#my computer is VERY old etc etc)

[thefatisland]

Okay so I tried looking back at "Sexercise" and by all the things in heaven I had forgotten how porny it was... I mean what else am expecting with porn content but... Ah, the thing is I'm getting old. I'm not actually old but I am not the teenager I used to be when starting Tumblr. And I am asexual, you see. Not as in "repulsed by sex" (though I used to for a while), just... it leaves me indifferent. This allowed me to go through porn works back in the days to look for all the things that were around the actual sexual things happening. But as time flies by and I grow older I just... you know it kind of tires me.

Take Sexercise. I LOVE the way the main character's body is drawn, I love that we have a full weight gain then weight loss allowing us to see his body evolved from muscular-fit to handsome-thickness. But... while before I could go through the whole thing while just scrolling mindlessly the porn sections, now I just get tired of them. Tired of how over-the-top and ridiculous some of it is, and tired of how just plain cringe sometimes it is. It is part of why I kind of slowed down overall in posting - especially with animes as while when you're a youthful teen you can pass off all the sexual and perverts elements in anime as just another joke or just the weird Japanese tradition, after a while you get to spot it everytime and realized how weighing and heavy it is (no pun intended) and it kind of wears me out. Especially when you realize how gross and wrong a lot of this is (because when you look for things touching the fetish in the scenes of mangas and manhwa, BY GOSH you fall on some disturbing stuff).

Anyway... If anyone wants to relay me or take over the look for good Sexercise picks to appreciate the weight gain of our chubby boy, don't hesitate. It seems I was the ONLY one to talk about this because of how only my pictures come out on Google Image when searching for this...

Meanwhile I found out the existence of a new, softer BL manga called "I'm kinda chubby but I'm your hero". I heard it is nice, so in case you want something a bit sweeter

[icewindandboringhorror]

I occasionally wish to reach out to old friends/acquaintances I haven't spoken to since high school/some other even earlier time in my life, but I have SOOO little social energy even for required tasks (like making dr phone calls or etc), I never have any leftover for extra ones, and it would be very odd to message someone I haven't spoken to in like 5 years out of the blue but then take 4 entire months to respond back lol.. My natural curiosity with nostalgia/collecting details of the past/etc. (literally if I were born a little earlier I would definitely do scrapbooking or something lol) is very strong, but, alas, not strong enough to beat out the Social Issues Demons apparently

[lucalicatteart]

cannot resist using the polls to make up a little collaborative story lol.. Not sure how much I can keep it up with my low energy/health problems lol, but I'll try to draw a new picture (+ write a small text blurb and new action options to vote on) each day based on the past day's results, at least for a while. Kind of like a 'sketch a day' type challenge, except story based with votes choosing what happens next. :0

[evilkitten3]

hey y'all, avi here. just fyi, my old computer seems to have given up the ghost last night, so i'm now on tumblr with my new computer! ...which i'm not super used to using yet. so apologies if it takes me a while to really get things going.

(i'm also reblogging this to all the sideblogs i still consider active or semi-active, so if you're seeing this and your first thought is "holy shit you're still here", first of all hey, and second of all sorry lol)

[kleefkruid]

Every fun post on here that encourages people to have hobbies/be creative always gets an avalanche of "Some people are poor Karen" type reactions and respectfully, you're all super annoying. I've never lived above the poverty line and this is a list of hobbies I have that were cheap or entirely free:

Read books: Go to the library, lend a book from a friend

knitting, crochet, embroidery: Get some needles from the bargan store and ask around, people have leftovers from projects they'll happily give you. Thrift stores also often carry leftover fabric and other supplies. And talk about your hobby loud enough and an old lady will show up and gift you their whole collection, because there are way more old ladies with a closet full of wool than there are grandchildren who want to take up the hobby.

Origami/paper crafts: get some scrap paper and scissors, watch a youtube tutorial

walking: put on shoes open door

pilates/yoga/etc: get a mat or just use your carpet, watch a youtube tutorial

Houseplants: look online for people that swap plant cuttings. There are always people giving out stuff for free to get you started. If you're nice enough you'll probably get extra

gardening: You're gonna need some space for this one of course but you can just play around with seeds and cuttings from your grocery vegetables.

aquarium keeping is a bit of an obscure one but I got most of my stuff second hand for cheap or free and now I have a few thousand euro worth of material and plants.

drawing/art: You get very far just playing with bargan store materials. I did my entire art degree with mostly those.

writing: Rotate a cow in your head for free

cooking: again one you can make very expensive, but there are many budget recipes online for free. Look for African or Asian shops to get good rice and cheap spices.

Join a non-profit: Cities will have creative organisations who let you use woodworking machines or screen presses or laser cutters or 3D printers etc etc etc for a small fee. Some libraries also lend out materials.

candle making: You need some molds (cheap), wick, two old cooking pots for au bain marie melting and a ton of scrap candles, ask people to keep them aside for you.

a herbarium, flower pressing: Leaves are free, wildflowers too, ask if you can take from peoples gardens.

puzzles: thrift stores, your grandma probably

Citizen science: look for projects in your area or get the iNaturalist app

And lastly and most importantly: Share! Share your supllies, share your knowledge. Surround yourself with other creative people and before you know it someone will give you a pot of homemade jam and when you want to paint your kabinet someone will have leftover paint in just the right color and you can give them a homemade candle in return and everyone is having fun and building skills and friendships and not a cent is exchanged. We have always lived like this, it's what humans are build to do.

And all of it sure beats sitting behind a computer going "No stranger, I refuse to let myself have a good time."

Anyway I'm logging off bc I'm making some badges for a friend who cooked for me and then I'm going to fix some holes in everyones clothes.

[crystalstorm]

Fun facts about

Leona Kingscholar

Let’s start with a few common ones,

He has a special talent of falling asleep within 3 seconds

His favourite food is meat, any kind of meat

Hates vegetables

Loves playing chess, often playing against himself

Loves reading from a young age

Exceptional flier on a broom

Very respectful towards women and a gentleman

Can’t stand constricting clothing

Doesn’t like to wear the hood of his ceremonial robes because it presses down on his ears and makes him uncomfortable

Nose is hypersensitive and can smell the presence of magic. (Magic has a smell??)

