#on the whole they just shouldn't have used her

[xclowniex]

https://www.tumblr.com/xclowniex/771654617505398784/its-really-weird-in-when-leftists-in-general-but?source=share

The vast majority of Queer people are completely disgusted and appalled by pedophiles, the vast majority of Israelis either support what's happening to Palestinians or act stupid and shift the conversation to anti-semitism because they can't stand the idea of not being the victims, its not comparable at all because you will never see a gay pedophile trying to gaslight you into thinking that they're equally as much of a victim as the kid they molested or that you're homophobic if you feel sympathy for them.

Except this is where you are wrong and engaging in exactly the same type of rhetoric I was speaking about the post.

It's always really funny when you make a post about a general rhetoric and then someone goes "no you're wrong" whilst being the exact type of person you're talking about.

Because the thing is, most Israelis do not want to settle Gaza.

And when the topic does get "shifted to antisemitism" it's not being shifted by the Israeli or jew, but by the non jew being antisemitic.

There are ways in which you can and should criticize the Israeli government, and then there is antisemitic masked as criticism of Israel. There is very much a line, and pepple do cross it. If a whole bunch of Israelis and jews are telling you that you have crossed that line, then you've crossed the line. You shouldn't be looking at non jews for guidance on what is and isn't antisemitic, you should be listening to jews.

And also, I have seen queer pedophiles try to gaslight people into thinking pedophilia is okay. I forgot her name but there is this queer woman who bought a castle somewhere in Europe who is also a furry who uses that exact argument to justify her pedophilia. But just like the whole point of that post is, it is a very small minority of queer people who think like that, so therefore does not represent queer people.

But of course it is far more convenient for you to instead ignore the point and continue to belive that a minority of Israelis must represent all israelis as doubling down when your opinion is challenged is far easier than stepping back and reexamining your beliefs.

[ryssabrin]

i feel like people who don’t like solas or solavellan have such a warped perspective of what the romance is and how fans of it actually engage in it. like i’ve seen a lot of (most likely het dudes lol) on reddit say they tried it to see what the fuss was but felt it was “demeaning” and i’ve seen it described as literally a horror story where solas is manipulating and using and lying to a young impressionable lavellan who gives up her entire identity for him and becomes a complete doormat to all the awful shit he does. that’s never been my experience and i kinda just want to ramble about how i see it and what i find romantic about it?

so full disclosure, if veilguard had come out a few years ago with how they portrayed lavellan and solavellan i might have been pretty disappointed. i think there is a subset of the solavellan fanbase that likes the wolf/halla or student/professor thing and they play their lavellan younger and agreeing almost without question to everything solas says. i see the appeal but i never played my lavellan that way and i really like the dynamic of it when lavellan actually goes against his advice at times. solas is a character that needs to have his preconceived biases questioned. especially in inquisition when he’s still coming to terms with the fact that the modern people of thedas are in fact people lol. so i was concerned at the prospect of my lavellan being taken out of my hands and having to listen to her make excuses for him and submit to everything he says. (which tbf i don’t think is how she actually comes across in dav, but that was a worry.)

however when i replayed my canon dai run this year, i realized i was closer to the age i always saw my lavellan as (early 30s), and as my lavellan is probably the bioware pc i’ve always played closest to my own personality, i took the opportunity to tweak her a bit and make some different choices. i’ve (hopefully lol) matured and grown a lot since i was 24 and so rather than going for the snarky sarcastic cool girl vibes i opted to play her with more diplomatic and caring choices. it made me see the solas romance in a completely new light. rather than some sort of student/professor dynamic or a pride and prejudice-esque rivals-to-lovers vibe where lavellan is fighting for his respect the whole time, what stuck out to me was how much their connection builds simply because lavellan is kind to solas. she hears him out when he wants to give his opinions and advice, she respects his expertise on the fade and spirits, and she offers him comfort and friendship when she sees he needs it. she impresses him because he finds himself wanting to indulge in her closeness. he finds a connection to someone he never expected to and it makes him rethink everything about the broken state he put the world in.

