#like great way to show you think less of anyone who looks different you Do know how much of a

[saturnniidae]

It makes me want to pull my hair out when I see people putting content warnings over pictures or drawings of people with scars, especially burn scars. If it's fully healed there's nothing to worry about, you can't fucking censor someone's body bc it personally makes you uncomfortable do you not realize how fucked up that is???

Like that's an issue You need to work through bc people with severe burns exist and are going to be out in the world and you can't do anything about that but reconsider how you treat disabled people.

[kedreeva]

Okay so, I don't think I've spoken of the saga here yet but! Gather round. I shall tell you a long story about the bird I just acquired and why she is VERY IMPORTANT.

At the beginning of last fall, I started looking into quail genetics a little more, because I got tired of not being able to sex my Celadon quail by their feathers. Originally I thought I could kill 2 birds (ok maybe more) with 1 stone and order nice jumbo wild type (which MANY places advertised as wild type jumbo) hatching eggs, and this would help me put some size on the Celadons (jumbo) while also making them feather sexable (wild type). Perfect!

But then I come to find out that pretty much all jumbo lines are jumbo BROWNS, as in they all have the sex linked brown (SLB) gene. So, I was a little confused and a LOT annoyed because I wanted to work specifically with the wild type color/pattern. No mutations just straight, plain wild type.

And EVERYWHERE I looked - major production hatcheries, private breeders through websites, Facebook groups, local swaps, craigslist, e v e r y w h e r e -

People ONLY had SLB.

This spring I came across a video showing about the differences between SLB and wild type and I figured if the person who made it can tell, maybe she will have some. So I looked her up (not in a stalker way, her farm name was stamped on the video and took me to the website), and what luck! She was in Michigan! Upper Michigan, so still a hike, but not California, y'know?

So I shot her an email and explained that I was looking for WT and that her site said she bred them and that people could do local pickup. She responded yeah she's totally got a bunch! And I said great, I'm also in Michigan, albeit far away, but I don't mind driving 7+ hours each way, because I really need actual, trusted WT for sure birds for my celadon project, can I come pick them up?

Cue the most frankly bizarre email chain in my short life. As soon as I mentioned that I was going to drive, or perhaps that I had a genetics plan in place, she got super sketchy and started saying how she hadn't really paid as close attention to SLB vs. WT, that it mattered less than she thought it would when she started, that I shouldn't focus on that either, and also that "fawn celadon is practically unheard of" in the hobby and "you should focus on a clean Tibetan because it's hard to find without roux in it) implying that I should concentrate on those things instead. And concluded by telling me if I really want WT, to contact this other person (why happens to be someone I can't stand). It all sounded VERY much like she didn't have wild type males, after all, and had thought I didn't know the difference so it wouldn't actually matter. But, it does. It actually matters a lot to me.

So I messaged back to say, well, I don't want to do any of those things, I specifically want to work with this set of genetics and you said you have them so I shouldn't have to go to anyone else??

And then she went radio silent for a week. I kind of figured I'd called a bluff, and that she was one of dozens of people I'd contacted who'd said they had WT only to find out they had SLB. I get that it's difficult to see the difference, but this particular person was the president of the American Coturnix Breeders Association or whatever (found out it's actually just a club formed by her and her friends a year ago, so not as impressive as it sounds, considering they don't actually DO anything- no putting on shows, no newsletters, no certifications, no public breeder directory, no finished SOP, nada), so I kind of expected she should know what she's talking about, if anyone does.

Eventually, after a week, she responded that she had been judging at a county fair, but she had a few heterozygous males (WT het roux, which is fine) and she could set a hatch for me for more if I wanted to come at the end of the month, but she's in WI now, not MI. I said sure, since where she was in WI was actually closer than where she'd been in the UP, and we arranged date/time.

The day of, my neighbor friend, Jude, comes with me for company/keeping me awake through the 15 hours driving round trip. It's a pleasant enough drive. We arrived at a cutesy little house on the edge of town that looks like anyone's house in a neighborhood, with a spacious lawn. The person meets us and takes me around the side of the house to a 6x6x1.5 or so chicken tractor, where she's got some male coturnix. She pulls the available males for me to look through and... fam, they ALL looked SLB, to me.

Now, she swore to me up and down that they couldn't be anything except WT het for roux, because of the way she is breeding them. But I've put these birds next to my SLB males and if I didn't have my males banded, I would not ever have told the difference between them. I still picked up 4 of them, because I will give it a go- worst case, I can produce plain Roux hens/plain Roux males for use in breeding later, best case they do actually produce WT hens and they just LOOK SLB and I have to figure out what the differences are. I don't want to leave without seeing her hens, which she has told me are all WT (which is why the males HAVE to be het for it), and she takes me back. Now the hens, the hens are easy to see the difference. White bellies first of all, but the chest feathers are also wildly different! The shafts are white, the dot around the shaft is dark, ringed in red, ringed in white. On an SLB, the shafts aren't white, it's just a black dot surrounded in a red feather, and the belly is all red/buff/cream, not white.

This is what an SLB hen looks like:

So I take a nice long look to memorize the color, and thank her for showing me and meeting, and we head back home.

I do fecals when I get home because all of the males are VERY thin, no meat on them at all, and since she said she'd been feeding Purina (garbage for fowl feeds), I figured that was why, but no- HUGE coccidia loads in all of them. So I treated them and got them on a better feed. They immediately began putting on meat, and they're find now.

The rest of this summer, I have spent going to local bird swaps and inspecting all of the quail I could find, hoping to find one (1) actual wild-type phenotype bird. Hundreds and hundreds of birds, I have pawed through them all, being super obnoxious to the owners I'm sure, holding and inspecting males. I found ONE suspected WT male (and this is a HUGE "suspected," he could very well be SLB with low red expression). I compared him when I got home and I'm doubting myself still, so I don't know if I will ever actually pair him with the SLB hens or if I'll just wait til I have a roux set.

Regardless, it's been a dry season for getting what I want. It's been a dry YEAR. Yesterday was another swap and more hundreds of quail and me pawing through all of them.

Until.

My eyes landed upon.... her.

If you've only lived in an area that has american crows and not ravens, you find yourself wondering if crows are ravens. You see a big crow and you think wow! maybe that is a raven! It could be a crow, but it's seems bigger so maybe it's a raven. But, if you take a trip to a place with ravens, and you see one for the first time, you realize that there is no question, when you see a raven. When you see a raven in person, there's no question and not only is there no question, you wonder how you could ever have thought a crow was a raven. It's laughable, while looking at the raven.

That's how finding this bird felt. I'd been picking up every SLB hen and going maybe this is actually WT? It could be SLB but maybe it's WT? But the second I laid eyes on her in the middle of a pack of SLB with some mixed colors, I knew I was looking at WT hen, and I can't imagine how I ever thought maybe an SLB hen was WT.

Here's a better photo of her chest and belly (she's beat UP from her previous home, the back of her head and most of her rump are plucked clean from males). You can see the white shafts and the white belly.

And some other pics of her, showing the grey-brown on her side and back- VERY different than the SLB hens

I can't express how stoked I am about this bird. This is the first time after a LOT of effort and time, that I have felt confident I am holding the bird I want.

She's also the indicator that I have a LOT of work ahead of me.

My end goal is to have birds that look like her, weigh 12-14oz, and lay large, blue eggs. I have birds that lay large, blue eggs, I have birds that weigh 12-14oz live weigh, and now I have at least 1 bird that looks like her, which means I can make more that look like her. The first step is cleaning the color mutations out of the celadon line without losing the celadon eggs. This is going to be a bit of a nightmare, BUT, I have a friend helping me out with getting a few celadons that are either WT or SLB (I'm guessing SLB all things considered) to start the work with. I will work over the winter to get a few more actual WT birds here, and to start crossing out the celadons with the SLB jumbos to clean out the other feather color mutations. Once I'm down to just SLB and celadon for mutations, I can clean the SLB out with the WT and roux lines.

This project will likely take me a good 2 years, maybe 3, to complete and then test breed to ensure I haven't lost the celadon gene and I don't have any hidden recessives lingering about. But just having the fucking materials to do it all on hand now is a huge step forward from where I was when I decided to start the project.

[penkura]

OP Men as Dads Part 3

Note: Part 3, Part 3!! I was asked by someone on AO3 to add Luffy, so I did that! I still view Luffy more as a brother or son, so I still don't expect to write anything romantic for him, but this I can do! I hope you all enjoy!

Franky probably didn’t even think he’d ever get the chance to have kids, not after the train accident you know, but he’s excited for it! You’d have two boys around three to four years apart that are just like Franky in every way, but the older would be a bit more shy than the younger. They’ll both spend a lot of time with Franky in his workshop when they get old enough, they’ve got a knack for shipwright work and it almost brings a tear to Franky’s eye to see them sketching their own ship designs on whatever scraps of paper they can find. Your boys love you too of course! The two will bring their drawings to show you and ask your opinion, you have to tell them everything on your mind or they won’t go back to drawing, mama’s thoughts matter! It becomes family time to go over the sketches your boys made during the day, they want to do you and Franky proud in everything, but nothing they do could ever make you love them less.

~~

Katakuri has planned to have kids for a while, even though he’s already 48, he still wants to have a few and be a father to them. He’ll raise them differently from how he was raised, but still love them dearly and want only the best for them! You’ll both be surprised when you only have one first, a little girl who has Katakuri wrapped around her finger as soon as she’s born and handed to him. She’s so tiny, he’d be content to have just her if she’s all you were blessed with. Fast forward five years and there’s a set of wailing triplets that you also didn’t expect to have, but the three boys are more than you ever could’ve asked for and their big sister loves them just as quickly. She begs to see them as soon as their born, Katakuri brings her by that day to see you and them, and she has to gold all three in a row immediately. After that, a set of twin girls comes along a few years later, your oldest isn’t the only girl anymore and she’s still just as happy to have new siblings at around ten-years-old, your five-year-old set of triplets also excited. Katakuri loves and thanks you so much for the family you’ve made with him, even if you tell him your twin girls are it, you’re done. He's happy with what you have, grateful for your love and children.

~~

Killer is absolutely a great dad, you couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be your partner and father to your children. You have a boy first off, with your eyes and blond hair, he wants to be just like his dad when he grows up! A couple years later comes a little girl, she’s a surprise but a pleasant one at that. You didn’t really expect her to have Killer wrapped around her finger in a heartbeat but the second he saw her it was over, he became wholly devoted to your little girl and making sure she was happy as could be. You’ve come back to your family multiple times seeing Killer either having a tea party with your daughter or playing some make believe game with both your children, he normally plays the damsel in distress for their enjoyment. Your kids can see people act oddly around Killer when they recognize him, but neither of them care to know why, they’re still quite young, and they only care that they’re dad loves and takes care of them alongside you. All that matters to them is that Killer is around to play with them and eventually start teaching them to protect themselves.

