#like I already have very very high standards for adaptations of anything

[more-than-tender-curiosity]

thoughts on the great gatsby musical (the one going to broadway next month) ?

-🎵

Words. Cannot express. My disdain. My disappointment. My general frustration with that production. I have the jeremy jordan tag blocked on tumblr now. Praying to god Miss Florence Welch pulls through with her musical. I bet SHE read the book.

[thankskenpenders]

And now for something new

So, here's something I was never planning on doing, but I just couldn't shake the idea... Thanks Ken Penders is gaining a sister blog featuring an entirely different comic franchise!

Introducing... Thanks Steve Ditko, a blog where I read the Earth-616 Spider-Man comics, starting all the way back in the '60s! It's gonna be much more casual and less thorough than how I run things here on TKP, though, which I'll explain in a sec.

If seeing me post weird bits from old Spider-Man comics sounds fun and you need no further info, then just head right on over to Thanks Steve Ditko. But for longtime TKP readers, I know you probably have questions...

Number one: Why?

Spider-Man's always been my favorite superhero, and with the Spider-Verse movies kicking ass and my excitement building for the new Insomniac game, I've been in a Spidey mood. Inevitably, a thought occurred to me: Maybe I should actually read the comics that everything else is built off of and see the wildly varying contributions of all the original creators, rather than filtering them through big budget adaptations. If I can power through One Piece and all these other manga with hundreds of chapters, it can't be that hard... right?

And, well, after a few issues I quickly realized that my options were to either clog up my other accounts with random Spider-Man panels for years, or to just make a side blog. And so the side blog was born.

Two: Will this blog replace Thanks Ken Penders?

NO!!!!!!!!!

Okay but prove it

To allow the two to exist side-by-side, Thanks Steve Ditko will have a different format than what Thanks Ken Penders developed. Rather than an in-depth guided tour that critically analyzes every story beat of every issue, TSD will just be a place for amusing panels and brief thoughts as I casually read the comics at my own pace.

If you've seen me make a few tweets about reading Spider-Man recently, I'm basically just moving that to a dedicated Tumblr. It's a place for me to dump these things so that it doesn't fill up my media tab on Twitter for the next decade. (You know, assuming Twitter is still around in a decade.) There will be many issues where I only post two panels that I thought were funny. There will be issues where I don't have anything to say at all. Maybe I'll reach a run that I just cannot get into, and I start skipping around more. Who knows!

This may sound similar to what I thought this blog would be before it blew up. Aside from the simple fact that there's already mountains of Spider-Man commentary out there and therefore less of a void for me to fill, one of the main steps I'll be taking to avoid repeating the past is not enabling an ask box on TSD. I do not need people to ask me to go into ten times more detail on everything. I do not need to write seven essay-length responses to questions about Spider-Man minutiae every day. I do not need a place for people to chide me for not covering certain scenes, issues, or ancillary series.

It also won't have any kind of update schedule. I'm trying to keep it very casual. I'm reading these comics at my own pace, and if I feel like sharing a moment or commenting on something while doing so? It goes there. That's it.

(On the subject of format changes, I'm also listing the issue, writer, and penciller in the body of every post. This is a thing I wish I'd done on TKP so that people didn't misattribute every weird Archie Sonic panel I post to Penders.)

Three: So when will TKP come back from hiatus? You said it'd come back after you finished SLARPG!

I don't know! Sorry. I have a couple things on the backburner right now for TKP, but I'm not sure when I'll get back to proper updates where I read more comics.

I wanted to bring TKP back this year, and that's still possible. The main hurdle is that I want to reread my own archive (again) as a refresher, which is, uh. A lot of posts. I've developed a high standard for myself on here, and I feel like I wouldn't be doing my job right if I forgot half the ongoing subplots and character arcs and didn't bring them up in my analysis. Especially when I'm discussing the work of an author as obsessed with continuity as Ian Flynn. Unfortunately, the nature of this blog means that every time I go on another long hiatus for Life Reasons I have even more comic continuity to catch up on than last time.

(This is a big part of why I'm making Thanks Steve Ditko an extremely casual blog instead of promising to become a Lore Expert on 60+ years of Marvel.)

Mostly I've just been very burnt out this year after having finally finished a video game that took almost eight years to make. I haven't really had the energy for any creative projects, including TKP. But I feel a little bit of a spark here with Spider-Man, so I'm chasing that feeling to try to get back into the swing of blogging about comics - no pun intended.

So, basically, bear with me on this as I start this low-energy side project. But hopefully folks will enjoy Thanks Steve Ditko as its own thing, too.

Look forward to goofy shit like this

[ducktracy]

the first clip for "the day the earth blew up" was posted on twitter. can you spare us your thoughts?

@aadrawings: So uh how about that new Looney movie clip?

I MOST CERTAINLY CAN SPARE MY THOUGHTS! TWIST MY ARM! first, i'll link it here in case anyone hasn't seen it:

FIRST (and most obvious) THING'S FIRST: I'M SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED UUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHH!!! the film JUST started premiering in Annecy as we speak and my heart is literally pounding MY FINGERS LITERALLY SHAKING. so i apologize if this turns into a discombobulated mess i'm so so so excited and trying to keep an eagle eye out for any and all details. BUT ANYHOO

IT LOOKS GREAT!!! this is a fully rendered clip of the roughs that were uploaded back in September of 2022, so i'm already pretty familiar with this since i gushed over it to hell and back then, too. i had a few teeny tiny neurotic nitpicks that i would not take too seriously--honestly me nitpicking anything modern LT is a good sign because it means i'm ENGAGED and actively thinking and engaging with the material. there are a lot of modern LT adaptations i cannot say the same for. so it's all out of a labor of love and i also realize that most of these nitpicks are very.. you guys know my level of fanaticism. don't take it too seriously. my standards for this series AND THESE TWO KNUCKLEHEADS IN PARTICULAR who are my favorite characters of all time are so high that even the classics don't meet those expectations half the time. we all know i'm insane. BUT ENOUGH BLUFFING

my biggest critique is that it's going to take me quite a bit to get used to Eric Bauza's Porky. i LOVE Bauza, he is such a sweet guy (he sang me happy birthday as Daffy Duck and i almost exploded) and so talented and it's been really great seeing him rise up the ranks. i used to only know him as "the guy who voiced Stimpy in APC" and so i'm VERY glad to see he's gone on to greener pastures LOL.

but, with that said, the first time i saw these roughs i actually thought Porky's lines were scratch audio. there isn't enough stuttering--it's important for me to note that people give Porky's stutter WAY too much prevalence, in terms of how he sounds and just characterization as a whole. a stutter is not a personality. BUT, in the clips above, he doesn't really sound like Porky unless he's stuttering. it moreso sounds like Daffy talking to himself. Mel Blanc had Porky speak (and even sing!) in full sentences all the time, but it's never noticeable unless pointed out because Porky still sounded like Porky and Blanc knew how to make his personality come out in his voice beyond the vocal fluff of a stutter.

part of it is because i'm so used to Bob Bergen. and, even THEN, if i watch too much LTC or Duck Dodgers in one sitting, i need to "recalibrate" with the originals and hear Blanc. Bergen's Porky is much different than Mel's, more formal, the stutter more concrete in its formula (fun fact: Blanc's Porky has a southern twang in his voice if you listen for it depending on who's voice directing and i love it so much. biggest giveaway is how his "i"'s will often sound like an "ah" instead, not thinking of the stutter. I WARNED YOU we are getting into super pedantic territory here), but, much like how Joe Alaskey's Daffy is a much different interpretation than Blanc's Daffy, he was able to really make it his own. i think Bauza's Porky is still in a little bit of a limbo in finding its identity with that regard. but, also, keep in mind we've only heard him in this clip and Space Jam 2 and i have no plans of revisiting SJ2 to make a point here. sorry

THAT'S MY BIGGEST CRITIQUE i'd say! others are small, such as the design of the landlady is fun but reads like something out of the 2020 Animaniacs than anything based in the LT design philosophy, and you could argue that the fluidity is more Richard Williams-esque in its visual fluffiness and perhaps even excessiveness than, again, anything relating to LT. but i take less stock in that last one because the animation is STILL GORGEOOOOOOOOOOOOUS WHAT THE HECK!!!! so many fluid arcs and i really love that scene of Daffy talking to the landlady. the subtle twitching on Porky's cheek as a secondary action made me laugh.

other than that... you guys know that I. LOVE. LTC. i have been tracking it before it released, and there are posts on this blog (i think i saw one even dating back to its initial announcement in 2018, though it may have been a 2019 post of the 2018 upload. dunno.) dating back before i was even into LT at ALL. i've been keeping an eagle eye on every single development. the day they premiered i watched the entire batch 3 times in a row. i streamed it for you guys too! some people reading this may have been in that room.

ALL THIS TO SAY, i LOVE LTC SO MUCH and it's been the most excited i've been for anything in a very long time. i also have my fair share of nitpicks, but, as i've expressed above, they all come out of a place of love. some of the Porky and Daffy shorts in the LTCs i would have handled differently if i had my hands on them. Porky and Daffy are two characters who are deeply special to me, everyone knows me as The Porky And Daffy person including my coworkers and bosses, my friends who worked on the show and film have told me many times they're eager for my thoughts. the pig and duck are literally a part of my identity. so my critiques come more out of a place of fanaticism and love for the characters and wanting to do them justice and wanting people to see what i see in them, rather than an actual dig at the product

THAT ALL BEING SAID. there are some pitfalls and little traps the P+D (and a lot of LTC in general) shorts run into that i'm expecting to be in the movie as well. there's a little bit here with the screaming and some lines of dialogue that i probably would have shaved off (like "our roof?"). months ago i started typing up mini reviews of each LTC short that i may compile here someday--my Max subscription was about to run out and i wanted to watch all the LTCs one last time while i could. and then i renewed because i couldn't watch quickly enough and now need to return LOL--and it allowed me to lay out some of the nitpicks i have with the series more clearly, which i am fully expecting to also be in the movie. and that's okay!

