#look im just gonna say

[xmoriartea]

So with Tanner magically smarter from a book and Ireena’s new manor perfectly hallowed and safe from undead (say “thank you Umberlee”) - we were starting to feel a little... good? Powerful? Ready to take on anything? 

So now a dose of humility.

Turns out casually mentioning the existence of a vampire hunter to a Strahd simp has consequences— TANNER

Well... he wasn’t a successful vampire hunter at any rate. We’ve been doing the heavy lifting here. But we had other things to deal with besides finding van Richeten — namely a return to the Lake Zarovich DLC (RIP van Richten, you might be missed)

And yes, a later sending to dear Volenta to see how she was doing revealed that she was soooo boooorrrrreeedddd because Strahd was busy with a guest/war criminal. 

So yeah. In Ravenloft it is.

So Tanner had sent our zombie friend from von Holtz’s estate to our merfriend Merrick and had had Alkali send to Merrick like ‘so you have a guest coming, can you just nudge it to the shore near us at some point?’ because Kalina did NOT like that Tanner zombied a boy. So she gathered the diamonds needed to fix him and Alkali agreed to take care of the ceremony.

Turns out. Barovia gets weird when you try to resurrect a zombie and Alkali basically went to war with the Dark Powers to pull a soul out of their grasp and fix this boy. Which... introduced us to some concepts... like the fact not everyone has a soul in Barovia. Alkali felt the presence of Umberlee in that ritual, felt the goddess herself rip a soul from the hands of the Dark Powers... but when they all got back to the village... some things were... off about the person they’d brought back. He didn’t remember his name.. his favorite dishes didn’t match...

Cue a crisis from the death priestess who believes there is a very STRICT order to the way of things — souls exist. And they go to the gods when their time runs out. Barovia was... broken...

But thankfully it was also broken in more actionable at the moment ways, and they found out from Merrick there was another merfolk sanctuary in the lake and that he was still unsure what their fate had become. So Alkali tentatively reached out to another fey that, should she have lived the events of the Mists and what have you, would still be alive some 400+ years later.

Some sendings later, Alkali found out yes. Merrick’s friend was alive. And there were merfolk still in the lake, but merrow had enslaved them and trapped his friend Araxia.

Souls? Messy. Hard. Complicated. Very high level divine concepts.

Hitting a merrow? Easy. Straight forward. A fun aside from the souls hell.

The attack on the sanctuary went mostly well. We started taking out everyone who got aggro and started encouraging the merfolk to find shelter if they couldn’t fight. We found two twin merfolk, Nadia and Taron, who were VERY READY to fight and they started to assist their people a little more while we moved onto the Main Bitch as they roughly put it.

Things went less well there... because she was a fucking lich....

But we did it. God Christ it hurt but we did it. It should be illegal to cast chain lightning under water, just saying. But we made it. And Alkali definitely took the time to spread the good word of Umberlee to these recently freed merfolk between her and Arabelle sitting with Mina until the feeblemind wore off/could be broken in the morning.

After a bit of rest and more funeral duties were needed at the Sanctuary, the party decided to chase rumors of a wizard in the mountains north of the lake and managed to find a... well a badger. Who was a wizard. Tanner was able to convince the man to trust him despite the babbling nonsense and Tanner identified the spell his mind was under, leading Mina to restore him. 

Turns out, not a mad wizard like Alkali feared, just a cursed one. And one who knew Tanner’s parents?? Apparently?? Old college friends basically. He was able to warn us a little of Strahd’s powers (some we knew, some we didn’t) and offered them a place of safety in the woods where his keep was hidden. He wasn’t too keen on rejoining the fight, however, and after some tea, we left his home.

On our way back to the lake, we found the ruins of an old manor, did some snooping around the place that reeked of death and murder and spent five minutes on the most awkward of speak with dead 

Look. We found manacles in a house of murdered folks. We were CONCERNED. Apparently the murder was just absolutely unrelated to the manacles. Honest mistake okay.

So back into the lake we went, where we had another normal one

And then decided to look into this whole missing seed situation we’d learned about at the winery what felt like a lifetime ago, but was maybe a week ago?

