#like esp if you're 'modernizing' it (which i do think is fine if you Do Something with that concept)

[whenshesdown]

maybe it's just because i work in one so i'm biased, but thinking heavily about bookstore employee reader & jason todd. reader parked behind the cash register, bored as hell, when jason and stephanie pop up with a large pile of books and a healthy amount of useless knickknacks. (you know jason would collect special edition hardcovers for his most favorite reads). idk why but i feel like they would be unusually helpful when you're bagging the items. like steph grabs the bag out of your hand and starts putting things in herself? then when you bend down to get a larger bag for the other items jason somehow already got a hold of that bag and is already halfway through with putting everything else in. (or they bring their own reusable bags and that kind of nullifies this excerpt a bit lmao.)

steph is definitely the more talkative one of the two, holding conversation and trying to get jason involved since he's the more literary one, asking leading questions and also for recommendations from you. (steph may or may not be playing slight matchmaker. who's to say?)

near the end of the transaction, after them practically doing most of the work(that they're physically able to do), you're putting your hands on your hips like, 'i'm gonna get fired at this rate. why don't you guys just clock in already?' which earns a quiet snort from jason, or if you're lucky & he's feeling more chatty that day you get a snort + a quiet, 'think you'll be fine, sweetheart.' (also later on one of your coworkers is like 'that was kind of weird. do you think they were trying to steal something?') jason keeps coming back after that, and he tells himself it has nothing to do with getting another recommendation from you(god forbid he even broach the topic of maybe liking you just a little at this point) and everything with the excellent selection of special hardcover classics. truthfully, he never was one to go out to a bookstore that often(probably more of a library guy when he did. but in general i think jason doesn't prioritize doing fun things for himself esp depending on his era), but he finds himself passing through yours at least once a week. when he starts organically getting a feel for your schedule it's definitely only ever an accident that he tends to show up at the times you're most likely to be there. obviously, at some point you have to come out of the stock room with a huge pile of books, almost tripping & dropping your whole stack. he takes half of the stack and follows you to where you're going. you're intent on putting them away, and don't notice how he's kind of just awkwardly standing nearby until you catch him in your peripheral & decide to ask him what his latest read was. jason genuinely just loves literature in general. so even though the majority of his catalogue are classics(& almost evenly spread throughout every fictional genre, maybe an occasional nonfiction), he's definitely dipped his toes into some modern works if they pique his interest enough. if there's a display somewhere for employee current reads and/or recommendations, he always takes the time to look at yours, reading the back and skimming through some of the pages. i could genuinely probably yap about this forever but this is getting a little long so i'm gonna stop here. i would love to hear anybody else's thoughts and/or additions!

[3gremlins]

i started another rook and i really didn't intend to make them so "i want that twink obliterated" but uh my hand slipped XD

this is björn ingellvar* (they/he, but sadly the game doesn't let you use mixed pronouns so i just use they/them in game) which just means bear and i realize they're not terribly bear like in appearance, but i think i'll rp it in personality more (ill be honest i liked the sound of it mostly and it had a meaning i can work with). Ingellvar was hard to pair with (i did consider making them a grey warden but i didn't vibe with thorne just yet and the mournwatch aspirational armor is kinda neat) Anyway they're a mourn watch warrior and so far a little more diplomatic/charismatic than my crow rogue rook. I had sort of thought to either romance bellara or emmerich this time round, but now i'm considering neve (trying to make myself make different choices! still an elf but eh). it's weird b/c when i started my other rook i didn't like any of the voices other than erika ishii's for them and this time i gravitated to one of the masc ones instead. so funny how characters shape themselves a bit, it's like oh this came together this way and now this voice is the one that is right. *various DA reddit threads suggested that nevarra is partially prussian inspired which does track with emmerich being an old german name. I spent several hours pouring through old german names which do also have a lot of cross pollination with various scandinavian names on several name etymology websites. Technically the german variant would be bjoern but whatever.

early thoughts on warrior: it feels a lot more underpowered than rogue from the outset. The weapon type swapping is a lot more awkward- rogue just uses r2 on controller to swap between knives and bow which feels really natural and fluid (and how a lot of other modern rpgs work, so you expect it). The war/mage use the d-pad to swap and it's just not as good of a feel (tho it is an interesting choice? the warrior swaps between sword & board and two handed, and mage swaps between staff and knife w/orb). i was def a bit like oh am i screwed, do i not get a ranged attack? but you sort of do (i think it would have been fine if war had arrows but i can see why they wanted to make it different) I like the idea of the captain america shield throw, but having to charge it up feels kind of bad (esp coming from the rogue where you just shoot your bow until you run out of arrows). Would have been better to have the shield throw just do something like that. (started towards the mourn watch tree and the shield throw is feeling better but wish it was better out of the gate you know?)

blocking is also a lot more important to the war kit and i'm bad at it (didn't really need to do it on rogue, just dodge quickly a lot) so we'll see if i can even stick to this. i don't want to block things except with my head, game. warrior also doesn't feel especially tanky per se, idk. doing this one on adventurer mode again but might turn it down (tbh rogue felt so op at the end there, i prob could have turned up the difficulty and been okay. maybe another future rogue rook if i'm ever feeling like a challenge ). i'm intrigued by the specializations (esp reaper i think) and i do think it'll get more fun as i unlock more skillz, but out of the gate a little clunky (i also started a mage rook and they also feel a bit weak compared to rogue. might like war more than mage for once??).

>>>> 2nd pt endgame knowledge spoilers behind cut!!! do not click if you haven't finished the game at least once! <<<<

playing this a second time and knowing everything you can actually spot the Varric CLUES early. There's a point where you're talking to solas in that first fade convo and he actually cuts himself off from saying that varric is dead, like you get the TINIEST hint of the "de" before solas elongates it into it a "is good at his own half truths".

also in conversations with harding her palpable sadness hits harder and her dialogue makes a lot more sense. When neve comes into the recovery room to talk to you the first time (i think it's whoever was injured?), she doesn't even look at varric and talks over him a teeny bit too. It's really subtle, they did a good job of laying clues you wouldn't catch unless you knew (at least for me, idk maybe yall were onto them sooner lol)

[theorahsart]

Would you happen to be able to compile a list of all the evidence/mentioned traits you know of that point towards Robespierre having autism, possibly with some sources of said evidence? You have my deepest gratitude if you do happen to be so kind as to take the time to answer this ask.