ALLLL OF THIS RAMBLING IS TO SAY: I AM SO EXCITED. i've been tracking every single detail of this movie and this SERIES like a hawk since it was announced. i was even asked to work on the film back in 2021, but turned it down because i wasn't secure enough in my abilities and didn't know what job security would look like after i finished on the film. i'm glad i stuck with the decision as i did, because i figured i can draw those two any time i want, and the fact that i got asked meant that there are eyes on my work and i may get asked with other LT related offers (which turned out to be true!). needless to say, turning down the offer was genuinely one of the most excruciating things i've ever done and it seriously sent me into a pretty big funk for the next few days and weeks.

so, with all that said, it is ESPECIALLY important for me to see how this movie is and celebrate it and keep my fanatical obsessive eagle eye out. i'm so glad i get to live in a world where this is a movie that is happening and coming out. i've already got plans to see it with a best friend who i've shoved the agenda of the pig and duck down her throat many times. i am so excited to cheer on all my friends and colleagues who worked on this film. it's the most excited i think i have ever been for anything actively coming out in my life.

[ryuichirou]

I really love the lengthy analysis you wrote about Vil and Jamil in the past! Do you have anything similar to say about Riddle, if you haven't already? Or maybe about Riddle and Trey, if you're more comfortable with talking about relationships between characters.

Dear Anon, I am very happy you liked my analysis of these two! It’s been a while, I even forgot that I wrote it, so it’s insanely nice to hear that someone still reads these posts and enjoys them. As you might have already noticed (it seems to be my mission to keep repeating it to make sure no one ever forgets about it), I am not as speedy with my replies as I used to be, so this reply is long overdue. But I always have stuff to say about these boys, and Riddle very interesting and very dear to me as the boy who introduced us to how broken these boys are and how interestingly TWST plays with the theme of trauma.

We don’t post about him very often, but I like Riddle a lot. I think out of all of the housewardens he has the biggest vibe of a broken kid hidden behind his strong facade. I guess this is my way of saying that Riddle is the most childish out of all of them lol It shows not only in his tantrums (Ace compared him to a baby for a reason), but also in how obviously excited he gets when he sees anything that is fun; it’s like his inner kid reacts before Riddle composes himself and acts like he isn’t interested. We’ve seen a bunch of moments like this, I think. In a way, all of the overblot boys didn’t get to live through their childhood in a “normal” way, but Riddle expresses it in a very obvious way.

But it’s not only about cakes and games: Riddle is very immature emotionally too, and it’s hard to blame him for that, because let’s be honest: this is the first time Riddle deals with people. Isolation is a difficult thing to come back from, and if you shove a heavily sheltered boy into an high school/college and put him in a position of housewarden, of course he’s going to act like a little dictator: this is the only way to assert authority he’s ever seen. And since Riddle himself is a good kid (i.e. a kid who is terribly afraid of making his mother angry) and doesn’t misbehave, he is completely unequipped of dealing with a whole dorm of teenagers who aren’t very good or excited to live by the Queen’s Rules. Even those who don’t want to cause trouble can’t remember all of them, they’re basically written in a way that are meant to sabotage you, but Riddle would never acknowledge that: if he learned them, others must too, otherwise they just didn’t try enough. But they just won’t listen, and Riddle gets frustrated instantly: it’s them who are unreasonable, not him!

Of course it is a metaphor and an exaggeration, but I think Riddle portrays a very real thing that a lot of us have either seen or experienced. His standards for himself aren’t just high, they’re absolutely unreasonable, but this is his entire reality and he can’t even see that this isn’t how things are for the rest of the world. He’s like a little goldfish (lol) who lived in a tiny aquarium for its entire life and then got transferred into an ocean without any kind of adaptation or even a quarantine. Riddle is already a second year, but I think the shock of everything around him still hasn’t gone away completely, partially because Riddle spends a lot of time stubbornly ignoring the feeling that he is the one in the wrong. If he is wrong, than mother is also wrong, and that can’t be – this is the only thing he is sure of.

You know, there are some people who really enjoy having a system of rules in their head, or rather principles, and it gives them a very valuable and helpful structure (even if that system of rules/principles isn’t perfect and backfires sometimes). Vil is that kind of person, Sebek is that kind of person... Riddle isn’t. I genuinely think Riddle is the type of person who would enjoy living without a set of rules, but with basic logic to help him navigate the world; does that make sense? Anyways, unfortunately, Riddle can’t live without a manual: he never learned how to. We see it both in his book and in book 6, when he shocks Azul over and over again by just how rigid he is.

Speaking of which, I love that Riddle didn’t have a 180 degree turn after his book. Of course, it’s partially because we have to keep the status quo intact a little bit, and he wouldn’t be the personification of the Queen if he didn’t have his rules; but I also think this is very true to life. Just like the boys said at the end of the book 1, you don’t have to change everything at ones, taking baby steps is okay.

But taking baby steps also means that you will keep bumping into issues and conflicts, which is crucial for growth, but also could make Azul fucking Ashengrotto say that he will beat the shit out of you if you won’t shut up lol

Their entire dynamic in book 6 was very good. Both Azul and Riddle are horribly stubborn, obsessive freaks, but for entirely different reasons and in very different ways. And both of them have their guard up, but interestingly? I think Riddle is better at trusting people and being genuine about his feelings or thoughts about them than Azul. Maybe he’s made a better progress than Azul in that sense, maybe he’s always been better, but this is what I mean: Riddle doesn’t mind genuinely complimenting Azul for his achievements, and a lot of time he didn’t even mean to offend Azul with his remarks. To Azul, however, every compliment is given with a reason and every snarky comment is given to metaphorically push someone down the stairs. Both of them have a lot to learn though lol but it’s fun to see them working through this misunderstanding and actually working together.

You asked about Trey; and honestly, even though we kind of liked him from the beginning, we didn’t think much about him (mostly because we met the rest of the characters whom we were very excited about). But the more I think about Trey, the more I get amused by how much of a dark horse he is. I feel like Trey’s forced neutrality and desire to stay “hidden” from any kind of event or conflict or attention at all is interesting: it’s subtle, but it’s definitely there. He has this inoffensive image of a good and caring older brother type, and it’s true that he is caring and supportive, but it’s also isn’t entirely out of his desire to do good things. I’m not saying that he is an asshole, but he isn’t like Silver or Kalim, if that makes sense, he doesn’t have this hero-like desire for everyone to be happy or to protect the weak no matter what and to help out everyone: whether Trey wants to admit it or not, he has his priorities. And I feel like Trey doesn’t even want to necessarily be “the good guy”, he really just wants to be “the normal guy”, and sometimes “the normal guy people could rely on”.

What I wanted to say by that is that Riddle is Trey’s main priority no matter what. I’m stating the obvious, but this is why he didn’t protect Ace and Deuce (who were in Heartslabyul for less than a week) from him, this is why he kept asking everyone to just be patient with Riddle and to tolerate the way he treats everyone. Because it was more important for him to protect Riddle and to avoid him feeling like he does the wrong thing.

And while it’s partially due to Trey’s personality and his relationship with Riddle, I feel like Trey is also kind of traumatised by what happened back then. Not to the degree that Riddle is traumatised of course, but it’s probably tough for someone who’s always been a good kid to get yelled at by someone else’s mother for hours for doing something that you believe wasn’t even bad. I think Trey feels extremely guilty because he knows that whatever he felt, Riddle had it even worse. So it’s not surprising that he is terrified of hurting Riddle even more: every time he looks at the way he acts, he knows that it’s a result of him being abused. I’m stating the obvious here lol but I like that Trey is stuck in this “sorry, but I will keep hurting all of you because not hurting him is more important”.

We watched Ghost Marriage Event recently (haven’t seen the vignettes and voice lines yet) and I think it’s very interesting that it was kind of tied to the Trey/Riddle situation, which Ace even directly addressed. We even got Trey (and Cater too, to be fair) going yikes because he felt called out by what Ace was saying to Chubby about the way he treated Eliza. Even if you love someone, you can’t just let that person get away with hurting others. Even if you think it will keep them happy, it will never help them in a way you think it will. Riddle gets hurt by staying a tyrant that everyone despises, and Trey knows that he does, but doing that important step of stopping him and having a talk with him is too scary to even consider. This is why he needed that wakeup call from Ace of all people.

I guess that makes Ace more emotionally mature than Trey and Riddle both in a way lol

Anyways, I love their relationship a lot, and even though I’ve mostly been talking about the very basis of their relationship, I think there is a lot to explore with these two.

[autonomoustoybox]

Do you ever think about how jarring it must have been, for the Turaga, to see the Matoran doing their work after the move to Mata Nui?

Like... Think about it. Metru Nui was a very, very rigid caste system. Everyone was made for a role, they'd fulfil that role, they wouldn't change from that role for thousands of years. And more pertinently, those roles were largely academic, borne of a highly developed civilisation. Then, you get to Mata Nui, and suddenly everything changed. Everyone just lost all of their memories, and with that a huge amount of their identities, and their previous roles with it. In fact, many of their roles are just outright nonexistent, in a world of stone and wood, with no city, with no Metrus, with nothing that the Turaga would have known. Indeed, Matau's first reaction to Mata Nui was "Where are the chutes?"!

Obviously, the Matoran could adapt - a blank slate can easily have anything imprinted onto it, after all, and they were made to work - but for the Turaga, who were watching their warped, diminished friends and kinsmen who sounded the same as before but acted perhaps very differently, and already had to suffer through the lie of concealing Metru Nui, it must have been bizarre in a way 'suffocating' couldn't possibly describe.

Imagine being Vakama, a craftsman among a city of crafters, who only ever made armour, being forced to see his fellow forgemates sharpen blades and call themselves a guard, a militia, an army, hunters and killers. Imagine much the same of Matau, who once spent his time driving new machines down clear tracks with his kin, now having to make do with tempermental Rahi in a twisting maze of branches and vines.

Imagine being Nokama or Nuju, who spent all their life prior as academics, pouring through tomes and staring at stars, watching as those untold millenia of knowledge simply disappear, to be replaced with hard physical chores like fishing or crafting or, indeed, fighting off Rahi. Imagine the same of Whenua, who once spent all his time studying creatures brought to him, now only providing the knowledge to make them go away, as the the scholars of all the Rahi life of the universe spend their days digging through the earth with pickaxes (not even drilling machines)!

Certainly, these are necessary roles, duties to be honoured and fulfilled to a a standard high enough to ensure continued life, but... In some ways, it must have been utterly humiliating. Sickening, even, to some.

