#literally no context for that i just wanted to share

[armandsfangs]

Arun is the only name he has that is a connection to his ethnic origins BEFORE he was bought and sold as a slave. When he shares his backstory he says he's not sure if that was his name, he doesn't say that the brothel renamed him as Arun. In contrast, we know with 100% certainty that Amadeo and Armand are European names that were forced on him by Marius and Santino respectively when he was under their manipulation and abuse. Amadeo and Armand are far more associated with his enslavement and loss of autonomy. Especially in the context of this scene, they're talking about whether he wants to continue being coven leader with the whole Santiago problem. Armand is the name that is tied to his torture by the cult of darkness and being forced to take a leadership position that he explicitly said he did not want. Before this line, Louis is literally saying that it should be up to Armand to decide whether or not he wants to continue being coven leader or do something else. He is very explicitly making sure that Armand knows he has a choice in the matter this time, unlike before. I think the whole conversation has to be taken into account, not just the one line, because the whole thing is doublespeak for negotiating their bdsm relationship (introduced by the umbrella) up to the point Armand confirms that he wants Louis to be his coven leader ("Yes Maître"). Also the line itself being framed as a question lends itself to being interpreted as Louis checking in for consent. If he made a statement like "Listen to me, Arun" I would agree that it's forceful. But it's already established in s1 that Louis feels guilty about being a pimp, so I think it makes sense that in this scene, he's trying to make sure this power dynamic is consensual. (I do think that loumand devolves into reliving their trauma in the pimp/slave roles by Dubai, but not at this point in Paris.) Louis never forces Armand to be submissive to him before this, he's like "if you want me, I'm out here in the streets" which is leaving the choice up to Armand whether or not to pursue him (and it struck me as the inverse of Lestat saying "Come to me") so I don't think it's consistent with his character up to this point to suddenly force Armand to do smth he doesn't want to do. Face down in the coffin happens later after they establish the relationship, and even after that Louis doesn't force Armand to change Madeleine when it's clear that Armand is upset.

Also I just wanted to add the umbrella was put away when Louis was with Dreamstat, not when he's with Armand, so to me that was clear symbolism of Louis deciding to let go of Lestat and handing the umbrella to Armand is the expression of his desire to start the relationship with Armand.

Anyways I already went into a lot of detail in an earlier reblog and I feel like I'm repeating myself so I'll just end it here.

"Are you sure this is what you want, Arun?" is THE most romantic Loumand line to me because this is Louis, knowing that Armand has suffered a life of abuse, of being bent and broken and reshaped to his captors' will, knowing that he has a complicated relationship with his own sense of self from the history he has shared, taking care to ask I want to know if you actually want this as yourself, not as Amadeo, the Maestro's perfect muse, not as Armand, the fearsome coven leader, but as Arun, the real you, before you were forced into those roles against your will. Arun, who did not have a choice then, you are free to make the choice now. Are you sure that you want this?

Which makes it extra unhinged that Armand's response is basically "yes daddy"

[slavicdolls4mangione]

I saw the answer to this ask and remembered when I wanted to be a history teacher, so I thought of the reader being a history teacher and Luigi being a math teacher, in the same context as this ask

omg this brought me back to middle school days, my history teacher was literally married to my math teacher 😭 but here’s the hc <3 i hope you enjoy !!

- okay so you’d both be teaching high school kids and your classrooms would literally be next door to each other

- sometimes you guys would pop in each others class room to borrow supplies

“hey ba- i mean [name] can i borrow a chalk/whiteboard marker? forgot to bring mine”

- and it would make the students SNICKER because you both are trying to remain so professional and keep your relationship under wraps but everyone can tell you two are dating

- everyone is so obsessed with you two and love watching you interact; shared small smiles, bringing each other coffee/tea during breaks, looking at each other like the other person hung the moon and the stars in the sky; some of lu’s ballsy students would keep pestering about when he’s gonna ask you to marry him and he’d act SO oblivious and sassy AAKSKSKSJ

