#maybe bird watching too

[meangan-thee-lesbian]

I'm gonna defend some corporations rn so hang tight, but I actually see no problem with BNPL schemes and tbh this whole hysteria about them being 'irresponsible lenders' just seems orchestrated by big banks. Lemme explain:

Oftentimes BNPL schemes don't charge customers anything at all in fees or interest (and if they do it's a paltry amount). Instead, they earn money by charging businesses who offer them as a payment option (sort of like how tap and go cards charge a business per use). They're literally charging the rich to give to the poor.

Now, if you're living hand to mouth, this can be an absolutely excellent way of budgeting and dealing with unexpected expenses. Instead of your $1000 car repair having to come out your $500 fortnightly welfare payment (leaving you without a car until you can save that amount) you can just spread that cost out into several more reasonable amounts and get your car fixed asap. All without actually paying any fees or interest, just the amount you'd be up for anyway.

Sure, you can get yourself into trouble with BNPL. You can go down to the pokies and get yourself into trouble there too (tho I never see banks being as upset about the gambling industry as they are about BNPL, I wonder why). But anyway, even if you get into trouble and can't make your BNPL payments, these types of lenders are often extremely savvy with that (bc let's face it financial hardship is a common issue for their customer base). I've personally found that BNPL lenders will go to extraordinary lengths to help, regardless of how much help you need. Almost always they'll waive late fees if you contact them, meaning you're still paying them nothing at all.

Conversely, most banks I've dealt with will seemingly endeavour to just cause further financial hardship by refusing to negotiate and being just plain rude (bc if you default on a traditional loan they can still earn money by picking from your destitute carcass). They'll charge you interest, they'll charge you fees, they'll charge you for looking at them the wrong way. Additionally, you can't access these types of finances at all if your credit score isn't squeaky clean, which most poor people's isn't.

So if you need $1000 to fix your car, are you gonna go to the lender who'll maybe help you, take their sweet ass time thinking about it, act sanctimonious as fuck and still charge you for the displeasure, or are you just gonna fill out a form online, tap n go your car repair and live happily ever after knowing that a multi-million dollar corporation is paying the fees?

Banks are out here throwing around the term 'irresponsible lending', but in fact, it just seems like they're hell mad someone is stealing their bit and making money out of it. If anything, I'd say that in comparison to BNPL schemes it's actually traditional banks who are the irresponsible lenders. BNPL schemes are proving that a lending model which targets rich people for fees and charges, while providing low/no-cost finance to those in need, is actually a viable way to lend. And that's entirely against the traditional bank's MO of keeping a boot on the neck of the poor to earn rich people big profits. No wonder they gotta have this desperate smear campaign about it.

[red-moon-at-night]

After doing some research on the types of pets people had in ancient Greece, I'd like to imagine that Helen is the sort of person who has a whole menagerie of birds — and she loves each and every one of them very, very much.

It fits well with her being good at mimicry, you know. Talking and imitating and singing with her beloved birds 💜

Close up under the read more:

I had to include that one necklace from the minoan 'saffron goddess' fresco because it's my favourite thing Ever

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[puppyeared]

Big cat

[bob-mirum]

Gaahh I CAN'T, they're so ADORABLE 😭😭😭

[kuromi-hoemie]

lol i love how yesterday morning i was like “i love nightmares pls send me one” and i had 3 back to back 💀

*hesitantly* i ... i love nightmares..? send me one... once a week? no, twice a week

[octoagentmiles]

octonauts ATLA au 🤲

Barnacles is an EXTREMELY powerful waterbender from the North Pole, with a strong love for icebending—he defaults to it most of the time. He can use all subforms of waterbending, but they're a bit harder.

Kwazii's the Avatar, but he's still a pirate AND he's a natural firebender, so he still has that "scary and dangerous" reputation. He's afraid of using his firebending, because he hates it. Barnacles is teaching him waterbending, and he's pretty good at it. So far he sucks at earthbending, and his airbending is okay, but if he gets worked up it can accidentally come out as fire... which, yeah.

Peso is an airbender, and the first one in his family. He's not very skilled at bending, and he can't fly very well, and sometimes wishes he was a waterbender, like Barnacles. That way he'd be "stronger", and could utilize its healing abilities. He has an epiphany later on in the middle of S3 that makes him realize how powerful he really is, and he learns to fly :)

Tweak is an earthbender, which she inherited from her dad (maybe*). Like Barnacles, she has a love and preference for a specific subtype—in her case it's metalbending. She's very good at it. It's how she builds GUPs so fast.

Shellington is a waterbender. He doesn't use it very much, mainly because he's Not Great at controlling it—so you'll either end up getting lightly spit on or completely drenched in a tsunami by accident.