Not to Onewa though. Pretty much nothing changed for him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This train of thought brought to you by the new Essenger remake of the Mata Nui Online Game II Soundtrack, specifically https://youtu.be/MAierT0S82o?si=XB9s03CUTCRubFOn . I never played much of it, but I distinctly remembered Hali being a weaver, creating thread from flax fibres; which, given the hindsight of Ga-Metru being a giant university/research centre, makes the role seem strangely small in comparison to her duties before. Of course, now she's a Toa, I suppose she doesn't have time much for either!

[Edit: I posted this at midnight when I was falling alseep and totally got the names of Onewa, Nuparu, and Whenua muddled up... This happens a lot even when I'm fully awake though. Edited for clarity.]

[403tarot]

⫬ ⫬ ⊹ . . NSFW ALPHABET — JEONG YUNHO

warning: description of explicit sexual content ahead.

notes: i wanted to do a nsfw alphabet since a long time ago and nothing better than do it with the man i take pairing readings the most: yunho. this list is based in a lot (like, a lot) of games that i took for yunho and several anonymous, plus a good bit of my intuition and personal perspective.

DISCLAIMER: this post is for entertainment purposes only. tarot is a game, this means it's supposed to have fun with it. take everything with a grain of salt.

MINORS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO INTERACT!

A — aftercare (how he is like after sex)

when it comes to aftercare, yunho is a king. he asks if you are ok, if you need anything from a glass of water to a cuddle and even helps you to take a shower afterwards. he likes to talk about what you both just did and to compliment you

B — body party (favourite body part of him and of his partner)

yunho's favorite part of his body are his hands. he knows they are beautiful and attractive to most people. he is skilled with them and loves to take advantage of his long fingers to hold you tight or to dip them inside you

yunho is a thirsty lover. he wants to touch and taste everything on his partner's body, especially the thighs. he likes to squeeze, kiss, bite and mark them... yunho loves it when you wear an ornament on the thigh, like a lace garter.

C — cum (anything related to cum)

yunho is not that messy. he's the type that likes to grip your hips tightly and cum inside. if he can't do that, yunho is content to cum in your mouth, ass or stomach.

D — dirty secret

he likes to have angry sex, tension is a strong attraction for him. yunho likes it when you're a little stubborn or contraries him, because then he has a chance to make you submit and show you who is in control.

depending on your relationship dynamics, he won't be afraid to humiliate you and make you feel embarrassed for getting turned on by it.

E — experience (how experienced is him?)

mid experienced. still has a lot to try and discover. body count not that high as expected of a man who fits the beauty standards and is a celebrity.

F — favourite position

yunho really likes to see your fucked face, your eyes rolling back and your mouth while saying his name, so any position where you can face him. other than this, yunho can also like positions that highlight that he is physically bigger than you.

G — goofy (is he more serious or humorous in the moment?)

i wouldn't say he's primarily humorous but i feel that yunho is good at setting a comfortable atmosphere.

H — hair (how well groomed are him)

he's clean and mid shaved. doesn't really mind if you shave or don't.

I — intimacy (how he treats you)

yunho kinda analyzes the vibe and go with it. even so, he has a dominant nature and likes to take control; trying to get that out of him can be extremely extremely challenging.

he is a dom. he can be a cruel one that makes you cry and beg for a little grain of his attention or then can be a softer, communicative and attentive one. either giving you pet names or simply calling you cocksleeve, he'll make sure you love every second of it.

yunho adapts to his partner very well.

J — jack off (how often he masturbates)

not really often. he tends to prefer the real thing.

K — kink (one or more of his kinks) ! taboo ahead !

as I've already taken countless sexual dynamics with yunho and his preferences change according to the partner, it would be impossible to put here all the kinks that I've seen him perform, so I'll put the ones that come more often

breeding: he really enjoys coming inside and the thought of making you round carrying his babies. he'll make you beg him to fill you up.

size: he likes to be big and tends to prefer partners that are smaller than him. he likes to be able to move you with just one hand and feel the power that comes with it. get into the game and be his little pretty doll.

consensual non consensual: yunho is good at roleplaying (of course, he's an actor) and takes advantage of this. he likes it when his partner pretends not to be interested or to be totally against the act. he gonna hold you roughly, make you wet until you're dripping in his fingers and then shame you because of it.

somnophilia: there's no better way to say good morning to yunho than by waking him up with a good blowjob. he will also grin from ear to ear if you allow him to wake you up as he slides lazily inside you.

L — location (favourite places to do the do)

usually prefers to have sex in the bedroom. there is some imagination in trying to do it in other riskier places but as expected, he probably won't.

M — motivation (what turns him on)

yunho has no problem making the first move but he finds it really sexy when his partner does it for him. sit on his lap, run your hands over his body; feel the soft skin, muscles, press a wet kiss on the neck. move your hand down to his pants, outline his dick with your fingertips over the fabric. all while looking him straight in the eyes. show him what you want, tell how you want.

if you're confident, he'll be turned on by your attitude. if you fumble or are shy, he'll think it's cute. he'll end up fucking you stupid anyways.

N — no (something he wouldn't do)

yunho is very boundary conscious and would never do anything to cross lines he shouldn't. he likes to be in harmony with his partner and wants intimate moments to be fun and enjoyable for both of them.

also, i feel that yunho's style is more about mind games and control (like roleplaying and degradation) and that he doesn't really enjoy things like spanking or other physical tortures.

O — oral (if he prefers to give or receive, skills, etc)

yunho prefers to receive. he really enjoys see your mouth full of his dick and for him that's almost an unskippable part. he is impatient and likes to be taken rough, to hold your hair and see you struggling to take him in one piece

even so, he is great at pleasing his partner. he's the type to kiss every inch of your thighs with passion. yunho is playful with his tongue but quick to put it exactly where you want it and memorize the way that makes you moan the loudest. he slathers himself in your slick and is only satisfied when he feels you trembling coming in his mouth.

P — pace (is he fast and rough? slow and sensual?)

yunho likes to go rough but throughout the act his pace gets slower but steady. he prefers strength over speed.

Q — quickie (his opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, etc)

he's not against it and sees it as something that can be fun, sometimes done as an appetizer in anticipation of the real thing or just because he doesn't have much energy to do something more complex. yet he still prefers to have proper sex if he can.

R — risk (are they open to experiment?)

he is open to trying new things. likes to hear about your kinks and fantasies and does his best to try to fulfill them, although he has a clear idea of things he wouldn't do.

S — stamina (how many rounds he can go for, how long does he last...)

about how many rounds he can go i keep getting cards of number 2 and 3 so lol i'd say 2-3 rounds, depends on the intensity and of his partner. he is good at lasting for a long time but prefers you to come first so he can take his own time.

T — toys (does he own toys? does he use them on a partner or himself?)

tarot says he has >< it can be something that is used to restraining, such as handcuffs, strings or chains. since he is not very open to be restricted i feel he tends to use these kind of things in his partners.

U — unfair (how much he likes to tease)

yunho likes to tease, which doesn't mean he's actually good at it. he likes to hear you beg for him, but he doesn't take long to give you what you want. he has fun while conflicting about what might be more fun for him: hearing you desperately beg or hearing your satisfied moans when your requests are answered.

V — volume (how loud he is, what sounds he makes)

he is not loud, although he likes his partner to be. he's not much into moaning and more like heavy breathing, cussing or calling you names. the volume increases as he gets near his release.

W — wild card (a random headcanon with him)

since i'm doing this based in tarot i'll put here a slice of a reading that i made for him and one of my consultants:

he's in charge, totally dominant. right away there is a preference for dynamics between you: one in which you play silly, innocent and he takes it out of you with everything. he's rough and likes to play take things by force but mind games are also very exciting so grabbing you, holding you and making you scream would be things that would really mess with him. he would like to arrest you, and I don't see just a simple thing like handcuffs but immobilizing practically the whole body, like tying up a leg, an arm, making you feel like you have no control over anything and it's all his. he might like to put you on like a leash too, the kind with the chain on the front like a dog, but he'd use it more to like pull you to bed or make you look where he wants you to, stuff like that.

you would like to play hard to get, before the role of innocent you would be the quarrelsome type, who acts like someone who does everything to get out of the situation, runs, hides, pushes, the type that "is not taken without giving trouble first ". and it would be fun for him, because he's bigger and stronger than you.

X — x-ray (what's inside this pants uh...)

this blogger is a yunho big cock enthusiastic. however, being realistic is saying that his size is just a little bit more than the average.

Y — yearning (how high is his sex drive?)

when he has a fix partner it's mid to high, he gets used to doing it with a certain frequency. for him it can be difficult to go without for a long time, since it is a easy way to get out of the routine and de-stress

Z — zzz (how quickly he falls asleep afterwards)

like i said before, yunho likes to do aftercare. he doesn't sleep fast because he usually likes to stay with his partner, but if it's after a tiring day he might end up sleeping after a while anyways (while cuddling!)

deck used: rider waite-smith tarot

let me know your thoughts about this! i love chatting, specially about ateez! my ask is always open.

you can also request a reading with an idol of your choice. check my pinned to know more!

[i-mybrunettelady]

im enjoying playing guardian again after not playing it for a long time— also having brainrot about nyra at the same time (i’ve been reading through her tag a bit 👀). so i have questions im curious about

maybe i need to read about her more, if you’ve already talked about this, but how did nyra’s guardian powers manifest? did she always have them since she was young?