Hello! I'm sorry for taking a while to answer this- it of course was the kind of ask that requires some time to write! I'm gonna break it up into two posts, I hope that's okay. I'll just @ you when I do the next part.

I feel like I should start with saying that I'm not an expert in history (feel like I have loads to learn tbh). But I am an expert in autism, as I'm autistic, and know the topic thoroughly from cultural/social/medical perspectives- several of my educational comics are used in training programs by doctors and diagnoticians. So, you can trust everything I say about autism in this post.

You probably can't trust everything I say about Robespierre though lol. Compared to some actual historians I've talked to here, I haven't developed the skills of being able to discern when the info I get in books can be fully trusted, and the more I study Frev the more evident it is that just because I've read smth in a book, doesn't mean it can be trusted as fact haha. I've read 3 different posts from different historians in the last year that've debunked several 'facts' presented to me in published books loool

But anyway! I still personally think Robespierre was autistic, and I'll lay out why in the 2nd post.

I think it would take me more free time than I have to list *all* the evidence I've come across, so it seems best to break down how you diagnose autism in modern day, and then put that in context to some examples.

So this first part is just explaining *one way* in which medical professionals break down autism and the traits. Then in the next post I'll explain how I've applied those to Robespierre specifically.

How we think about and diagnose autism from modern day pov

I wanna start by breaking down how diagnoticians think about Autism specifically.

Autism doesn't encompass a specific set of traits that every single person must have in order to be diagnosed, because autistic traits vary so much from person to person.

Instead, you break down a diagnosis into different areas of life in which someone might be struggling. How this is broken down can vary a little between tests, but it's generally split into these areas:

Social

Social reciprocity (how sociable you are with others)

Non verbal comminication

Verbal communication

Maintaining relationships

Restrictive and Repetitive behaviour

Repetitive speech or movements (basically stimming)

Routines and change

Highly fixed/intense interests

Hyper or hypo reaction to sensory input

And then basically, if enough of these areas are having a significant impact on your life, you're dx'd as Autistic.

You can see when broken down in this way, that:

You can be doing fine in some of these areas, but still be dx'd if there's a lot of other areas listed you're struggling in.

A NT person will likely have some sort of trouble in one or two of the listed areas (because we all have strengths and weaknesses). That doesn't mean they're autistic.

An autism dx is concluded from two things- if you struggle in more of these areas than less. And if those struggles are significantly impacting your life.

Just to note, I'm only talking from a diagnosis pov here, which is wrapped up in cultural contexts and the reasons we decided to give this way of being a label. Theres lots of traits we can also break down that aren't based around what you find difficult.

You could be autistic and go your whole life not knowing or needing a diagnosis, if say, you lived a lifestyle where you could avoid people and situations that are making you suffer. Your autism might make you excel in life, depending on your life.

But just esp in modern day, many of us dont have that luxury.

I'm using this type of dx in the context of Robespierre because I believe he did have difficulties that impacted his life and career, and it's significant to me to compare his behaviour and health to other politicians working in the same stressful circumstances.

But yeah I'll write this in a second post. Thanks for your patience!! 🙏

[rowanthefierce]

all right so I've played 6 hours of veilguard so far, here are my initial impressions!

stuff i am enjoying:

very pretty. the world and environments are gorgeous. i love walking (or lightly jogging, in the bioware tradition) around and just marveling at the sky

i really do like the level design. i'm not super clued in with gaming trends, but it reminds me of both "modern" god of war games, which i played and enjoyed: fairly linear levels from point a to point b, almost always with areas to come back and unlock once you're progressed in the story or character skillset. the pseudo-open world level design, if you will. personally i am a fan. it keeps me going and focused, knowing i can always come back to grab whatever the thing is behind puzzle door #3

the amount of customization for difficulty and settings is great

i appreciate that they dropped level requirements for gear

the blight??? is so gross. way grosser than inquisition (how was it in prev games? someone lmk). and i dig it. it is the right level and pitch of horror and gore / grossness. even if i go "yuck!!" every time i see it

stuff i am neutral on:

character designs are fine. they look more stylized, but like? who cares. they don't look like pixar characters to me. i think that's a over-simple exaggeration. they fit into the world, they look decent, and that's all it really should be imo.

dialogue is fine. i don't even know if i was expecting anything here. people talk about the dialogue like it's horrible, and yeah, it's a little basic or the text on the wheel doesn't align 100% with what Rook says, but it's not trash. do people expect disco elysium level lines to be coming out of these characters?

stuff i am 'meh' to displeased with:

combat is ok. the one thing i didn't really like about the new god of war games was the combat, esp ragnarok. this is a very personal one because i have always historically struggled with any sort of precision or timing-based input (why i don't play fighting games). precision parries and so forth are usually things i don't ever accomplish or build on. veilguard is (so far) not at the same level as gow but i'm already a lil frustrated with it. again, this is highly ymmw. once i figured out inquisition's combat, for ex, i was having a blast, so maybe i just need more time with veilguard (and i did 100% the first god of war despite my griping)

the varric narration. was this in any earlier games? i am not sure i like varric doing voiceover wink wink nudge nudge at me for plot development stuff. the art is beautiful for these sequences, but i can't say i'm a fan so far of him chiming in after quests and conversations. feels a bit jarring. sorry, varric!!

looking forward to playing more! overall, it's fun and a comforting sort of game, and i am very drawn in by the plot

[liketheletter-l]

Do you have a favourite episode of community or any thoughts on the series? I saw you reblog a post earlier about it and there aren’t a lot of opportunities to talk about one of my favourite autism shows

OH MY GOD. OKAY

i can't even pretend i'm normal about community even a little bit, it's literally seared into my brain and is a permanent part of my personality. my sister @inalienable-wright and i are working on ranking all 110 episodes (she literally coded a program so that instead of having to work with every episode, it presents us with two at a time and we just pick which one's better, it's really fucking cool)

the question of a Favorite Episode is really complicated to me, because i could think of at least fifteen off the top of my head that make me about the same amount of Deliriously Happy so here are some, in no particular order:

2x21 Paradigms of Human Memory

3x19 Curriculum Unavailable

3x04 Remedial Chaos Theory (duh)