Dashi is a non-bender (with water tribe ancestry), which puts her at a disadvantage during some missions. However! She has all of her skills from the Canon Universe, plus the extra adaptiveness seen in non-benders in ATLA (Sokka, Suki, etc).

Inkling is also a non-bender, but he has studied the elements and different bending techniques his whole life. He's Kwazii's Monk Gyatso but with less dying.

Octoagents! 👇

Calico Jack is Kwazii's Uncle Iroh. I needn't explain further. His main goal is to teach Kwazii to be less afraid of his firebending.

Natquik is a waterbender, who taught Barnacles everything he knows. He got his penchant for icebending from him. He pretty much invented it. He survived Antarctica by ✨ Becoming One With The Ice™ ✨. He doesn't just study icequakes, he can make them. He can probably spiritbend.

*I'm TORN between making Marsh be an earthbender or a waterbender. If he's an earthbender, then he can't metalbend like Tweak can, but he's still very strong. Like, scarily strong 👀. IF HE'S A WATERBENDER, then he's a swampbender, full stop.

Tracker is an airbender, mainly because of how he's clearly paralleling Peso's arc in AnB. He was the only airbender in his Polar Scouts troop, and he got picked on for it a bit—but Barnacles thought it was cool as heck, and that's how they became friends.

Do I need to explain Paani being a waterbender? No I do not. He's probably VERY powerful, but very chillax about it. He successfully freaks out everyone who witnesses him bend every time. He can part the seas like freaking Moses.

Pearl is a waterbender like Shellington; she's not super strong, but she has a LOT more control over it than he does. Peri will be a waterbender as well, but he hasn't unlocked it yet. He's trying very hard because he wants to be like his mum and uncle SO badly.

Min could easily be a bender of any kind and it would make sense, but I kinda wanna say she's a non-bender. Just cuz ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Earthbender Ryla. That's all. It makes it a lot easier to get out of caves when she's stuck. She's very casual about it. So casual, that most people either forget or don't even realize she's a bender until it comes up. Then they're like "oh yeah." as she literally moves mountains.

Airbender Pinto, who has no clue how to control it. Whenever he gets frustrated with himself, he accidentally creates small tornadoes. He can also fly! He likes to brag about it. a lot. mainly to Peso.

Waterbender Koshi, who hasn't discovered that about herself yet. She's in for a fun time when she figures it out. Remember how happy she was when she got her Octowatch? Yeah :) 10x that. I also imagine their family is full of late bloomers, but because of Dashi she has pretty low expectations for herself right now.

[imminent-danger-came]

Im asking cause i really like your theories - do you think theres a reason why peng is so focused on macaque? He talked to him first in 4x02, mentions him out of nowhere even when no one does, and even seems bitter when mentioning the hold wukong has on him. I joke he has an unrequited crush on macaque and hes pulling on his pigtails, but the fact lmk both made him have a big obsession with macaque and had him escape instead of just jailing him like yellowtusk, makes me feel theres a reason for it

There could easily be some jttw thing I don't know, or there could not, but I'll do my best to provide some insight based off of what we see in lmk!

So, I think Peng and Macaque quite simply just don't mesh. This is used as a way to highlight their differences, as well as set up the eventual fight between Macaque and Peng in 4x13. Peng dislikes the way Macaque goes about things, especially because Macaque prefers to be methodical and cautious while Peng loves to foolhardily fight:

Macaque: "Look Wukong—I get you're excited, I do! But crossing the jade emperor is going to have consequences- and you're not listening. *sigh*" Peng: "You always were the most cowardly of the bunch Macaque, slinking around in the shadows like a rodent—well I for one am done with squabbling for scraps!"

(4x02 New Adventures)

-

Sun Wukong: "Peng is the most dangerous foe any of you have ever faced—buuuuut, the only thing they care more about than fighting is self preservation." (4x12 The Plan Man)

-

These two characters are foils. Where Macaque has a difficult time leaving-

Peng: "The six-eared Macaque fighting side by side with his own replacements! Is there anything Wukong could do that would break his hold over you?" (4x13 Rip and Tear)

-Peng on the other hand runs the moment things turn south. They abandon their brothers, valuing their own life over anyone else's and making it clear that no one has a hold on them the same way people have a hold on Macaque. Macaque never wanted to reach for more, yet Peng is motivated by their lust for wealth and status. They're "done with squabbling for scraps" and are glad to say goodbye to Camel Ridge—or "this dump"—clearly focused on material things more than anything else.

Macaque: "No that's YOU! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power, more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while were were ahead! Not the great sage, he's got to drag EVERYONE else into his mess!" (4x11 A Lifetime of Mistakes)

((I will say, however, I wonder why Peng chose to leave Heaven in the first place. Their motivations aren't as noble as Azure's and Yellowtusks'—what forced them out of their spot in the Celestial Court, if anything did?))