Now for more obscure ones,

He was 17 when he started at NRC then was held back a year when he was 19 as a third year due to poor attendance

He’s always thinking of ways to help the Sunset Savanna progress (economically, access to basic utilities) even in class

His views on how the Sunset Savanna should be run clashes with his family, which is partially the reason why he doesn’t like being around them as it always leads to disagreements.

Likes things that challenges him intellectually (strategy games, spelldrive, etc.)

He doesn’t play video or computer games, having at most poked at online chess when he’s bored.

His favourite candy is a spicy sweet from the Sunset Savanna

Has had a driver’s license before joining NRC and likes to drive in the open savanna to clear his mind and relax

Plays billiards very well

Used to cry as a child when Kifaji bests him at chess

Has insane amounts of stamina (take that how you will)

Good singer

Tutored Ruggie when he first started at NRC and gave Ruggie his old uniform to wear.

Can’t cook for the life of him because he’s too lazy to cook properly.

Doesn’t know how to use a microwave

Finds the feathers on his staff annoying but can’t take them off or he’ll get scolded.

Believes that if the Sunset Savanna won the Spelldrive World Championship, it would help boost tourism. But Farena believes it’s just a distraction for the masses.

Kinda implied but he’s a burnt out overachiever that has severe depression. He already learnt the entire academic syllabus even before he joined NRC from the best tutors his family can get.

Edit: Holy shit this is the first time I’ve made a post with so many notes. Highkey feeling like Idia rn lolol

Edit 2: Can I just say, this was all brain worms that I remembered off the top of my head.

[apiptosis]

Part 2 while I try to figure out tumbler.

The second one to meet Danny was one Cassandra Cain.

Cass ran into the thermos guy about five weeks after the incident with Tim. Unknowing this would Kickstart quite the changes in her life.

It was chaos for a while after Tim's 6 day long coma. For the first time in a very long time her brother was completely awake and refreshed. His completion returned to the healthy shade it's supposed to be and the bags under his eyes disappeared completely for a while.

The cause of Tim's coma was a caffeine overdose well that and an untreated concussion. According to Dr Leslie the last lingering traces of the larzarus pits managed to bring him back from the edge and now everyone in her family was religiously monitoring his caffeine intake. His time at the bat computer. How long he was allowed to be at WE. Etc.

Her brother was a saint for how long he lasted but eventually he got so fed up with everyone that he started a fight with Jason and Damian at the same time and after a brutal fight she, Alfred and Bruce had to break up Tim stormed off to buy the first apartment he could find that was reasonable enough.

So there she was in the early morning hours breaking into the old aparrment, room no. 404 was supposedly haunted, to give him the dented thermos she stole back from Bruce and Alfred as an apology. She even went to the Coffee shop at the corner of her studio that Tim liked and refilled it. No masks needed.

Cass was barely into the unfamiliar room when a frighteningly familiar voice appeared behind her accompanied by the singing of an unsheathed sword. "Truly Daughter, that you have allowed-"

An abnoxiously loud slurp interrupted her mother and in retaliation she stabbed the source. Said source had barely managed to turn one of the desk lamps on before he released a grunt of pain as Shiva stabbed him in the gut and he dropped his coffee mug to shatter on the floor.

A normal sized man would have recieved a mortal wound but the guy was atleast seven feet tall and struck his now vacant meaty paw out to grab Shiva by the forearm hard enough that she had to let the blade go.

The moment she let go he hefted her in the air by her arm uncaring of her kicks and merely chastised her with the barest hints of a Midwestern accent. "That was incredibly rude and since you stabbed me with it this saber is now mine." With a clean motion he tossed her out through the open window.

The whole scenario threw her off kilter and the few seconds it took her to realign herself he had already defenestrated Shiva.

With a grunt he pulled out the blade and set the bloodied thing on his sink with his ruined shirt before pulling out two chairs. 'Why would he do that? Everyone knows you don't just pull out something sticking into you, that was a sure way to bleed out.'

"I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you miss but that was rather unpleasant, you have my sympathies if that was truly your mother. So why dont we start over while I make us a cup of coffee."

"Names Danny and you are welcome to the Astral Apartments room 304." The man, Danny, said as he busied himself with the coffee machine.

"304?" For the first time Cass' rattled mind found it's voice that night. Danny immediately ought onto her confusion and radiating concern asked. "Yep 304. What room were you looking for?"

"404. Brother. My name is... Cass."

"The new guy? Moved in 5 days ago? Yeah, he left about an hour ago. If the pattern repeats he should be back in about four to five hours. It's nice to formally meet you Cass."

That was not good.

"Here," Danny said as he placed the a carton of milk and some sugar cubes down on the table next to the - yeah no that was not a cup of coffee - while it may look like an odd cup that was definitely a rather large steaming mug of coffee.

As Danny moved to take a seat Cass could find no trace of hostility from him. Her skills with spoken and written language might not be the best, it has gotten better though, her skills with the language of the body and emotion however was. Danny gave her no hostility or even dislike. Just pure concern, a lot of warmth, and comfort and a little bit of curiosity and some interest. Definitely a sense of protectiveness.

Her own worries and concern faded to curiosity and interest as she saw the wound much smaller than it was before.

"You can stay here till your brother gets back. He's usually here by the time I have to leave for Gotham U."

Slowly Cass sat down and prepared her coffee the way she liked it. Tradings one basic facts like her being a ballerina and prodding about here and there with the occasional prompt she soon found him rambling.

About his classes, how studying at Gotham U was going and how different they were from his schools in Illinois. He was studying to become an aerospace engineer. Random tidbits of space. It was kind of cute in a way how this behemoth of a man with a smile a little too toothy and bright or ears a bit too sharp rambled about his interests, eyes shining lie stars.

Eventually she had to leave when Tim arrived no matrer her own reluctance. That he was shirtless and easy on the eyes was a bonus and not one of the reasons she stayed.

As she left she concidered her options. This man with stars in his eyes would no doubt attract attention from the rogues. If she patrolled here as Orphan no one would really care all to much. It's just her way of lightening Tim's burden and keeping an eye out for Shiva.

She can come visit as Cass as well, perhaps get him to eat something. His fridge was very empty when she saw him returning the milk.