& how did they develop over time? did her powers adapt with her as she traveled (like how you got a new elite specialization in each expansion)? is there anything unique with her guardian powers that other guardians don’t have?

omg hiiiiiii

i am so !! that you like my girl!! thank you!!! i'm so glad we are all unwell about her, actually, and i get very emo whenever people tell me they like her ;;; she's my dottir! and i'm so happy you're enjoying guardian!! if you ever have any questions for it (sans wb which i don't really play) my dms and inbox are open <3

a lot of my guardian nyra hcs and lore are like. old content almost and live in my head and i don't talk about them as much here, which i probably should since they're due for a review/revision. a few core things remain:

she was a magical late bloomer; humans generally are, seeing as they're not originally from tyria, but she was a late bloomer even for human standards. she got her magic at 15. i wrote some of it here for my commander week prompt!

she is a firebrand/dragonhunter mix in canon. her starter abilities resemble dragonhunter moreso than base guardian. she doesn't use firebrand tomes but she uses the mantras, and she doesn't have blue guardian fire. she doesn't use dragonhunter bow (even if i use it mechanically for her build.)

she can use light to transform it into physical objects.

her weapon pipeline goes like this: hammer (PS to HoT) -> staff (HoT - EoD) -> polearms/spear (SotO, JW and onward) + a crystalline weapon called Lightbringer that she can shape to be whatever she wants it to be, a gift from Aurene.

her powers progression is less tied to elites and more tied to her magical usage i'd say. in PS she's only had her magic for about four years, enough to know basics of how to operate it, but not enough to be the caster she will become in the future. we're talking spirit weapons as aids to her melee, hammer attacks. when mordremoth gave her her shoulder scar, she had to switch to staff because wielding a hammer with a badly healed shoulder is unattainable, and her magical abilities developed further.

during her time in elona, she spent some of it in the company of roni gehianu, who she got the knowledge of mantras from that help her to this day! i give little nods to this in my writing sometimes when i describe her making a motion and being suddenly calmer than she'd been before, for example, so she gave them day-to-day usage as well. by season 4 she developed her own blend of guardian that she technically is to this day :)

in cantha she never really took to willbender. she took notes on willbenders' mobility, which help with her spear fighting, but never quite leaned into that part of her training fully. this might change if i give wb another shot and i see if i like it, but for now, she isn't a willbender.

i will also add that if she wasn't a guardian at all, she'd be a warrior, and a spellbreaker at that, because her magical proficiency could've also been inverted and become an ability to repel magic. for an awesome exploration of this idea that i don't think i'll do well bc i'm too attached to guardian!nyra, look no further than Wayfarer, an amazing high fantasy interactive fiction novel that is legit one of my fav pieces of media of all time. Anyways.

thank you for dropping by and for dropping this question! i'm always down to talk abt my girl and abt guardian and like. get my brainrot constantly enabled further <3

[kemetic-dreams]

ASHWAGANDHA: Do you have any insights, Mr. Potato?

Ashwagandha is just GNARLY, and alongside creatine is one of my staples for supplementation on a budget — ’CAUSE THAT SHIT IS CHEAP AND EFFECTIVE— specifically for the challenges we face in modern society, just the fact that it has shown over and over again in studies and clinical trials that it can reduce stress and boost testosterone is already MORE THAN ENOUGH to consider taking that shit.

Ashwagandha is an ADAPTOGEN, a natural substance that helps the body adapt to stressors, whether they be physical, mental, or emotional regulating the body's stress response and helping balance hormones, improving the immune system, and promoting a healthy response to stress.

Its key benefit is counteracting CORTISOL— the hormone of stress— cortisol isn't necessarily bad, it actually is pretty important for performing in high-stress situations like combat, live competition, or public speaking.

Cortisol and testosterone have an inverse relationship, meaning that high levels of cortisol can lead to decreased testosterone levels, while low cortisol levels can lead to increased testosterone levels, and chronically high levels of cortisol absolutely DEMOLISH your quality of life and wreak havoc on your entire system.

And unfortunately for us, the same technologies that provide us with the luxuries and comfort that allow this specific point in time to be the ABSOLUTE EASIEST time to survive in all human history also come with unnatural burdens that completely disrupt our brain's reward systems and perception of reality, by introducing us to an infinite new's cycle, completely abstract reward systems like bills and money, instant empty stimulation with porn, videogames, movies, and social media, and UNACHIEVABLE SURREAL standards to live by.

Not only because motherfuckers think social media is real life, but back in the day, if you were the best at whatever thing you like to do in your town, aye, you're GOOD, now, the second you start anything, you're automatically comparing yourself with the best people in the field of your choosing, and WITH A HORDE of lying ass motherfuckers.

It's like I always say, I've seen a handful of people squat 500lbs, and all of them either owned gyms or competed for years in powerlifting, ONLINE BRUH!? I'm hit DAILY with kids aged 12-88 saying they're throwing 700lbs deadlifts around like it's a rainy day in Cancun, which I very often get to smirk and reply "Dude, you know that's a WORLD RECORD for your weight, and age, right?"

So, there has never been a better time TO BE CONSCIOUS.

You simply can't live a healthy life in this day and age by simply REACTING to life, you can't operate on the basis of compulsion, the algorithms, the shiny lights, the potential indulgence has a gravitational pull that��REQUIRES A CONSIDERED EFFORT TO GET OUT OF.

Most of the battle is fought on the inside, on the battlefield of the mind, with delayed gratification, composure, virtue, altruism, structure, AND FUCKING DISCIPLINE.

But supporting levels of mental health that allow for all that good shit to be implemented, REQUIRES us to take EXTREME good care of the machine, of the fucking body.

SLEEP— EXERCISE— HYDRATION— NUTRITION— SOCIAL BONDING.

These are the pillars on which your mental health will stand, if you don't have that shit NAILED, that's the first step, and if the goal is improving upon an already GREAT lifestyle, supplementation is an option, and there are TONS of evidence suggesting that yea yup, Ashwagandha will help TREMENDOUSLY.

But keep in mind, that adding it to a bad lifestyle, is like adding Stripes, and a Spoiler to your Pontiac Aztek— NO, it doesn’t turn it into a racecar— AND NO, that shit still looks absolutely RIDICULOUS.

So here are the potential HEALTH BENEFITS of Ashwagandha:

Reducing stress and anxiety

Improving brain function and memory

Lowering cholesterol and blood sugar levels

Decreasing inflammation

Boosting testosterone and fertility in men

Supporting a healthy immune system

And here are the potential ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE BENEFITS:

Increase strength and muscle mass

Enhance endurance and reduce muscle damage

Improve recovery time following exercise

Enhance cognitive function, reaction time, and hand-eye coordination

It's important to note that while there is some research supporting these potential benefits, more studies are needed to fully understand the effects of Ashwagandha on health and athletic performance.

The clinically effective dosage of Ashwagandha is 600mg/day.

So always check the nutritional facts in the bottles of any supplements that contain ashwagandha to see if they’re using ENOUGH to create positive effects, and if the supplement containing it has a proprietary blend to hide the amounts, don’t take it.

Yo, thanks for reading this all the way my BRUDDAH, if you can upvote this one for me, it would be DEEPLY appreciated my G!

BANG THAT IRON!

Big KISS

THE POTATO MAN

[aqours]

Hey, question: which is better? The Yashahime anime, or the manga? And why is it so different- did they change all the plot and stuff because the anime had problems or it wasn't' well-received? Just curious!

OH MAN THIS QUESTION twitter still drives me crazy with this one, and it's funny bc once someone brought this up to me to criticize Yashahime but blocked me while i was in the middle of responding to it lmao. i'm gonna answer the second question first then the first one because i have a lot of things to say about it

it's not so much they changed it bc the anime wasn't well received or anything like that- this is a really common thing with manga adaptions of anime originals. animes are a REALLY expensive production, which is why it's usually important for animes to faithfully adapt successful mangas. because if a manga is well received, then by trying to do a faithful adaption they can try to replicate that success and make a good profit. but when an anime original comes first, this changes the dynamic a lot. this is part of the reason The Promised Neverland S2 was such an unholy disaster, S1 was an incredibly good adaption of a very well received manga and S2 completely tried to go in an original direction and it was a disaster.

the more expensive production has been made- so a manga is kind of fanservice if you think about it! so it's actually not uncommon for manga adaptions of anime originals to heavily diverge from the plot! a good example of this is any Yu-Gi-Oh! manga after the original by Takahashi. pretty much all the YGO mangas for stuff like GX, 5D's, ZEXAL, ARC - V, etc all came after the animes and all have pretty divergent plots. same mcs and usually the same settings but sometimes personalities change, they all use different decks, the main antagonist and threats change, etc! i haven't seen it, but to my understanding Romeo + Juliet's manga's plot diverges from the anime. this isn't a universal rule though, Puella Magi Madoka Magica's manga is actually a pretty faithful adaption of the anime!

it's pretty common for these manga adaptions to be like "same characters, similar but different plot" since the more expensive production is already out there, there's not much reason to adapt it into a less expensive form, so the mangakas are often allowed to take pretty big differences in their direction to write "their version" of the story in the hopes it'll attract the same audience who might be interested in a new take on it! so i don't think it had anything to do with the Yashahime anime's overall quality, it was just a pretty standard industry practice. ofc i could be wrong and if anyone knows for a fact feel free to let me know, but that's the norm for these kind of manga adaptions

now as for which is better- there's a very high consensus among a lot of people that the manga is the superior version. the Yashahime anime was plagued with MANY production issues (including, possibly, don't quote me on this, a cancelled s3 due to the company merging which resulted in like a full 12+ episodes worth of content shoved into like three and a half) and a change in directors who had a different vision, whereas the manga has always had a pretty cohesive view of what it wanted to do. Moroha and Setsuna growing up together, Towa's motivations having changed due to her being the one with amnesia, Shiina being able to take advantage of the underdeveloped villains and the strength of one good storytelling telling his vision vs. a bunch of people seem to have really helped it! the anime is unfathomably special and dear to my heart and is my favorite anime of all time despite my many issues with it, but objectively? i would probably recommend the manga first and would say i think it has consistently higher quality (i do need to badly rewatch the anime to compare and contras though)

so yeah, those are my answers! i think how bad Yashahime is is like, extremely exaggerated, but i don't think it's that great either. i would personally recommend you start with the manga and then the anime later maybe if you want more! the manga isn't a flawless masterpiece and updates monthly though: i've heard some conflicting reports saying it's starting to hit near its first half or if its over soon (it does kinda seem like the endgame is in sight), but that's just my personal take! the manga caters a lot more to my personal tastes in characterization and what it means to be good shounen while the anime has more sentimental value to me and especially Towa's characterization there

[runawaycarouselhorse]

was winx club censored too?

To preface, I am not the best person to ask because I was too tomboyish for Winx Club and I was not a fan growing up [the outfits put me off], so this is me having to look things up. ^o^; BUT, I gave it my best shot and now I have answers for you!

[This ask is following up on this post about W.I.T.C.H., most likely.]

Before looking it up, I was pretty sure Winx Club was not censored, because I have very vague memories of seeing it as is, because the art style is super-stylized and simplistic (with W.I.T.C.H., it's detailed and you can see the lines of their pelvic bones, etc.), but I'm pretty sure Winx Club simply wasn't picked up by the same group.