3x05 Horror Fiction in Seven Spooky Steps

2x14 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

2x08 Cooperative Calligraphy

1x10 Comparative Religion

1x19 Beginner Pottery

2x06 Epidemiology

2x15 Early 21st Century Romanticism

3x01 Biology 101

2x01 Anthropology 101

3x07 Studies in Modern Movement

1x17 Physical Education

1x07 Introduction to Statistics

6x01 Ladders

rambling thoughts about the series as a whole under the cut:

As you can see i obviously like seasons 1-3 more, and honestly if i kept listing favorite episodes from those seasons it would go on and on, because s2 and s3 esp are just ALL-STAR seasons (with a few exceptions, obvs. 2x18 and 2x20 come to mind for instant skips)

that being said, i liked seasons 4-6 fine. s4 isn't necessarily the level of absolute dogshit everyone says, but it was indeed bland compared to the vivid colorful witty hijinks of s1-3. it's hard to pinpoint because you're mostly noticing the ABSENCE of something; most of the actual episodes aren't Bad, but they just don't compare to the seasons before.

season 5 has a lot of good material that i can't rewatch Or i will literally fucking die. G.I. Jeff is a fucking masterpiece imo, geothermal goes without saying, Advanced Advanced DnD & the meowmeowbeenz episode were both funny as fuck, the ass crack bandit ep was gold, and most of the other episodes are solid. it's just Sad. there's just an incredibly melancholy and depressing tinge to the entire season and it makes me fucking SAD

season 6 i found very fun because i love frankie and elroy, but most of the episodes are too goddamn tragic to even rewatch just because it just feels hollow. there are some very funny parts of the season! but overall, it felt like they were trying to cram in the usual amount of hijinks, when really they only had 13 episodes to give these characters a satisfying send-off, and it ends up just leaving jeff and britta in particular at a STARTLINGLY low point to close out the entire series. i watched 6x13 at about 4am the morning before an exam and i cried so hard i started dry heaving to be honest

the only way i can watch the first three seasons is by pretending everything after the s3 finale straight-up Doesn't exist. i believe that the showrunners did (mostly) the best they could with the string of production disaster after production disaster post-season 3, but the ending is simply So fucking tragic.

our beautiful codependent insane found family that we've spent 3 seasons watching become closer and care for each other and get into trouble together just slowly, painfully gets picked off one by one. it's not even a clean break it's an Agonizing decay. i have to try very hard not to let it sour the rest of the series for me.

This is why we write fanfiction though! (i do wish there was more content focused on the study group as a whole rather than just trobed, but such is life) you should definitely DEFINITELY check out my sister's writing here because her community fic is fantastic

overall i think this show is one of the best ever made & i literally cannot express in words Just how close it is to my soul. it is inside my heart. it is literally part of me (im normal)

PLEASE HIT ME UP TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hiveswap]

Ok sorry to do this again despite admitting I don't know shit the first time (I'm the "isn't it both" anon) but I had some more thoughts.

So, even tho being ex eastern bloc is defo relevant for certain analyses of current situations, I don't think it should play too hard into tryna determine whether a country you aren't from can be considered eastern Europe (tho i think it's valid to bring into it if it's about your own country probably? I am not a politically versed person) and one of the reasons I say this is that my mum is from Saxony which was part of the GDR.

The family had been preparing to leave for years and eventually did so a few months before reunification (kinda hilarious tbh) and I myself grew up in (former) western germany (tho i was born years after reuni anyway) so I never lived in the GDR or even in any former GDR states myself but my mother has always shared a lot of stories but that's besides the point.

And like... nobody is calling the ex GDR states (let alone germany as a whole) eastern Europe. There's even ppl who consider us western Europe (I think we're pretty firmly central but tbh western vs central as a distinction isn't as important (bc I do know central vs eastern carries a lot more weight n stuff) so I don't really care) despite part of our country having been eastern bloc. So when people (specifically non ex eastern bloc folks, you're obviously fine) use it as an argument it feels hypocritical.

And obviously ex GDR states had the support of other german states so it was much easier for them to recover but imo the modern day economics are way closer to helping determine whether a country is eastern Europe? Not geographically obvs but in my mind (feel free to correct me) eastern european is kinda like asian in that it shouldn't be an important distinction going by geography but in terms of politics and dynamics and stuff it very much is and it matters.

Like, eastern europeans, at least within Europe, dunno how true it is elsewhere, are kinda oppressed? Like, if I meet a western european (esp an english person) they're prolly not gonna be xenophobic to me when I tell them where I'm from but if I was like Belarusian or something, they might. And then there's the economic stuff and also like social progression.

I've heard a lot about eg LGBT rights in Hungary and stuff like that and no shade or anything ofc, especially to the LGBT ppl living there such as (i think?) yourself and the other Hungarians I follow, but it does feel a lot less progressive.

Things aren't perfect here either or anything but they're getting better, we've had marriage equality for same sex couples (not (all) nb or intersex ppl tho) for over half a decade, forced trans sterilisation was declared unconstitutional 12 years ago and we're finally getting that self-determination bill put into place next year and then I can get that d. D stands for diverse in this case, it's our third legal gender (tho we also have "none", none gender can't get married)

Meanwhile transitioning in Hungary was outlawed three years ago and there's plenty of other countries where it's still a struggle and all in all it just feels kinda... distinct? Like how scandinavian (or nordic in general) countries feel like they're on a different economic and societal level from us(excl), the latter especially in regards to sexism, education and incarceration but also other stuff.

Obvs there's always so many factors but it's always felt to me like they were, forgive me for simplifying, the "higher" tier of europeans in at least those areas compared to my life in central Europe. Grass is always greener somewhere I guess. But I'm gonna get back on track.

So even tho geographically it's hard to argue that Hungary isn't central Europe, I think it might be politically. And it's not the only country that feels like this to me, like eg Romania is geographically southeast but politically I personally view it as firmly eastern tho obvs I'm no authority.

Anyway, sorry this got so long lmao I have not been awake for long yet and my brain's a little squished lol. Hope this wasn't a completely useless read, sorry if it was. Keep on keeping on 👍

Oh hi i got scared for a sec when i saw that i got a whole block of text. I'm not really up to politics talk rn, but what you're saying makes a lot of sense to me!! Though i havent seen anyone consider romania central before, i've always thought of the border between us as the edge of central europe. Probably because of the timezone difference ngl

[wisemins]

🎵 and 🩺 for demon slayer? can be canon or modern au (or both, both is good)

🎵Music: If you/your self-insert had a theme song, what would it be? Bonus: An extra song that fits you/your self-insert and your f/o!