Grabbing one of the sticky notes she always kept by her she wrote down her number for him alongside a mental note to look at the academy a little but.

A few seconds after Danny closed the door Danny again. "So that's where by thermos was! I could have sworn I looked there."

[kardulis]

for reference. these two videos happened within a month of each other. (feb/march 2009)

completely unrelated to everything currently going on with dnp but. i will never be able to fully comprehend the fact that phil and tom scott both studied linguistics at york at pretty much the same time. phil was finishing up his degree while tom scott was president of the student union. like in theory i know it's true but practically... what??? huh. huh???

you have completely imploded by brain because i have never put those two dots together. holyshit. the world is really fucking small sometimes.

[viperwhispered]

Notes on Jamil's speech patterns

I was supposed to just pick out some examples of typical Jamil lines. How he speaks, the vocabulary he uses, things like that. Something I could easily refer to when writing to get the tone right.

But then it kinda blew up, oop – because it’s hard to talk about how a character speaks without also dipping into why they say whatever they say.

Plus then I wanted to get examples of Jamil in different moods, and could not resist some poignant things that were more related to his character or backstory rather than strictly the speech patterns themselves, so… It expanded a bit.

Anyways. Some things I noticed he tends to do:

Sighs (more than I realized)

Snarks

Tch (though could be a more general twst writing choice too)

Stutters when he’s flustered / embarrassed / caught of guard (what a cutie)

Goes ahem like an old man when he’s trying to get back on track in those off-kilter moments

Kinda formal with his manner of speech and choice of words (especially in servant mode) (I always worry I exaggerate this but he sure does do that)

But there’s still some animatedness with the way he emphasises words, for example

(so long-suffering and ready to bark out directions to Kalim oh boy - the way the directness just comes through when he loses it)

sugarcoating his opinions if he doesn’t feel like he can say them plainly (tyrant becomes rigorous, etc.)

sarcasm, sometimes with a side of deadpan, sometimes with a smirk

“Good grief” (another thing I didn't realize was that much of a catchphrase)

Very mild on the level of insults & swears honestly, (I mean, "drat"?) but I imagine this is more of a result of the game's rating (I guess for in-game reasons we can say he's been very conditioned by his upbringing)

I put the screenshots that seemed telling, and some related notes, on to a google sheet. That way one can filter and order it in various ways.

The sheet is probably best viewed on a computer or another larger screen, the screenshots might make it a bit difficult to navigate on mobile.

I did go in with the assumption that Jamil might speak differently pre-overblot (when the servant mask is firmly in place) and post-overblot (at least those occasions where he allows himself to be more honest). Like, there’s the sycophantic (as Leona calls it) flatterer, versus when Jamil’s honestly voicing his own thoughts. Which also shows in how I chose to categorize the screenshots.

Of course events are a bit wibbly wobbly in relation to the main story so can’t be placed in the timeline in the same way, but there are still those occasions where it seems you can tell the difference between the servant mask and a Jamil who’s not saying things just for the sake of appearances.

So, to explain the logic of the sheet:

First column has a screenshot of something Jamil says. The second two columns give the source.

The column for whether or not this happened before or after the overblot is only really used for main story things, since event stories are kinda murky timeline-wise.

Next is whether Jamil seems to be putting on the servant mask or speaking more honestly. This is where get more to interpretation territory, and I’ve not applied it to every screenshot (either because that didn’t seem like the relevant part for that line, or because I couldn’t tell).

The last column of the sheet is where we get most to my personal interpretations. So of course you might read these lines differently than I do, and that’s completely fine, these are simply the aspects that seemed poignant to me. Some notes are simply pointing out specific word choices or style of speech, others delve more into character analysis side of things.

Totally fine if you want to copy this file or modify it to your own needs. All I ask is that you don’t pass off anything I wrote as your own thoughts.

Order of lines is based purely on the order the pics were in my screenshots folder, so guess this is also an insight on the order I played things in, lol.

Tagging some jamil peeps in case y'all find this useful:

@crystallizsch @diodellet @moonyasnow @twstgo @lex752

@majestickitty @viperbunnies

[torturedtypewritersdept]

blue eyes + bruises - part two

✯ pairing:

doctor!rafe cameron x fem!reader

✯ summary:

a tragic car accident looks like it'll be the end for you, but dr. cameron is here to make sure that doesn't happen.

✯ warnings:

mature themes, mentions of anxiety, nostalgia, and fear, car accident, death of a spouse (not rafe or y/n), major surgery, injuries, hurt/comfort, angst, fluff, etc.

✯ a/n:

nothing!! please don't engage if you have a hard time with any of these topics <3 this was origianlly posted on my old blog @/illicitfixations, @/lovelornanonymity back in 2021/2022 and i have rewritten + reshared it here :)

It only took minutes to get you into the operating room, Rafe had made sure of that – doctors on stand by as you were rolled quickly inside. He continued compressions as his colleagues worked around you, attaching a ventilator quickly to your lungs and cords and wires to your chest as your beautiful satin pale blue dress was cut away from your body and its arch nemesis cerulean blue surgical garb was draped over the different sections of your body that you were bleeding from. Rafe darted from the scene, rushing into the scrub room. He washed his hands quickly, but dutifully in his pursuit to get back to you. Jenni, his favorite nurse, helped him into his surgical clothes quickly, sliding his arms through the long blue sleeves and tying the back of it. It was funny, really, the way it resembled the structure of a hospital gown; one in the same with his patients in that way. As he made his way beside you, his gloved hand found its home against your hair and he leaned down to whisper in your ear. 

“You hold on for me, sweetheart, okay? I’m going to make it all better. I just need you to fight a little bit.” 

He said softly as he stood back upright and watched Jenni work the portable x-ray machine across you in search of any cracks amidst the shell of your body. 

“What are we looking at Cameron?” 

Dr. Richardson, Rafe’s long time friend and colleague asked as he looked over Jenni’s shoulders at the x-rays on the computer. 

“Extensive bone damage to the left side, specifically the femur, pelvis, and kneecap. She’ll need more than one surgery. I need to stabilize her leg for now. There’s possible soft tissue damage, she’ll need an MRI later to be sure.” 

He replied and Richardson nodded in his direction, understanding that Rafe meant you’d need more treatment if and when they could get you safely out of the woods. 