From the looks of things, no Arabic translation of the magazines for Winx Club even exists!

W.I.T.C.H.'s comics were not actually handled by anyone affiliated with the Syrian-based Space Toon, apparently, it was an Emirati company that translated the comics and censored them, which... actually makes sense, because Space Toon never aired the cartoon. Back then, Space Toon did not have the digital editing know-how to subtly recolour or edit outfits like they can now. Shows used to get a lot of random cuts or repeated scenes to avoid very short skirts, etc., nowadays, it's just slap-some-tights/long-socks-on-characters, presto!

Winx Club simply never got an Arabic translation for the comics, it seems. I'm googling and finding nothing, even found a cute (very dated, somewhat eye strain-inducing [the bright green and orange layout...]) fan forum dedicated to Winx Club and the fans are just sharing links to pictures of comics in western languages--it seems we never got it translated!

It gets interesting when you move onto the animated adaptations. Winx was dubbed by two completely different two companies!

Seasons 1-3 were dubbed by the Lebanon-based company, Ar-Riham (they also dubbed two movies, apparently!) without any censorship, as it was straight-to-DVD, with multiple audio tracks, so no cuts, while the fourth season was dubbed by the Syria-based Tanweer Studios.

Tanweer Studios, which dubbed the fourth season, dubbed it for airing on TV and MBC 3 insisted on no romance and no kissing, and edited out nudity in the transformation sequences it seems!

Get this, for the animated adaptation of W.I.T.C.H., it was dubbed by the same second group (Tanweer Studios) that covered season 4 of Winx Club. (No censorship of the outfits in the animated version, Arabic dubbing companies simply did not have the technical know-how for that back then + honestly, they're already toned down/less detailed/don't ride as low as the comics...)

(Had to use the fandom wiki, bear with me!)

Even the Arabic Wikipedia article on Winx Club does not mention anything about an Arabic translation for the magazines, although it does talk about the development and how the show came to be, and lists information on both Arabic dubbing companies and lists casts...

Not all Arabic dubs and translations censor like I mentioned earlier, it's Venus Centre (which dubs for Space Toon) that holds very high standards and is super careful about making shows developmentally age appropriate backed by child development experts (which is why their shows for little kids strip away nearly all romance and it can get goofy because they'll sometimes pull an accidental incest by turning couples into siblings that'd just be really weird if visually you can recognize it ends in a wedding?! I don't think they do things that awkwardly anymore, but--they only keep romance in shows for teens and there, the words boyfriend/girlfriend get replaced with fiance/fiancee since Muslims don't date--that's it, though, otherwise, their dubs are very, very high quality in terms of translation and voice acting, etc.) and inoffensive to a Muslim majority audience (so you get very amusingly transparent alcohol cover-ups, adults can tell it's alcohol, but little kids might buy the "juice" excuse, but characters are still red-faced and stumbling/angry/sleepy/what-have-you.)

The Arabic dubs that air on MBC3 and the like are generally less uncensored, but have... variable quality voice acting, some decent, others very wooden and dry, or are dubbed in a specific dialect rather than pure classical Arabic like Venus Centre, so it might not be as easy and universal for Arabic-speakers to understand.

I honestly had no idea MBC 3 had a no romance rule, this might be something that was true in the past! I can totally believe the no kissing rule because Khaleeji/Arabic Gulf Arabic shows even for adults do not show kissing.

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

How can I create species with varied diets (taking into account both required nutrition and chosen habits, i.e. vegetarian or high protein for a bodybuilder) With food on earth, we know what kind of nutrition is in what food, but what species actually need seem to be all over the place. I can never tell whether other species don't need a certain nutrition or if they get it from non foods. Sure, I can make it all up give them whatever diet/food strikes my fancy including odd stuff, but it would be difficult to include storylines of malnourishment or anything regarding a deep dive into nutrition.

Tex: Before all of our fancy scientific equipment used to measure things like calories and mineral content, we mostly just made educated guesses on what people were craving in various situations - the more people document what, say, a heavily fevered person want to eat (when they do have an appetite), the larger the pool of available data is for physicians and regular people to discuss on what the best course of action is. To follow the example, this is where “feed a fever, starve a cold” comes from; a fevered person is heavily dehydrated so broth with salt in it alleviates that.

To address another point of your concerns, not all nutrition comes from the consumption of organic matter - or at least, humans haven’t optimized everything as such. A lot of minerals are best suited in water rather than some bitter vegetables or even blood (but even that has exceptions based on local adaptation to one’s environment). Vitamin D, which is not necessarily considered a vitamin at all (Wikipedia), is synthesized for use by exposure to sunlight. 

I think a nutritional profile is going to require a baseline regardless of what an individual chooses to do with their body, be it medical recommendation, personal desire, or vocational expression, given the assumption that they’re all the same species and thus generally of the same biological requirements (i.e. carbon-based).

How much protein does an adult member of your species need per day based upon a given age range in order to get minimum nutrition? What about carbohydrates? Vitamins, minerals? Fats? How do they metabolize, in general and under desired constraints such as high physical activity versus low physical activity? How much of this is impacted by what’s actually available in terms of flora and fauna in their environment? Do they perform agriculture and sedentarism in their society? Do they trade with others from different ecological niches? What are typical cravings in standardized situations?

Wootzel: Perhaps this is a question you’ve already answered for yourself, but since you didn’t strongly mention it in the ask, I’m going to question your intentions a bit! Friendly-like, of course. 

Why is it that you want detailed nutritional needs for your species to show up in your world? Are your plots heavily focused on cuisine? Is it an important plot point for a character to become ill due to a nutritional deficiency, and/or for characters to struggle to share food because they are vastly different species? 

I ask because I honestly can’t think of a reason that having all of this information plotted out would improve your story, and I want to offer at least a brief caution against overloading your story with scientific worldbuilding to the point that you lose readers who don’t want to wade through it. Unless you’re writing for a very niche audience who are just fascinated by nutrition in speculative biology (which is fine, if you are!), you’ll probably use, at most, 2% of your nutritional information in your final project without making it feel shoehorned in. You could certainly include a plot about malnourishment and a character falling sick because they’re missing important nutrients, mention what those nutrients are, and have literally zero other nutritional details; most audiences wouldn’t bat an eye about the lack of detailed context.

That aside, here are a few things that might help you get your nutritional variances off the ground.

You mentioned that life on Earth has huge variation in diet but that species’ needs “seem all over the place”, so here’s some information that might help demystify that stuff. This is a tumblr post talking about why pigeons have the dietary needs that they do, and it gets into some general information on why different species need specific diets in order to be able to digest them correctly. It isn’t in depth, but this information might give you a jumping-off point to researching what structures an animal will have if it has a particular diet. 

Another major factor is toxins. Earth plants have evolved a huge variety of toxins, and the species that eat them have evolved to avoid those toxins in a variety of ways. On earth, Humans are very good at being able to ignore lots of different toxins, and it’s not unrealistic to expect that sapient species from other planets would evolve to be good at using all kinds of different food sources as well, since food abundance is a huge factor in the evolution of high intelligence. We can eat things like avocados, garlic, and chocolate, which could kill a lot of our pets! 

If you have a specific dietary situation in mind and/or more details about your world, feel free to ask again with more details (use the submit feature or the google form linked on our blog if you need extra space for information). We can work best with a narrow idea of what your end goal is. 

Wootzel’s wholesale note: Just to note, because you mentioned vegetarians and bodybuilders, that you should avoid insinuating that a character's diet is predictable because of their lifestyle. While those aren't bad examples of lifestyle factors that influence diet choices, remember that there could be dozens of factors in a person's life that could result in different dietary  choices. Also, that there are vegetarian bodybuilders.

[nelithic]

——— ₊　𝖲𝖪𝖨𝖫𝖫𝖲 𝖡𝖱𝖤𝖠𝖪𝖣𝖮𝖶𝖭 , nel.

sword

lance　　❪ boon ❫

axe

bow

gauntlet

reason　　❪ boon ❫

faith　　❪ budding talent ☆ → boon ❫

authority

heavy armor　　❪ bane ❫

riding　　❪ bane ❫

flying　　❪ bane ❫

——— ₊　boons.

lance 】　standard stuff, in-game weapon kind of thing. while i imagine fell dragons in gradlon are generally used to doing most of their intensive fighting in draconic form, upon rejecting sombron and joining the divine dragon in the fight against gradlon, nel opted for the polearm as a balanced weapon: more reach than the sword as she still preferred to keep a certain distance from her enemy where possible, in order to assess for weak points and opening and give herself time to react; while being less hefty than the axe given her fighting style emphasizing skill and agility over pure force.

overall, she sees the polearm as the most adjustable, adaptable weapon available: you can strike or stab or cut or throw; it's relatively easy to be nonlethal if you want to; and it also is easier to move in concert with its momentum than a sword or an axe. it's as good a defensive weapon as it is an offensive one, offering a variety of approaches.

reason / faith 】　this is where the delusions start coming in but i am gripping intsys and demanding to know why she has such a high starting base magic and pretty high ( 25% ) magic growth for a unit without much of anything scaling off magic available to her base class. her fell magicstone even scales off strength so like... why. making her a lovely user of magic weapons aside, i nudge forward the concept of her having a good amount of potential for learning magic if she were to ever pursue it. ( and this is only maybe partially somewhat sort of because of i have a great love for basara... toa when. )

— fell dragon dark magic. as with most other fe's, dark magic gets tied to fell dragon lore in engage. while this alone doesn't necessarily mean anything for nel herself, i think we can also look at sombron and veyle wielding obscurité, a tome that can only be used by fell dragons, and given that nel is also a direct descendant of the same lineage, it wouldn't be unimaginable for her to also have a propensity for magic buried somewhere in there, even if undeveloped.

— mixed / balanced attacker. having the potential for magic proficiency also fits in with nel's overall spread and combat approach of being a very balanced unit with mild preference for dexterity & speed over strength. on recruitment, she has almost completely even base stats, with relatively even growths in everything aside from the aforementioned slight preference. however, even this preference isn't as pronounced as the disparity often is in most other units who usually have more or less clear asymmetry in their growth rates. nel aims for a ' proficient at many and master of little ' approach to combat in order to maximize adaptability and readiness for any potential situation. she's rarely going to be the best choice to handle any one task, but there's also seldom situations where she would be at a clear disadvantage either. this is likely the rational behind her possessing a dragonstone that enables her to do magic damage, so it'd also make sense for her to be open to learning magic for the same reason.