- your teaching styles would compliment each other so well, you’re so passionate about history and would bring it to life with stories and references while he would be so methodical and so calm, breaking down complex problems into simple steps for his students

- you guys would inspire each other so much and give each other tips on how to approach new topics you’d have to be teaching, going as far as to incorporate the others subject into your respective classes so subtly that very few students would pick up on it

- lu would be so in awe while listening to you talk about historical facts because you’d talk about them with so much passion, clarity and wisdom, he’s not surprised at all the entire school is obsessed with you

- and you’d be just as in awe of him, seeing him explain math in such a simple and understandable manner would make you wish you had teachers like him when you were a student, it would’ve saved you from so much stress and resentment for the subject 😭

- one time you guys decided to team up for an interdisciplinary project, combining math and history to analyze historical data or timelines and you’ve never seen your students be so excited to participate in a project

(what you two don’t realize is that yes they enjoy both of your classes but really what got them so excited for this was seeing mr mangione and mrs [name] act like an old married couple for 40 to 90 minutes in the same room)

[dubiousanon]

ShikaNaru Headcanons

☀️Shikamaru definitely realizes his feelings first and it is 100% an "oh, shit" moment.

☀️I imagine the Nara clan to love not as angrily as the Uchiha, but just as obsessively. Where the Uchiha seek to almost possess, the Nara clan covets knowledge. In this case, Shikamaru wants to know everything about Naruto— no detail is too small.

☀️ I'm not saying Shikamaru is stalking him, but he'd definitely follow him everywhere. Like, he's not trying to hide. Naruto just hasn't noticed because it's... Well, it's Naruto.

☀️And the few times he does notice him it's just— "Wow, what're you doing here Shikamaru? 😀" baby you should be asking why you've seen him ten different times this week and it's only Monday.

☀️Nara Fixation Nara Fixation Nara Fixation Nara Fixation Nara Fixation Nara Fixation, did I say Nara Fixation yet?

☀️Naruto wants for nothing because somehow, Shikamaru always knows exactly what he needs and is able to predict exactly when he's going to need it.

☀️ Naruto never quite realizes the depth of the obsession/love. He's just completely oblivious to the fact that Shikamaru is kind of, slightly, a little bit (maybe a lot a bit) insane. With a cherry on top.

☀️ Lowkey, I am a huge fan of crazy Shikamaru. Like, not outwardly crazy, but "I know your height, weight, regular resting heart rate, wrist diameter, and how many times you've said 'believe it' today" crazy Shikamaru. Knows too much Shikamaru.

☀️Naruto 100% just assumes they're dating after a while of certain details accumulating. Shikamaru feeds him like, daily. Shikamaru has shared a bed with him several times. They spend a lot of time together. They hold hands. Shikamaru knows like, everything about him somehow.

☀️ Naturally, they must've been dating this entire time and Naruto simply didn't notice until now. And because Naruto has zero experience with healthy relationships, he just accepts this as fact and moves on with his life.

☀️ Shikamaru when Naruto grabs him by the face on day, plants a huge kiss on him with no context, and then skips off: 👁️👄👁️

☀️ Come on, it'd be so funny.

☀️ Insert Naruto also knowing a surprising amount about Shikamaru, because he's more attentive than people give him credit for. Shikamaru follows him around so much, of course he learns about him over time. He may be an idiot, but he's not a moron. Or... something like that.

☀️ Naruto is just happy someone actually wants to be around him. Sasuke is Sasuke, Sakura constantly yells at him, Kakashi literally runs, Yamato is only around for training, and Sai just insults him in increasing intervals when they're together.

☀️ Touch-Starved! Naruto vs. Can't get enough of touching him! Shikamaru! Go! Fight!

☀️ Shikamaru "he's never going to love me" Nara and Naruto "I wonder when Shikamaru is gonna propose" Uzumaki

☀️ Naruto just goes to the court house and files the documents himself. Surprise, Shikamaru. Not only does he love you, you've been married for the past four months.