~~

Luffy would be the fun dad, no doubt in my mind! Like how Ace would have three daughters, I can see Luffy having three sons! Probably twins at first, then another son a couple years later, the three having the same dynamic that he had with Sabo and Ace when they were kids! They’d all look like Luffy, except your middle child would have your eyes, a small piece that shows yes, you’re the mother to these three rugrats. All three dream of being pirates, its their favorite game to plan, especially so since their dad is King of the Pirates. After all, who better to tell you how the pirate life works than him?? With all of the Straw Hats around, your sons would be protect from the moment they hear you’re pregnant, everyone being the best aunts and uncles around as soon as they’re born. Luffy would be the most protective of course, but he’d still give your sons the freedom to do what they want and to grow and learn how the world works. Being a pirate is about freedom, isn’t it? Your sons will never have to wonder if they’re loved or wanted, everything you and Luffy do is for them.

~~

I honestly see Mihawk with one child, a daughter. She’d be an unexpected blessing that has him around her tiny finger the moment she takes her first breath. He’d never let her, or you of course, out of his sight, unless he absolutely had to go to a Warlord meeting or something like that. When Zoro and Perona show up, they’re both flabbergasted that the Dracule Mihawk has a child, and that she’s a cute baby girl, only a few months old! Perona will try to dress her up in frilly dresses but your daughter will cry, which ends with Mihawk taking her back and demanding Perona stop using his daughter like a dress up doll. The funny thing is, your daughter will be absolutely enthralled with Zoro, she’ll fuss until he holds her, sometimes he’s the only one who can get her down for a nap or to sleep at night. The number of times Mihawk has caught Zoro training with your daughter strapped to his back or the two napping together warms his heart, maybe having the two freeloaders around isn’t so bad.

~~

Sabo never thought too much about having kids. It was a nice idea, but he didn’t have any strong opinions about it. Then of course, you showed up and he started to have dreamy ideas of his own family and children with you as the mother. Your first is a little girl, blonde as her dad and just as rambunctious. She’ll chase down everyone that she can’t to play with her and grab their attention for whatever story she’s made up, Sabo especially listens intently to her, giving her a smile, asking questions, and responding to everything she says positively. After your daughter comes two boys, one after the other just a couple years apart, and both times Sabo can’t believe he’s so lucky to have you and your children. Your sons look more like you, though your youngest has Sabo’s hair just like your daughter. He’s more shy than either of his siblings, but with Sabo he’s more open and talkative. Your first son may be the middle child, but he’s also the one who becomes more interested in the Revolutionary Army’s work. Although Sabo knows that all of them may become interested one day, wanting to join, he hopes that their work can be completed first and your children will be able to love safe, comfortable lives as they grow up.

[watchyourbuck]

I really wanted to NOT analyze this scene bc it’s been done so many times but I’m a public menace, so

Buck and Eddie and Chris are at Buck’s loft, after a mission and a less than pleasant conversation w Bobby, and here are my thoughts:

We see Buck (who’s upset), cooking for Chris and Eddie, when — in the whole arc —, we never see him cook for Taylor (or Ali, or really, anyone else but the 118).

Recently therapied™️ Eddie doesn’t give a flying fuck about being interim captain, but has enough eyes to see Buck does. His voice softens, and he gives him foot to discuss his own feelings without hiding them bc Eddie doesn’t share them. (Bonus points bc he makes the same face he made after the lawsuit, in THE Kitchen Scene, when he tells Buck ‘not to beat himself up about it.’).

“Lucy is great– whatever-,” Buck says absentmindedly, and we get a glimpse of Eddie’s smug little face. It kind of implies he knows about the kiss, but opts to say nothing. He did, in fact, cheat on Taylor (and Chris is in the room). But the grin falls a little. Maybe he’s not so nonchalant about it, after all. Or maybe, he knows they (she and Buck) never stood a chance. He looks – relieved, almost.

Eddie feels comfortable enough to keep actually playing with his kid. Enough to win, actually. He doesn’t feel that comfortable at his parent’s house (5x17).

Buck keeps talking about this, and even if he acts like he doesn’t care (and Eddie has dealt with that sarcastic-coping-mechanism-tone Buck does one too many times), he’s visibly angry, so Eddie changes the subject. “What are you offering?”

“Right now? Bobby’s famous lasagna.” Okay, this doesn’t scream ‘I’m cooking you my family recipes’ to anyone else?

Then we have The Diaz’ compliments, which not only sound genuine, but make Buck grin. Like he did something right. Besides, it took him ‘three tries to get it right.’ Interesting, when other in the show has Buck not given up immediately after something doesn’t go his way? Surely, this had to be something he was very keen on achieving, cuz he barely cooks for himself.

Chris’ little ‘you don’t even have a couch’ is very funny to me. Because he’s a kid and he’s joking, or being smart. But Chris isn’t my focus here, it’s Eddie’s reaction. We do know kids absorb what their parents feel and say, right? Eddie laughs, so he must think alike. He looks almost drunk — all flushed cheeks, big smile, squinted eyes.

“My last two couches came with girlfriends” and the IMMEDIATE correction Eddie makes. We know Buck is at his most comfortable with the Diaz boys, so we know he’s not putting on a show. What he says – he means. Of the heart speaks the mouth. That’s how he feels about his past relationships, not the correction Eddie makes. (And if you may let me be annoying here, it’s kinda interesting, the correction. It sounds almost – hopeful. Eddie knows it’s supposed to be the way he corrects him to be, but in a way, he corrects him just to guarantee himself that that’s not what Buck meant ((and it’s not.)).

The way that Buck stops, stares and then plunges down on the chair. ‘Right,’ he thinks, ‘the girlfriends came with couches.’ Again, NOT his initial thought. He hides behind a grin.

Eddie is not careful mentioning Taylor. Buck isn’t heartbroken. He even mentions her in Chris’ presence, and we know by history they’ve always been careful. (If you ask me, that’s the reason they didn’t hook up after the ‘you wanna go for the title?’ scene).

“Maybe I don’t wanna pick the wrong couch again.” Please stay here for a second. In all objectivity we’re talking about furniture…, right? This is a three-street conversation, because Chris added himself to it, yet Buck won’t look at him. He looks at Eddie, very intently. As if… as if he’s saying something different with his words. Huh, whatever could he mean? (Faint whispers of: ‘your couch, you, I wanna pick you, I wanna pick you, pick me, too.’) And then Eddie, who is Oblivious Firefighter of the Year (awarded) brings the conversation down again to the actual topic, and Buck deflates, like his balloon has been popped. His eyes literally stop glimmering.

So, is this a conversation two best friends who are comfortable in that title would have?

[amomentsescape]

The shirt headcannon was great, but what if the slashers had matching shirts with their S/O reader? Also if ya in one of the snowy storm states stay safe! ❄ 🧊 ⛸

Slashers React to Couple's T-Shirts

Slashers x Reader (Separate)

Feat. Freddy, Michael, Jason, Thomas, Bubba, Brahms, Norman, Billy, & Stu

You can find the OG T-Shirt request here.

A/N: Such a cute request! And yes, those dealing with the crazy weather, please stay safe! (Also, I couldn't find a better GIF option so I just went with the same one again)

Freddy Krueger

Yep, he wears it over his sweater

Can you expect anything less from Freddy though?

He really enjoys matching with you

He even let out some chuckles when you showed them to him for the first time

"I'm gonna need to make myself a closet if you keep up with this"

He definitely finds the shirts a tad bit cheesy, but he's not complaining

He happily wears the shirt with pride

He becomes a bit upset if you show up not wearing it though

Michael Myers

What even is this?

The first shirt was already bad enough, but this?

He doesn't even like cats

Just gives you a deadpan look

Will let you put yours on, but absolutely refuses to wear his

Barely even wants to touch it to be honest

You quite literally have to force it over his head

And even then, he just complains the whole time

Embrace the moment while you have it, because there's absolutely no way you're going to get that shirt on him again

Jason Voorhees

He smiles wide at these

One of the things he loves is the size difference between you two

It makes him feel like a protector

So you gifting him MATCHING shirts just makes him feel all giddy inside

The fact that they point out the size difference is a plus

He arguably likes this one more than the last (since he actually understands what it means)

He only wears the shirt when you wear yours though

If your washing it or don't have it on, don't expect Jason to be wearing his

Thomas Hewitt

Thomas absolutely fell in love with Beauty and the Beast when you first showed it to him

He didn't think he'd ever find someone like you, but here you were, and that made him relate to the Beast quite a bit

So when you showed him these, he was ecstatic

Immediately puts it on and refuses to take it off for a couple days

Even in the blistering heat of Texas, he wears it

Will always give you a hug when he sees you wearing yours

By the end of the week however, his shirt is noticeably much dirtier than yours

They barely match anymore, but the meaning is still there

Bubba Sawyer

Bubba is all giddy when he sees these

He just thinks the dinosaurs are absolutely adorable

And he honestly gets the joke pretty quickly!

Will insist you both put them on at the exact same time, doing a little spin for each other

He's clapping his hands and bouncing up and down

Will become pretty protective of the garment though

If anyone besides you gets a little too close to him, he puts his arms out as if saying "don't touch the shirt"

He truly finds the shirts a symbol of your relationship, so if any stain or tear occurs, he will literally have a meltdown

Brahms Heelshire

He doesn't find them as funny as you do

But he likes the idea of you matching together, so he allows it

Will try to put your shirt on instead in hopes you don't notice

You do

He thinks you look cute, but he won't admit it

He's still mad that you think you're the boss

I mean, who makes the literal rules around here??

But the moment you baby him and tell him just how good the shirt looks on him, he gives in and accepts his fate

He does wear the cardigan over it, however

Norman Bates

You know Norman isn't one for loud garments

So you thought something simplistic and meaningful would be the best bet

When he first sees the shirts, he smiles and says they look extra comfy for you two

But when he sees your anniversary on the sleeves, he melts

Thinks it's super romantic and gives you a sweet kiss as a thank you

He wears the shirt all the time

Under his button ups, going to bed, lounging around

And you can tell he becomes extra happy when you have yours on too

It's just like having a cute reminder of your love for each other

And Norman is all about that

Billy Loomis

Billy had been talking about getting a new sweatshirt for forever now

So when you came across these, you knew you had to get them

Billy isn't usually one for cheesy things, but he can't stop the small smile that forms on his face

"You're a lifesaver, babe"

Will try it on and practically melt into it

Doesn't specifically ask, but he'll give you a look basically telling you to put yours on too

When he sees you both matching, he can't even lie that he likes it

Will snuggle up with you and thank you

Stu Macher

Stu immediately lets out a big laugh when he sees them

His amusement is quickly deflated when he fully reads the shirts

"Hey!"

You know he's just joking though, since he still has that huge grin on his face

"You're clearly the stupid one, right?"

You just give him a joking slap to the arm

Will make you put yours on with him and pulls out his camera

Takes a million pictures with you and the shirts, finding them hilarious

He definitely insists on wearing them in public since it makes it even more obvious that you're his

He just doesn't want to wear them around Billy

He'll make fun of him

[imababblekat]

Chase

Anon Request, “Funny ask here! An expert free runner (jumping from building to building) catches the turtles on camera. The boys planned to do the same intimidation act like with April but are shocked when they jet off managing to keep a good distance. Then once they think they have them cornered on a construction site the boys fall through the building roof landing in waist high wet concrete. Looking down at them the runner blows them a kiss before taking off. (P.S. their cool though and just keep the photo as a momento)How do the 4 react to seeing them again when they literally bump into each other on the rooftops?”