—

Some time later, Rafe stood over your body – cold, sterile, medical instruments in his hands as he dutifully worked to put your broken bones back together. He had watched on for hours as his colleagues repaired the internal bleeding in your abdomen and your brain. His body still remained canopied in seafoam colored scrubs underneath the blue surgical garb that he was required to wear in the operating room and his feet adorned in the best tennis shoes money could buy. He had a routine for surgery and over the last two years it had become a sort of safe haven for him – it was the only place that he didn’t think about her. The routine – simple in principle – his feet viciously traveling the white floors speckled with dots of gray as he rushed patient after patient in, the dressings, the blood, the practice of the procedures he performed – it all grounded him, down to the very essence of washing the remnants from his body when the performance was over. Wash, rinse, repeat, wash, rinse, repeat – he melodically spoke over himself after every discontinuation of the processes, whether the outcome was good or bad. He whispered reassurances to every person – the same ones he had whispered to you – though he never knew which way it would go. They went into the operating room, never knowing if they’d come out. The routine of it all had saved him, but all of that was washed away, like water under the bridge, as your blood trickled off of his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment and wondered if the outcome would be the same, if after all his efforts, would you end up just like she did. Would he be unable to save you, just like he couldn’t save her? 

“Paddles now! She’s crashing!” 

Dr. Richardson yelled, as he stood across from Rafe who was tending to the fractures you had sustained from the accident. 

“Charge to 350. Clear!” 

The shock sent electricity through your body, making your back arch off of the table, but still you continued to flatline. He did it again, your body responding in the same way – jerking off the table – yet, still, you flatlined and for Rafe it was visceral. The sound of the machine echoing that horrible constant beep, signaling that there was no life connected to it – it gutted him. 

“It may be time to call it, guys.” 

Dr. Richardson muttered in defeat to which Rafe found repulsive. 

“Absolutely not!” 

Rafe’s voice boomed across your body, as he took over. No one seemed to notice the crack in it as he did his best to keep his tears at bay. Dr. Richardson simply stepped aside, he knew your injuries were too bad, there was no way you were going to survive. But, he also knew that Rafe had to feel like he did everything he possibly could. He had to know that history didn’t repeat itself because of him this time. 

“Charge to 400! Clear!” 

Rafe was the one to send the electricity through your body this time and as he waited for your heart to start, the way that he knew it would, the seconds felt like hours and just when he was about to give up — the miniscule beat sent a series of beeps across the screen. 

“There you go, pretty girl. I knew you could do it.” 

He whispered above you, before getting back to his position and continuing his work on your bones, giving Dr. Richardson room to patch up the bleeding of your internal organs. 

-

Rafe stood outside of your hospital room, looking in on you every so often, he was pretending to do his nightly charting at the nurses station and every time he put his pen to the paper something stopped him. You were all he could think about, the way your eyes pleaded for his help in the emergency department, the way you said his name when you asked him if you were going to die, and where in the hell your family must be – didn’t they care? He finished off the chart he was doing and when he opened up the next file folder, your name appeared. Y/N Y/L/N. ‘Pretty name for a pretty girl,’ he thought. He wasn’t distracted as he listed your injuries, described the incident, and signed off on the surgery he had completed. He wasn’t distracted because this was about you. 

“How’s she doing?” 

Rafe looked up from your chart to the voice of his scrub nurse, Jennifer, who had helped operate on you. Everyone in the operating room knew that Rafe had grown attached to you, though, unsure why, he had never met you before, when he looked into your eyes, something was just different. Jenni knew if he didn’t save you he wouldn’t live with himself, he couldn’t live himself. So, she was really asking more for his sake than her own. 

“She’s doing okay, right now. Not out of the woods yet. We’ll know more when she wakes up. Did you find any family?” 

He questioned, never removing his eyes from the document held within the folder that he was writing on. 

“Mother in Georgia, but can’t come up because of ‘business obligations’. Real mom of the year type.”

Jenni said, rolling her eyes. 

“Her daughter could die and she’s worried about business obligations?” 

He asked incredulously. 

“You know the type well, Rafe.” 

He scoffed at the thought of his father doing the exact same thing if it were him who was in this situation. 

“I don’t know, Rafe. Nothing surprises me anymore. So, give me a run down.”

She replied. 

“Broken ribs, torn acl, whiplash, shattered kneecap, broken pelvis, concussion, broken femur, internal bleeding, brain bleed – you name it, she’s got it. We’ve got her in a medically induced coma to give her body some time to repair itself and if she wakes up, we’ll go back in and do more surgery. Truth be told – she’s a fighter, I don't know how she’s survived this long.” 

He said with an exasperated sigh, knowing the inevitable was coming, simply preparing himself for it. Your injuries – they were a lot to heal from and he knew that firsthand.  

“I believe she has Dr. Rafe Cameron to thank for that.” 

She gave him a soft smile and he returned it. 

“You’re a good friend, Jenni and you’re way too kind.” 

He reached out, placing his palm on her shoulder and gave her a pat on her back.

“I mean it, Rafe. They would’ve called time of death if you hadn’t spoken up. You should go in there and sit with her, it won’t hurt anything.” 

She nodded her head toward the door of your room and he shrugged. 

“It’s not really my place.” 

He spoke, but it came out barely audible, almost a whisper. She heard him and she knew what he meant. 

“Maybe not, but she has nobody coming for her and I know you feel connected to her. Don’t try to fight it to protect yourself. If she dies, it’ll hurt and it’ll be sad. But, if she doesn't, do you really want to live with the fact that you could’ve been holding her hand when she woke up? Do you really want her to wake up to no one being there? She’s not Molly, Rafe and I know you better than that.” 

Jenni left Rafe to think about what she had said while she tended to another patient. She came out of the room to find Rafe, evidently making a decision and she watched him from afar as he gingerly entered the threshold of your room, sitting down in the plastic chair next to you. She smiled to herself, knowing that he was in deep, deeper than even he was aware of. 