☀️ Alternatively, Shikamaru could pull the same move. Oh, you kissed me on the mouth? Sounds like a proposal to me.

☀️ For a certified genius, Shikamaru would absolutely be the kind of idiot to assume Naruto couldn't ever return his feelings. There could be so much evidence to the contrary and it really WOULD take an entire kiss to the lips to convince him.

☀️ No worries, Naruto is more than willing to oblige.

☀️ Basically um I love them, they're both smart AND stupid in different ways, but they make it work. And nobody can change my mind.

[elainsgirl]

What I find interesting about the rite and gwynriel is that we have Cassian’s reaction right there to make a direct comparison to Azriel’s reaction. Cassian is going out of his mind. He knows he’s not allowed to go help Nesta yet he still pleads to anyone who would listen to tell him he can go. If Az was romantically interested in Gwyn, he would’ve had a similar reaction but he didn’t. Whereas he was insistent to go save Elain from the Hybern camp even though he was warned that he will die. It’s quite obvious who SJM is writing to be a couple yet gwynriels keep pushing against it

@ater-love just made this post and I find it so interesting.

When it comes to the troves, both Azriel and Cassian show the same level of concern, not wanting their girls to go and scry. Their reactions are mirrored and we know Cassian is Nesta’s LI, can’t be a coincidence that Mass chose to have Az copy Cassian worrying over Nesta - with Elain. Another confirmation, like when both men stilled at the sight of the two sisters and when she had Az and Cass on one page & Elain and Nesta on the other so when the book closed, Nessian and elriel landed on top of each other, that just like Nessian, elriel are also endgame LIs.

anyways, then you have another scene set up similarly where Mass could have had Az show and share Cassians’ same level of panic and distress over Nesta being taken with Gwyn being taken. Does Sjm do this? No. Cassian is there at unease whereas Az is calm and more focused on the task at hand which was saving Eris.

When you compare those two scenes: Az showing concern over Elain scrying and him not worrying like Cass when Gwyn is taken - it becomes so clear which woman is written as Azriels endgame partner and which isn’t.

And thats not taking into context how he was literally prepared to die for Elain, just like Nesta ready to die for Cass.

It cannot be more obvious then that.

[sideblogdotjpeg]

Extremely small spoilers for the c3 ending warning

But I think a really fun bit of Sol's character that I kinda didn't notice until the final episode is that ever since Irondeep (or maybe even before?), Sol has just been learning how to sew and crochet. And I have extreme respect for Murph letting Sol use that knowledge in the final episode to redistribute the magic of his displacement cloak amongst the party. I just really love those kinds of small character details in fantasy - the hobby they pick up randomly that slowly becomes more and more of a skill as the story progresses.

YES ! sols background knitting/crochet hobby (theyre used kind of interchangeably) is one of my favourite little quirks of his to think about... and if you keep track of its offhanded mentions, it actually weaves (hehe) a really sweet mini-story about sols character !

(teeny tiny mini essay under the cut, because i. have. thoughts)

so! a minor um actually is that sols knitwork is actually brought up pretty much at the VERY start of his character intro;

"...I'm wearing a homemade sweater that is in the same pattern as the standard issue synth knight sweater, but that one didn't fit me, so ive crafted my own as a replica - the sleeves are a little long, i'm still working on it, i like to knit in my spare time to quell my thoughts a bit..." (ep 1)

so we establish 1) he likes to knit, 2) knitting is an almost meditative practice, a very physical-based method of dealing with his thoughts, 3) he wants to fit in with his cohort of synth knights, even though their 'standard' has excluded and rejected him 4) he takes on this rejection without any bitterness, and instead with an optimism that his own personal inadequacies can be overcome by trying his darn best, 5) he's a cute frog in an oversized sweater

it's a pretty small & overall NOT important line that doesn't mean anything, but you COULD interpret it as the introductory, basic threads of meditative practice, community, belonging and identity that return as pretty major elements in sol as a character!