 ◌ Part Two ◌

~xXx~

You hadn’t intentionally meant to take a picture of the turtles. If anything it was their fault they ended up in your shot. After finishing a course you’d been aiming at for over a week, you thought it’d be a great moment to capture, but hadn’t expected to catch anyone else in the background of your roof top photo. Much less those anyone’s being four mutant ninja turtles. It was the squak of surprise at the sudden flash of your mini Polaroid that alerted you to them.

Seeing the turtles left you somewhere between an intriguing shock and confused fear, even if seeing one of them rapidly rub at their flashed eyes while over exaggerate about how they burned did indeed give you a little giggle. There wasn’t much time to process the whiplash of emotions however, as one of them, clad in red and quite burly out of the bunch, came marching your way. Not a word had a chance of making its way from their lips, as your body did what it was trained so hard to do, making a mad dash across the old market roof top. Just like that, the four brothers found themselves in a sudden grand chase. “Great job, Raph!”, Leo snapped at said aggravated terrapin, making easy work of hopping over a fenced roof. “I ain’t even do anythin’! It’s your fault!”, Raph retaliated, vaulting over some exterior vents. “Oh, and how is that exactly?!” “You’re the one who gave us the all clear!” Bouncing from wall to wall as the group followed you down into an old parking garage Donnie interjected between the two argumentative brothers. “Guy’s is now really the time?! We kind of have something urgent on our hands.” “Yeah! Like how I can’t see their sick moves because my eyes are still having a disco party!”, Mikey continued to blink rapidly, nearly missing the open edge if not for Donnie giving him aid with his staff. Rolling his own eyes, Leo brushed off the youngest, keeping track of your movements as you scaled your way into a construction building across the way. “Come on, let’s get this over with. There’s no where to go past that building, we’ll catch them there.” All the years of free running across New York, you’d never felt as thrilled as you did now. Sure, it was still terrifying in a way being chased by four giant creatures who were quite nimble despite their enormous size, but you had to be honest in the way their pursuit brought on an adrenaline like no other. They put your skills to the test in a way you could never personally do yourself, and as you swung from a bar into another construction building, you felt elation rush through your body. At least, till you found yourself caught in between a rock and a hard place, staring at a concrete solid wall with no where to escape. Hearing the collective sounds of heavy foot falls, you quickly turned around to find the four beings surrounding the only path you’d have of escape. Seeing the glares upon their faces, your racing heart now beat rapidly for a different reason. Taking a moment to even his breathing, Leonardo stepped forward, watching your reactions carefully. “We’re not going to hurt you. Just. . .don’t scream.”, he spoke as calmly as he could, hands raised to show he had no misleading intentions. You said nothing, just continued to take control of your own breathing as your eyes shifted between him and his brothers. “I’m Leonardo, and these are-“ “I’m Michelangelo, but you can just call me Mikey!”, the orange banded turtle cut in, shoving past his brother and winking at you. “The guy in purple is Donatello, and the one in red who mean mugged you is Raphael! What’s your name angel? I say angel, because there’s no way you could have crossed those alleyways so eloquently without a pair of wings~.” “Mikey!”, all three other brothers shouted in unison. “What?!” With a light groan, Donnie reminded him of their current objective. “We’re here to get the photo. Not you a love interest.” “Oooooh right, the photo!” Your eyes shifted from Raphael, back to Mikey as he moved closer, three fingered hand reaching out. Sifting into your pocket it didn’t take long to pull out the small square picture. Despite it being exposed and grainy in some parts, the tangibility of the photo and the story it now held caused a surprising sorrow in your heart to have to depart with it. Yet, gazing back up to the four mutants before you, you understood why they’d want it. With the way you reacted, who could imagine how others might to their discovery. You met Mikey half way, extending your own hand to give him the small photo, fingers lightly brushing the other. All of a sudden, a loud crack was heard, and all five of you stood frozen. Before anyone could blink, the floor caved in, the four brothers descending down into dust and debris, and you with quick reflexes pressing tight back against the concrete wall. Once the clouded air had settled, you quickly peaked over into the newly established hole, a surge of worry for the ninja quartet. Relief washed through as you caught sight of the brothers who had landed in a mucky puddle, most likely sore from the fall but seemingly fine otherwise. As the boys groaned and started another round of arguing with one another, you suddenly remembered the photo and quickly checked your closed fist to find it still there. Carefully bringing the picture before you to look at once more, a thought had emerged. This was the most fun you had in long time, the most alive you’ve felt in a while. Recalling the kind smile Mikey had given you and Leo’s mindful approach as to not frighten you, you considered the growing idea in your mind even more. Making up your mind, you gently tucked the photo back into your pocket with a gleeful grin. You swore to yourself that night to never show anyone that picture, but as long as you held on to it, you knew you’d eventually wind up seeing the turtles again. With that, you skipped from the tiny ledge along the wall, and whistled to catch the turtles’ attention. “Bye boys! It was nice meeting you!” Loud shouts and scrambling could be heard as each one clambered over the other, slipping back and forth into the deep puddle in an effort to get up and to you, but by the time they’d get themselves straightened out, you’d be long gone with anticipating hope of the next chase.

~xXx~

[lurkingteapot]

Every now and then I think about how subtitles (or dubs), and thus translation choices, shape our perception of the media we consume. It's so interesting. I'd wager anyone who speaks two (or more) languages knows the feeling of "yeah, that's what it literally translates to, but that's not what it means" or has answered a question like "how do you say _____ in (language)?" with "you don't, it's just … not a thing, we don't say that."

I've had my fair share of "[SHIP] are [married/soulmates/fated/FANCY TERM], it's text!" "[CHARACTER A] calls [CHARACTER B] [ENDEARMENT/NICKNAME], it's text!" and every time. Every time I'm just like. Do they though. Is it though. And a lot of the time, this means seeking out alternative translations, or translation meta from fluent or native speakers, or sometimes from language learners of the language the piece of media is originally in.

Why does it matter? Maybe it doesn't. To lots of people, it doesn't. People have different interests and priorities in fiction and the way they interact with it. It's great. It matters to me because back in the early 2000s, I had dial-up internet. Video or audio media that wasn't available through my local library very much wasn't available, but fanfiction was. So I started to read English language Gundam Wing fanfic before I ever had a chance to watch the show. When I did get around to watching Gundam Wing, it was the original Japanese dub. Some of the characters were almost unrecognisable to me, and first I doubted my Japanese language ability, then, after checking some bits with friends, I wondered why even my favourite writers, writers I knew to be consistent in other things, had made these characters seem so different … until I had the chance to watch the US-English dub a few years later. Going by that adaptation, the characterisation from all those stories suddenly made a lot more sense. And the thing is, that interpretation is also valid! They just took it a direction that was a larger leap for me to make.

Loose adaptations and very free translations have become less frequent since, or maybe my taste just hasn't led me their way, but the issue at the core is still a thing: Supernatural fandom got different nuances of endings for their show depending on the language they watched it in. CQL and MDZS fandom and the never-ending discussions about 知己 vs soulmate vs Other Options. A subset of VLD fans looking at a specific clip in all the different languages to see what was being said/implied in which dub, and how different translators interpreted the same English original line. The list is pretty much endless.

And that's … idk if it's fine, but it's what happens! A lot of the time, concepts -- expressed in language -- don't translate 1:1. The larger the cultural gap, the larger the gaps between the way concepts are expressed or understood also tend to be. Other times, there is a literal translation that works but isn't very idiomatic because there's a register mismatch or worse. And that's even before cultural assumptions come in. It's normal to have those. It's also important to remember that things like "thanks I hate it" as a sentiment of praise/affection, while the words translate literally quite easily, emphatically isn't easy to translate in the sense anglophone internet users the phrase.

Every translation is, at some level, a transformative work. Sometimes expressions or concepts or even single words simply don't have an exact equivalent in the target language and need to be interpreted at the translator's discretion, especially when going from a high-context/listener-responsible source language to a low-context/speaker-responsible target language (where high-context/listener responsible roughly means a large amount of contextual information can be omitted by the speaker because it's the listener's responsibility to infer it and ask for clarification if needed, and low-context/speaker-responsible roughly means a lot of information needs to be codified in speech, i.e. the speaker is responsible for providing sufficiently explicit context and will be blamed if it's lacking).

Is this a mouse or a rat? Guess based on context clues! High-context languages can and frequently do omit entire parts of speech that lower-context/speaker-responsible languages like English regard as essential, such as the grammatical subject of a sentence: the equivalent of "Go?" - "Go." does largely the same amount of heavy lifting as "is he/she/it/are you/they/we going?" - "yes, I am/he/she/it is/we/you/they are" in several listener-responsible languages, but tends to seem clumsy or incomplete in more speaker-responsible ones. This does NOT mean the listener-responsible language is clumsy. It's arguably more efficient! And reversely, saying "Are you going?" - "I am (going)" might seem unnecessarily convoluted and clumsy in a listener-responsible language. All depending on context.

This gets tricky both when the ambiguity of the missing subject of the sentence is clearly important (is speaker A asking "are you going" or "is she going"? wait until next chapter and find out!) AND when it's important that the translator assign an explicit subject in order for the sentence to make sense in the target language. For our example, depending on context, something like "are we all going?" - "yes" or "they going, too?" might work. Context!

As a consequence of this, sometimes, translation adds things – we gain things in translation, so to speak. Sometimes, it's because the target language needs the extra information (like the subject in the examples above), sometimes it's because the target language actually differentiates between mouse and rat even though the source language doesn't. However, because in most cases translators don't have access to the original authors, or even the original authors' agencies to ask for clarification (and in most cases wouldn't get paid for the time to put in this extra work even if they did), this kind of addition is almost always an interpretation. Sometimes made with a lot of certainty, sometimes it's more of a "fuck it, I've got to put something and hope it doesn't get proven wrong next episode/chapter/ten seasons down" (especially fun when you're working on a series that's in progress).

For the vast majority of cases, several translations are valid. Some may be more far-fetched than others, and there'll always be subjectivity to whether something was translated effectively, what "effectively" even means …

ANYWAY. I think my point is … how interesting, how cool is it that engaging with media in multiple languages will always yield multiple, often equally valid but just sliiiiightly different versions of that piece of media? And that I'd love more conversations about how, the second we (as folks who don't speak the material's original language) start picking the subtitle or dub wording apart for meta, we're basically working from a secondary source, and if we're doing due diligence, to which extent do we need to check there's nothing substantial being (literally) lost -- or added! -- in translation?

[babyangelsky]

My Favorite Expressions in Love Sea Ep. 6

Every week I think I cannot possibly be having a better time with this show than I already am and every week I'm proven wrong. I LOVE IT HERE AND I'M HAVING A GREAT TIME!

Well Mut, I suffer from this condition as well. It's called Permanent Heart Eyes and it's incurable.