—

masterlist:

as always, if you'd like to be added to or removed from the taglist, please shoot me an ask or comment on this post so i can keep track <3

@maybankslover @inthelibrarybtw @luvrcndy @silkylovey @yagirlwrites @obxbabygirl @rafeecameronsbitch @klutzy-kay24 @roseczbalt @akobx @allsmilesreally7 @wtfdudesblog

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for making a joke about my sex life to a student? 😏🐓 Nsfw text obv i know the title sounds bad but please read everything

I (Transmasc, 25) work on a school, very open as being gay, pride pins and it all, not as a teacher but I take care of computers, textbooks and the library. The younger folk seem to like me, but it's in high school folks things get ugly. Most just don't care about me, which I can't judge, being a teen sucks. Some hate me for telling them to go back to class. The ones that like me (mostly queer/autistic folk) like me for real.

There's this one boy (he's either 16 or 17 so he's NOT a kid) that always makes fun of me, is always skipping classes, is mean to everyone, implied a old teacher she should be better off dead, bothers everyone, talk loudly and complains about everything on his sight.

And he is. Very bigoted. I saw him more than once hurting the girls he studies with (slapping/punching) and caling the whores and more, telling them to suck him off, ride his dick, gag on his cock, etc, saying very hurtful things on gay men/anyone he deemed gay, and principal can only call his parents so many times before the parents stop showing and taking the concerns seriously. This is an ongoing issue since 6th grade, as far as I know. He hates my guts since I've called the principal on him more than once for going off on me telling me to fuck myself for asking him to go back to class.

My main strategy with him is ignoring him and the second one is answering as I don't understand him. Perks of being autistic I guess, being able to do this with a straight face. So: he calls me a chicken, I tell him they're my favorite farm animal, how did he guess? They're so amazing and cute. He tells me the lunch is gross, I say they can buy their lunch to bring if they want to, school food isn't that good (not true, the school food is amazing. Most students eat more than one plate). The computers are too slow, I ask him to please be patient cause they're old men that don't like to work, be nice to them :(. Guy says that the classes sucks, I tell him that the complaint box is at (governor's address) but yea they suck but at least he has only one year left.

This is where I might be the asshole, because I hurt myself going up and down a chair to organize some textbooks and I already have severe hip/knee pain so this only made me hurt worse so I am already pretty grumpy. A teacher asks for a banner of a periodic table and I have to find the table and go up a chair to hang it, and in the process, I let out a moan of pain becaude my knees dream of my downfall, and the teacher asks me if I am okay, so I tell yea, my hips and knees just hurt like a bitch. And this one student tells me "why, are you beaten up from taking cock in your ass?" And I breath deeply and answer "If it was from fucking I would be damn happy, but it's only from working. Anyways teacher here you go (with the periodic table)" and the teacher looks me with a surprised expression and all the class is silent and uncomfortable so I just left. Now the student can't look in my eyes but at least they're not talking to me anymore and the teacher hasn't said anything. AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[icewindandboringhorror]

Various images of things

[black-hybris]

Some lesser known facts about B.C Spree Killer Bryer Schmegelsky.

A lot of this information is difficult to find a source for as it originally came from a facebook group that has since been deleted. Bryer’s father once upon a time was very active and divulged some information about his son in these groups back in the day.

1. Bryer supposedly had Marfan’s Syndrome, and Dyspraxia as well as some learning disabilities. His father Alan once upon a time stated that Bryer had difficulty holding a pen because his dyspraxia was so severe. (I love my disabled king)

2. He had stretch marks on his stomach that he was insecure about (due to the Marfan’s),this led to his dad renting out a pool at the hotel he’d stay at when visiting Bryer so he wouldn’t be as insecure. This was until the hotel began raising rates for repeat customers.

3. When he was a child he was a fan of scooby doo.

4. He had a cat named KiKi when he was little.

5. Before Bryer and Kam set out on their road trip, Bryer had asked out Kam’s sister (no wonder he shot him lol) and was rejected, supposedly he had done it multiple times in the past and this time Kam’s sister told Kam about it and Kam told Bryer to stop. This supposedly upset him.

6. Interestingly enough, just like Eric Harris, Bryer had developed an identification with Nazi ideology and you can see this well enough in his online presence, having used multiple swastika’s as profile pictures (his pinterest, steam, etc. There is a reddit group for this case with these links r/KamAndBryer.

7. Also just like Harris, he had an interest in the military, according to his father he had wanted to join the Canadian military.

8. Supposedly he was diagnosed with suicidal depression at the age of 14 and his mother allegedly pulled him out of school for this reason, despite early reports of him having graduated, he did not.

9. I think this one’s fairly big. His father leaked his autopsy report. I will possibly post this at some point but you can find it fairly easy on your own.

10. Bryer and Kam would often go to Kam’s house to play airsoft together, as it was in the countryside.

11. Bryer’s teacher had encouraged that he see a occupational therapist before he start school to address some of his disabilites, and before dropping out of school was in special education. Some people who went to school with him attested in an old reddit comment that he had to have the computer read to him as he couldn’t do it himself, keep in mind this part is hearsay but it lines up with what everyone else has stated.

12. Bryer and Kam had gotten into a vehicle accident April 14th, 2018. According to Alan, it was a rollover due to reckless driving on Kam Mcleod’s part. Bryer sustained bruises, but supposedly Kam’s ear was torn and sustained head injuries. Kam had to be rescued from the truck with the Jaw’s of Life.

13. Supposedly (according to his father) his mother spent money on the tattoo found on his chest as a gift. Technically it’s a Kolovrat, but given his affection for nazi ideology…lets be honest with ourselves on what it's supposed to represent lol.

14. From my understanding Bryer’s grandfather died from the Red Cross tainted blood scandal, the Canadian government refused to compensate Bryer’s father for this loss, shaping a good amount of familial trauma.

15. ALLEGEDLY his mother was abusive, Bryer went to live with his dad in Victoria (without his mother’s consent), she called the police and they forcefully took him back to Port Alberni and subsequently kicked him out of her house, he then went on to live with his grandmother. I say ALLEGEDLY as she never spoke out about what happened or her side of the story (and honestly I don't blame her considering how malicious people can be). 

16. Bryer’s father reported abuse/neglect to the Ministry of Children in British Columbia, his case worker was his mother’s boyfriends brother in law, arguably a conflict of interest.