it’s worth noting that lavellan is always making the first move. she kisses him first, she pursues him. he tries to brush off the kiss as a spontaneous lapse in judgement and she doesn't let him. he only ever gives in to her advances, he doesn't make them himself. he calls their relationship "selfish" on his end. he knows he shouldn't be encouraging her but he can't help but long for her companionship. that being said though if lavellan shuts it down he respects it. he probably feels a little relief because the temptation is now out of his hands lol.

i feel like there’s also this perception that he’s constantly shitting on the dalish while lavellan just has to put up with it and that alone is reason enough to find the relationship demeaning. he mentions the dalish in one optional conversation chain where you ask him for his opinion on the state of the elves and then in the balcony scene where he realizes he’s misjudged the inquisitor after his personal quest. in both instances, lavellan can stick up for the dalish. in the optional conversation, lavellan can say that if solas had a bad experience with a clan once (which we know from dav is exactly what happened lol), that she’d like to correct that misunderstanding about her people.

it's worth noting as well that lavellan doesn't know solas is the dread wolf when he's criticizing the dalish. from her perspective, he's essentially a city-born elf who had some dalish look down their nose at him for not being a "true elf" like they are, something that not only happens in canon throughout the games and lavellan would be aware of, but literally happens to solas specifically, right in front of you. he doesn't say a single word to mihris and she doesn't know a thing about him other than his face is bare and thus feels comfortable referring to him with what is essentially a slur. but rather than confront her directly about it he just passive aggressively speaks to her in elven almost exclusively for the rest of the quest lol.

far from the dynamic being that lavellan is just putting up with someone talking down to her about her culture, i think it's reasonable to see her view is more that they're both members of the same marginalized group, but from different cultures. his position in criticizing the dalish is not punching down it's lateral. she loves her culture, but is able to recognize it has flaws and not every member in it treats other cultures well, particularly even when they're from the same marginalized group. (and it's also just really meaningful that the first "flirt" option you get in the solas romance is lavellan recognizing that solas has put himself in a very vulnerable position as an elven apostate joining the chantry-led inquisition and with whatever power she has she will make sure that it's not held against him.)

i do think the writing conveys that he does have his mind changed about the dalish at least a little bit, but one of his pet peeves is when people are ignorant and refuse any information that challenges their worldview. as a manifested wisdom spirit, it is a particular sticking point to him to not be listened to when he is providing knowledge. i think criticism of how he is towards the dalish is lacking without taking into account his nature as a spirit. obvs we didn’t know that in dai but we do now. when wisdom isn't listened to it turns to pride. "i told you so," "i'll prove i'm right," "you should have listened to me," etc. etc. he got his feelings hurt when the dalish didn't believe him (and according to dav, literally tried to kill him) and his ego's held a grudge ever since.

when it comes to the vallaslin, to me it’s less about solas wanting to dismantle part of dalish culture (he offers no actual opinion on the dalish during that scene) and more that it clearly bothers him a lot that he fought so hard to free the elves from slavery and the one community of elves that’s closest to the descendants of the people he wanted to free still wears tattoos honoring the very tyrants he wanted to free them from. if lavellan says she wants to keep them and that the dalish reclaimed them and they mean something else to her, he doesn’t argue. i actually don’t like that solas’s post breakup banter with cole implies that lavellan thinks he might have broken up with her over the vallaslin. it’s putting thoughts in the head of my character that i personally don’t see her having. the way the breakup plays out, there’s not a single indication that it has anything to do with the vallaslin. i like to pick the “i believe in us” option because it shows lavellan having some idea that there’s something solas isn’t telling her and that’s the main reason he’s walking away. and the irony of course is that we learn in dav that that was the moment he came the closest to just giving up everything to just be with her.