This is such a universal expression. Anyone who has ever watched someone they love eat something they cooked for them and enjoy it has made this face. Food is the greatest love language of them all.

Also, very pleasantly surprised to learn that Tongrak is a leftovers girly. I didn't expect him to be and now I love him even more.

Peat really has mastered the shift from 🥺 to 🥰. He does it a lot this episode and it barely takes him a full second each time, I love it.

When I tell you I COULD. NOT. LOVE. THIS. MAN. MORE. We only see him in profile when he delivers the last part of this line but this is a delightfully murderous expression. If I don't get a scene of Mahasamut cussing Prin out I'm going to be so disappointed.

The utter shock at hearing that Mut wants to hear about Tongrak from him. The quiet disbelief. The relief. I can't show it in a screenshot but Tongrak breathes out when Mut says this and his shoulders relax. No one has ever given this man the courtesy of asking directly if they want to know something about him and allowing him to decide if he wants to share things and Mut does it so easily.

The way he marvels at Mahasamut as it sinks in that he gets a choice, that he gets to decide if and how much to tell is just... it's lovely and completely fucking heartbreaking at the same time.

And because he was actually given a choice, he had no choice but to open up. Mut has made him feel so safe and respected that opening up becomes easy.

"Even though they have a complete, loving family with a loving father."

Stab me, it would hurt less.

No expression but the vibe is "I didn't say you could hug me but also I'm going to cling to you for dear life and try to burrow inside of your chest".

This is another one of those scenes that could have its own dedicated post and for which I would hit the picture limit immediately because the expressions were phenomenal and numerous so I'm cutting myself off.

Would you look at that. Tongrak opened up and now we're cuddling and taking a nap inside of the bedroom no one has ever been allowed to enter. Phenomenal. I'm so proud of this sleepy kitten.

Quick, someone google "how to tell your buddy that you're his husband's best friend's new sugar baby" for Mut he's asking for a friend it's him he's the friend.

THE CUTE AGGRESSION IS ETERNAL AND RELENTLESS.

Fort does the scolded puppy face so well.

Well aren't WE a jealous little jellyfish, Khun Tongrak? He's so bitchy I love him so much.

Not pictured: him refusing to speak first when he talks to Connor even though he's the one who called and the 30 different emotions he goes through during that call.

I spy with my little eye TWO jealous lil jellyfish. What's a group of jellyfish called?

*looks*

A bloom. There's a bloom of pouty jealous jellyfish in this house. I do love when "fights" are for silly reasons and everyone involved knows they're being ridiculous.

Side note: I covet this wallpaper. I need it on one of my bedroom walls immediately.

Also, I would like to do my clown check in for the week and point out that Vivi has solid-colored textured pillows and patterned pillows on her couch but Tongrak chose to cuddle the patterned ones.

We finally got to meet Tongrak's niece Meena and oh but she's a darling, precocious little thing. I also look at Mahasamut like this but you have no business doing it, miss thing, you're a baby! Same goes for reading your uncle's novels I say as someone who started reading romance novels when I was about her age.

2.7 seconds apart. I timed it. I'm saying it every week at this point but Peat, I love everything you do with your face.

And I am very quickly growing to love everything Nina does with that cute little face, too. It's good for Meena to see her beloved uncle being so loved by the beautiful man living in his house.

I have so much more to say about Meena but that definitely will get its own post because it's not limited to her facial expressions. There's a lot to unpack in this scene and in the cafe scene with her and Mut.

I mean--do I even need to say anything? I can't wait to reblog every single gif I can find of this scene because it had me screaming into a pillow like Tongrak.

I'm reaaaaally starting to hate the 30 image photo limit because it truly is not enough to capture everything I love in this feast of a show. Prepare to be so sick of me because there WILL be more posts about this episode.

Also, if you'd like to be tagged in my weekly ramblings about micro-expressions, let me know! 💖

[shirefantasies]

First off, congratulations on 300 followers 🎉 I’m a big fan of your work! I was wondering if you could write about the different elf characters and how they would react to realizing they have feelings for a hobbit! reader?

Thank you & my apologies for the late response on this one 😅 but this is a fun one so let's see!

The Elves Realizing Their Feelings for Hobbit!Reader

Thranduil

Denial penetrates every corner of the woodland king's mind- such a humble creature, known not in the slightest for their ways of allure, and yet you permeate his thoughts so! Surely it was your reaction to the sight of him, the simplicity of your manner that was ever so refreshing. Thranduil knows little more than reverence to a fault, cowing and great shows and yet…you see him. You treat him as anyone else. No fanfare, but no expectations either. No doubts. Thus he works to doubt you less, to make less assumptions about your ability and even jokes about your stature. He finds as you talk that you share a love of nature, all your reverence dedicated almost solely to the earth’s growing things, the way roots seek what they need. Thranduil does the same, you point out, and ever does he endure in his place of nourishment, but sometimes any plant needs a good repotting. Astute, very astute, and yet your words strike his heart like an arrow. You, he wishes to say, are his repotting. But perhaps he should put that more romantically… all the greatest shows of elvenkind for a mere hobbit. Who would have thought? Thranduil reflects with a fond, amazed smile.

Feren

From the moment he grabbed hold of you, knife pressed to the back of your neck, Feren puzzled at the way his heartbeat sped, not yours. You were no threat to him, you were nothing in fact save an intruder in his lord Thranduil's realm, one of many his patrol took into custody. You were the smallest, he noticed, and certainly the least deadly if the startled, pleading look in your eyes was anything to go off of. Why did you keep... No, he could hardly relent, not when he had orders to- "You are afraid?" He found himself whispering to you, hiding his gaze upon you by hovering it over you and the other hobbit. You nod and he begins to whisper words of comfort to you, explaining that while stubborn, his king was nothing if not benevolent and would likely simply detain you. No harm would come your way. When indeed Thranduil sentenced your odd company to imprisonment, he found himself strolling to your cell time and time again, offering you food and drink and answering your rapid fire of questions ranging from what would happen to you to soon what customs were practiced in the Woodland Realm. "I think this place is beautiful," you told him, "I think if I were to rot anywhere, I am glad that it is to be here." "I think so, too," Feren agreed, and why he spoke the next part he still did not know, "And I do not think that shall be your fate." It was not until he walked away from you, considering what things he might bring to show you, that he realized how attracted to you he truly had become.

Legolas

Finds himself studying you, gaze unable to fall from you for too long, searching your every movement. Suddenly his interest in hobbits has increased tenfold; in fact, Legolas begins speaking more to Frodo and Sam about their customs, favorite things back in the Shire. His heart swells further for it just as you, taking in with bright eyes every spray of harebell and piping hot cup of lavender tea with scones and little gift of courtship presented to the hobbit of one's dreams. Pastoral, joyful, many delights absent from the prince's own upbringing- what a breath of fresh air you are! But what does he say to you? If possible, the elven prince finds himself even quieter than normal, simply captivated by your every motion. As a result he leans upon conveyance through action, rushing to your defense in battle and being there to catch you when you fall, enjoying in the briefest moments the feeling of his hands about your waist.

Haldir

Years have worn him. Battles have hardened him. Customs have dictated he be free of emotion as much as possible, or else suppress display of them for decorum. You, by contrast, are so innocent, almost painfully so and every sight of your wide, shining eyes has Haldir swearing to protect you. The world cannot take away your wonder, your sweetness, the good you see in all people. Oh, he cannot even wish immortal life upon you for all its horrors, and does he even wish it for himself? The small being remaining within him cries out for your life, to be swept off to your Shire and work hard at cultivating joy above all else. While that future may not lie ahead of him, he seeks it in every question he asks, every story he requests. Often does he marvel at your hidden strengths and wonders, especially in such a deceptively small package.

Galadriel

Oh, the way you charm and flatter her! Someone so small yet without any fear in the world as you spill the sweetest words before her. Galadriel cannot help smiling, especially when you gently take her hand and she sees just how small yours looks in hers. She begins to dream of ways she could hold you, how she can reach down to cup your cheeks… And then without warning she is lost in reverie. Her space is yours and you all but have free rein of her home. All from these unexpected, wildly blossoming feelings. Secretly she wishes you would still seek her out, but Galadriel knows above all that that choice is yours. She will simply have to wait and see and hope each dream she shares of simple joys like a riverside walk or even drawing closer to you in greater, deeper ways from the recesses of her mind, are shared by you…

Lindir

These unfamiliar sensations he experiences in your presence can only be one thing. The desire to run his fingers through your curls, surely soft as they appear. The way you have become his muse, inspiring more than a single song. You have a greater appreciation for arts than Lindir must admit he would have expected of the Shire-folk, and your wonder has him wishing to experience it all again for the first time. Is he to speak these things aloud? Does he dare? Whatever might Lord Elrond think if his servant were to do such a thing? Not, of course, that he has not wished Lindir great happiness. Happiness. Your smile, so genuine, sincere as your bright words. Yes, you are happiness, and such cannot go unspoken, or perhaps unsung…

Elrond

Many words have been spoken of the quiet strength of hobbits, quite a few of them by the Lord of Imladris himself. You are no exception to this, appearing before him as a little blaze of fire unafraid to make demands at council. He cannot even fight, just chuckle and hear your terms, and he wonders if you take notice of the way the others look at his soft response. Why, he wonders, is he being so giving- simple appreciation for the pastoral little folk and all they symbolize for the joy and hope of the world? Perhaps, but a part of him is forced to admit… He is attracted to you. Much time has passed since Elrond has been met with such a force, and quite simply put it stirs something in him. Much as he has endured in this world, your desire to fight for every joy you've ever known rings true to Elrond's own creation of a house of comfort...in your own special way. He cannot help but smile as he listens to you.

Arwen

Developing a little habit for teasing you, Arwen always manages to slink behind you and offer to help you reach something off a high shelf, voice low and lips curved upward. She is older than her visage suggests, wiser, thus you are not the first hobbit to cross her path and she looks upon you with no great shock. She does, however, seek to show a greater level of respect than the so-called 'little folk' tend to be shown. During discussions with her father and the other elves, Arwen smiles and waves you forward, especially if you happen to be shy, then her affection only grows, a hand falling over your shoulder and her smile widening. The more time you spend together, the more this happens, Arwen taking your hand to wish you well, sliding a hand over your waist to move past you, even playfully nudging you when you run together and always keeping pace with you. She is comfortable with you, she realizes, happiest at your side, and that is when it sinks in: she loves you.

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[arceus-insanity]

Something I never particularly liked about Endeavor's atonement, is that he never gave or gave up anything he actually wanted.

Like Endeavor was always willing to risk his life and limb as a hero, so any life-threatening risks or bodily harm he receives is just part of the job he was always willing to do from the beginning.

Him building a house for his remaining family members, only he won't be there?

Endeavor never cared whether he lived with his family or not, all that mattered to him was creating the strongest hero in Shoto.

So he never showed any want to be with his family until Shoto was already on his way to being a great hero.

It was barely an afterthought to him that was never followed through on.

The ending only makes all this worse, because it looks like he replaced each member of his family that he lost with heroes, the people he really wanted to be around...