other, pretty major encounters with the knitting/sewing motif:

ep 7: Callie "we're sort of entwined now, right? i mean, our fates are somewhat braided at this point" + sol "if you're saying that we're friends then yes!" (this isn't a sol knitting moment, but good GOD 'our fates are braided' + them later discovering they're peregrine + sol sewing peregrine patches - we LOVE unintentional foreshadowing)

ep 27: Before the king durretar fight, sol gives everyone a peice of black yarn to wrap around their arms, a symbol of the living will they made to each other. Later in the ep, he holds up the band just before he goes down

ep 39: Right before he leaves to return to irondeep, sol gives swag "a little bracelet of yarn, just so we can feel connected" (literally FUCKING RUINOUS when you think about this being THE LAST TIME THEY SEE EACH OTHER FACE TO FACE and all the other moments sol gives his loved ones threads/bracelets. god. actually ruinous)

ep 53 (short rest!): This requires maybe a bit of context... but essentially, its caldwell describing sol's conflict of wanting to save the people he loves VS the growing reality of his inability to do so as, "no matter how big and thick and fluffy a sweater he knits, it always unravels itself"

ep 57: sol plants a piece of thread on the two ice swags (red and purple) as a way to tell them apart

ep 61: sol takes the black band from the king durretar fight and weaves it into a design that he made of the peregrine symbol/callie's sigil so that they can all wear it as a team (and one for a squire too, of course!)

ep 72: sol shreds his displacer scarf & patches up everyone's track jackets with it, to share the protection magic (this does end up saving calder's life i think.... THAT'S THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP BABY.)

finally, also in ep 72: galactic swag returns the night sky to the faewild, and sol comments "now that's knitting..."

I think. All in all. It's like. sol is this guy who, perhaps more than anything else, longs for family, home & community. He found this in launchpad and mothership, and their promise that if he could just work hard enough to prove that he meets their standards, then he CAN fit in and be worthy, and belong, and be part of something big. And over the course of campaign 3, he finds this with duck team.

All these desires for connection are expressed through the small things he knits for the people he loves. It keeps coming up over and over again, sol trying to stitch pieces of himself into his friends. Have this yarn, and this thread, and this bracelet, so you can remember you have someone to fight for and someone fighting for you (i have THOUGHT about this being kind of like a Lady's favor to a knight.... i've THOUGHT about this...) In ep 39, he gives swag a mushroom with the stated purpose that it might let sol know if swag dies. In ep 41, he tells hardwon that "there haven't been many people that I've met that have stuck around and meant something to me". I think you could interpret.... sol's habit of giving little knit gifts to his friends as maybe kind of a manifestation of that worry. that people are going to leave him, and he's going to end up alone again. so the thread of the living will comes back over and over again... no matter where you are, dead or alive, we'll be connected somehow.

You can also interpret all of this in the context of his childhood! in the waterpark ! A place where he was cold, and in danger all the time, and alone, and nobody made any 'big and thick and fluffy' sweaters for him. That the way he responds to this is... by making sure the people that he loves never ever have to feel like that. Here's something to keep you warm, and to remind you that i Know you, I Think of you, and i Love you. Sol just wants to protect all his friends by knitting them up in a big comfy sweater (and by the finale, in a way, he does!)

anyway ! those are my um. my. very minor thoughts about sol & knitting. i think about it a normal amount i promise. it is really REALLY a very fun bit about his character and it is. wonderful to see it evolve over the campaign.