so when i played through dav with my solasmance lavellan and she talks about what drew her to him it all just felt so right. he was kind and wise and sad but he made her feel like she was the only thing that mattered to him. (and that was very almost true!) there was a passion and intensity to their relationship that made her think he was the person she wanted to be with forever. when she says "i thought i would have followed anywhere he asked me to" you could read it as her saying she would have joined him in tearing down the veil if he asked and depending on your lavellan that might be true (though in the next bit she talks about how she would have been trying to change his mind anyways). but you could also read it as what her mindset was while she was with him during dai. before joining the inquisition, she knew him to be someone that traveled the world looking for lost secrets and history. why would she not have wanted to join him in that? is that not something you do when you're in love with someone?

something else that i find really compelling about solavellan is how solas relates to the inquisitor (not just lavellan) as a figurehead stripped of their personal identity. he knows from personal experience exactly what that's like. in the romances (not just solas's), the inquisitor is able to find someone that knows and cares for them for who they are, not what they represent. this aspect of the inquisitor's arc is honestly why i like keeping the vallaslin. my lavellan wants people to be able to look at her as the inquisitor and see a dalish elf. it's one small act of defiance and in reclaiming her own narrative. so thinking about what she might want to do after her responsibilities to the inquisition are over, it's reasonable to think she might want to just go wherever solas goes? because she loves him and feels like herself around him. even her asking him to let her come with him in trespasser feels more motivated by the fact that lavellan sees solas isolating himself and closing himself off and she's sad about it because she cares about him. that was why she wanted to grow close to him in the first place.

and i genuinely don't think it's all that wild that lavellan still holds a torch for solas 10 years later. i personally was friends with this guy in high school i always had a crush on, and towards the end of senior year it looked like it could actually end up turning into something. but then he immediately left for a summer abroad after graduation and eventually moved out of the country full time for school. we kept in touch off and on and caught up when he was in town, but nothing romantic ever happened. for years after i would catch myself thinking every so often what could have been and what he was up to. for solavellan, they were actually together. they had mutually expressed feelings and though their time together was maybe a few months at most, it was intense and passionate. they split up not because anyone's feelings changed, but because of solas's baggage. it's really not unrealistic for lavellan to continue wondering to herself what would have happened if he had been honest with her sooner. if she could have convinced him to change course. and it's not like she has the luxury of retiring and just not thinking about him anymore. that's not a conscious manipulation on solas's part to string her along, that's just the reality of their situation.

and even with all that in mind, in dav lavellan is still able to have the self-awareness to understand that the good in him that she believes exists and all that they had together and what she meant to him could all just be wishful thinking on her part. that she's giving him the benefit of the doubt "imagining his broken heart" when he doesn't deserve it because it makes her feel less foolish. she's not blindly faithful to him. i just loved everything about that scene and every word out of my lavellan's mouth felt spot on and perfect for how i saw their relationship. i could not have been more relieved lol.

as for the ending, i really really dislike the bad faith read that the only thing that matters is mythal and that he somehow loves mythal more and if that weren't true then lavellan alone would be able to convince him to stop. varric says about solas that he wants to be a hero, but it's easier for him to play the villain because it means he didn't fail, everything bad he's done is a choice. once you've done one bad thing, betrayed one friend, manipulated and sacrificed some pawns, committed one lil genocide, etc. lmao, it becomes easier to do it again. you've already crossed your moral event horizon and now you just have to find an end that justifies the means of all your misdeeds. what i've said about solas before is that what's frustrating is that he does genuinely feel remorse about the shit he does, but he needs to believe it's necessary and he will keep doing it. he needs to believe it will all be worth it in the end. it's not that he thinks feeling sorry makes up for it necessarily, but that he had to do it. he had to be the one taking on all of the bad things to hopefully one day do a good thing and it will all work out.