🩺Doctor: What is the worst injury that you/your self-insert has sustained in canon? If so, what was the cause and did you recover? What was your f/os reaction?

@i-put-the-s4p-in-s4pphic

(it's i-put-the-wit-in-dimwit btw, s4pphic is my new selfship blog so if you see it in your notifications it's just me :D)

HIYA FRANKIEEE <33 LOVELY TO SEE YOU HERE TYSM FOR THE ASK!!

🎵Music: If you/your self-insert had a theme song, what would it be? Bonus: An extra song that fits you/your self-insert and your f/o!

SO IN LOVEEEE WITH THIS QUESTIONNN!!

For this one I'll do both!!

Modern picks

For me: 心に雲を持つ少年 By Sunny Day Service! The lyrics translated really make sense to me personally! And I just ADORE this song!

For Giyuu and I: Chasing Hearts by Miwa! If our life in modern would have it's own spin-off anime, this would 100% be the intro! I love this song for us in modern! (shout out to F.MA for the song) It also suits us as a family as well as a couple!

Canon picks

For me: Shogeki by Yuko Ando! (stole this from an ao.t outro! one of my faves) But I think it fits for me in canon! Depressing and wistful! But it also goes hard so, that's what really matters!

For Giyuu and I: Sunset by Makoto Matsushita! I LOVEEE THIS SONG FOR USSS esp in canon too! But it fits for both canon and modern! It's slow, somber, but romantic. This song for us is definitely supposed to be for like a, end game/end of the anime moment! Something to signify that our hard journey is over, and now we can live and be together and just be in love for once. Not fighting for our lives.

🩺Doctor: What is the worst injury that you/your self-insert has sustained in canon? If so, what was the cause and did you recover? What was your f/os reaction?

OH WOOF where do I begin?? Since my breathing style relies on me being completely unaware of pain and overexertion while I'm asleep, every single mission and battle I end up injured in one way or another. Hence why none of the other hashira like working with me outside of my true friends.

My worst injury though? WOOF. where to start? This was a moment in which I was protecting Zenitsu and really going over my limit. This was supposed to be one of those throwaway missions, something easy, but it was more devious than anticipated. Tens of demons all at once, it wasn't anything we hadn't dealt with but I was still healing from a previous injury, and when I get into that sleep state? Caution is thrown out the window and into the sea, it's GONEEE

I ended up almost getting disemboweled to be frank, and it was an injury that took MONTHS to recover from. I wasn't allowed to do anything basically. It left a hefty scar as well, it healed pretty well all things considered but it was not fun. But in the end I was fine!

And Giyuu's reaction? Oh boy that man was TERRIFIED. This was before we confessed anything, but we were getting closer and closer. This brought us even more close because he had finally realized like, oh shit, I could lose her. And with all the loss in his life? He wasn't ready to go through that again. So he stayed with me when he could, which was quite a lot. And we did get to know each other quite a bit during the recovery period! He would cook for me too, and took over some of the medicinal duties to take pressure off the butterfly mansion girls.

Some of the moments between us were really romantic in a way, it's hard not to feel that way when someone you have a huge crush on is bandaging you up and making sure you're okay!

This was also the period in which Zenitsu was starting to side-eye us, wondering if Giyuu was tryna pull the moves out on his mom, but since he saw how happy Giyuu made me during such a miserable time, he supported the idea of us becoming a thing!

So yeah!!! I LOVEDDD answering these!! Thank you so much for asking!!!

The ask game in question!

[werehounded]

I think you'll be unlikely to find a specialist pattern for free. People know that they can make money on cosplay patterns and often do. That said, you'll likely be better off just buying a lab coat tbh and embellishing it, adding old fashioned buttons and weathering it, for example.

I found on etsy a UK based seller selling basic lab coats for £12, for example. You'll find that it'll cost a LOT more to get an accurate lab coat look if you want to sew it, even if you used like second hand duvet sheets as your fabric which I've done before and it's worked just fine; a LOT of us use whatever fabric we can find. Yes, including old duvets! :>

Your main expenditure is going to be the pattern it seems. No freebies for adults that I can find, so you'd need to grade up a free kids or doll sized pattern which is.... a lot of work and not advisable for a beginner imo, especially as the smaller the pattern the more work it is to scale it in my opinion.

So your options are: buy a modern cheap labcoat and learn to make embellishments to it until it looks how yo want it to, or splurge on a pattern so you can sew your own.

You can always add pockets to an existing coat also - look up tutorials on basic patch pockets for now, as they're the easiest. Just make sure they're at least kinda evenly spaced on the garment!

As for fabric if you're set on making your own or want to add pockets, you'll likely find most lab coats are made of cotton drill or twill depending on the 'weight' and thickness of the fabric its made from. Maybe canvas would work too. I suggest looking on sites like Pound Fabrics as they sell basics for MUCH cheaper than places like Minerva which is where I get my fabric usually. You could go cheaper and use a plain polycotton or polycotton sheeting or shirting fabric, which is usually about £4 a meter but is much lighter in weight than, say, a drill or twill cotton.

So overall! I'd recommend seriously just buying a coat. You can get them much cheaper than a pattern AND fabric it seems so that's the direction I'd go esp if it's for costuming or cosplay and doesn't need a high level of accuracy that you can't achieve with embellishing.

I'd buy some cheap polycotton like this in white to match your lab coat:

Or if you really wanna splurge a d have it match a heavier weight fabric you could get this kind of thing again in white:

I'd say you'll only need a meters worth at the MOST to make some patch pockets!

That linked site also has a lot of buttons - if your sewing machine has buttonhole settings it'll be a breeze and I csn teach you how to do those, but if not you can always go the cheats way, and cut some neat button holes and just use fray check on them, which is a liquid you put onto fabric which will fray at the hems, and it stops that happening!

I suggest looking up free tutorials on patch pockets and button holes and button application by hand, and if your lab coat has a zip you want to remove and replace with buttons, then you could look into buying 'stitch rippers' and learning how to use those also.