Fuyumi = Burnin, onima = Natsuo, Hawks = Touya

Shoto on the path to heroic success.

And Rei there too, I guess for some reason???

Just wheeling him around...

Do you feel similarly or different about all this?

DING DING DING We have a winner!

Endeavor never has to sacrifice anything, he never chooses his family over his precious number one spot. He only even remembered they existed after he got his Precious.

And something I noticed is he is full of shit, and believes his own shit.

Like he thinks that 'oh I'll make a house for all my family members to live in' (Which we never see happen, so once again empty bullshit as always). But he never asks them what they want, it is incredibly bold to assume they would all want to live together, or even be able to with their careers, and if the kids want to start their own families. We also know Shoto likes traditional Japanese flooring, but what about the rest of them, and does Endeavor even know that?

One thing I've never seen anyone call out is his manipulative gaslighting speech to Natsuo after being rescued from Ending. He says that he didn't save Natsuo because he didn't want to make like Natsuo feel like he has to forgive him, only to without hesitation force him into a hug. So fucking much for respecting Natsuo's autonomy.

And this ain't the first time this lazy coward has froze when his kids are in immediate danger, we see him standing safely outside the flames with his fire resistance while Touya who's weak to fire burned on the peak. With Endeavor of course claiming 'he did everything he could'.

We also find out he harrassed Fuyumi into giving him Shoto's, his fucking masterpiece, number. Which he uses to text Shoto, in the middle of not just his workday, but fucking class hours! So much is wrong with this, this doesn't make him look good or show any atonement or redemption. What it does is make me think a lot less of both this excuse of a human being and his daughter (The start of her enabler arc). He's doubling down on past behaviour, quite stupidly I might add. And why the fuck did he need to get it from Fuyumi? Presumably, he's the one paying for the phone, he should just have the number from that!

Once again this man openly admits he only offered the work-study to Deku and Bakugou to manipulate Shoto. And constantly favors him when it comes to teaching. Understanding Deku's word vomit isn't difficult, even with him stupidly over-explaining it

What we don't see (or hear of) is him doing anything for or with Fuyumi, the only kid that wants anything to do with him (despite her character profile saying she resents him)

He is constantly given credit for shit he actively isn't doing!

But he and the narrative constantly throw him a pity party the second consequences are even hinted at. Not to mention he is also constantly rewarded for his (non-existent) efforts, Shoto chooses to work with him, Rei forgives him, Hawks, Burnin, Best Jeanist, etc are around to lick his boots clean and make sure he doesn't have to face any of those hinted at consequences. Boo fucking Hoo, the League (and specifically Dabi in this) deserved to win, and by the end, I was convinced that they would have been better for society

[celestial-sphere-press]

what kind/style of endbands do you usually do? they look so good 👀

hi!! sorry for taking a while to answer, I wanted to make sure I could give you my best answer.

I usually do what's called a "double core" endband. I use double core endbands over the "bead on front" method because bead on front style is not great for uneven distributions of color, irregular patterns, or using more than three colors. Functionally it works by having your extra threads wrapped up inside the thread that is showing, forming the smaller secondary core. Ultimately you are doing figure 8s around the main core & then your secondary core of thread. This keeps things pretty neat & tidy. The tutorial I first used was this one by DAS Bookbinding, though I don't think his endband tutorials are his best ones. Another binder I've spoken with endbands about a lot is maleeka, who recently did an endband tutorial herself.

maybe I should do one... but it takes a lot for me to get enough motivation to make videos. I'll take this opportunity to write up some tips I've shared when people ask instead:

1. Endband core material is the MOST IMPORTANT component. You need a core that is stiff but flexible - it should NOT be floppy because it wiggles everywhere under the tension of the thread, but still needs to flex with the opening & closing of the book. You want something that doesn't compress, to reduce tension shifts in thread creating a lumpy endband. Have a smooth core is less critical but helps to avoid snagging threads & allows you some leeway on sliding threads around for adjustments. My personal choice is smooth leather jewelers cord (link is just an example, I get mine from a local craft store).

2. Thread size. All your threads need to be the same size; it will be visible if you are using two different sizes, and mess with your front core. Additionally, I know lots of people will use larger twists of multiple strands of embroidery thread, which can work, but is more likely to compress & alter its size in unexpected ways. A single strand is preferable. If you want something thicker you can find some thread weights that are heavier twists intended to be used in a single strand, not pulled apart. I prefer smaller sizes because it works better for the gradient designs I like.

3. Silk thread is your friend (if you can spend the money on it). It reduces fuzz (no fuzz like you get with cotton/DMC embroidery thread), it's usually easier to manage, has a more compact twist, and a higher shine. I use Japanese silk hand sewing thread in size #9 (9号). There's multiple brands (Tire, Daruma, KNK/kanagawa, etc). Here's a wholesale listing (minimum 20,000¥ for international). A non-Japanese brand is Guterman silk (German brand). Both the Japanese & German threads come in a heavier weight (Japanese is #16, Guterman is buttonhole).

4. Thread tension is the most important part of the actual technique. You need to ensure the threads currently wrapped in the secondary core keep tension when you are working the thread around them.

5. Working on a curve. This is only really relevant if you're doing an endband on a rounded book, but the circumference of the curve means there's more real estate on the outside vs inside of the curve. Sometimes this can cause bunching on the secondary core. My own solution to this is that sometimes I wrap the primary core but drop a wrap here or there around the secondary core (only between two wraps of the same color I'm dropping). I uh... don't know of anyone currently recommending this besides myself so I can't point to any pro endorsement for this method, it's just what works for me. Forgive my terrible writing:

6. Pattern management. I... don't really plan much how my patterns sit on the spine, which is not very helpful. HOWEVER you can do some pattern management on the fly, if you really want your pattern to end at a certain place. Thread can be packed more or less densely on the core, resulting in some pattern compression; you could also strategically drop wraps in less noticeable locations. An unintended example: I was replicating the pattern on this endband (left) when I realize I wasn't packing the thread as densely as I had the first time around (right), which resulted in the overall pattern taking up more space. You can do this on purpose, if you need to.

this was way more than you asked but it gave me a chance to put all this in one spot. Best of luck in vanquishing the dreaded EndWyrms.

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Also don't think anyone has said this (thats a joke) but like, art styles aside:

The animation, expressions, movement, everything of ATSV is IMPECCABLE.

Like insanely, ridiculously, almost mind bogglingly good.

[This is a MEDIUM length post]

The main strength is the Emotion -

In terms of animation, the range of emotions Miguel is capable of expressing is like... crazy good. Gwen's emotions ARE UNSPEAKABLY IMPRESSIVE.

LIKE...ANIMATING HER FUCKING BREATHING???? AND BLINKS!! AS AN EMOTIONAL CUE. HELLO???!!

And the movie hinges on this - almost every scene has an emotional cue that HAS to hit. Whether is Jess's looks of hesitation or Peter B.'s looks of horror.

And this may seem like the most ridiculous comparison ever made but like...

The Bee Movie and Across the Spider-Verse came out FIFTEEN YEARS APART.

THE BEE MOVIE...THIS MONSTRASITY that has plagued humankind - was made less than two decades from THIS:

The fact that we progressed that far as a society (pun intended) in that short of a time will never not baffle me.

I genuinely cannot name any other animated movie that:

Has multiple styles throughout the duration

Can seamlessly change styles without the viewer immediately noticing (like Gwen returning to her universe)

Show two or more animation styles on screen at the same time (and no, Roger Rabbit and Space Jam don't count - that's half live action lol)

Just off the top of my head - ATSV shows up to three styles in one scene: I'm mainly thinking of the scene that shows Hobie (customized - style 1), Peter B. (standard - style 2), and Miguel (a light stylized - style 3).

It can be brought to four if you want to count Miles/Gwen, though their style isn't visible.

I can think of a couple scenes that genuinely blew me away in terms of animation -

One being Rio's 'What-EVER?!' because of the little stance correction and head bob she does, because it's such a natural thing to do. And it adds so much to an already perfect line.

It's something someone would genuinely do IRL without even noticing.

Another I LOVE is Pavitr and Hobie roughhousing.

Like, I can't yell about these five seconds of animation more.

It's SO fluid it looks like Motion-Capture and I left the theatre googling is any Mo-Cap was used in the movie (and from what I can tell - no, it's all original animation).

The way Pavitr falls to the side and bumps them - This not only being a natural reaction to Hobie and his weight, but it also LOOKS natural. So much so you can see it affect Hobie's model too. The movement has kinetic energy on both models -

Which is AMAZING CONSIDERING THEY'RE ANIMATED ON LIKE FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES.

In this shot alone, there's the guitar, vest, AND Hobie, all of which have their own animation rules. Plus the outline on his guitar AND him. And then there PAVI too, who's running at a higher frame rate, touching and interacting with Hobie.

So much so that Hobie's model nearly wraps himself around Pavi. Pavi's hair is moving, Hobie's guitar is moving, there's movement in the background - and it looks GREAT.

PLUS THE CAMERA IS MOVING AND GOSTLING. IT'S NOT A STATIC SHOT. The models and camera are moving AS IF THEY'RE REAL when they're not.

That's - My..I CAN EVEN COMPUTE THAT.

But by far, I think the range of expression used on Miguel is like... Chef's kiss.

(of course I was gonna trick you into reading another post about Miguel. Uh-huh that's what's about to happen)

Like... are you kidding me?

NAH DEADASS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

The whole later half of the movie hinges on Miguel looking buckwild crazy insane and they NAIL that. And like-

Oh my god what the actual fuck

?????????????????????????? I........ I have nothing to add. After that picture......Nah... LMAOOO

(left: actual photo of Moche watching this happen)

But Anyway chile, This movie is like.. genuinely a modern marvel.

If Marvel gave Tim Gunn 4 billion dollars and five years, whatever live-action rendition he would have made would not even compare to ATSV on any conceivable level - that's how good it is so jot that down.

And like...don't even get me started on Hobie..his design..his representation...girl I will start crying in this Arby's do not play with me

I just felt that needed to be said.

you get what I'm saying yall know what I mean iight coo

Here's a picture of Hobie to cleanse your palette.

Bye.

[rubyvhs]

blowing smoke [sam winchester]

masterlist request summary: you’ve liked sam ever since you’ve known him and now he’s interested in this ‘nelly’ girl.

tags: mutual pinning, cursing, said short but it’s a ‘jared’ short so you’re shorter than 6’4.

If you ever see Nelly Smith again, it’ll be too soon. Way too fucking soon. Granted, you’ve only met her a couple of times, but it’s more than enough to see her for who she is, which is nothing, she’s as shallow as they come. 

This isn’t to shame her per se, she's a great hunter considering each time you met her she’s saved your ass. And this time wasn't any different, except that she’s saved you, Sam and Dean, but she’s not an incredible human being either. 

Because, first of all, when has anyone ever accepted a ‘do you want to stay over’ invite? Sam and Dean were being polite after she saved your lives when Sam had offered for her to crash at the bunker till the morning. Completely polite. And you’re sure he assumed she would decline anyways. A usual, ‘thanks but I have a motel’. 