As for mentioning Macaque out of no where—I wouldn't say that's the case! Macaque was the last remaining member of the Brotherhood they had yet to cross paths with in 4x09, it makes perfect sense that Peng would bring him up while talking about reforging the Brotherhood after failing to win over DBK. Of course, Azure and Yellowtusk don't care—Macaque was basically the boyfriend Wukong kept bringing around that no one else liked.

Which...3x08 anyone?

Macaque: "*laughs* Together? Remind me again exactly what it is you contribute to the team? They seem to get on just fine without you! Don't take it personally Tang—your buddy Wukong values people by how useful they are to him. Take it from me as an...expert in what happens when you get too close to the king. Look out for number one, because if you don't? No one will." (3x08 Benched)

Another thing that piques my interest is Peng's choice to run, a cowardly choice, something that in another time they surely would have insulted Macaque for. ESPECIALLY because, Macaque is the one who instead makes the choice to stay in 4x13/4x13, helping to seal the Jade Emperor's power.

So ya. They foils.

Moving on, with the whole "Peng escaping rather than being imprisoned" plot point, I'd call attention to this 4x12 scene:

Peng: "Hm. I was expecting a little more pageantry while we were the ones running the show! Turns out Azure even trapped the cup bearers in the scroll. Pouring one's own drinks does tend to dampen the mood." Yellowtusk: "We are missing more than waitstaff brother—look around! This is not the change we dreampt of." Peng: "Oh, I don't know, a little bit of chaos might be good for the world!"

(4x12 The Plan Man)

-

Peng's specific use of the word chaos here leads me to believe that their going to somehow become involved with our who-done-it underworld plot. If Peng is one for chaos, and "the universe is perilously close to tipping into chaos", then it's 1+2. Now that Peng is free and Yellowtusk is imprisoned (very Macaque and SWK of them), I think it's quite possible Peng could work to free Yellowtusk next season, and Yellowtusk might downright refuse (very UNLIKE Macaque and SWK of them). Peng and Yellowtusk's motivations were extremely different since the beginning, and I think the rift between these two will be something explored down the line.

As for Peng and Macaque, I'm sure they'll get another confrontation! Something like Peng offering Macaque a "way out" from whatever our secret puppet-master has planning, and Macaque, in a beautiful choice of showing off his character development, chooses to instead stick it out with SWK and MK. It'll be something that highlights how much Macaque has developed and grown, while showing off Peng's vices.

[winemom-culture]

It’s not off the table that I really just don’t understand what makes a “good” horror movie and what the genre is supposed to be about. Because on the other side of the coin, I watched Vivarium (2019) like a year or two ago, and while like arguably that’s more sci-fi/psychological than horror, it really stuck with me. I will just be sitting around on any given normal day and think about Vivarium and be like god damn, what an incredible movie. Come to find out it’s got godawful reviews, the enthusiasts and the critics say it’s trash! I don’t care I’ll keep watching that garbage

[thedeadthree]

🥀💌🕯️💀 <33

*old person yells at cloud* THEORY TIME <3 but i was thinking of the skill trees screens we’ve seen so far and i am like���… super certain that ingellvar is the mourners surname and soo that calls for an update to irulannes pin interest board <33

(ill cry change it if it isn’t though but hehe anyway im stoked to at last have a surname for when i save her edits bc rn her folder says i.datv xixjjxhx *WHEEZE* 💀)

[fragmentedblade]

I love that you can pinpoint exactly the moment in which Jing Yuan steals that piece (and which one) from the board in his trailer

[scoliosisgoblin]

doodles of the gay idiots feat Mona and my girlfriend's oc, Lilly :) (who is also a gay idiot)

[fryknave]

i think id like to go birdwatching.. could be fun

[whippetcrimes]

.

[takeyourdailydoseofcyanide]

I’m beginning to think that I live in a dollhouse of a world. I think it’s an experiment. How long until the one they created finally collapses under the failure that is supposed to be the guidance of real humans. Where is the real world? How do I get out? Are they the ones who are observing me closely? Is everyone around me just a prop for the experiment? Are they all in on it? Why post this on here? What happens if they know I’ve become aware? Will that all become a part of the experiment too? Was that the plan from the beginning? Are the people I interact with on here a part of it? Something’s just wrong and I could feel it since I woke up and days prior

Is this a glimpse into the real world? Real non involved people

[chussyracing]

which livery are you most excited for?

ferrari since it's my one true love and always has been (also because last year's launch was the best ever launch i have ever seen from any team ever, so the expectations are set high). other than that i'm curious about williams, because i love the blue color and i'm a SUCKER for the duracell sponsorship part of ther livery (they better keep it)