I hope this is a bit of help lovely! Please feel free to ask me any questions any time, in my inbox or dm's or on a reblog ♡♡♡

SEWING/COSPLAY SIDE OF TUMBLR I NEED HELP

So I wanna do a mad scientist look for Halloween this year and I also kinda want to make it myself because I live in Ireland which makes online shopping the definition of Hell On Earth

But I'm only really a beginner at sewing, I can hand stitch no problem and I have a basic midi sewing machine that can handle most fabrics that aren't particularly thick/heavy (i.e. not denim)

Also I can't seem to find any actual patterns for free online which is. Less than optimal

I'm a size 12-14 in Irish clothes sizing, idk what that is in the US or other countries but I also suck ass at taking my own measurements and I'm going for smth on the looser side anyway because it's more comfortable for me

Other notes (forgive me for trying to sound like I know what the hell I'm talking about

pockets would be cool but not essential

idgaf really whether it's more modern or old fashioned, just whatever people can help with I guess

If you can let me know what type of fabric would work best that'd be great cause while I could just cut up an old bedsheet to make a lab coat I have a feeling I would be haunted by the ghosts of dressmakers past for doing so

This would be my first time actually trying to make a garment (but if it goes well it might not be the last!)

@angelgendered I remember you mentioned in a post that you do sewing sometimes, I'm super sorry to bother you but if you have any advice or even just moral support that'd be so cool

[supercantaloupe]

i kinda think that any portrayal of don giovanni and leporello’s relationship is incomplete if it doesn’t acknowledge that there is both genuine friendship/affection between them AS WELL AS abuse and hatred. they contain fucked up multitudes

[oatmealcrisp-freak]

cannot believe i just saw someone say that Escaflowne suffers visually because of the noses.

Which, they are pretty prominent...

but sure okay no lbr this show really is a drag to look at. just stick to other anime cus the noses, mmmm, they're just a bummer. they make it a REALLY ugly show.

oh yeah

this show isn't pretty at all.

the noses really just come out of nowhere and aren't handled well frame to frame, super immersion breaking.

the animation suffers a lot

it's the most off model.

definitely don't watch Escaflowne if you can help it, the noses are so off-putting you won't be able to immerse yourself into its worlds at all

it's not even a little cool how this isekai-before-isekais-were-really-a-thing blends high fantasy with sci-fi and huge battle robots and ESP, and uses all of that as a gateway to explore identity, gender, narrative, trauma, support, etc. it doesn't balance light hearted bonding with pain in a way that's fulfilling in the least. none of this is at all compelling.

you won't like it, definitely don't watch Vision of Escaflowne. It's not interesting plot wise or compelling visually.

But seriously, the only people I wouldn't recommend Escaflowne to are people who can't do flashing lights, since this series DID come out pre-Porygon whereafter more efforts were made to reduce flashing lights in anime that might cause seizures, and people who can't or don't want to handle mature themes. 14+ basically, IIRC. Maybe 16.

There's a little bit of jank, but tbh no more than you'll see in modern anime, which I think is VERY impressive because, again, this show came out in 1996.

1996.

FOR TELEVISION.

Painted frame by frame on plastic cells.

With maybe a bit of digital textures for flavour, as I'm pretty sure we see above.

Not even Fox succeeded in ruining this show, let alone the noses. So if you're an animation fan ready for a lot of fun and tears and can handle flashing lights, I really do recommend this show.

Noses or no noses.

TBH the most immersion breaking thing for me is that my boy's name is Van instead of Vaughn.

If the noses ARE that off-putting to you (which is fine! not everything is for everyone!) there's also an Escaflowne OVA that came out in 2000 which tones down the style a scooch. I personally haven't seen it but it still looks lovely (understandably). It's an alternate retelling of VoE, so it's not the same story.

and again. if you don't like how the noses look in Escaflowne and pass it over because of that aesthetic, I get it. I just disagree that the animation in the show suffers because of it and that it fails at being a good looking, well animated show that delivers its aesthetic well, TBC.

[mxthtea]

i've been getting really insecure of anything i write or draw (esp cyno or baal related,, ironically the ones i make the most things of arguably) so this is purely self indulgence bc i am sad

might do one for cyno,, might draw one for cyno idk

(modern au) baal x gn!reader warnings: insecurity, baal calls the reader 'darling', written way before baal release, grammar + spelling mistakes, lowercase writing, tell me if i forgot anything description: you've been getting more nervous about everything you make. always analyzing everything made during the process and upon completion. though one day, you sit with baal on the couch and talk about it to her. word count: 949

you looked down at your most recent creation, staring it down as if it caused something horrible to happen. which it did in a way. made you stop and look over it again and again and again. made you check every possible angle to see something wrong. no matter what anyone else said, it was something you did all the time.

even if someone called your work "good" or "okay" maybe even "great" you always ignored it. put it off as them not having good taste in their works. on a good day you'd even smile and try to refute the claim, only to feel bad about it later. no matter what, you'd always go back to looking at your work with a sharp glare. you did that until the thing was basically mush in your mind.

no matter what you tried, it always ended the same. baking, cooking, drawing, writing, painting, anything. it all ended with the final "thing" being scrutinized and judged as bad at the end.

it was pitiful.

stupid.

annoying,

meaningless.

it was everything and nothing to you.

everything in that you spent so long finishing something, trying to make it better than the last. but it always ended in nothing. ended with you almost being in tears and wanting to sleep.

so you did, you left to your bedroom and walked inside then laid down on the bed.

but sleep never greeted you.

you opened your eyes and stared at you pillow. just the same as you remember. maybe it wasn't time to sleep yet... middle of the afternoon wasn't nap time either. maybe you needed a distraction.

with that, you rose from the bed and walked over to the living room. in which you found baal, sitting on the couch watching tv. you walked over and sat beside her on the the couch.

"hey baal," you muttered.

"good afternoon darling, did you finish with something?"

"mhm.. though i don't think it turned out good."

"what was wrong with it?"

baal had paused the tv and looked at you.

you turned yourself to be sitting against the arm of the couch. your arms wrapped around your legs as you stared off.

though it was hard to admit, you did want some comfort. not a fix to the problem, just some words for your own comfort.