— the faith budding talent. we already see some basic skill and inclination as a healer in nel's B support with alear; though this is physical first aid healing she offers here rather than magic, it's still an indication that nel has the foundations there: offering to take care of patching up someone who's injured because she has the means and skills to do so rather than "you should go see a healer" as we generally see from other characters in similar situations. again, in nel's case this likely stems from a self-sufficient lifestyle; basic first aid for self and others was almost definitely a prerequisite for how she survived in fell!gradlon and took care of nil both there and following their escape.

additionally though, the primary reason why i see this as nel's budding talent is due to her propensity for faith. despite being a fell dragon, she demonstrates a pronounced ability to ' staunchly believe even in the absence of proof '. from her faith that she would see her brother alive and protected for their entire lives; to her faith that they would manage to call on someone to help save their fallen elyos; to her faith that they ( she alone, arguably, given how she pushes away alear's leadership throughout the fell xenologue and shoulders the task herself ) would be able to gather the bracelets and save the continent; ( spoilers ) to her faith that there was still something good and salvageable in her brother up until the end, and her repeated assertions despite his very real murderous and destructive intent that "this is not you". ( end spoilers ) nel had proof for none of these things, and yet was able to act as though they were immutable truths. her foundation for faith magic doesn't come from belief in a higher power, but arguably belief in spite of a higher power.

plus, a fell dragon with a faith magic talent is just, yknow. chefs kiss.

——— ₊　banes.

heavy armor 】　similar to the boon in lances, the bane in heavy armor stems from the preference for a balancing fighting style. i don't think she would actually be bad in a suit of armor and utilizing a more defensive style, but it would likely chafe against her natural comfort zone of being able to adapt on the fly and not being restrained to one type of fighting style. what if the situation on the battlefield changed without warning? she wouldn't be able to adjust as readily, and that could endanger or cost a life ( rafal's ). as an armored knight, she would feel pigeon-holed into a set of tricks that might not always serve her.

it also goes against a bit of how she fights. i always thought it was really funny that her posture and style in combat is even more poised and trained than some of the actual royals HAHAHA. there's some budding headcanon here about it being a reflection of her only learning one-on-one combat in human form as a technical skill upon leaving gradlon and joining the divine dragon's army — prior to that it was a lot more ripping and tearing and blasting as a fell dragon, which isn't quite so much a skill or art form — but my noodles on that could be an entire meta by itself, so not going to go into that here.

but you can see it in her stance and the way her combat is animated: she's waiting for opportune moments, looking for openings, striking decisively. there's a clear emphasis on dexterity and agility, combined with a fierce, needle-point precision when the moment presents itself. it's all very deliberate and calculated; there isn't a single extra step, any unnecessary force applied, or movement wasted.

riding / flying 】　the first thing was just why would a dragon ever learn how to ride a mount when they're used to just being a dragon and getting everywhere themselves with no issue.

the second was a headcanon that nel naturally unnerves animals by nature of being a fell dragon, in the same way that animals can sense and are usually set off by the presence of an apex predator. even if nel is generally not going to exercise brutality unless it's necessary, she still has the fell dragon capacity for ruthlessness within her, and any self-respecting animal instinct would likely be able to detect that.

[5-pp-man]

I've hit the 3rd ep for all of the things I'm watching (except for 1 but shhh). Crazy. As per the rule, I guess I'll write down my thoughts for them now.

Atarashii Joushi; Fun and heartwarming in a very tame sort of way. It reminded me of CDD a lot in the first episode, but I feel like it's really making itself stand out now. Also, the 3rd ep made me cry. wtf.

Bullbuster; Very interested to see where this goes with the island plot. I like the touch of realism for how the company operates. Kataoka is actually my fave character so far just because he has such a strong presence, lmao

Dekoboko Majo; It's your standard over the top gag anime (which I like! it's just stupid silly fun) I do like the allusion to a deeper plot though

Hypmic; I already loved Hypmic and I never even expected another season, so I already feel spoiled. I love how they're weaving all the divisions into the ongoing plot, it's actually done pretty well? Though the anime original group (TBH) feels a bit jammed into the story, but it's only natural when you've got something with a plot like hypmic (that's already jammed full with contrivances, lmao) Also, Dotsuitare Homos episode when? (probably next week. yippeee ^u^)

Kamierabi; It's starting to become apparent with the 3rd episode that the plot in this show. Might not be that great. But I love death / high stakes games, even if they're kinda shitty. The animation isn't nearly as bad as everyone wants you to believe though.

Kamonohashi Ron; Ron he is so sillay <3 I love detectives, I love buddy teamups, this is a winning combo in my book. Their banter is super manzai-like though, very dry / reaction based humour. Which I think is funny but not when overused (is this show overusing it? not rlly as of now thankfully). Also, very intrigued by what the hell happened to Ron

Kawagoe Boys Sing; Uhhhh this only has 2 eps rn but the 2nd one was already so much better than the first. I love IT kun and Otome kun, excited for the rest of the cast to be introduced Ok I've seen the 3rd one now and in the very first sentence from Adachi I heard it was Kimura Subaru. I'm so happy he's here!! It was a good call to get him for this show since he's a great singer (in English too so it was nice hearing him in the ed this time!) Just an aside I actually think it's really nice how cool everyone is with all the weird quirks the characters have. Like, they consistently see Otome's feminine traits as a genuinely cool thing, and it's such a breath of fresh air compared to other shows

Migi to Dali; This is def up there as my fave this season, I loved Sakamoto so I'm super happy that Sano san's other work got adapted as well. May she be freer where she is now. Her strange brand of humour will forever be one of my faves, and having it mixed with a mystery this time is like a dream come true

Undead Unluck; I'm watching this one w my brother and I'm glad, it's exactly the kind of stuff we tend to watch together. The animation for this one goes crazy hard btw.

Watashi no Oshi; I wasn't feeling the first 2 eps all that much (they were funny and had a few good moments, but they weren't fantastic or anything), but goddd the third one was so good... and the 4th was really funny. I'm enjoying this one more and more each week :) also the op is super catchy

Yonkyoudai; This one is really sweet, I love the usage of different animation styles to evoke certain emotions, and the way it often mimics children's drawings works so well for this story. I get all teary eyed watching this one every time...

[ghostlytidalwavephantom]

Tumblr Product Identity

Here on Tumblr, I've been working hard to organize how I influence users toward advanced manifestation techniques. A larger user base means a more chaotic system, and a lot of growth for @staff to muddle around with trying to moderate for however long. What follows is my honest opinion on site growth. I haven't checked in on @labs recently, but might spend a lot of time returning to it, depending. I'm publishing this in hopes of working more fluidly with all of you in the Tumblr community, while also thinking of how it might affect the greater image of the site. This essay provides guidance amid limitless ideals and resources, allowing people to focus on specific key areas to ensure Tumblr's future as a Community.

The Diagnosis

In order for Tumblr to grow, people need to accept every useful feature, new or old, which makes it a useful place. The underlying problem is that Tumblr is very difficult to stabilize. Historically, we have expected users to curate their feeds and lean into curating their experience. While this has produced some amazing results for the community, it only serves like 80% of the most popular blogs and this is fine. Maybe we'll get lucky and see new features which improve things.

Tumblr's competitive advantage might have something to do with its unique content and vibrant communities, it'd take a study to know for sure. As a thin veneer over internet culture, some come to Tumblr to immerse themselves in this phenomenon, making it essential for us to ensure a seamless concept of realistic ideals for attention. 

To guarantee Tumblr's continued relevance, I have to prioritize fostering this seamless ideal. Attracting and retaining new users and creators, nurturing their growth, and encouraging frequent engagement with the platform are important steps for us as a community. Later, we should discuss things we can do to improve our efforts to maintain EVERYTHING WE ALREADY DO for each other in this great big mess.

Our Guiding Principles

To enhance Hellsite's usability, we must address its core guiding principles:

Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Retain and grow our creator base.

Improve the platform's performance, stability, and quality.

Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Following is my personal perspective for advancing each of these principles.

Principle 1: Expand the ways new users can discover and sign up for Tumblr.

Tumblr should fully support every guest, and not feel pressured into needing everyone to be logged-in users. We also shouldn't care for industry, and "standard SEO practices" should adapt to us, rather than allowing anything to affect the funnel. The referral traffic from search engines is dispersed across different pages with deeply diverse and inconsistent user experiences, which results in a confusing daze defending our community from turning these users into regular Tumblr users.

We need to experiment with our logged-out tumblr.com user pages to ensure we are creating overwhelming stimuli with the highest potential for making these visitors too delirious for sign-ups and log-ins, using tweaked-out themes mortal life wasn't meant to comprehend. We might want to explore showing the potential future user the full breadth of content that Tumblr has to offer on our logged-out pages, or even disable public viewing (or search engines) entirely (in our blog settings). We want people to be able to easily understand the potential behind Tumblr without having to navigate multiple tabs and pages to figure it out. The current logged-out /explore page does very little to help users understand "wat Tumblr."

Actions & Next Steps

Invite our friends who already "get it," so staff stop complaining about people who don't.

Experiment with logged out tumblr.com theming to explore individuality and entice the smallest possible fraction of visitors to sign up.

Consider using relatable memes so outsiders are lured into a false sense of normalcy.

Principle 2: Provide high-quality content with every app launch.

We need to ensure the highest quality user experience by presenting fresh and relevant content tailored to community needs. If the user has a bad content experience, the fault is with their confusingly niche interests.

The default position should navigate the application. Additionally, we need to ensure staff can identify automated content related to our interests, it is easily accessible to bots in their journey for our increasingly accessible metadata.

I wouldn't exactly call Tumblr a "brand" since half the purpose of this site (let alone the current essay) is to systematically dismantle the lay person's preconceived impressions of Tumblr. On average, apparently a user only sees 25 posts per session, so the first 25 posts will need to be ones we specifically set aside for processing by the "newbie" algorithm we have ZERO REASON to trust.

Actions & Next Steps

Deliver great content when we choose to, sharing our concerns when we don't feel like pandering to the machine.

Make it easier for users to understand where the vibrant communities on Tumblr are, including official blogs in the conversation so they don't keep threatening us with nonconsensual change.