Also since I accidentally went whole hog and wrote a full essay. Um. more sol knitting mentions that I personally find very delightful, although less relevant to this specific analysis:

Ezry arc: "i haven't had a chance to knit in a while, that really mellows me out" < sol's explanation for nearly punching a salamander to death because he kind of reminded him of a completely different salamander guy who had the audacity to go to the movies with albin, once. Really cute because awww he knits to mellow out. and also. god sol is fucking Insane. frog who is for sure possessive a normal and healthy amount

Living Woods arc: the living woods arc has sooo many cute lil sol knitgifts. sol gives calder a reversible beanie that has the initials CK (for calder kilde) and KC (for kalder cilde)... he says he was making it for calders birthday! (i didn't check this particular moment for accuracy, but i DO rmb calder saying smthn to the effect of "this is the nicest thing anyone's ever got for me") ..... this also has the famous callie crochet bra + i THINK sol's knit boots for calder

Irondeep arc: sol makes the infamous knit hammer cover with pompoms for kenna. (he later also makes i think.. a cloth for kenna to clean her hammer? he's trying guys....)

Tsunare arc: callie asks sol to make a gunk bindle

Ice knife arc: EVERYBODY IS REALLY MEAN TO SOLS KNITTING. SOMEBODY DEFEND HIM HE DOESNT DESERVE THIS....

Faewild arc: after calder gives himself a crop top , "i will Happily be your tailor"

Conclusion? this frog loves his friends!!!!!

[fir-fireweed]

I'm sorry, but GenAI for personal use still isn't okay. You're still benefitting off a program that scrapes and steals the work of others whether your doing it for personal use or for money. People should be encouraged to actually create, not to have a program spit things out for them to then share and act like they're the ones who made it. It's the same thing as reposting art or frankendolling various others together and claiming the result as your own. This goes for other 'creative' GenAI, too, including writing and not just drawn or painted art.

I want to preface this by saying I agree with you. You make excellent points and you’re correct in how GenAI tools operate. And I absolutely don’t think anyone should use it in a professional or commercial capacity. To give context, this was in regards to the ai art of a person’s MC. It wasn’t created for a game they’re developing. It wasn’t an ai generation of my or anyone else’s original characters. It was their own OC.

People should be encouraged to create on their own, yes, but some people do not have the ability or even the confidence to do so. I’m not going to tell someone they must do their personal art in a particular way, especially when the alternative may not be fiscally or technically possible.

Like any tool, GenAI needs to be used responsibly, with full understanding of what you’re doing. Just as with social media, I’m not going to tell you to stay off it. (Even though tumblr and LinkedIn are literally the only ones I bother with anymore. Quite the polar opposites, I know.) What I do encourage is to use the tool responsibly. If someone creates art or stories or anything of the like with ai and claims to have made it themselves, that’s a problem. So if anything, shame on me and the original poster for not specifying it as ai art. That’s valid. But if they used it for their own personal use and are honest and upfront about it, I don’t see the problem.

I also encourage you to support artists. Don’t just condemn ai art. Commission real artwork, share it, make appreciative comments about it, go to art museums and shows and drag your friends with you.

I understand this can be a touchy subject and that not everyone will agree with me. I value your opposing viewpoint and I truly do appreciate you sharing it. Thank you.

[ask-misconduct]

I'm sorry if this is a bit personal, but what do you think Papyrus is doing now?

ouch these asks are ouch

(keep going)

previous - next

(first)

[xxplastic-cubexx]

just wanted to make a color ref for Brain Therapist Magneto from 309 but i needed lights too for some reason

bonus The Flats Only Version

[dick-chugger]

You may not like it but theatre peaked here.

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

Oh hi there transfem discussing her experience in the trans community i just had a quick question about your post

What does tme mean?

Oh okay i see i understand, thank you.

What does transmisogyny mean?

Ah I see, I get it.

What's a trans woman?

Oof scary. One last question.

What's a woman?

Thank you for being my own personal google (not like you had anything better to do right?) and derailing the point of your post for my own personal education. I will now add nothing of value to this post in return. Bye bye!

[zaphiyy207]

Identity

Let's engrave this path so we could all smile in content

Because I love you, this will be the path I lead It's okay if there's no reflection in the mirror when I see myself..