Instead she was all smiles and grateful as she stroked Sam’s arm to emphasize her thanks. Which, totally unnecessary, lady. She drives back with the three of you, behind your car, and parks just outside the bunker. She says she’ll leave in the morning when Sam shows her to Cass’s room that they never use, but at least it’s clean enough for a human being to inhabit. Dean says he’ll grab new sheets and you’re staring daggers at her. 

You’re not an unkind person, in fact, everyone that’s met you has said nothing but nice things about you, but she’s just not clicking. Everything she says and does makes you hate her a little more. Which is why you take Dean’s place and get the sheets instead as you tell him that he’s already tired enough as is. He accepts, hugs you quickly in appreciation and heads to his room. Probably for a shower. You’re all due a good, long shower after the ghoul insides decorating you. 

“Here,” you smile tightly, it’s less of a smile and more of you pursing your lips in challenge. She catches the sheets with a charming grin and nods, thanking you. Sam passes by the room after his five minute shower to catch the scene and rushes to help her like the sweet guy he is. 

He doesn’t scowl at you for being rude or anything, he just assists her with no complaint and then you both leave her room with a faint goodnight. That’s when you decide to ask what the hell is going on. You know you don’t have the right to do that, you’re as much of an intruder as she is— but still! 

“Is she actually staying here?” Sam’s eyes widen a little and he looks over at you as he walks you to your room, which is across from his. “I mean like, you’re so nice to her.”

“Yeah, she’s a hunter— a friend,” a friend? Might as well bake her a cake at this fucking point. A friend? What’s next, they’ll fuck?

Okay, in your defense, you were being sarcastic. You didn’t think you’d actually wake up at five in the morning to see a freshly showered Nelly walk out of Sam’s room. She spots you as you open your door, jaw on the floor, and buttons up her shirt, no, Sam’s shirt. “Morning, honey! Didn’t know you woke up so early.”

“Yeah,” you look her up and down, just once, and she looks great. Her hair’s perfect and she’s wearing her own jeans that fit just right, you can’t blame Sam. “Morning to you too.”

“I’ll head to my room. Sleep a few hours before I hit the road, you know.” You can’t even be mad at her anymore, you’re just upset, like there’s a churning in your stomach, deep inside, and everytime you think about it it hurts a thousand times more. 

Just as she’s about to bolt, you assume he heard the commotion, and Sam opens his door. “What’s— oh, hey,” he addresses you and you give him something that resembles a greeting for one second before you mumble about a shower and shut your door closed. 

What. Is. Happening. One night stands? Totally Dean’s thing, not Sam’s. Never Sam’s. And you were so grateful about it, too, considering you’ve been in love with him for years. But where do you find the time to tell someone that when they’re being attacked constantly? 

And now that things… well, they haven’t settled, but they’re not as chaotic thanks to Chuck leaving. Everyone’s hunting and happy, still on the lookout, but you guys escaped his ‘welcome to the end’ charade, the Winchesters are free to be happy, and you’ve been invading Sam’s space more often these past days. Trying to give him hints, trying to make progress. 

He’s been giving them back, or you thought he had. You’d even found Eileen and brought her back to life but instead of him jumping into her arms, she stayed for a few days and left to keep hunting. Everything is supposed to finally frickin’ click between you guys, you’re done! And yet, of course, it doesn’t.

You actually do decide to take that shower and it calms you down a lot more than you’d like to admit. You’d have probably done soemthing stupid if you didn’t take it before you left your room— like choke Nelly. Or kiss Sam. Both are equally catastrophic.

As you’re drying your hair in between a towel, walking into the kitchen, you see Dean already on the stove. “Hey, De.” Your eyes gleam as you notice the pancakes he’s hovering over. “No way, is there enough?”

He faces you, and nods. Looks like he’s still asleep. “You okay?”

“I couldn’t sleep a fucking second with Sam and Nelly going at it all night.” Your blood runs cold and you try to shrug it off. Oh god, seriously? All night? Come on, no way. There’s no doubt in your mind Sam can make it that good but he must’ve liked— practically loved Nelly to stay that long. 

“All night?” You repeat and its a little pathetic so you decide to straighten up and shake your head, willing the thoughts to go away. “What are we gonna do today?” You ask before he can comment on your first statement.

He gives you a look before going back to flipping the pancake. “Nothin’ that I’m aware of. I’ll try to find a hunt but we could wait until tomorrow.” You could, considering the only reason you took a hunt in the first place was because of the proximity, you’re in no rush to find another one. All of you kind of enjoy the quiet. 

“Why are you up so early, though?” He shrugs, placing the last one on a plate and turning off the fire. Three incredibly full plates of pancakes. Dean’s been awake for a while. “Seriously? Talk to me.”

“I told you.”

“Liar. You could’ve picked another room.” The only reason Dean heard everything is because his vents are connected to Sam’s, which is the way he likes it. So Sam’s far away from the entrance in case anything comes in, but He’ll wake up if anything tries to take him. 

“It’s fine.” You don’t push after that cause Dean’s  scary in the morning and if he has a serious problem he would let you guys know. He would let Sam know. 

Speaking of the devil (unironically), he comes into the kitchen, his eyes scanning the counter. You wave at him wordlessly and start on the, no doubt, delicious breakfast Dean prepared. Obviously it needs some white chocolate sauce, but to do that you’d need to stand up and go get it— not exactly appealing. Eating it half dry? Yeah, more appealing.

Until you find your favorite sauce container right next to your plate and when you look up Sam’s smiling at you. Yeah, not that easy, pal, but good try. You take it from him with a murmured thanks and add an unhealthy amount. Drowning your sorrows in chocolate, no better way to start the day.

It’s a slow day. No matter what Dean said you didn’t expect that he’d actually wait for a day before finding a hunt. But that not what’s actually bothering you, no, worse than all this sitting at home doing nothing is frickin Nelly sleeping in the bunker still. It’s been four hours. How long does she plan on sleeping? On staying? 

Someone should probably wake her up and make her leave. For her safety, of course, you wouldn’t want her to drive after daylight, what with all the things that go bumping in the night. 

Dean comes to sit next to you on the couch in the… entertainment room? Playroom? (You’re not calling it the Dean Cave if your life depends on it) “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself,” he offers his beer and you just shake your head. “What’re you doing here?”

“Why’s Nelly here?” Oh God. Someone shut you up. Immediately. “I’m sorry—”

“Nah, it’s okay. I knew you’d break eventually. She’s supposed to leave today anyway.”

“Break?”

“Yeah. You like Sam, he’s sleeping with Nelly, ‘course you want her gone.” Your eyebrows furrow and your pout deepens but the time you face him. He’s about to take a sip from his beer like it doesn’t matter when you snatch it out of his hand to drown most of it. 

When you’re done you aggressively place it on the table, “what did you mean?”

“Oh, come on!” You snap your fingers once in his face so he can focus on you, causing him to flap his hand to brush yours away, “you’re a bitch when you want to be, you know that? Come on, everyone knows you like Sam.”

“That’s bullshit—”

“Fine, then call Jody and ask her!”

“Dean,” You’re much more stern this time and he actually scoots back to answer.

“Look, it ain’t a secret. You like Sam, he likes you. That’s all.” You shake your head. “I don’t know why he slept with Nelly, okay? Stupid move, you should probably try to talk to him.” With an unspoken and leave me alone. 

Which fine, fuck you Dean, you will be doing exactly that. You look for Sam everywhere only to pass by his room, the last place you’ll be looking, and find an actual fucking purse on the door. Not even a sock, her whole damn purse. What does that mean? She knows it’s supposed to be a sock, right? 

And then you hear it. Her moans. Her “oh, Sam, oh!” And Sam’s grunts, his groans as he pounds into her and “so good, baby.”

God no. You’re a damn hunter, there’s no way you’re tearing up listening to people have sex. You immediately run into your own room to slam the door and fight to brush your feelings. He isn’t doing the one night stand thing, no, Sam is doing the ‘I like you so I’m going to fuck you’ thing. Which means whatever you thought you guys had, or whatever feelings you thought were there, you’d made up. Everything had been in your head. The touches and the kisses on the cheek— all strictly platonic in a ‘i see you as my sister’ way. 

Everytime he leaned down to kiss your cheek you were thinking about spending the night with him while his thoughts were more along the lines of: “love having a little sister”.

And of course it makes sense, why else would he let you stay at the bunker and be so comfortable around you? It’s because he doesn’t care what you think of him. Everything. The past years, every time it’s been a step closer to heartbreak. Every single time you thought you had a chance, you didn’t.

“Hey,” You hear none other than Sam’s knock on your door, shouting your name just loud enough for you to hear him, “you in there?”

“Come in.” You reply and wash your face in the sink quickly before he can notice your red eyes and teared up face. “Hey, Sam.” It comes out naturally with your eyes still shut until you grab the hem of your shirt to dry your face. What’s the point, right? He doesn’t see it that way.

When you open your eyes he’s staring at you. At you, since his eyes are on your body, not face. “Sam? You okay? What did you need?”

“You— I was worried about you. I heard the door slam and I thought something was wrong.” As if the only guy you’ve ever seriously liked not feeling anything towards you isn’t embarrassing enough, now he thinks you’re childish too. 

“No, I’m great. Thanks for checking in. Sorry for interrupting—” Oh shit. You slowly scrunch your face as if that’ll help you disappear. He didn’t even know that you knew that they were together. Wait, does that mean he left her to come check on you? Was she already finished? Was he finished?

“Interrupting what?”

“Your… alone time.”

“I wasn’t alone, don’t worry. But if there’s something wrong you should tell me.” He runs a hand through his hair so it’s out of his face and when you look at him, really look at him, you can see just how incredibly soft his features are. It’s always been such a drastic contrast from how sharp Dean’s are. Sam’s jawline is the only exception but somehow it doesn’t change the overall tone.

“Okay.” You retort quietly. It’s either that or scream at him to leave. “Did you need anything else?”

“Come on—” And then he stops, sighs and shakes his head, “meet us in the library, we’re looking for a hunt.”

“I’ll look for one in here.”

“Seriously, why are you acting like this?” He snaps facing you aggressively. Sam’s always talked with his hands which you found endearing, that and how expressive he is, tone wise and facial expressions too, it helps you read him which calms you down beyond belief, you don’t like to be left out of someone’s thoughts about a situation you’re both in. 

“Like what?”

“Like— I don’t know, bratty!” Bratty? Bratty is what Dean calls Sam. It’s not what Sam calls you.

You grit your teeth, “Fuck you, Sam. Get out.” He storms out like you asked but leaves the door open. Which means when you go to close it you spot Nelly sitting on Sam’s bed, on her phone. 

Naked. And alone. So where did Sam storm off to? The library leaving Nelly alone? You don’t know whether that rubs you the right way or not because on one hand, he left her to come check on you, on the other, he trusts her to stay in his room without supervision. Since when does he trust people two days into knowing them?

Well, the rest of the day doesn’t go any better, because after you see him retreat into his room one more time, you beg Dean to go out with you so you can leave the house to them. He agrees, mostly for your sanity, and you run to your room to get dressed.