The wereravens suspected the hag in the Berez swamp had taken their magical seed, so after another pit stop in Vallaki to check all was actually well, to the swamps we went. And look. We did Curse of Strahd a little... off book:

Because Baba Lysaga barely had time to react to us before we started tearing through her home. Her home put up more of a fight than she did, actually. So ow there, but we’re fiiine.

Alkali then went to explore the ruins and met the former Burgomaster of Berez’s ghost and look. She was finding an ongoing thread in Barovia and it was pissing her off:

She was so ready to help the ghost, but then she cursed him herself, and went to pay respects to the statue of his Tatyana-incarnated daughter and promise she wouldn’t let this happen again.

She would PERSONALLY drown Ismark if he looked at Ireena wrong.

But you know. Still a swamp. Still dangerous for other reasons.

HE DIDN’T. THANKFULLY. Because the dumbass has a chance of dying when he casts the last finger of death the dark powers gave him and I just. a Snake. really.

They returned the magic seed to a nearby wereraven for delivery to the winery and headed back to the Inn which, by this point, was a sort of home for them and their assorted collection of orphans.

One of those orphans, the dusk elf Savid, had a musical bone in his body and happened to be singing songs he’d picked up from travelers through the vistani camp... one of which. Was a war propaganda song. From the country Alkali’s homeland had been at war with for many years. The same war that put a number of her ships in her trench. So to avoid... killing an elf, she decided to scry on a different and more hated elf: Kasimir.

Alkali just, in a tavern, death gripping a table as she peers into a mirror, carrying out the scry for as long as she fucking could and burning every bit of the dungeons into her memory for later, just in case.

I sent to him as soon as the scry ended and when the little bastard either couldn’t or refused to answer me... I got. Petty. Alkali used her last sending of the night to reach out to Anastrasya, the decidedly more vicious of the brides she’d become friendly with.

And just. Let her know. She had an uninvited guest in her house - the same guest Alkali had previously mentioned wanting to deal with herself in their chats at the party.

If ‘cat who caught the canary’ had a vibe that could come over sending, Alkali was pretty sure she got that when Anastrasya promised to look into it.

I sense nothing wrong with this.

And what did we learn from all this? Well one elf learned not to sing cover songs around Alkali

[spitblaze]

I guess Chilchuck has brought us right back to 'adults who are short are child-coded and if you like them you're a pedophile' discourse huh

[batsyheere]

Forget Bruce Wayne. Give me Jim Gordon, the nosy neighbour who likes to make sure new-to-town Danny Nightingale is looking after himself, who enjoys inviting the 'kid' over to enjoy a meal while he goes on about his own daughter or gets Danny to open up about his life.

Give me Danny, oddly charmed and highly protective of this paternal figure who isn't actively trying to adopt him. Who likes to check in and make sure the man is actually resting when he gets injured on the job. Who, after many trials and errors, manages to cook a meal and bring it over instead of ordering takeout. Who has someone actively listening to him even if they don't actually understand every word out of Danny's mouth.

And everytime a Bat tries to come around Jim Gordon is on the roof with a broom, waving them off because this is his kid, Bruce! He called dibs!

[noornight]

Long distance besties. This definitely happened after the third movie (source: trust me bro)

Based on this

[inkskinned]

the problem is that being single is seen as the consolidation prize, and not the natural neutral state of being-a-person. at the end of the movie or the book or the poetry, there is a person waiting for you at the altar, and they love you. if the play is a comedy, everyone gets married. the metaphor is about how you are not-whole. the metaphor is about how everyone is going to be happily-ever-after. the metaphor is that romantic love is the most important resource on the planet, not just all-love. all-love is not a thing, that is a disappointment. the treasure is not the friends we made along the way. the treasure is the girl you landed.

the metaphor is that you cannot be alone, that means you are broken. are you getting over someone? that is acceptable, you can be getting over someone, but not for long. you must be single because you would rather not be single. you must be single and looking to not-be-single. you must want to date, eventually.

friendship and community are never seen as being equal-to or even-better than romantic connection. that person is your one! you need to find them. you need to hunt through the sand particles until you can shift out some kind of gem. this is regardless to your own experience of the beach and the sun. you need to be somewhere with someone.

if you are taking this time alone to heal, that is so sad. everyone gives you this little pitying look. the understanding is that you are not actually happier than you were before you were single. it is seen as a sort of pity - oh, you are choosing yourself, making yourself the priority? - that isn't quite right. you must mean that you are making yourself ready for the right person. you are just laying the bed better this time. open up your heart. you'll find them, we promise!