17. Some believe that the RCMP are actually the ones responsible for the boy's deaths rather than the conclusion that Kam shot Bryer before killing himself (including Bryer's dad on again off again, he seems to keep going back and forth between whether or not Kam murdered him unconsensually or if it was the RCMP). I personally don’t think that is true but welcome the skepticism as it keeps the case alive, after all, the RCMP deserves criticism for their lack of transparency that arguably led to Leonard Dyck’s death.

18. Bryer had a stutter, I actually managed to find this video back in 2020 and Alan confirmed that this voice is his. He speaks at these approximate times (His user is: Bryerbrown123). 5:13, 6:54, 7:10, 7:16, 7:29/7:31 (Mother of slur lol), 8:31, 8:43, 8:50 and 8:52, 8:57 (I may have missed some.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCOn_1kwE_s&t=322s&ab_channel=LeoGrandThio 

[mclalan]

Can you share what your art-making process is? What software and tools do you use?? I'm falling in love with your work!!

Thank you, I'm so happy you like my work and are interested in the process. The short answer is I mostly use Adobe Animate.

I hate how I'm using an Adobe product (although I still regard it as a MacroMedia Flash product), but there's just no other software that compares to its jankiness. Perhaps it's just my long familiarity with the program, but nothing I've experienced matches how it simultaneously feels like drawing in MS Paint and using Microsoft PowerPoint vector shapes. The result is something that feels in-between the two; handmade yet computer-generated.

Typically, I'll start with a hand-drawn sketch, often beginning as a thumbnail done with pencil and paper.

I'll then do a mix of hand drawing and vector shape tool rendering. I use the Paint Brush tool to hand draw strokes, and the line and shape tools mixed with transform to make more geometrically accurate shapes. The design is rendered into divided closed loop shapes, ready to be filled with a solid. The strokes are kept or removed depending on the design.

These fill shapes are then either coloured and rendered in Adobe Animate, using fills, gradients, or a more complex process of masks and effects.

Alternatively, I'll bring all these vector shapes into Photoshop and use them as clipping masks. The vector shapes act like masking taped areas or shields to maintain sharp edges, while the brush is like an atomized airbrush used to build soft volumed forms.

Please excuse all that horrible Adobe Cloud and AI bloatware...

And there we go!

Variations in the process include just using MS Paint, index color in Photoshop, or 3D programs.

Very old works of mine were almost abstract, just exploring digital mark-making, which was a trend I was following in the mid 2010s that I loved. This kind of stuff.

While my current work uses its digital material specificity as an intermediary to the subject in the illustration.

For example, #ersatz.world parodies clip-art and flash edutainment styles but imagines the characters living within that kind of world. The designs are meant to be cute, easy to read, light in computer processing, but also irreverent, janky, and generic too.

People typically regard this sort of clip art style as ephemeral trash, but I always found them charming. I use Ersatz World primarily as a satire vehicle, parodying educational formats to spoof corporate explainer content and digital media.

However, part of the problem with Ersatz is I've made it look too polished, complex, and I've grown too attached to the characters, which I imagine is a typical issue with overbuilding a world. So recently, I've made an even jankier Ersatz-like set of characters to play about with, using an even simpler style with less cohesion. I like to try and use slightly different styles and digital material styles to relate to the property at hand.

That’s why #autonymus has a bitmap digital material and a denser feel to it. Unlike Ersatz, Autonymus is not meant to be an overt semi-meta fiction. It’s not exactly pixel art, but the pixels are just about visible, as the intention is to create a digital expressionist depth to the setting. Although it’s still stylized and not realistic to our world, I definitely still want to evoke semblances of our world. That’s why there’s attention to landscape, plant life, and implied life beyond what you see in the frame with the characters, etc. But I'm still making a cartoon, and I still want it to feel at ease with itself being a digital material work. Characters are therefore flat, simple, stiff, and the speech style is like a bad Shakespeare parody. I like to balance between ugly and appealing, simple and complex, familiar and unfamiliar.

In regard to things like inspiration, references, and my relationship to aesthetic genres; these things certainly factor into my work, perhaps I'm even overtly dependent on them. My work can definitely be post-modernist in method; creating new, ironic, or fragmented interpretations through deconstructing a mix of various styles or methods. But at the same time, I'm still trying to make a digital gestural representation where the aesthetic is driven by my relationship to the software and techniques directly—not simply in an attempt to reference a style. For example, I like drawing lines in sweeping strokes, not to a point of geometric perfection, but just in a way where the curves are smooth and simple. But if I want perfectly curved or straight lines, I'll use the vector tools.

Working this way, you can sort of learn why certain styles and design choices in past vector aesthetics were made, as they would have also needed to make similar choices. That’s why I’m more mindful of using digital material specificity as a foundation to build narrative and subjects upon these days.

For example, genre references like cyberpunk clichés for #cyberhell or late medieval design for #autonymus or 2005 to 2015 era subculture fashion for #gradientgoblinz.

I think it’s important to take inspiration and reference from a wide variety of sources, but I think they’d mean nothing without having something to say or express. Autonymus, although it is a collection of tropes and clichés, isn’t just about that. It’s a story about the tensions of socially constructed systems and how that shapes faith, technology, and the natural world, or at least that's what I'm aiming for anyway.

But despite all that, I think there’s a danger of locking myself into the past by using these methods. For example, using nostalgia and references to past aesthetics can result in just recreating the past in a form of role-play. To avoid that, I try and evoke the past through a messy, inaccurate pastiche rather than caring to accurately re-enact anything. I’m probably not always successful at communicating the deliberateness of this, and it can certainly get very frustrating and pedantic. To be honest, I do kind of hate aesthetic labels (terms like Y2K, global coffee house, utopian scholastic designs from a pre-9/11 world).

I do not believe that a project aimed solely at mapping history through aesthetic styles is worthwhile. Sure, they can be handy for organizing style trends, but they can also be reductive and ahistoric. Who are these people to define the history of these design eras? The result is a kind of suffocating simulation of design history but removed from context, perfect for moodboardism. I wish it felt more tongue-in-cheek, less absolute of itself in its own practice. Instead, it acts to legitimize and engender those making these labels, almost giving them ownership of the design styles. It’s similar to the logic and process of generative AI and its databases in a way, just done manually.