Then, and this is completely normal, you stop in front of Sam’s room to see if you can hear anything and thank god you couldn’t. Again, totally normal to check, just in case. So you get dressed, run over to the garage where Dean is sending a quick ‘going out’ text to Sam. You’re both in the car and the second you’re out of the bunker you let out a sigh of relief. 

“Hey, it can’t be that bad.”

“You have no idea how I feel with her in his room the entire day. It’s already three, shouldn’t she have left by now?” Dean chuckles as he takes a sharp turn, away from the road. The only reason cars don’t pop up by the bunker is because it’s a broken down road, unless you take the path the MoL paved in the forest behind it.

“Yeah, she’ll probably be gone by the time we’re back. But you shouldn’t let it bother you so much, don’t let him affect you like this.”

You frown and lean back against the window to face Dean who’s giving his full attention to the rocky road, “what is this, cheap therapy? No way! I am so letting it affect me. I’ve liked Sam for so long and it’s annoying that he’d just— I mean, he could at least hide it. Take it to her room or something, but instead it’s right in my face.”

Dean tries to say something before you cut in, another loud complaint, “Dean, I heard her. Heard.”

“Heard her? Why were you standing outside his room?” You roll your eyes and huff as you throw yourself against the seat. That’s not the point. “You’re letting it get to you and it’s not healthy.”

“Look, I obviously want him to be happy. He deserves it. And if he’s happy with Nelly I would’ve taken my complaints to the grave, but it’s a casual thing considering they’ve known each other for, what, two days?” 

“Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s fine, I’d want you to tell me what you’re thinking anyways. You’re not fun when you bottle things up.” Says the king of it. But you don’t mention that, just grunt when he gets back on the road. “We’re going on a supply run, by the way.”

You nod absentmindedly and get on your phone. You see a message from Sam and your heart immediately seizes up. 

You could’ve talked to me instead of running out.

About what?

Whatever is making you act like this.

Like what?

Bitchy.

If your dropped jaw was anything to go by, Dean knew you were texting Sam. Which is why he snatches the phone from your hand.

“Don’t let it—”

“If you say affect me one more time, Dean Winchester I will fucking—”

“Alright alright, calm down.” And it’s maybe the calmest you’ll get. With the smoke coming out of your ears and your whole face a tomato shade of red.

“No, I just don’t get it!” You say exasperatedly as you get out of the impala and walk with Dean as he unloads the groceries from the trunk.

“Seriously?” You were just talking about a hunt that he’d picked up on and somehow you’d found a way to make it about Sam. “I swear if you don’t tell Sam how you feel I will.” You gasp like he admitted to something much worse and he rolls his eyes, motioning at you to close the trunk since his hands are full and you haven’t bothered offering help. 

“You wouldn’t! He’s happy now with fucking Nelly or whatever. And you know what? I so don’t care.”

“You talk like a twelve year old.”

“You act like one.”

Sam stops you right before you both enter the kitchen, “Alright, children, let’s not fight.” Which makes both of you mock him as you walk past him. 

You can’t help it when the words tumble out of your mouth, “Where’s Nelly?” And you can’t exactly help it when you say her name like that either. 

“Gone. Found a hunt nearby and said to tell you both goodbye.” Oh thank God. Because no matter how confident you act in front of Dean, you were freakin’ terrified he’d actually end up liking her. Sex you can try to write off but keeping her here is more. “Sucks. Seemed like you liked having her around.” You say, giving him your back to put the groceries in their place, mostly just to have something to do with yourself. 

“She’s kind.” Kind your ass. Her moans? Way too exaggerated. She wanted you to know he was with her. Which makes no sense because in the end she’s the one who left and you’re the one who gets to stay. You don’t notice how close Sam is walking towards you until you turn around and he has to hold you so you don’t fall over in surprise, “But she pissed you off.”

You shake your head automatically. He’s standing way too close. Where’s Dean? You look around and— yeah, the asshole’s gone. “You called me a bitch.” Much like all your words, you blurt it. Like you don’t know what’s coming out of your mouth next and you want to make sure you can get all of it out.

“I didn’t. I said you’re acting bitchy. Which you were, and you wouldn’t even tell me why, pretty girl.” That’s a new nickname. ‘Sweetheart’ you’ve heard multiple times, even grown accustomed to. But it’s generic to the Winchesters. It’s what they call anyone with two legs (or four wheels… or a barrel).

“I— I don’t know, she was here and you…” and it comes to you again, forcing you back from his grip. He can’t put you under a trance like that! He fucked another girl, in the room opposite to yours and called you a bitch? No way were you forgiving him. Not without an apology, at least. “You called me a bitch!”

He lets out a small laugh, “I didn’t— whatever, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, but you can’t avoid me when you don’t like something.”

“Sleeping with someone to make me jealous? How am I supposed to not ignore you.”

“I wasn’t trying to make you jealous.”

“Well Nelly was! With her— her, loud moans or whatever and she’s so whiny.” She wasn’t. Or if she was, you wouldn’t have heard it, but you’ve already made up your mind about this and there’s no way you’re taking it back now. 

You walk away from him to the library. It’s neutral ground, the kitchen feels like he’ll suffocate you in there. “Come on, she wasn’t trying anything,” he says, walking behind you. Before you reach the steps to the main door he pulls your arm, “stop it. She wasn’t. And I wasn’t either— why would you even be jealous?”

“Why would I— why are you clueless?” Maybe you do talk like a twelve year old when you’re angry, but it doesn’t change the fact that your argument is right. “We— i mean, I thought I was so obvious, Sam! I tried telling you how I felt, I practically all but threw myself onto you and you didn’t even care. And that’s okay, you don’t feel the same way, but don’t get angry at me for wanting to protect myself from—”

Sam Winchester is kissing you, as much of a kiss as anything. He wraps his lips around your top one, pulling you in closer by your waist and you let yourself melt in his grip. He doesn’t seem to mind, pushing you towards the table and you jump to sit on it, he takes a second to pull away and smile at you. 

“What are you doing?” You whisper, out of breath even if it’s only been a few seconds. He seems to recover faster, only to smirk and invade your space again. You let your hands wander in his hair, Sam’s best feature (no matter what Dean says) because you can feel just how soft and velvety it actually is, you run your fingers through it, using it to push him down to you. Even when you’re sitting on the table you’re still a few inches shorter.

“Sam,” you breathe out against his lips, he’s becoming reckless and quick, pulling you and practically carrying you away from the table. “Sam.” He slowly nods, pulling away before leaning in for a another kiss to solidify the others and then he stands up. 

“I’m sorry.” You shake your head, confused. Oh, he’s talking about Nelly. 

“What does that mean? For us.” You ask, your hand coming down to rest on his cheek, as if it’ll make him give you a better answer. An answer that won’t result in your heart breaking because you’ve kissed. You’ve officially felt Sam’s kisses first hand. You can’t go back.

“That I— I want you here, always.” And it says a hell of a lot more than if he’d said he loves you. Because you already know that. You know it no matter how fucked up things get between you. “And I wanted you to see that.”

“I know,” it hurts to think he used Nelly to get to you but maybe it was the push you need. Not that there’s time to think about it because he’s already bringing your waist closer to his, slowly moving his hips against yours. “Sammy,” you let out, your head falling back. “Sam, my room.” 

He smiles like he’s won a prize you didn’t know was on the table before helping you to the ground, only to push you onto the wall right next to it, another deep kiss—

“For fucks sake, Sammy.” You laugh against Sam’s lips as Dean groans, walking into the kitchen. 

title: blowing smoke by gracie abrams

This was a request, hope you liked it! If you wanna be tagged for anything and everything Sam Winchester, comment! Also this is maybe as much smut as I’ll do, I’ll probably go a little further but I didn’t want to for this fix but next one maybe or remedy. Requests are open!

masterlist

[ineffable-suffering]

Trauma-Dumping on your plants: The Anthony J. Crowley Chronicles

This has been living in my silly head rent free for so long, I finally decided to slap it on here in hopes of thinking about it a little less (than three times a day. It's been years. I need to get over it.)

Also, I'm absolutely certain I'm not even remotely the first person to realize or post about this, since it's not the hardest of parallels to figure out. Alas, I still shall, because out of mind, out of sight and all that. So:

Let's talk about how Crowley is using his houseplants to work through his own Trauma of the Fall. Or, well, maybe not work through it per se, but more so roleplay it to give it somewhat of an an outlet because he never got over it. Lol.

It's not rocket science to figure it out and God Herself actually gives us a pretty spot-on explanation of it in her own narration.

Crowley's plants are perfect. They're, as God Herself tells us, the most luxurious and beautiful in all of London. He takes great care of them, waters them, mists them. Does any and everything to give them the perfect conditions so they won't have a worry in the world.

And yet, we're immediately shown that despite the seemingly perfect conditions they're living in, Crowley's plants still get *gasps quietly* spots. And we all know how Crowley feels about that:

It seems like such an unnecessary tiny thing to get upset about, right? Like, plants get spots all the time. They're not perfect, they're part of nature and nothing is ever perfect in nature. Crowley would know that by now. Imperfection is the whole point of nature. If everything had stayed exactly the way it always was, nothing would have ever changed or evolved.

Besides, Crowley is a demon. If it were merely about aesthetics to him, he could easily miracle away any spot with a blink of his serpent eyes. But he gets so angry about it, it's almost comical. At first we think it's just to show us, the audience, that, in contrast to Aziraphale, who cares very dearly and lovingly for his books, Crowley is a mean, mean demon who, instead of being outwardly nice to the things he loves (like Aziraphale does), yells at his plants because he's a mean meanie.

But! If you look at the whole scene and what God says, it's pretty obvious what he's actually doing is something else entirely: "What Crowley does is he puts the fear of God in them. Or, the fear of Crowley. The plants are the most luxurious and beautiful in London. Also the most scared."

Folks, this man dude serpent is literally roleplaying the concept of God/Heaven threatening angels with their Fall in order to keep them obedient ... with his houseplants.

Have I mentioned yet that I am absolutely obsessed with him and also desperately wanna get him a therapy voucher?

Because what does he do once he sees a plant disobeying his rules of perfection and acting out? The same thing God did to her questioning, equally disobedient angels (including Crowley): Parade it in front of the very scared rest, making an example of it ...

... only to then, well ...

... quite literally chuck it out.

To anyone else, this seems like a completely ridiculous thing to do over a tiny, minuscule spot. There would have been a bunch of other ways to go about fixing that spot.

Figuring out what it was the plant needed that might not have been given to it yet.

Taking care of it in a different, individual way so it would have been able to thrive again.

Listening to the plant and letting it tell you why its spot appeared in the first place.

Telling the plant, that loves and relies on you entirely, you love it too, despite it not being without fault, despite of it not fully living up to your unreachable standards of perfection.

Caring for the plant not because you want it to be perfect, but because you're okay with it being imperfect.

(We're no longer talking about plants here, as you are probably aware.)

Alas, this isn't what Crowley does. Because it wasn't what God did, either. We still know very little about Crowley's actual Fall and the Fall of Lucifer and the rest. But we do know that Crowley was never like or even with them.