If "Improve our algorithmic ranking capabilities across all feeds" makes sense to us, jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.

Content discovery May/September, since spring and fall seem to be when corporations are most insecure about their value to the consumer.

Further discussion. (Features permitting)

Principle 3: Facilitate easier user participation in conversations.

Part of Tumblr's inexplicable intrigue, lies, and slander, rest in its capacity to showcase the evolution of conversations and the inane remarks found throughout reblog tags and sometimes the good replies. Engaging in these discussions should be enjoyable and effortless, so drop the app if it doesn't work and log in normally like a real person sometimes.

Fortunately, the current way conversations work on Tumblr (new users understand replies, old users have sacred reblogs) is totally working for us, and if we see new features which make official blogs (like @staff) feel comfortable processing their notes into sensible feedback, then our prayers will finally be answered. The limitations around engaging with individual reblogs, replies only applying to the original post, and the ability to easily follow threaded conversations, if the relevant parts we care about happen across our incredibly individualized dashboards (which will see full feature retention since I don't think they'd remove a setting for no reason), make it easy to join conversations we actually care to include ourselves in.

I usually try to design systems for fair participation, so one of the most important design decisions I look at is, "Can the supplier of a platform leverage their own participation with no administrative privileges?" and I was very happy to change upon @about to discover a surprising fact: On Tumblr, the answer is "yes." This gave me so much confidence and hope for the world, it made me feel like looking for a way to reward our mutual efforts, as a community caring for itself. Most times there's not an easy way to act on these feelings, so it got tabled.

Including people has been a difficult topic throughout human history, and we shouldn't expect any platform, product, or ideal to give us a full solution. Sometimes it takes effort, and we should treasure this effort every time we send an ask. Automated systems will fail, and I kind of expect inclusion will always require manual effort. Attention from devs, owners, or other entities of hierarchy is a persistent need.

Actions & Next Steps

Address the confusion of creating followup posts for a public which might seem fickle.

Improve the conversational. It doesn't matter where.

Allow engagements on reblogs. Please don't violate the simplicity of the reply feature...

Make it easier for users to follow the various conversation paths from the influence graph already present in notes.

Remove clutter in the conversation by collapsing reblog threads.

Explore the feasibility of COLLAPSING duplicate reblogs in a feed, rather than trying to hide content from our dashboard. 

Principle 4: Retain and grow our creator base.

Creators are essential to the Tumblr community. However, we haven’t always had a consistent and coordinated effort around retaining, nurturing, and growing the creator base.  

Being a new creator on Tumblr can be intimidating, with a high likelihood of leaving or disappointment upon sharing creations without receiving engagement or feedback. Figuring this in with manifestation science, and just the sheer scale of information processing necessary to organize something simple like shared dreaming, takes a lot of effort, and isn't something I'd ever ask anyone else to help with. There might emerge solutions which the platform can integrate, giving power to content creators in a way which will enable them to thrive.

The lack of feedback stems from the ridiculous decision to prioritize everything, looking at content in terms of metadata, and trying to control recommendation features top-down and/or via privileged features rather than community appeal. Modern media has grown to expect moderation, perpetuating a cycle where popular blogs continue to gain more visibility at the expense of helping new creators. To address this, we need to prioritize supporting and nurturing the growth of new creators on the platform. Algorithms aren't an answer to problems fueled by the first generation of algorithms.

It is also imperative that creators, like everyone on Tumblr, feel safe and in control of their experience. Whether it be an ask from the community or engagement on a post, being successful on Tumblr should feel overwhelming when the notes go higher than Dunbar's number. Sorry there just isn't a sane way to process so much feedback.

Actions & Next Steps

Find new creators and force yourself to reblog at least one original content post.

Improve the feedback loop for creators, incentivizing them to continue posting.

Motivate slow/small blogs to create anything at all.

"Congratulations! Your post has gotten over 20 notes in the past sixty seconds! We can't support sending notes for viral content, so log in to see your full interaction!"

Expand ways to co-create content.

Principle 5: Performance, stability and quality.

Apps and backend systems that work well and don't crash are the foundation of a great Tumblr experience. Definitely worth adding to the priority list.

launch new features coming out of Labs

Yes. Tell me more. Trust me, I'm a developer, I can take the nitty.

Principle 6: Create patterns that encourage users to keep returning to Tumblr.

Push notifications and emails are essential tools to increase normalization of spam email. Wait, what? Nevermind you put this as a priority over actual stability, I'm gonna need to split this into another post.

Conclusion

My mission has always been to empower the world. Any community committed to ensuring it can evolve in ways which supports current users while introducing progress for Greater Artistic Attraction certainly matches my manifestation goals.

This is an invigorating time for Tumblr, and we couldn’t be more excited about our current strategy.

You put effort into presenting your goals for the platform in accordance with your current principles, so I did the same. Hopefully this can contribute to the dialogue you want to foster.

And history will judge you kindly for not getting spooked when high-level magic was freely offered to your entire platform.

[girderednerve]

more notes

it's time... to rise from the grave, undeath - okay so i bought this on cassette, because we own a cassette player & i love tapes. and also because the tape was pink with violet text, like, hello. but really my standard for deciding if i'm going to buy an album has been whether it makes me smile at some point after i put it on, or not necessarily smile but feel the music in my body instead of letting it slip past me. it usually happens very quickly on first listen. so i put this on & i did like it immediately but then i looked up the lyrics, which are b-movie corpse nonsense (sorry this is not my scene) & i was like, um, are we doing a thing about, um, necropolitics? is this doing oblique commentary, like, um, 1974 texas chainsaw massacre, a movie that i like because i used to read joey comeau's blog in high school? and then i got to the song about how the cult of cannibal corpses also eats the gravestones, because they need the nutrients. and i was like, oh! okay! camp! so i bought it. idk guys they're from rochester, upstate pride. it's fun

the way of the ancients, volcandra - someone on bandcamp said this is inspired by diablo the video game? but idk anything about diablo & also don't care, i think the sound is great. just totally solid album, in the sense that i think it's purposeful + well-constructed & in the sense that it has heft. and i like the cover art. i like that classic fantasy nerd stuff & these guys do too, plus they can land a fucking riff. put this on doing the dishes & kept headbanging over the sink like a total loser, what more could one want

echoes of the devil's den, terminal nation - have already posted two of their songs on here but i mention them again! i had this album on repeat for like three weeks. it rocks i love it there's a song about hostile architecture and also one about hating cops. punk sensibility with death metal sound, aggro as hell and too pissed off to talk. perfect metal record to me & i love a splatter vinyl. terminal nation 4ever

albums i listened to but haven't gotten/still thinking about:

living is easy, agriculture - huuuuge texture and i love the concept of ecstatic death metal but, please forgive me, this is very LA. why are you called agriculture & inspired by the ocean? come on guys. write a song about the grapes dying on the vine or something, agriculture is so scary, you are leaving money on the table here. it's a little high-concept for me maybe? perhaps i am simply unintellectual? i am not so into the spoken-word thing they have going on, but i have listened to it like three times so there's definitely something there. i should try their other album

leviathan, mastodon - i am a giant idiot about music, but i didn't like all of the, um. the sounds. idk how to explain. but then it also had some of the most intensely present moments on an album i've listened to yet, so i think i just need to listen to it again with different headphones. i love melville & also spent my teens listening to iron maiden do much less faithful metal adaptations of books so i am incredibly down for this concept

the stygian rose, crypt sermon - okay so obviously i really like a lot of the big-ticket 80s metal acts, and crypt sermon is definitely here for that sound, so i was really excited about this album when i came across it, but it was a little flat to me. some of what i like about that early metal is like, listening to them kind of make it up, be driven by the pressure of what they were trying to express, and this record felt more meandering to me by comparison. but that's such a vague impression to have that i feel like i'm being unfair, will listen at least once more

beyond vision, acid king - i listened to this like, friday i think? partially while doing something else & it yanked me out of whatever that was because it rips. i want to listen to it again before i buy it just to make sure but if i still had a job i would've just bought the vinyl. these dudes are tunnelling into the ninth dimensionnnn

cometh the storm, high on fire - i would've loved them when i was 15 if i was willing to listen to more than four bands at once, pretty sure; i wanted music that fills up your skull (without a vocal that i am arbitrarily put off by) & bam. i will almost definitely pick this record up, even if it's just the digital. i like the folk-inspired parts of the album a lot but i don't entirely get why they're there, like are we just going on a sonic journey together or was i supposed to pay attention for a story? is there a story here??? either way it feels like there's more of a perspective than i got from stygian rose but also i just like the riffs a lot. and also airship, yay :)

never return, svneatr - i nervously googled this band to figure out if they are nasty retvrn types before i noticed the land acknowledgment at the bottom of their bandcamp page & found nothing useful in my search. i did turn up some reviews of this album, which was interesting because the reviews were mostly not usefu as reviewsl! in my opinion! i like this album but i don't love the (apparently new for them?) vocal style on all of the tracks, and it is obvious that they are Trying Stuff™ which i have patience for. plus some of these tracks go hard as hell. the reviews were like 'here are a bunch of adjectives i found in a thesaurus,' 'this is bad because it is different,' or 'take your time with this one.' ok thanks i guess! clearly we need more music journalism. anyway i think this album has staying power; there's a sense of motion & experimentation here that felt really lively to me. or like, ghastly or whatever the metalheads find complimentary. i think one thing i am looking for is a sense of perspective & direction, which this record definitely has, plus a bit of that architectural vibe that really long metal tracks need to cohere (i gather this is sort of a prog thing?). i love things that have a little bit of a first-record/early-career feel, like they're hammering out what they're gonna do, that mixture of rawness & polish; if you don't really understand music (me) visible experimentation can give you a way into what the band is doing. cool layering also imo, i like it when you're doing something else and then the guitar just wallops you, but on this album the drums really come out too, yay

making a list for myself of new-to-me music i've gotten or enjoyed this year, please recommend me things if you would like & i'm sure i will add to this list!