I’m very inspired by artists like Oneohtrix Point Never in this regard, as I think he’s able to create an aesthetic portal to all kinds of memories, feelings, and worlds reminiscent of the past, while still being in the present. It’s more a reflection of how timelines are messy now, like a memory or dream, rather than an audacity to say the past was actually like that, or to try to actually map some kind of timeline.

I think the benefit of this process is how it avoids the other side of the spectrum—being locked into chasing the cutting edge of digital processes. I don't necessarily think using an old digital process means your work inherits the semiotics of old aesthetics. Non-digital mediums don’t have this issue to this degree, as you can still paint in oils and be considered contemporary, or at least it's not frowned upon to such a degree. And I also don't think anyone in the heyday of Flash ever made work the same as I do, especially as computers are more powerful now so can handle more. I probably shouldn't boast too much about that though, as artists at the time probably just had more sense than to use Flash like a painting program! So then, why is my use of Adobe Animate critiqued as obsolete and an aesthetic dead-end? Because to whose standards is this process obsolete? If you value digital aesthetics as an apparatus in industry practice, then sure, my work is redundant.

But as wonderful as the latest tech can be in creating new aesthetics, I do feel it can be overtly dependent on the trends and directions of tech corporations, and therefore act as an indirect propaganda tool to their hegemony over digital aesthetics, such as the ever-demanding processing power needed for simulated realism. If anything, work that does follow in the direction of the latest tech trends is ironically the quickest to date once the trends move on.

I've noticed I've not really described what my work is about, just the process, in this text. But I don't know, maybe I like Flash because it is regarded as redundant. No one really cares about it, so I feel free to make whatever I want, and can decide on form myself, to my own standards, the quality of my work. As fun as making images is, I find it difficult to put into words what it is exactly I'm expressing in my work, and perhaps that would spoil it anyway.

[writingquestionsanswered]

How do you write boys dialogue? it’s really hard when I write it it comes out like girls usually talk but when I write it to sound like a boy it comes out cringy and weird

Boy Dialogue vs Girl Dialogue

It's important to note that, generally-speaking, how a person speaks is not dictated by their sexual organs or gender identification.

There can be differences in when and how language develops, but these differences are general. Individuals vary.

Historically-speaking, and still today to a lesser degree, socialization into gender roles and cultural norms have also played a role in how people speak. But again, this is a general difference because individuals vary.

Can you tell whether the following sentences were said by boys, girls, or nonbinary people?

-- I'm in biology and recently we dissected a frog, which was really cool because everyone got to participate, and when my partner, Rachel, cut into it, it like splattered all over her, and I was just like whoa! -- Me and my brother collect corks, like, bottle cap corks, and um, we have a couple hundred in our rooms upstairs. -- My relationship with my parents I think, relatively, is pretty good. Obviously, being a teenager, there are moments when I don't really feel like talking to them. -- When something's on my mind, I usually go to my friends about it, I don't really talk to my brother. -- I don't know if they'd like to hear it, but [my friends] are definitely the burnout/stoner kids. But they're great people! -- I'm pretty nerdy. I do computer science.

Those are all real sentences spoken candidly by teens of different genders, but you can't really tell who said what, right?

So, when writing characters, it's infinitely more important that you make your character sound authentic to who they are. If you are writing about a 17-year-old girl in 1950, then of course there will probably be some differences in the way she speaks compared to her brother, because at that time gender roles were much stricter, and there was a lot of pressure on young women to be "prim and proper."

However, if you were writing a 17-year-old boy in 1950, he would speak quite differently from a 17-year-old boy in 2024. Not only because societal expectations and cultural norms were different then compared to now, but also because things like slang, pop culture, popular phrases and idioms, etc. are different now compared to then.

So, instead of worrying about your character's gender and how that influences how they speak, focus instead on who they are. What is their personality like? What is their education like? What types of people and things might influence how they speak? How does their society and family expect them to speak? What are their hobbies and skills? As long as what they say makes sense with what you've laid out for this character, you're writing authentic speech.

Here are some other posts that will help:

Writing Natural Dialogue Giving Your Characters a Unique Voice Recognizing a Flat Character

Also, I think it's very helpful to make sure you really know your character, so here's a post for that. Also, I find it helpful to cast my characters with real actors/models, because it helps me imagine them more clearly, which helps their dialogue come across more naturally in my head: 5 Tips for Getting Attached to Your Characters Guide: Casting Your Characters

Happy writing!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[spore-galore]

What is a Spore megabuild? How are they made? Why make a megabuild in the first place instead of just making a regular creature/creation? Are you insane? What's wrong with you?

I got all the answers and more below! As well as progress pictures of my most recent megabuild, Ysera from World of Warcraft!

A megabuild in Spore is a creation that is made up of multiple different creations (mostly creatures). All of these individual creatures are assembled in the Adventure editor (where you can make custom missions and stuff) like a jigsaw puzzle! So, the head of Ysera is one singular creature, as are her limbs, her left wing, her right wing, ALL FOUR of her legs are also individual creatures, her tail, etc.

So...why make a megabuild instead of just doing all of the detail on one creature?

Well, back in the good old days of vanilla, unmodded spore, people wanted to show off their full potential for creature creation. People wanted to add LOTS of detail to their creatures, but there was a problem: the creature editor in vanilla spore has a complexity meter, meaning it has a cap on how many parts you can actually use before you’re literally not allowed to add anymore parts. There is a cheat that you can type into the console called “freedom” which unlocks a little bit more room on the complexity meter, but it’s not TRUE freedom of the complexity meter, as you can very much still reach the complexity meter cap even with the cheat turned on (I did so many times as a child).

Sooo, spore players were looking for ways to share their big huge epic creations that they wanted to make on the sporepedia, for everyone else to see (and download). This is where adventures come in.

As I said earlier, adventures are custom missions that you can make. You can set the scene, the characters, the story, the things you’re supposed to do to complete the mission etc. And within the adventure editor are these like…plasma gates.

These can be locked or unlocked via keys and such (if you chose to place them in the adventure, of course), and a very interesting thing about these plasma gates is that you can make them do 1 of do things: make them invisible, or disguise them as a creation that you or another player made. However, there is a caveat, and that caveat is that you can only disguise the gates as either buildings or vehicles.