(as a side note when solas says "i would not have you see what i become" in trespasser i always thought that meant he was going to resort to some awful corruptive magic or something but it turns out what he actually meant was "i'm about to be a real asshole and do some incredibly awful things and i don't want you to see that side of me" which is much sadder.)

so when rook says "you don't have to do this" solas counters with "i've betrayed and fucked over and killed so many people who trusted me and if i stop i will have done that for nothing." so then the inquisitor jumps in with "as one of those people, i'm telling you that you can stop." but then we get to the heart of it. he thinks he failed mythal when she died the first time and was unwilling to listen to her as flemeth. he needs to make that mean something. he needs to justify to himself what mythal made him into. so he needs to hear from his mythal, not morrigan's mythal who has the benefit of the wisdom and hindsight centuries of living among mortals gave her, but his mythal, the one closest to who she was when she died that what he is is broken. that she's the one that broke him and he alone doesn't have to bear the weight of everything he did because of her. it's not about loving her, it's about the specific relationship he had with her. with that baggage unpacked, he's not only able to let go of his prideful need to prove himself right by tearing down the veil, he's also free to choose what he always really wanted: lavellan.

and still! yet again! he does not ask or assume anything on her part. she offers! of her own free will. something that really rustles my jimmies about a lot of solavellan criticism is that people act like lavellan has no agency. that she couldn't possibly make the choices she does of her own accord and it has to be solas manipulating her. that has never rang true to me at all. she always made the first move. i think this more uncharitable read might unfortunately be encouraged by how many actual solavellan shippers play into the wolf/halla thing but i personally don't think that's the dynamic that weekes actually wrote. it is lavellan that pursues solas, not the other way around. and weekes was honestly so careful in how they wrote the romance so that when solas's identity and plans are revealed, it doesn't feel like he intentionally tricked you or took advantage. i actually really like the ambiguity of whether or not they slept together because to me it does feel like that's a line solas wouldn't cross, but i get why that doesn't matter as much to other solasmancers.

i also think there's this perception that solavellan is a ship with an unhealthy power dynamic that needs to be "fixed" in some way or at the very least apologized for before you're allowed to like it. for me it's honestly kind of the appeal? not that there's some goofy dom/sub thing going on lol but that in spite of how "superior" solas may or may not feel to lavellan and the modern elves, he still falls hook line and fucking sinker for her. lavellan has so much more power in the relationship than she realizes. she changes his entire perspective on modern elves and his ultimate goals so bad he had a complete crisis of faith and had to run as far away from her as he could. how could he have broken the world so badly he needs to catastrophically break it again to fix it if it could create someone like her? someone he wants and cares for so desperately? it's the push and pull of him trying to stay away but selfishly indulging as long as he can that's so juicy to me! it's so good and i just wish other people could see that, even if they don't care for the character.

anyways. i don't have a conclusion. i don't want anyone to think i'm vaguing about them. this is honestly the result of some thoughts that have been brewing for a while and a lot of common criticisms i've seen over the years. i didn't want to respond directly to anyone in particular bc i learned my lesson about not doing that waaay back in the shenko fandom iykyk lol. i just really like the ship! i think it's tragic and romantic and lovely and poetic and mythological and all that good stuff. it humanizes solas as a character and makes me think about empathy and compassion and how much faith you can have in someone if you love them. or how it might feel to sacrifice love for something you think you need to do, only to ultimately realize you never did and find that love patiently waiting for you to get your shit together. or to love someone and know they love you back and that they love you so much they had to leave or they would have given up everything they thought they needed for you and then to be able to actually get through to them and get them back. "she could save him if he'd only just let her"! it's a very niche wish fulfillment fantasy and it's me! i'm the fan being serviced!

[almmoon006]

Period comfort headcanons (Voldemort's wife reader)

Tw: no; he's kinda far from canon character, I just needed his care really.

• Voldemort is far from the usual understanding of comfort, after all, from early childhood he was left to himself and did not feel the care, love, or even kindness of others. He's not even sure he's capable of love himself, considering he was conceived under a love potion. But when it came to you, it seemed like everything was different.

• You were the wife of the Dark Lord, and every time the Death Eaters wondered how it happened that such a beautiful and powerful witch was bound by magical bonds with the darkest wizard of the century. They didn't know that you remembered him as Tom when he was working after Hogwarts. And even if they had, they wouldn't have believed it, after all, you looked much younger than your years because of the peculiarities of your kind.