-Kiro Akiyama (or close semblance of the second chorus)

[icewindandboringhorror]

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

[lilacerull0]

i feel like reading/watching mbf immediately means knowing who i am as a person and... i cannot allow this

[ollylotl]

I WANT TO HEAR YOUR DAKOTA N VYNCENT THOUGHTS SO BAD please tell me about them.....

oooh dakota and vyncent…, where do i start. i warn you i don't normally do like. character analysis writing type posts? so please excuse if it's bad.

they have perhaps the most strained relationship out of the prime defenders. but that's not necessarily a bad thing. it's really compelling. they're very similar but also very different at the same time. and maybe this is why they can sort of grate against each other sometimes, but is also why they are such good friends who can rely on each other.

vyncent grew up living a life that, while not necessarily comfortable, he was familiar with. he was happy and he had a support system in the greats and his parents. that got ripped away from him very suddenly and he got dropped in the deep end of a world entirely unfamiliar. meanwhile dakota (from after his parents death onwards) had a very difficult childhood. he spent many years without a support system - his parents gone, his aunt struggling herself and not able to care for him as he needs. but he's had time to learn to deal with that. rockfall/new haven is where he's grown up, and he knows it like the back of his hand. so they're both struggling but like in opposite ways? where vyncent has been okay for most of his life but now he hasn't had a chance to adjust, while dakota's been going through it for longer but that means he's been able to adjust and is familiar with the rules of this world.

they also have opposite ways of coping with bad things / tackling their problems. dakota shuts down. vyncent lashes out. dakota is determined to never take a life. vyncent comes from a world where fighting to the death is normal. dakota not only trusts, but idolises heroes. vyncent has been nothing but let down by them and doesn't trust them at all.

i think about that scene in season 1 so much where they're at mark's house, and tide has been taken, and dakota's just shut down. vyncent starts yelling at him because he's lost everything he had in this world and can't afford to just stop like that. it's just the perfect example of how their opposite experiences and coping mechanisms cause them to clash.

more extremely, when william gets killed. dakota completely breaks down, while vyncent starts attacking even more furiously. then vyncent is like. almost pleading (? you could say? not sure if thats the word) with dakota to just get up and fight because he can't do this alone. he can't do this without dakota. he couldn't have done any of this without dakota.

but in perhaps the more simple ways, they're quite alike. they're the epitome of dumb teenage boys. i mean, they'll just break into a duet on the train. they goof off together - the shopping cart race, that one scene in the gym in season one.

so. like. they lean on each other. they both don't have much to rely on. but they have each other. i think vyncent was probably, even if its a large part subconsicous, feeling betrayed when dakota left over the s1-2 timeskip. likewise how dakota felt betrayed over the bino and mark thing / mal amulet / belltech, etc. etc. but they stick together. no matter what they go through they get out of it, and they get out of it together.

so. okay apologies for taking so long to say so little. essentially what i like most about dakota and vyncent's friendship is that duality of relying on each other both out of necessity and because they're the only ones who really get each other, and also having the energy of like. "hey bro how many slices of pizza can i fit in my mouth at once. hey bro bet you cant backflip off of this building. hey bro let's do a karaoke duet of breaking free from high school musical"

as vyncent himself said in late season 2. they're brothers. (falls over and sobs)

[bibuckleykinard]

how many times do we need to learn as people that irony and hyperbole can be harmful because 'jokes' aren't easily distinguished from genuine thoughts and feelings until we stop rewarding people for speaking or posting about violence

like even if you're joking/don't actually believe that/think whoever you are insulting is bad/immoral/fictional therefore deserves it - ad hominem attacks always do more harm to the people who share those characteristic then the individual you intend to cause harm to or discredit

[drawnbinary]

This is tied to a headcanon

The headcanon is that early on in their relationship, they weren't used to receiving compliments outside of their skills and accomplishments so they would get flustered and blush wildly when they got complimented by each other. And since it's cute when their partner is flustered so they'd do it often, and over time they got used to it and it became a habit so they end up just being super sweet to each other all the time

The text is not intended to be read, that's for them ;P