All he did was ask some questions. A tiny spot. A seemingly insignificant blemish in the luxurious, beautiful flora of Heaven.

And yet, before he knew it, he did a "million lightyear freestyle dive into a boiling pool of sulfur". Cast out, chucked away, just like his little spotty plant. And for what? Well ...

... to keep the others angels plants check, for the rest of time.

***

(Addendum from the comments: If we go by what the book tells us, Crowley doesn’t actually end up violently throwing out the ‚bad‘ plants. He just finds a different place for them and makes sure they‘re looked after. So much to him being a big, bad, meanie-mean demon.)

[princescribbler]

5 Common Misconceptions of ABDLs!

To be clear, these are common misconceptions ABDLs have, not common misconceptions ABOUT us ABDLs!

1. "My kink is so rare!"

Really? Because candidly, abdl, ageplay, and diaper fetishism intersect in a fascinating way. There are diaper fetishists who despise any form of ageplay or regression, there are ageplayers who get off on the Ageplay, or the diapers, or the humiliation, teasing, or any other aspect of the kink. And candidly, you can tell ABDL really isn't that uncommon when the communities that show up are this large and varied. Heck, there's entire communities on reddit with tens of thousands of abdls, and that's just one site (and not the most kink friendly space to begin with.) Add in the fact that many people are very embarrassed or worried about this kink and you've got an even better explanation for why it can FEEL very rare or isolating... but it often comes down to just being hard to find, at first!

2. "Nobody vanilla will accept me! They must all think I'm a freak" (or similar negative expectation setting)

Except.. they do, all the time, every day. I've personally avoided most vanilla relationships, but I know MARRIED abdl couples who started with one partner totally vanilla, and some of the biggest and most successful content creators in this space are well known for having partners not into ABDL.

Simply put, if you assume it'll go wrong and you'll be judged, your body language, words, and tone can be much more nervous and defensive and make your partner feel ill at ease. Try to not go in with negative assumptions!

3. "I have to find a caregiver to feel little!"

Uh... no you don't. Your kink might involve a partner, your desires might include one or more people around to care for you or dominate you or join you in diapered submission... but none of that means you can't enjoy still, and have a GREAT time. You can try to foster your own regressive or littlespace mindset, happily. And you don't need ANYONE else to enable that. If you're expecting that just having sometime else around will fix things, you're sadly incorrect! You need, at some level, to be comfortable enough to not just rely on EXTERNAL enforcement of your abdl side!

4. "I should get rid of [x] because I feel embarrassed/bad/upset!" (Or any similar variant of the binge/ purge mentality)

Binge and purge cycles happen, and can be very emotionally destructive. Try to instead put the object in storage instead of throwing it out, because often your emotional negative response will only get worse when you later regret it or judge your own reaction.

Try to give yourself the space to struggle, but don't just throw things away or destroy them if they're kink items... instead, realize you might feel differently later and give yourself the grace to be allowed to change your mind without any further fear or judgment!

5. "Everybody can tell if I'm padded/ little/ going out discretely!"

No they can't. I could stop there but truly let's consider this: you realize that incontinence is common... shockingly common. You've passed people in adult diapers, pull ups, discrete pads, you've likely even been in a room with another heavily diapered adult and NEVER realized. Because unless you're being obvious, have leaks, or make a point to wear very form fitting clothing, nobody will notice or likely even look! You're much less exposed than your brain makes you think!!

My point is this: be nice to yourself, and work hard to challenge those negative self talk moments that come up for so many abdls. Your interests and desires aren't as rare as you think, more people are ok with it than you realize, nobody can usually tell even if you are padded (and would be more likely to assume it medical than kinky even if they noticed), and struggling with this is normal too!

BE NICER TO YOURSELF: THAT'S THIS PAPI'S ORDERS! You don't deserve to feel bad about something that helps you feel good!

And as always; stay happy, stay healthy, and stay kinky!

- Scribbler

[wolverineluvr]

yandere maine crew hcs plz :3

CW: yandere themes, not asking consent(Pilars part), sa, ooc characters(?), mentions of murder. Gn reader

Characters: Maine, Dorio, Kiwi, Lucy, David, Pilar, Rebecca.

Divider credits: @cafekitsune

A/n: ofc, this also helped me get out of my rut of not writing at all so thank you!<3

Maine

He's not the most patient, but he's not the most forceful either.

He'd rather you love him on your own accord, but he doesn't mind making you love him, especially if you take too long to show any affection.

He's a little possessive, he doesn't mind if you have a friend outside of the crew, but he hates when you touch anyone that's not him or Dorio. Pilar is..annoying. But even he knows not to push it too far. It doesn't mean he's not going to push that line as far as it can go.

If you joined his crew, then great. Better reason to get close to you. But if you're just a random civilian, of course you'll be confused as to why someone like him is interested in talking to you.

You know you shouldn't be weary of him because of how he looks or his background. So you try to be nice. You make conversation with him, questioning the occasional suspicious things he says but, it's probably nothing. You don't want to be mean, so you never turn him down when he asks you something small.

When he brought his girlfriend, Dorio, around, you really thought it was okay. He seemed to love her a lot. So you ignored the side of your brain that was screaming at you to cut contact with him, to atleast be a little more safe and to question his objectives more.

You should've known, should've done differently. You never should've even spoken to him in a friendly way. But now you're stuck. He says he's doing it for you, for your safety, but is he? You used to think he wasn't but you can't tell anymore.

Dorio

She tries to take it slow with you, she doesn't want to scare you off or make you hate her. But it's so hard sometimes. All she wants to do is show you how much she loves you, how much she cares.

If you don't accept her confession, she'll ignore it. She'll act like you're both together. She doesn't care. She needs to let out how she feels in some way.

She tries to make you have a relationship with Maine as well, she's less forceful with that, because in her mind, you'll come around.

If you try to leave or breakup-even though you were never dating in the first place-she'll threaten you. If you never do that, she'll be sweet with you. She doesn't mind if you express displeasure with some things she or Maine do. Everyone needs their boundaries, even if she doesn't like them.

Overall, she's pretty tame. She prefers you to spend all of your time with her or Maine but she doesn't mind when you spend a little time with others-atleast those in the crew.

Kiwi

She's more of a stalker, she knows she shouldn't get close. She shouldn't entertain this fascination of hers.

She observes you when she can, taking note of your movements and making sure she knows your schedule and you to the point that she knows what you're doing, even if you're not doing what you regularly are.

She's possessive, but she knows she can't just kill everyone who touches you. So she settles for the occasional stranger or acquaintance every now and then. It's never enough. And eventually, she cracks.

If you're in Maine's crew, she'll talk to you sometimes of course. Never being too nice, never being too standoffish. Like you don't matter to her.

If you're not, then of course one day she can't help it. She'll squeeze herself into your schedule, just to keep how she feels at bay. She'll talk to you for a moment, feel the fleeting brush of your hand under hers as she apologizes for bumping into you.

Soon she starts popping up more and more in your life. It's odd, but she seems nice.

After a while of the same song and dance, she starts to yearn for more. Stronger than before. She knows that soon she'll have to do something. She's already planning on what.

Lucy

She tries to become someone close to you first, she stalks you when she's already seen you for the day, and she wants to know what you're doing.

She's not stupid, she takes it slow. She doesn't mind playing the long game if she gets you in the end.

Eventually, once she's one of your closest friends, she slowly starts picking off everyone you know. Your friends, family, whoever. At first it was just a sad coincidence, in the end it was a curse for you. You even shut her out, you didn't want her to get hurt or die.

She saw how much it was hurting you, but she kept going. She left some, but you wouldn't let them near you, and they didn't want to be around you either. She was the only one you had left. You should've been suspicious. But you were just grateful.

She'd never leave you. She's been by your side through everything. In the end, you're the one confessing. She doesn't reject you. You should've known. But how could you have?

David (before time skip)

He wants to make you comfortable, wants to make you feel safe and he wants for you to love him naturally.

But he can't help how clingy he is, always offering to come with you everywhere, like a dog.

Let's say you're his best friend, he knows he's been pining over you for so long. He just never realized how bad it was until recently. When he felt genuine murderous intent when he saw another one of your friends-a male one-hug you. He doesn't think he's ever felt like that before.

You're always the one to patch him up when he gets bullied, and he loves it. He loves it so much. You're so kind to him. You're so close to him.

He confessed to you the day before his mother died. He thought that, for once, everything was going perfect for him.

After he joined Maine's crew, he introduced you to them of course. You told him to be careful, to make sure he doesn't get hurt. You don't know much but obviously it's not a great line of work. He did his best to listen to you, to not worry you. But eventually, there was nothing he could do.

David (after time skip)

If you thought he was bad before, he's insufferable now. Occasionally, you can use the bathroom alone. But not most of the time. He gets on your nerves so much.

And he's only gotten more possessive. He hates it when you even glance at anyone. He tries to be lenient with you, you're only a human. It's natural for your eyes to wander around, for you to be curious. But when other people look at you? It's a different story.

He lets you around the crew, sometimes. He doesn't want you to get attached to them, or anything like that. He wants you to rely on him for everything. Food, touch, conversation, safety, love.

You couldn't leave him if you tried, but it's better not to.

Pilar

He's a little more laid back, not very possessive. He doesn't mind it much if you're around others, as long as you come back to him in the end.

But he does hang off you like you're the only thing keeping him alive. His arm is almost always around you, and if it's not he's still around you.

He's touchy, sometimes he tries to take it slow but he can't help giving you the occasional grope or feel. He's more forceful with touch than the others, but he's less forceful with how you feel. He knows you wouldn't love him, atleast not immediately. So he doesn't mind.

If you're a civilian, you're bound to think he's a bit odd. He didn't start touching you inappropriately immediately, but he was pretty touchy from the start. The same goes for if you were in Maine's crew, although he does start to give you gropes faster.

Rebecca

She's rather clingy, like her brother. She's always with you. She's confident in herself, but she doesn't mind being a little forceful to get what she wants.

She's possessive as well, getting irritated the moment you talk to someone. She acts annoyed when you interact with others, but if you start expressing that you feel bad she shuts up. She doesn't want you to feel bad, she just wants the other person to go the fuck away.

She doesn't mind killing for you, it only makes her enjoy it more. She knows not to be too extreme with it, to not kill every person you know, but it's hard for her.

It's more likely that you met her if you were in Maine's crew, but if you're a civilian then you only met her by chance. She doesn't plan much, just sort of suddenly pushing herself into your life.

She's loud and brash, but it's sort of endearing in a way. You start to look forward to seeing her again, even if the ways are always random or at the wrong time.

Maine's crew

If you have the attention of all of them, then you're fucked.

You're never left alone, not for a second. Most of the time it's at least two of them with you. You're coddled and doted on like a child.

There was a chance you could've escaped one of them, but all of them? No shot.

If one of them does something to make you uncomfortable, most of the time another stops them or tells them off. Most of them don't want you to hate them, the others...don't really care. As long as they have you.

Extra notes: I wasn't sure if I should add a little more of the entire crew but I ended up writing a little for them !