• He wasn't sure what he loved. No, it was like a desire to possess, an obsession, which is more typical of this dark wizard. But at the same time, he could be attentive and gentle to you when his mind was not filled with a red veil, and another unforgivable curse was not trembling at the end of the wand. He had a soft spot for you, damn Merlin. But it was a strangely pleasant feeling.

• You were the only one who was able to calm his frequent seizures and you didn't seem to be repelled by his snake-like appearance.

• Therefore, he was extremely angry at such moments of weakness. He was mad at you because, damn it, you (like other women damn it) have this Muggle thing, for himself that he couldn't completely rid you of those damn days, for the whole world that was always against you and him.

• He knew very little about female physiology. Of course, they didn't talk about this at the magic school, but he often saw and heard the older girls talking about something like this when he was a little boy at the orphanage. He also often asked Narcissa for advice, with whom you had such a good relationship.

• It was unpleasant to watch you lying on your big bed and squirming from another convulsion. He felt a chill all over his skin while your face writhed in discomfort like a damn Cruciatus. And it would be better if it really was a spell. At least the dark wizard would know what to do.

• Every month, he forced Snape to brew a potion to reduce pain and a potion to restore strength. Tom saw how pale and depressed you were during your period, so he often used some artifacts to try to improve your well-being.

• Nagini has always been the main outlet. The girl really loved you very much and accepted you as an equal to her master. She seemed to understand you as a woman during your period and was always there for you. The snake wrapped around your body, pressing on all the right places to ease the pain. Her cold, scaly skin felt good against your hot one. The big body was a pleasant weight on them from your stomach, gently pressing and reducing the pain. And the soft hissing soothed and lulled you to sleep.

• You used to sit at the table in the meeting room exactly on the right side, close to the Dark Lord. During your period, you spent all your time in the bedroom, and it was terribly unnerving. If on normal days you were the only one who had at least some control over the magician's anger, then when you weren't around, all the Death Eaters felt a tight tension in the room and were afraid to say too much, so as not to attract the wrath of their master. Voldemort wouldn't admit to being bored, no. No, he's not worried. It was just that your presence made everything bearable.

• He spoiled you. Any whim of yours, as on any other day, in principle, was instantly fulfilled. Voldemort brought you various sweets and delicious dishes just to make you feel better.

• Anyone who made you cry was instantly put under severe Cruciatus. It doesn't matter if something else upset you, and Lucius or Barty just happened to be there, they shouldn't have caused his wife any discomfort.

• You were the only person whose tears made Voldemort feel bad. That's why he tried to treat you kindly and tenderly, because he knew how painful you were feeling these days. Your tears made his heart (which he still had) contract painfully. He just pulled you into his arms and gently stroked your hair, soothing you and rocking you to sleep.

• He bought more and more blankets, fluffy blankets and soft pillows to make you feel comfortable and calm. Plush toys, hot water bottles, small trinkets. He even considered buying you a cat, but decided against it, deciding that sweet Nagini is doing a good job of this role.

• During your period, he tried to get off work as early as possible. A quick shower so that your sensitive nose won't be bothered by the persistent smell of blood, and clean, loose clothes. He would lie down on your bed and pull you as close as possible, wrapping you in a cocoon of his own hands and blankets. Nagini curled up on the other side, gently wrapping around your waist and habitually reducing the pain in your stomach. Voldemort gently stroked your hair, allowing you to snuggle against his chest and inhale his soothing, soap-scented scent.

[lp-collins]

This is one of the scenarios I've been running through my head!

The way I'm currently imagining it, Andrealphus does hire Striker to murder Octavia and sets him up with angelic weaponry etc. I don't even think he involves Stella, not that she cares that much, but he is seriously pissed at this point and maybe she'd draw the line at actively killing her daughter, not sure.

It just so happens that Blitz is tracking Striker around that time because Vassago needs proof that the guy has a connection to Stella, so that they can drag them and Andrealphus to court and help Stolas get his powers back. (There's a lot of earlier scenarios that go into that lol) And Blitz happily took the task upon himself because he is done with Striker getting away with hurting his family. So it's a pure coincidence that Blitz happens to be following him the moment he goes after Octavia. Stolas isn't there, M&M and Loona aren't there and he doesn't have time to call any of them for help. When he sees Via and realizes that Striker is about to hurt her, he does the only thing he can: he attacks the guy before he can lay a hand on her.