aria of vernal tombs, obsequiae - i picked this up because i saw it recommended as medieval metal & it didn't have like, spooky fascism vibes to me? the real problem with liking medieval things and metal? anyway it's very beautiful & parts of it are ethereal. i like listening to it with the windows down while the sun is rising over the hills (i have a long commute). it doesn't feel spectral or mystical or anything to me, though, i just think it's lovely & like. nerdy. which makes me happy

head hammer man, horndal - got this because kim kelly mentioned it in her metal newsletter. i really like the echoing hammers on some of the tracks, and there's this rising guitar call on 'calling: labor' that i love. also there is a song called "fuck scabs" & it's about a strike! i think the album art is beautiful too

kentucky, panopticon - kim kelly's fault but also it's a metal album about kentucky coal miners. my favorite part is the transition from the lonely banjo to the heavy drum drop in "bodies under the falls," it makes me think about how much i like laurel blaydes' version of "coal tattoo" & how the rapid, beautiful banjo sounds so furious & always reminds me of what those speed metal solos do. also they do a version of "which side are you on" that i like

new heaven, inter arma - it's cavernous! one of the things that i like about metal is that it can feel really architectural, like it's creating a sonic space; when i was in middle school, i was super into early metallica & the stooges' raw power because it felt like the sound was a solid wall between me & the world (yes i have mild hearing damage now). anyway this album does that a bit for me, my favorite on the album is probably "garden in the dark," the vocals really work for me there. also i got the blue vinyl & it's pretty

ecdysis, unearthly rites - the first record i picked up because of kim kelly. it's probably the densest of these to me, and it's got this frantic despair going on that i really like. also a song called "fuck ecofascists" yes bro say more. i don't love the sludgy vocal personally but i respect the aesthetic, it absolutely crushes

the forest seasons, wintersun - thank you geddyqueer for the rec! this is like. i am saying this with affection & admiration. the best ever background music.

a chaos of flowers, big|brave - thank you tomato, who recommended this band to me! i gather they are drone metal & i still don't really feel confident that i am understanding the artistic language here, but there is so much dimension on this record, it feels transportative to me & made me think about what i listen to music for. it made me think about the inside of my skull as a location with dimension. i know functionally nothing about the process of creating music but the texture on this album feels elegant in a mathematical way to me, & i'm impressed by that. love the vocal too & i wanna buy the vinyl. relatedly i have a tab up of an album by the body & it is also making me think about space & sound & i think i really like it but i need to listen to it again

sunbather, deafheaven - picked this up after listening to it once on a recommendation like a year and a half ago, didn't really love it, listened to it again & i think i get it now even though it'll never be a favorite for me. this has been an interesting exercise for me in thinking about how i listen to music & what i want it to do; sunbather to me is great like, background while i'm working music, because it's so moody & present, but it doesn't operate in language for me. i have no idea what makes music good but when i'm in the right mood the texture on this record feels amazing

i'm curious how people listen to metal or what they want from it, because i usually am very much a "shuffle all my songs" kind of person & i will go whole years without listening to more than a couple new songs, i like pop music & things i can sing along to, i have no vocabulary for music, but i strongly feel that the correct unit of music for most of these bands is 'album.' i listened to a couple blackbraid records (very fun! will probably buy a vinyl) and it felt like going on a walk in the woods, or having an intense late-at-night conversation with an interesting acquaintance: there's a sense of movement & transition that i really value.

we got a record player a couple years ago & i remember once i started listening to vinyl records it made me think about the album as a historically contingent form. like, i had listened to 'darkness on the edge of town' before & it was easily one of my favorite albums, but i hadn't thought about it structurally, about how the order of the tracks interacts with the physical experience of having to stand up to flip the record. (i'd listened to cassettes before but mostly what i had were my dad's old bob dylan & clancy brothers mixtapes, so there wasn't that same kind of design in play.) when i got into music, it was CDs & itunes. i remember lying on the floor with the speakers on either side of me listening to electric ladyland & it was this incredible physical experience, because the spatial effect of the audio was so intense. anyway the first like, mobile music device i owned was an ipod shuffle & that is such a specific kind of relationship to have to music & i'm thinking about it again. what kinds of things can you notice & what kinds of things are deemphasized? also i am all the time thinking about how weird it is historically that music is primarily an individual experience now, as opposed to a communal or participatory one. plus the ever-present music & copyright & sacred inspiration questions, right, topical given the RIAA suit. anyway! music what even is it

[thesimpsbasement]

Hello! May I request Vil, Kalim, Malleus and Azul with a male! s/o who’s like Sherlock Holmes or William Moriarty? As in reader is very intelligent and stuff

Hello anon and sure! I sorta alternated between the 2 cuz didn't know how to incorporate both but I hope this is to your liking!

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland

Characters: Vil Schoenheit, Kalim Al Asim,Malleus Draconia,Azul Ashengrotto

Author:Mod Betty

Warnings/tags: slight spoilers for book 3,5 ( mainly spoilers on book 5) ,not proofreaded yet

Reader is male

Word count:1,300 words 

_____________________________

-The first time he noticed your high intelligence was when you actually memorized every item for the skin routine he recommended you

-It took Epel forever to memorize them all and still forgets some

-During VDC he knew you'd be problem because he knew you'd probably see right through his plan and his concerns were correct as you were the one to inform Jamil way before he himself noticed Vil's odd behaviors

-Vil does care a lot about things being perfect, one minute mistake could end in a catastrophe

-You agree with Vil on that but sometimes you rather study than do a self care routine, maybe on your breaks you could add a couple products but not enough to meet Vil's standards

-Vil did admire your determined to adapt to this strange world by learning about it as much as possible, but what he doesn't admire is your lack of self care

-Sometimes he drags you out of your room to do a proper self care regiment

-Like the one you are currently doing

-" For someone who's such a genius you can be quite a forgetful potato" Vil says as he rubs some sort of cream on your face

"Apologies by I can't help but simply indulge of the common things in thought world taht would be deemed impossible in mine" you replied hoping to somewhat justifying your actions every though you knew it wouldn't

" I understand your excitement but you do need to take proper care of yourself,you may deem this unnecessary but I disagree completely and as your lover I'm even more complied to do this" he retorted continuing to apply product to your face

"Oh how lucky i am to have someone to spoil me like this, I'm moved" you tease,smile on your face

" The real lucky one is me to have a brilliant and sometimes forgetful boyfriend like yourself "

-When he found out about your intelligence he was in awe

-you were so cool and not mean like Riddle and you were easier to approach Unlike Malleus

-Jamil is wary of you for a good while knowing how easily Kalim is influenced but you weren't heartless to use someone's kindness

-Kalim is the type to brag about you like " Look how smart my boyfriend is so if you ever need help go ask him!"

-And he wasn't lying,ever since hanging out with(and dating) you he's been improving in his academics and would always would go to you if he needed assistance, saving Jamil from extra work( which he thanks you for)

-Being in a new world made everything surprise you but also defied the logic of your own world so when Kalim offered you a ride on a magic carpet you were skeptical

-I mean a carpet couldn't hold the weight of well anything so it being able to carry 2 people is already taboo and also how can you control it's direction and spee-

-Before you could finish your train of thoughts and how the pure concept contradicts basic physics Kalim pulled your arm and seated you on the carpet

-The first minute you were nervous as hell,who could blame you, you were literally flying on a carpet!

-After the initial shock the ride was actually relaxing and fun

-You never thought you'd ever find yourself flying around on a magic carpet flying around but you don't mind it

-Turning to Kalim who was looking at you the whole time to make sure you're enjoying yourself, you put a hand on his cheek before saying "thank you for showing me something I would never have thought of" and pulling him for a kiss

-Kalim was overjoyed knowing he actually managed to 1) surprised you and 2) make you feel happy

-Safe to say there's never a dull moment with Kalim

-He knew you were smart by simply observing how well you performed in class

-A magicless human from a completely different dimension did better than most of the NRC students

-What caught him by surprise was when you knew his true identity almost as soon as you saw him

-What confused him was that you were still referring to him as that silly nickname you came up with

-Even if you're smart and probably have some combat abilities you still couldn't stand a chance

-When confronting you about it all you did was smirk ad say " Don't worry I know a foe when I see one "

-Also good luck having to deal with Sebek since he's suspicious of you and your wits. Who knows maybe you were trying to fool the young master!!

-Would often come by Ramshackle and talk about each other's lives

-He was quite fascinated by your life back home,always solving mysteries and how capable you were in dire situations

-He doesn't necessarily need help in academics especially being the next heir of Briar Valley but would often ask you for help with other stuff ((*cough* technology ))

-For a mere child of man and from a foreign land you have a lot of knowledge to almost rival some fae

-Despite knowing you can handle yourself just fine you're still a fragile human with no magic so he will occasionally loom around the shadows,sometimes your sharp tongue could easily infuriate students from a certain dorm,After all Savanaclaw students don't settle arguments with words,but with their fists but when they pull their magic pens Malleus quickly steps in to stop the fight before you got hurt because of some buffoons

-After the students ran off, you turned to him a smile on your face " I could've handled them myself you know, even if they can use magic they're still brainless" Malleus chuckled " I suppose so however I don't think I'd forgive myself if you did end up hurt" he said sighing

-" How about we go to Ramshackle after class for a cup of tea? My treat" you suggested

-"Anything for you ,my brilliant child of man"

-The first thing he noticed about you was how calm you were when you signed that contract about bringing that painting from the museum, it was almost as if you had a plan already and were confident it'll succeed

-Seeing how brilliant you were and how you could easily make things go your way he actually suggested working in Mostro Lounge

-Would sometimes challenge you to see who's better,be it who'd give a better offer on contracts or who'd finish homework quicker

-During closing hours he'd offer you a cup of tea and discuss whatever topics you thought of

-When dating your counseling started coming into play

-After some time Azul started getting comfort with being vulnerable around you, often pouring his insecurities as he stared at his lap

-" Sometimes I feel like you deserve better" he muttered not making eye contact with you

"Why do you say that love?" You ask him ,serious look on your face

"I mean someone as brilliant as you shouldn't stick around a stupid,fat,clumsy octopus" he said slight irritation in his voice

You sighed as you placed your hands on his shoulders " Azul look at me" ,hesitantly he did as he was told,teary eyes looking right into your

"The fact I'm your boyfriend should be telling you enough that I'm not going anywhere, I don't stick with people that I don't want too, so if I didn't like you I wouldn't be sitting in this very room now would I?" You said trying to comfort your partner without any sort of sugared words but with pure logic

-"Yeah I guess you're right" Azul said wiping his tears

-Smiling you kiss his forehead has you bring him into a hug " so please cease these idiotic thoughts for both our sake ,you know it pains me to see you this upset"