"everything," you mutter. "just like last time, and the one before that, and the one before that. it all looks the same. i never seem to be getting better at anything i make anymore. i peaked before but now it's all a jumbled mess. nothing looks right.

you sighed and wiped your eyes. tears were starting to form already and you didn't want to deal with them now. you didn't want to look so weak.

"i see..."

"i'm sorry that was dumb- just continue with your show baal. i'll take a nap," you said, already getting ready to stand up.

"it's alright. you don't have to be sorry about something like this. can you tell me more?"

you looked at baal with wide eyes and settled back down, curling up into a ball and looking at the floor.

"dunno what else to say, it's all just the same. i can't make anything good anymore. people say what i make is good but i can't see it. maybe i don't have taste? am i the problem?"

baal looks at you with sadness in her eyes and moves closer to you. not exactly touching you, but close enough for you to feel her presence next to you.

"you aren't the problem, and of course you have taste."

you move your head up and look at baal. she has a hand on her chest and a light smile on her face. she looks... nice.. as always.

"each time i see something you make i see how much you improve each time. even if it's minor, you still show great things with each project you finish. it truly amazes me at times."

you feel more tears in your eyes and try to wipe them away fast enough. though some still slip passed your grasp and drip onto you.

"it's okay to be nervous at times but please still remember, your work isn't bad or useless. it's how you choose to show yourself, whether intentional or not."

you sniffle and attempt to wipe more tears away.

"th-thank you baal. i've just been so nervous lately tha-" another sniffle as you wipe tears away more frantically. "-that it's hard to work again. i'm sorry.... i feel so dumb crying over this."

"don't feel ashamed to cry now. you've been bottling up so many emotions and feelings, you owe yourself some time to let them out."

with that, you give up trying to wipe your tears away more. hands pressed against your chest as you let out all the pent up emotions you've felt. you don't know how long you cry, but by the time you're done you feel completely out of it.

"do you feel better?" baal asks.

you give a lazy nod in return, "tired too..."

"do you want to nap on the couch?"

"that's fine, can you stay at least?"

you hear a light chuckle from baal as you reach your arm out to her.

"of course."

your arm flops against the couch as you lay down and settle in. a blanket being thrown onto you as you start to drift off.

even if your feelings aren't gone completely, finally letting out the insecurities you felt was nice. like a familiar weight had been lifted off of your shoulders. maybe now you could try to see your finished works in a better light.

[ihatebnha]

imo i dnt mind when writers give yn specific physical n personality characteristics. esp bc i think it’s impossible to create a yn tht everybody can relate to 100%. n sometimes it’s fun to read ab a yn that’s different than i am personality wise bc it’s like playing a role or smth💀. some writers like to be self indulgent w their fics n that’s okay all i ask is tht they put it in the content warnings beforehand of the characteristic they give reader which so many ppl fail to do😭 like if it’s so important to u tht yn has pink nipples n can blush a fiery, beet red then go ahead n write it idc just put a warning abeg so ppl know n aren’t caught off guard 🙏🏾 if u want yn to be 5’0 n hve to crane their head up to look at the character that’s fine just put a warning !! 😭 but it’s obvious when ppl write a fic that’s clearly meant to be short!reader but for some reason they dnt wna tag it as one so they just throw in that “doesn’t matter how tall u are the character is taller than u” just so they dnt get chewed out or smth. but then they’ll describe the character as being a foot n a half taller than yn💀 n it’s a regular modern au fic too not some fantasy au where they hve superpowers n shit where it’d be plausible for the character to be enormous. like u said it only works if u dnt think ab it too much bc im 5’10 so i’d hve to size up the character in my head to like 7’3 n that’s just...idk😭

YES to both sides of this!!!

Like certain things can be soooo enjoyable if you're expecting them, and like... no one deserves to be hated on for just writing what suits their fancy, but at the same time... TELL US! So we don't go in expecting one thing and come out feeling like we got spanked on the ass after a lot of good buildup. I don't mind details at all but I wanna know so I can block them out when I get to them💀💀💀

BUT THE WHOLE THING ABT FORCING SOMEONE TO IMAGINE A CHARA AS 7'3 IS STILL LAZY!!! In a way and a little bit, at least... cuz like, I don't care if I'm eyeball-to-eyeball with someone, you know? Even three-four inches taller is okay. EVEN SHORTER IS FINE LIKE... it happens.

(And maybe I just don't get it because size kink is relatively... meh to me, but) we're human!!! You'll be okay trying to find something else descriptive to say!

[thejustmaiden]

Jaken = Rin's Dad?

Okay, is this how a daughter treats their so-called father?

Most definitely not.

Rin and Jaken's relationship clearly screams of your typical sibling rivalry punctuated with cute and silly moments of playful bickering.

Yes, Jaken may technically be her main provider, but that doesn't necessarily equate to him being more of a father than Sesshomaru. If anything, he demonstrates more of a brotherly love towards her. As we all know, parents (which Sesshomaru embodies more based on real life patterns and parallels) will leave their older more capable children in charge of looking after their younger brothers and sisters. In this case, that would mean making Jaken responsible for watching over Rin and protecting her if need be. Ah-Un offers protection, too. Think of it as Jaken as the big brother and Ah-Un as the family dog who are babysitting while Sesshomaru as the parent of the household is away at work or taking care of business. I mean, they literally fit that description to a tee and I'm dying at the accuracy of it all! 🤣👌

[Quick! Someone write up a modern au where Sesshomaru finally gets out to have a nice date night but everything goes wrong in the most spectacular way. Like maybe Rin and Jaken catch a ride on Ah-Un to go spy!]

I recently revisited some episodes from The Final Act, and I couldn't believe how many moments like this there were where Rin got after Jaken or when she would "put him in his place" so to speak. Obviously, all of it is mostly harmless. I was only surprised by how often it occurred, not to mention how Jaken would just stand there and take it. Towards a supposed father figure, Rin's behavior is downright unacceptable. There's a certain level of respect a child is expected to show their parents/guardians, and that's just not what I'm witnessing here between them. Like at all.

Rather their dynamic has the nature of some sibling relationships like I mentioned above. So I really wish fans would stop pretending otherwise, because based on what we know of father-daughter relationships- healthy ones at least- they don't appear anything like what Jaken and Rin have. If you could please provide me other examples of where we've seen similar portrayals in fiction or in real life, then perhaps I can get on board.