Thanks to the Pain Games, we know that Blitz and Striker are a match for each other in terms of physicality. Plus, Blitz has Via to worry for, his first priority being to keep Striker and the angelic weapons away from her, even at his own expense. It's a nasty fight, both of them get hurt pretty bad and this time, you know it's going to be to the death. Octavia does want to help, but she's not nearly advanced enough to target only Striker with her powers when they're moving around so much.

Blitz does manage to gain the upper hand (maybe through a clever trick, maybe Octavia does get a shot in when Striker is pinning Blitz to the ground or something) and finally kills Striker. It means they won't be getting any evidence, but he doesn't care if it means Via is safe.

And seeing this guy who she doesn't even like, who stole her dad from her, who she can only see as her antagonist fight for her completely changes Via's perspective. This whole time, it's only thing she has wanted and now it's coming from the person she least expected it from. (Stolas fights for her too, in ways (searching LA, keeping up the attempts to talk to her, visiting the palace when he really shouldn't), but she can't see that because her mind is so focused on the ways he fights for Blitz.)

Suddenly, she can't hate Blitz anymore. Worse, he is seriously injured and he needs her help. She isn't very good at the portal thing yet, but she manages to make one to Sloth and helps him through. At Blitz's request, she calls Loona (because he knows Stolas will freak out and is capable of taking off without telling anyone) and she uses her status to get him priority treatment at the hospital.

She stays with him while they wait for Loona and Stolas to show up and they talk a bit. At some point, Via asks why he would risk his life for her like that, and Blitz tells her that she's family, that she always will be. And somehow, she believes him.

I wonder if there'll be an upcoming episode where Via gets put in danger and Blitz has to save her alone.

Like, its clear to everyone that Stella and Andrealphus don't care about her, in fact they seem to see her existence as an obstacle to what they want to achieve.

I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually stage another kidnapping or assassination for her, should she start posing herself as a threat to them. She's already started showing signs of standing up to them, and her powers coming in quite strong(truly Stolas' daughter fr), so it'd make sense if they decided to get rid of her. It was also somewhat foreshadowed in Western Energy- maybe Striker is the one ordered to kill her?

Only Stolas would be powerless at this point, so it'd be nice if Blitz was the one to save her. Maybe he'd be involved by complete coincidence like with Fizz? Im reaching bc im delusional, but maybe they'll bond during it, Blitz being protective over Via possibly or maybe actually getting hurt. Imagine Via sees someone going nuts trying to protect her, bc I dont think she sees that, sees how much she matters to anyone, much less the imp who ruined her family. It'd be such a good wake up call for her to realize not only why Stolas ended up caring for Blitz, but also how important and loved she actually is.

Also Blitz has a small but GREAT record of reconciling with someone via salvation from life threatening disasters, its his method of bonding, therapy if you will

I just want Octavia and Blitz to bond ok- i want these punk ass idiots to see how much they have in common, plsplspls Vivzie-

[nattikay]

Na'vi Stripes Tutorial!

Tagging @eywaschild891, in case you were still interested in this! (note: this tutorial is about the digital process of adding the stripes, not actually designing the patterns)

I'm using MediBang Paint Pro, but this technique should work in any program that supports layers.

So you've drawn your Na'vi and now you want to add some stripes! First we'll have to start with a base color. Underneath your lineart layer, add two new layers: one as the main base color layer (for coloring hair, eyes, clothes, etc), and on top of that, a separate layer for the skin. Putting the skin on a separate layer is important because that way you'll be able to do the stripes as a clipping mask.