what do you mean you're really-truly genuinely-very happy? you are probably misremembering what it was like to be in a relationship. and besides, once you meet your person, that time will look grey and bland and wasted. your person is the only way for you to see in color. so what if you have taken this time - for the first time in your entire life - to actually-for-real do the fucking work. you can be proud of yourself, sure. but the way we need to know that you got better is that you get a partner. you're healed enough for the next bad part!

people don't choose to be single, they just say they're choosing to be single - they actually mean "nobody wants to date me." it doesn't matter how many people you have gently rejected or how many times you've talked it over carefully in therapy. what matters is that you are single, and by all accounts - that means you are something worth our pity. your successes and life all seem pale in the sunlight. sure, you have done amazing things and finally found your way in life. what matters is that there wasn't a person in the room with you while you did it.

you want to tell them - that's the whole thing. i didn't know how to be alone in the room. i didn't know how to handle the silence. every moment was so sharp, and i kept choosing the wrong way to close the door. i have spent my entire life in the empty well, living in the ricochet of someone else's cruelty. for once i have built myself a ladder. for once everything i taste is all mine, every bite of sunshine and laughter. i have learned how to sleep out in the open with my memories. recently, they have started to purr.

your father rolls his eyes. listen. this isn't about you. i just want a grandchild in my future.

[newttxt]

the best way to luffy’s stomach is through his heart (or something like that)

a four page one piece fancomic in which luffy and law talk about luffy’s stomach

page 1

panel 1: a top view of luffy and law sitting in grass. luffy is leaning back on his hands with his legs outstretched. law sits crosslegged between them. they are both looking down at the hole in luffy’s abdomen, where law has used his devil fruit power to remove his stomach. “whoa! cool!” says luffy, while law hums, “hmm… interesting.”

panel 2: a close-up of law’s hand holding luffy’s stomach in its cube-like container. “it looks surprisingly average,” law says, “for a bottomless pit.”

panel 3: “isn’t it weird?” luffy asks. he is sitting with his back to the viewer, but his smile is still visible as he leans into law’s space. law is still crosslegged, holding the stomach, and he looks vaguely uncomfortable as luffy keeps talking. luffy says, “that thing can make food stop looking like food and start looking like poop! huh. wonder how it does that��”

page 2

panel 1: law looks off to the side, sweating and kinda grouchy. knowing he’ll regret this, he mutters, “i… know how… at least for NORMAL humans.”

panel 2: the back of luffy’s head takes up most of the panel as he demands, “what?! i wanna know too!” law grits his teeth and shouts back, “you’re just gonna fall asleep!” and luffy yells, “nuh-uh!”

panel 3: luffy grins widely, throws his arms out to the side, and flops onto his back in the grass. he’s loudly yelling, “tell me! tell me, traffy!”

page 3

panel 1: law is visible from a low-angle, as if from luffy’s pov on the ground. he sighs, “fine. here’s how it works.”

panel 2: this panel looks similar to the previous, but its slightly darker, with gray bars at the top and bottom, narrowing visibility to show luffy’s eyes are closing. law continues, “the stomach has two main functions.”

panel 3: law is now barely visible through the gap. luffy is almost asleep. law says, “the first, as YOU know, is the storage of food.”

panel 4: the background is completely dark, and law’s words trail off, “the second is—“

page 4

panel 1: a large, top view of luffy lying on his back in the grass. his arms are thrown wide still and his eyes are open. he has just jolted awake, saying, “hmm?” off-screen, law complains, “i don’t know WHY i bothered.”

panel 2: law accuses, “you didn’t listen to a word i said.” luffy sits up, his lips pursed and eyes narrowed because he’s a terrible liar. he says, “sure i did,” dragging out the “sure.”

panel 3: luffy breaks into a grin and proudly declares, “it’s a mystery!” law cuts him off with a “NO,” his speech bubble literally dripping with disdain.

panel 4: the silhouette of luffy and law sitting side by side. law is whapping luffy on the head with a light fist. law says, “idiot…” before bonking him. luffy yells, “hey!” but he is laughing, and a small “heh” shows law is too.