Look, that doesn't have to mean that because Jaken isn't her father then Sesshomaru must be. They can both be her caretakers without necessarily filling that traditional father role. I'm just saying that if we're going to start assigning titles to characters, let's make sure we are accurate and truthful in our assessments. If you're going to label anyone Rin's dad, then it needs to be Sesshomaru. Jaken doesn't have precedence over him in terms of fatherly attributes, that just wouldn't make sense.

After all, this isn't about what you want to see, this is about what Rin very likely sees. It's safe to assume that she views Sesshomaru more like a father than she does Jaken. She knows she's safe with him (broadly speaking lol) and that he'll come for her no matter what. That sense of security and comfort is what a child seeks and what they should always feel in a parent's presence. She trusts and even idolizes him, just as a young and innocent child tends to do with their parents. At that age, parents are perfect and could do no wrong in their child's eyes. Idk about you, but this describes perfectly how Rin is around Sesshomaru.

Rin adores him and will follow him anywhere- yes, even into danger! That's what the innocence and unconditional love of a child will bring them to do if necessary. Fortunately, at the end of The Final Act we learn Sesshomaru takes Kaede's advice when he realizes that leaving Rin with her in the village is in her best interests. That way she'd be able to lead a more normal and safer life alongside other humans. Remember, Sessrin shippers, that doesn't mean he wasn't still a part of her life and didn't witness her become a young woman over the years right before his very eyes. Therefore, if they eventually do become romantically involved, then most if not all of those gifts had intimate and seductive intentions and it essentially constitutes as child grooming.

I understand from a Sessrin shipper's point of view why it'd be so much easier to claim Jaken as the father. In doing so, they diminish Sesshomaru's role in her upbringing. By refusing to acknowledge the real role he had in helping raise Rin (short periods can be crucial and impressionable too esp. in a child's early years so yes they did assist in raising her not only Kaede), these shippers are better able to justify how their filial-like relationship evolved into a romantic one. So yeah, I get it, if I were a Sessrin shipper I'd probably do the same. It's one of the more plausible arguments available to them, after all. "Let's pin Jaken as the father to fend off antis!" is the best chance they've got, but even so, it's still not good enough. But if you insist Jaken is indeed like a father to Rin, then Sesshomaru is most certainly one too. Who says she can't have two fathers anyway?

The thing is however much you want to deny or downplay what Sesshomaru truly means to Rin and vice versa, nothing will ever change or hide the truth of the matter. Please, stop acting like they're only traveling companions and nothing more. Some of y'all even go so far as to say that they're like strangers. Knowing potentially little about a person is not equal to a lack of love and affection. Making big assumptions such as this to defend your ship is actually doing you more harm than good. Let me elaborate.

According to your reasoning, if that's all Rin ever was to him was a companion and Sesshomaru had no real attachment to her, then what precisely is the basis of your ship? Recall that Adult!Rin doesn't exist yet, thus we have no real idea what she will be like or if she's even alive. So how can you make comments like that but then go on later to say "they have such a unique and unbreakable bond" or "only Rin can be the mother because she's the only human he ever cared for" if all that time spent traveling together didn't amount to much in the first place like you claimed to believe beforehand? Do you see how your rationalizing is confusing?

Contrary to what some of you may think, I'm not just saying all this because I'm an anti and I'm obligated to disagree with you, or whatever other excuse you want to tell yourself. Believe it or not, I'm attempting to give as unbiased and objective of an analysis I can based on widely accepted interpretations of family dynamics, development, and any history we know of.

Of course I respect that at times fans will perceive things differently since that's bound to happen. What's hard for me to wrap my head around however is the unwillingness of some fans- not exclusively Sessrin shippers- to apply basic common sense and sound judgment to their observations and deductions.

Looking at all our facts, then taking the small handful of scenes Sesshomaru and Rin do share together into account, one can logically conclude that their dynamic is akin to one found in a typical parent-child relationship. If you still fail to recognize Sesshomaru as a parent to Rin, then that's fine too. In the end, that won't really change the fact that he'd still take on a role resembling an adult figure overseeing a young child's care and protection. Be it as a vassal, guardian, what have you. Plus, nobody is saying here that Sesshomaru doesn't make mistakes regarding Rin's general well-being, but so do all parents. Overall, I think the majority of us agree that Rin is in good hands. Whether it's in his direct company or in his occasional supervision from his frequent visits to the village.

In other words, it doesn't really matter what exact title you assign him in relation to Rin, as the distribution of power is all inherently the same with any and all adult-child relationships. That bond never changes once you've established it either, seeing as it's a special kind of connection one can only form with a child and a child alone.

I was a teacher for a few years, and speaking from personal experience, you don't need to be a parent, per se, to take on a role of authority in a child's life. I know without a doubt that I could never and will never view any of those kids I taught in a sexual/romantic light later down the road; yes, not even once they become grown-ups who are independent and more than capable of making their own decisions. Those of you who disagree are usually missing the whole point though, because we're not trying to dictate what Adult!Rin can and cannot do like many tend to accuse of us doing. This isn't a question of taking away from her autonomy nor does it fall under "purity culture," which is why people shouldn't continue jumping to these outrageous conclusions and really listen for a change. You're deflecting from the real issue here when you choose to misinterpret what we're saying by ignoring the problem we're actually referring to. You cannot present a valid counter-argument if you persist in twisting our words.

Bottom line: once these kids become old enough to pursue a sexual/romantic relationship, of course they have that right if they're ready. All we're trying to say is you guys ought to stop pushing forward this it's-completely-normal-to-want-to-bang-your-adoptive-dad-since-you're-an-adult-and-can-do-as-you-please agenda and not expect backlash. Ship it if you want, but please stop acting like their romance would be the epitome of a pure and healthy relationship.

Sesshomaru may not wear his heart on his sleeve, but it's foolish to presume he didn't actually care about Rin during their whole time together just because he didn't openly express his feelings until the very end. Surely everybody can comprehend that people handle and process their emotions differently. The way Sesshomaru chooses to is completely valid for the most part, so let's cut him some slack regarding this already.

What I'm trying to get at is that any child whose life you played an influential role in will always be a kid in a lot ways to you even when they're old and wrinkly. Just as they will always picture you as the loved one who guided and protected them when they were most vulnerable and couldn't always fend for themselves. Can't we relate this to children we know personally and apply it accordingly?

