shen qingqiu has a qi deviation so bad it lasts two weeks and takes two people every day to cleanse his meridians. the system doesn't appear in that time. it doesn't appear for a long while after that, either. the peak lords stop asking, mainly because shen qingqiu will instantly leave the room if they do. they don't stop searching for a cure, though.

shang qinghua returns from a business trip and catches on the second someone mentions a blue box and forced silencing.

[what-am-i-doing-in-this-fandom]

I am such a big Werewolf Stan advocate I had to jump on this particular train 🙏 (but I didn't really wanna commit to full line art, you guys understand)

Oh, and you guys aren't gonna believe this, but here's part two 🙌

[egophiliac]

doylist explanation for why Gidel is only in Fellow's non-idle lesson animations: probably something about space constraints and making sure two sprites in one seat aren't covering anyone else when they're not in focus

watsonian explanation for why Gidel is only in Fellow's non-idle lesson animations: he snuck in and is hiding from the teachers, don't give him away 🤫

(I've reached my limit of unsuccessful attempts at pulling them before I need to save keys for Halloween, so I've been living vicariously through youtube videos...but the fact that Gidel just pops up from under the desk to wave his arms around happily is really testing my resolve. D: I'm gonna die when they finally get to do alchemy...)

[stump-not-found]

A Lifetime Served in a Little Cup

pt.1 / pt.2 / pt.3 / pt.4

---

bill, babygirl, the red flags get outta there

[verflares]

(click for higher quality!) draconified link concept ive been chipping away at this past week ..... here's my funny little compendium concept for him:

"A heroic spirit has taken the form of this bestial dragon. Unlike it's kin, this creature exhibits an extremely aggressive disposition. It appears highly territorial, and will relentlessly chase down those who disturb its skywide patrols - of which it seems to be endlessly searching for either a long-time vassal or foe. Unfortunately, it seems the spirit within has long since forgotten exactly who it was looking for…"

[serapheseraphim]

People really need to stop talking about aromantic people in such a way to suggest we need to, like, make up for our lack of romantic attraction? This ties into the whole "aromantic people can still date" and "aromantic people can have qprs" and "aromantic people still feel strong platonic love" pattern I keep seeing where it's as if people are trying to say "don't worry, they can still be mostly normal" and it is so frustrating to me as a non-partnering aromantic person and is likely even worse for aplatonic and loveless aros.

[bet-on-me-13]

Ellie and Raven have a complex relationship

So! This is an AU where Dan is Trigon, and Ellie joined the Teen Titans. It's not really a Story, but I thought it was funny.

...

Robin: I have a Question for the two of you.

Ellie: What's up?

Raven: Hm?

Robin: You guys call eachother Sisters, Cousins, and in one case you called eachother Aunt and Niece. What's your exact relation?

Ellie: Well that's tricky. See, my Dad is the King of the Infinite Realms, and his true name is Danny. Raven's dad is Trigon, but his true name is Dante.

Robin: And are Danny and Dante brothers?

Raven: No, not technically. See, Dante is an Evil Alternate Future Version of Danny, so they are technically the same Person. But then Dante came to the past, got beaten by Danny, and got shoved into a Mortal body for a while.

Ellie: If that was all, they we could just call eachother Sisters or Cousins. Our Dad's are technically the Same Person, but they consider eachother Brothers.

Raven: Except Ellie isn't a normal daughter.

Robin: What? How?

Ellie: I'm technically a Clone if Danny, not his Daughter. So I'm simultaneously Raven's Sister, Cousin, and Parent since I'm a Copy of a version of her Dad, but I could also be considered her Aunt since Danny and I called eachother siblings before we decided I was his Daughter.

Raven: So Ellie is my Sister/Cousin/Aunt/Mom/Dad.

Robin: ...what the hell.

[zorangezest]

thanks for listening

[dreamyblanket]

Yearning from the nothing dimension [rambling in tags ^^]