Your layer box should look something like this (you can ignore the gray background and extra folder, they're not important for this tutorial):

Now we can start on the base stripe layer. Create a new layer and set it as a clipping mask on your skin layer. This makes it so that you can't "color outside the lines", so to speak, while drawing the stripes. Then take a hard-edged brush and start drawing the patterns you want. I like to use MediBang's "mapping pen", which has a subtly textured edge, but the regular default Pen tool will work perfectly fine as well.

If you'd like, you can stop here and call this done: solid stripes are perfectly acceptable in a cartoonified stylization. However, if you look closely at Na'vi stripes on canon characters, you'll note that they're not completely solid: they have a subtle fading effect, where they're darker along the edges and a bit lighter in the middle, and in some places they fade out into the body. Sometimes it almost looks watercolor-ish.

(I'm sure there are better examples out there than these but I'm not up to digging for them rn 😅)

So, let's continue! To fade our stripes, create another clipping mask layer above the main stripe layer. Use a brush with pressure-based opacity such as MediBang's "pencil" to loosely fill the insides of the stripes with the base skin color.

Once you have filled in all the stripes, use the gaussian blur filter to smooth out the fade. The filter doesn't need to be super strong—in fact, if you make it too strong you will loose the detail and the stripes will look solid again. With MediBang's version of the tool, I had it set to 7 (out of a max of 64) for this image, though of course the way it works may be different in other programs; mess around with different settings until you get something you like.

(sadly I do not have a screenshot of the blurred version because apparently the way my cintiq takes screenshots is dumb; it only captured the "gaussian blur" popup window instead of the whole screen. oh well. :P)

Now that we have the fade within the stripes, let's also make them fade into the rest of the body. The areas you'll want to do this with are the torso, inner arms, and inner/back of legs.

Create another clipping mask. Using the same pressure-opacity brush and base skin color as before, loosely block in where you want the stripes to fade into the body.

Once you've finished, gaussian blur the layer just like before. This one can be a little stronger than the inside-stripe one. For this image I had it set to 14.

Sometimes, the areas you block out will overlap with areas that shouldn't be faded—for example, here the fading from the back of the character's thigh is overlapping with her tail. To fix this, just erase it to remove the fade from where it shouldn't be (this is why we do this step on separate layers). Make sure you do this erasing after you've applied the gaussian blur.

Depending on the pose of your character, there may be places where one faded area overlaps with another. For example, in this drawing, the blocking for the arm fading overlaps with the blocking for the torso fading. Here it is with the torso fading turned off so you can see the overlap:

This makes it difficult to do both the arm and the torso on the same layer, because I won't be able to remove where the arm fading overlaps the torso fading without also removing the actual torso fading.

Luckily, there's a simple fix: just do the arm fading on a separate layer. Do this as many times with as many layers as you need to for your particular pose. Sometimes you'll only need one or two, like here; other times you'll need several.

BUT, fading the stripes is the last step! Regardless of how many layers you end up needing, once you're done, you're done! Now you have a Na'vi with nice natural-looking striping 😸

At this point you can go ahead and merge all the clipping masks into the main skin layer and even merge the skin layer with the other-base-colors layer if you're ready!

Hopefully that wasn't too hard to follow; feel free to ask if anything is confusing or unclear. Happy drawing! 😸

[canirove]

Canary boy | Chapter 3

Previous chapter | Next chapter (coming out on Tuesday)

Masterlist

“Inés, did you just giggle?”

“No.”

“Inés, I know you, and you just giggled. Who is the lucky one who has managed that?” Carla says. “Maybe the tall guy we met the other night?”

“The one who thought I was a lesbian because I played football?” I snort. 

“What?”

“Men” I shrug.

“That's… nevermind. If it isn't him, then who is it?” she asks again, raising her eyebrows up and down like that Milhouse gif.

“No one.”

“I don't believe you” she says, snatching my phone from my hands before I can hide it in my bag. 

“Carla!” 

“You seriously need to put a password, Inés. What if someone steals your phone and sees all your sexy photos?” she smirks.

“I don't have sexy photos” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“Why? You are sexy and… Why is Pedri sending you a photo of him eating churros?”

“It's an inside joke” I say, taking advantage of her shock to get my phone back. Maybe I do need a password on it, but to avoid having her lurking.