Finally, I want to end on this note. Could you kindly take a look at these two images below for a second?

The reason I ask is because of something I recently read that's relevant to the topic. There was this pro-sessrin tweet I saw that stated Rin trying to take care of Sesshomaru when they first met is what a mom would do for a child, which in their opinion, translates to Rin being more like a mother than a daughter if anything.

First off: are you freaking kidding me????

Seriously, so now children aren't allowed to tend to their sick or injured parents?! Parents are apparently superhuman and shouldn't be offered a helping hand from a child, even if they mean well and want to help their parent who's in pain?? Now this Twitter user was mostly being a smartass, but at the same time, it was evident they genuinely thought they offered a valid enough point that warranted no further explanation or clarification.

Secondly, by saying this Sessrin fans don't seem to realize that in actuality they're contradicting themselves and proving the point we've been trying to make all along. Glancing at the first picture and moving down to the second, the role of the one being cared for and the caretaker is reversed. So then by their own logic, Sesshomaru IS in fact like a father to Rin.

What it comes down to is the names you give to the roles these characters play aren't as crucial as the dynamic they share. The specific characteristics of that dynamic are what define the importance of said role, not so much the name in the role itself. So real father or not, Sesshomaru and Rin clearly mean a lot to each other. Close relationships are defined and solidified by the devotion and belonging they have to one another, not solely by the duration of time spent together and their proximity.

Well, that's a wrap! I hope you guys got something outta this blog, and that you enjoyed or found some portions of it interesting. I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject from this fandom, but only engage in conversation if you plan to be respectful. Thank you!

[tossawary]

(LMY anon) Ahh I just saw your character notes for LMY. Thank you, that's very helpful! You're right that it feels insulting to LQQ to make LMY too emotionally intelligent, esp considering we have canonical evidence that she's also a weirdo. Even if it's a non-transmigrator AU, I feel like the only way I can even begin to understand her character is through the lens of a fangirl. The concept of writing RPF for a teacher+an ex-classmate who actually tried to end the world is a new level for me

I don’t even understand or like RPF on the normal level, personally. I mean, RPF fans, you do you! I vaguely comprehend the concept of treating celebrities presented/public personalities as characters, but I’m not personally comfortable with it. So that was one of my biggest obstacles when writing Liu Mingyan, like... this woman is in-a-different-universe-to-me-brained. 

This was more or less my thought process, like, how I personally worked out better understanding Liu Mingyan’s situation: 

(TL;DR: It’s easier to think of Liu Mingyan as a bard.) 

So that was one of my biggest obstacles when writing Liu Mingyan, like... this woman is in-a-different-universe-to-me-brained.

But, at the same time, I don’t get the same squick with fiction surrounding historical figures. I mean, I do sometimes, but the distance of time makes it easier. I’m also fine (most of the time) with stories inspired by a true story. A lot of fiction is based on real events! Authors draw from real life! I don’t really watch Hollywood movies based on modern events and human interest stories which go viral, but they’re definitely a thing and they’re basically RPF. People like Real Person Fiction and Real Person Non-Fiction. 

And, like, okay, this world doesn’t have the same overwhelming variety of content that our modern world has. Unclear on whether or not there’s widespread literacy or printing presses, but it sounds like most stories are going to come from storytellers and singers and other performers. Many of these performances are going to draw on historical and recent events, especially because it’s unclear how news might be otherwise spread. Look at what a huge industry just plain gossip is in our modern world! People need to be entertained and singing for your supper is an okay gig. 

I need to stop thinking in terms of Modern RPF as I know it on AO3 and start thinking more in terms of bards.* Liu Mingyan is perhaps more like an artist meeting a journalist (or a publicist or a historian) than a modern fanfiction writer. Or like any playwright writing an embellished history for a ruler (except she did it on her own). Is a bard or storyteller hired to write something putting history in a specific light not essentially a historical paid publicist? 

Except Liu Mingyan is doing it for her own benefit. And I would still personally call it fanfiction even if in this case it’s a for-profit adaptation. 

*(I should probably better research Chinese historical forms of performance and spreading news, but SVSSS allows me to be lazy and hand-wavey about it. Thanks, Airplane.) 

So, for me, I’m picturing Liu Mingyan and her friends are just a step to the left of historical reenactment meeting gossip meeting music/poetry/songwriting practice that got really out of hand. Friends can be terrible enablers sometimes, right? Then, bam! Real Person Fiction that people found compelling and spread like wildfire. All of the people involves are celebrities / political figures whose movements matter to the common people, and they don’t have news sites or social media sites for Keepin’ Up with the Cultivators. 

I mean, it’s funny to think about it in terms of RPF and fanfiction as we know it, so I absolutely do. I think she’s a bit of a fangirl, yes! I relate to that! (But am I reducing her to “just a Modern BL fangirl” because she’s a woman writing romance and I’m looking at it from a modern fanfic author’s lens and not taking the situational context into account? She’s a BL fangirl with potentially significant societal impact. She’s not out of place in the world she lives in.) 

Adaptation is pervasive throughout society and goes beyond fanfiction and fanart as we know it in what we call “Fandom”. Journalism is arguably non-fiction adaptation! Historians adapt the world around them to record it for future generations. Music can be an adaptation of people’s life’s experiences! People put on plays about other people’s stories they’ve witnessed. There are places in the world (our world) were the line between fiction and non-fiction blurs. And truly being objective is impossible when people’s creations are filtered through the lens of their own perspective, whether they’re writing a news article or a novel. So, like, there are types of adaptational fiction that society is willing to slap a “official” label on and this is one of those cases. 

I mean, it’s still weird behavior in my eyes! It’s invasive! Liu Mingyan didn’t do this as journalist or a historian; she did this for her own entertainment and maybe for any potential money, and I would still totally call it fanfiction. Shen Yuan is reasonably mortified that someone has made something of his life! And misinformation can be extremely damaging to someone’s personal life and dangerous politically and I don’t know if she took that into account!  

But, yeah. Liu Mingyan = on a similar boat to Jaskier from The Witcher. (Who is, I say affectionately, also a weirdo and could be called a fanboy.) Except she’s also a bit more repressed like Liu Qingge. It’s easier for me personally to understand the RPF angle if I attempt to understand the potential for RPF as it exists in her world, not as it exists in mine.