At some point though, someone out there found a work around, in which you can choose to edit the building you’re going to disguise the gate as before you officially choose it, and then you can view the sporepedia as you’re currently editing the building...allowing you to view creatures in the sporepedia! And then...you can click the edit button on those creatures, switching you to the creature editor. Then you can click the “save and exit” button within the creature editor, tricking the game into disguising the gate as the creature instead of the original building you were editing! Once it was found out that you could do this, AND that adventures with the gates-disguised-as-creatures in them could actually be shared on the sporepedia for others to download and play, it then became obvious that you could probably use this trick to make what we now call megabuilds. In which each of these individual parts of the body (head, body, limbs, tail, other details etc.) could be disguised as gates, and then moved around to create a bigger, more highly detailed creature than what you could actually make in the creature editor!

Obviously, with mods, you can remove the complexity meter and just put as many parts as you like on a creature, but with this comes the risk of your game crashing with the more parts you put on your creature. This has happened to me within the past week alone (specifically with the Tyranid warrior), and it will continue to happen to me for as long as I have Spore installed on my computer because Spore is just Like That. Megabuilds, on the other hand, allow me to kinda circumnavigate the chance of my game crashing with such a detailed creature (for example, if I'm only detailing one limb as opposed to the whole body), giving me more breathing room, and allowing me to add significantly more detail instead of having to say “okay well I guess I can leave those details out, they’re not important, I don’t want my game to crash again and lose all this progress.”

TLDR; Megabuilds are highly detailed big ass statues in spore made up of different creatures that look like limbs, all stitched together. Yayy!!!! We’re an evil scientist! Now here is how I made Ysera, in case you wanted a play by play of how I make my megabuilds (if you perhaps wanted to make your own).

How I made Ysera

Now, personally, IDK how other megabuilders make their own stuff, but my process for starting a megabuild is this: I basically start with a “base” body that has all of the limbs, and then I pose them how I want them to be posed. I do not add any details. This base doesn’t even have eyes! We’re doing this purely to get the pose correct, so that we can use the base as a reference for when we’re putting all the individual pieces together in the adventure editor. We have to keep this base creature, and make sure not to save over the top of it, even after we’ve finished making all the individual body parts! Here’s what the Ysera base looks like:

Now..we have to start detailing. I had references of Ysera’s most recent model (from Dragonflight) with a variety of different angles, so I used those pictures to make her as accurately as I could. I usually like starting with the head.

(Before I get into the progress pictures, I should note that with every different “body part” i’m making, I’m essentially making a copy of the “base” creation, removing everything except the limb/body part i’m working on, and then detailing it. This means I keep the exact posing of the wings, tail, limbs etc. so that when I use the base body as a reference for putting stuff back together in the adventure editor...all the body parts should be in the right shape/pose!)

Anyways, because it's possible to resize the gates-disguised-as-creatures within the adventure editor, I actually got the “croc kisser” mouth and made it twice as large as it was on my base creature, so I could more accurately see what I was doing (and add more detail). Then....well this is the hard part isn’t it? Idk how to explain how to make stuff in Spore. That's like trying to explain how I draw things lmao. But what I usually start with is “sculpting” the face, by placing knurldowns upside down on the head, and then positioning them and resizing them until I get a face shape that looks nice! You can also skip the mouth altogether and do the sculpting on an elongated limb (which is what I did for The Windsinger and the Tyranid warrior) which honestly I prefer because sometimes sculpting on top of an already existing mouth/head can be really annoying!

After 3 hours of non-stop work, here is what the finished head looked like!

Sorry that I basically did a "draw the rest of the fucking owl" to you all, buuuut I didn't want to make this post any longer than it already was sooo..yeah lmfao.

Initially I had made her floating headpiece on the same creation, but when it was rendering in the adventure it looked. well. strange. so I elected to make her headpiece separately, and to make it in the spaceship editor instead of as a creature, and honestly...I'm glad I did so, because it looks super cool and I get to actually have it properly floating above her head, and I can also position it how I want.

After that, it was time for me to move on to the limbs! Honestly, if you’re like me and all 4 limbs have slightly different different poses (which is done by pressing “a” on the keyboard and clicking on a part and/or limb to allow it to be moved without the limb on the other side moving), it’s best that you actually detail the limbs BEFORE you make them asymmetrical and pose them, so that you have the luxury of symmetry/mirrored building so you only have to detail one leg. Then you make the legs asymmetrical, pose both legs and either save them as a duo, or save them individually (I chose to save them individually so that I could have more control on the limb posing in the adventure editor, but that’s just me being extra lmao).

For the wings, I chose to individually detail 1 limb after the other, since I knew I would need differently shaped and sized webbings for both wings, and it wouldn’t make sense to detail both of the wings and THEN pose them, since I knew that would mess up all the parts I’d already put on the wings. Thankfully there was only two of them so it wasn't a big deal! The “organic helper” mod which gives you a lot of individual webbings for wings is...well, quite helpful! And it also means significantly less parts used for the wings, meaning I got an opportunity to add more detail, if I wished.

Okayy and then it was time to do the body. Not much to say tbh! This was probably the easiest part of the megabuild to do since I (for the most part) wasn't dealing with any asymmetry and I didn't need to put a huge amount of detail onto the body.

Finally, the last thing I made was the tail!!! This was not as hard as I thought it would be, it was just tedious and time consuming. At this point I was getting kinda of this megabuild xD I just wanted it to be over already. It took about an hour to make the tail (mostly fiddled around trying to make ysera’s tail pinecone look like....well, a pinecone. I do not think I succeeded in making it look like a pinecone. I tried my best).

Then....it was onto putting the pieces together! This is where I opened up the adventure editor, and used the gates-disguised-as-creatures trick to get all of the different body parts assembled! This is also where the base I made came in clutch!

Sooo, the first thing I put down was the base body, and then I started layering the completed Ysera body pieces over the top of it.

Then I just had to do that a bunch of times with all of the pieces, delete the base body, tweak some of the limbs’ positionings and bam!! The megabuild was complete!!!

I hope this was an informative post about Spore megabuilds! If not, then I guess I can just eat dirt from the ground or something. I hope this helps others understand how megabuilds are made and inspires people to make their own.