[umblrspectrum]

you'll never guess which movie i finally watched after 2 years of being lazy

[starscream-is-my-wife]

This is part 1 of a continuation for my other post where LL Megatron gets trapped in the G1 universe, I was thinking about how someone would go insane in this cartoon world and thought "what if Megatron had someone else to accompany him" so, I gave Starscream an existential crisis

[milesofstars]

Hey sorry, if the ideas for oumasai art are still welcomed...Art of Shuichi giving Ouma tge Hammock?

Since you've mentioned it in your tags a couple of times!

ofc tysm for the ask!! i will always be up for drawing more silly gay people

also sorry its kinda crappy i sketched it out at like 11pm and icba to fix the anatomy and whatever! theyre still cuties though

[avpdpossum]

can we talk more about avpd being a (proposed) schizospec disorder? because i almost never see that theory talked about but i wish it was. like…

avpd makes me censor my thoughts because i think someone might hear what i’m thinking and see what a horrible person i am on the inside or judge me for thinking embarrassing things.

avpd makes me so afraid of someone walking in on me doing something i Shouldn’t Be Doing that my brain twists background noise into the sounds of whispers and footsteps behind me.

avpd makes me so worried about people staring at me that in my peripheral vision, anyone near me looks like they’re already staring at me, and it’s only when i look at them directly that i realize they’ve been looking in a totally different direction the whole time.

avpd makes me so convinced of how much everyone must secretly hate me that i often start thinking everyone secretly wants to hurt me too, to the point where i’ve had panic attacks from a person walking too close behind me because i feel like they’re getting ready to attack me (when i haven’t had any kind of trauma that would create that fear), and the paranoia just serves to reinforce my need to avoid people.

avpd makes me lose my ability to speak or reduces it to nothing more than one word answers only when spoken to, turning the thoughts i wanted to express into a jumble that’s impossible to turn into words or just throwing them away completely and making my mind go blank, so i end up just staring at people silently or even acting like i don’t see them standing there at all (not on purpose but because my brain won’t let me engage with them).

avpd makes me look damn near emotionless around everyone but my safe person (and sometimes even around my safe person) because showing my emotions would be far too vulnerable for its liking, so it completely takes away my ability to express them.

and i could keep going! there are so many things i experience because of avpd that i’ve seen really closely reflected in the experiences of schizospec people. i don’t know how common these kinds of things are in avpd overall, but they’re a really prominent part of my experience with it, so when i found out that some research suggested it could be considered a schizospec disorder itself, that made so much sense to me! and i’d be so curious to see how many other avoidants have dealt with this stuff but haven’t talked about it because it’s never mentioned as being part of avpd.

[torchstelechos]

I love that Isabeau is the one to bring up the "what do we do if you die" conversation cause its a very good insight to his character at the very start of the game. Isabeau is practical, smart, and loves everyone dearly and wants to know how to help them when shit goes sideways. He's the one to ask about Bonnie too, which is a delightful read on how he thinks because everyone else shuts that down instantly as a "That wont happen and cant happen" but we see later in the game it can happen which is such a startling thing for a game to do but justifies the foreshadowing of Bonnie can die what do we do if that happens? Isabeau, despite everything, is also the one who gets to the heart of the matter even if its not something must people are willing to talk about. All without it being part of his friendquest, thats just him naturally. Which! Says so much about him and how he is! His character when its not about his relationship with Siffrin is a very intriguing thing because it feels like a very classic hard intellectual stance that's been softened after many years of learning to better communicate healthily with others. A reflection, if you will, of Odile but in a very drastic direction. I find him fascinating and I also want to scoop his brains out and study them under a microscope to see all his little brain thoughts.

[deoidesign]

Doing master studies the only way I know how: Stealing them and making them my guys.

(Barberini Faun)

(The Fallen Angel - Alexandre Cabanel)

(Covent Garden - William Bruce Ellis Rankin)

[hauntedorpheum]

they probably haven't said anything because the response video still needs some animations and some edits

[miwtual]

im so fucking tired of the disrespect gifmakers get on the gifmaker website

[xxplastic-cubexx]

if i said i picked up this issue for anything but drunk erik i fear i'd be lying

(Wolverine (2020) #3)

[defenestrationtactics]

scott pilgrim bisexual moment?