“An inside joke? Since when do you have inside jokes with him? And that was WhatsApp, Inés. Not Instagram. I thought you only followed each other there.”

“Not anymore” I say. 

It had happened the day after our churros date or whatever you want to call it. We had spent the night chatting on Instagram, Pedri asking me about how meeting my grandparents had gone, and telling me that his hungover had come back with violence once he had made it home. And the morning after, he had asked me for my number because he liked chatting on WhatsApp better, the “oh my God” I screamed when I saw that message being heard by the whole building. Like I already said, I'm stupid and I like getting my hopes up too fast and too much.

Though it's been a week, and we've been texting daily and very often. Very often. 

“Inés…” Carla sighs. “He has a girlfriend.”

“I know.”

“Do you? Because this totally looks like flirting.”

“What?” I laugh.

“Having inside jokes about churros of all things? Texting on WhatsApp? The fact that he has made you giggle?” 

“Carla, we are just friends.”

“No, you aren't. You fancy him, Inés!”

“Who do you fancy?” Aitana says, sitting next to me.

“No one” I quickly say, focusing on tying up my boots to hide the colour of my face.

“Who does she fancy?” she asks Carla.

“Someone she shouldn't.”

“Víctor?”

“What?” Carla and I say at the same time.

Víctor is one of the men's team stars, another young player from the academy like myself who made it to the first team at the same time I did. And since we both also play in the same position, everyone has always joked that we are destined to end up together, himself included. But the thing is, that I can't stand him. I've never have.

As a kid his ego already was too big for someone so young, and now it is even worse. The fact that once the awkward teenage years passed he turned out to be quite hot, girls all over the world being so obsessed with him that it sometimes is scary, hasn't helped. 

“I don't know. Since he is someone she shouldn't fancy and you've always said that you can't stand him…” Aitana shrugs. “We are filming some stuff with the boys after training, by the way. He'll probably be there.”

“Urgh, don't remind me of it” I say. “They'll probably put us together again.”

“They have to give the shippers their monthly content, Inés” Aitana teases me.

“Idiot” I reply, giving her a little push. 

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry” she laughs. “But you know it's true.”

“Whatever. Let's go training and stop talking about men” I say, standing up.

“Yeah, let's go avoid thinking about the mess we may be getting ourselves into” Carla says behind me before following us. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“And Inés, you will be filming a guess who with Víctor.”

“Great” I sigh.

“Did you say anything, Inés?”

“I was just wondering where he is” I quickly say. 

“Were you missing me, my love?” someone says behind me.

“Jesus Christ!” 

“Almost as famous” Víctor laughs. “Looking beautiful today” he smirks, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Thank you” I reply, moving to be in front of him so he stops touching me. “Where were you? You are late.”

“Is that jealousy, Inés? Are you worried I may be seeing someone else?”

“What?” I laugh.

“You look really cute when you are jealous” he smirks, closing the space between us so he can caress my cheek. But I'm faster, and take a step back just in time to make him miss. 

“I'm not jealous, Víctor.”

“Of course not, my love.”

“I'm not your love either.”

“Yet” he winks. “Anyway, should we start filming this thing? If we finish early we can go grab something to eat… or whatever you fancy.”

“What I fancy, is to go home. Alone” I add when he is about to say another of his stupid flirty sentences.

“Always so harsh, my love.”

“I'm not your… urgh” I groan. Lord, grant me patience, because if he says another my love, I'm gonna end up committing murder.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“And now who is calling… me” I say after finally making it home and checking my phone. 

This can't be real. It has to be a mistake. He's trying to call someone else and dialed my number because we had been texting earlier. Or maybe not. Maybe he actually is calling me. Maybe something happened. Maybe he needs my help. Maybe he is in danger! If he is, I should probably answer and stop with my internal dialogue, shouldn't I? Ok, you can do this, Inés.

“Pedri, why are you video calling me? Is everything ok?”

“Hello to you too” he chuckles.

“Hi, sorry. But is everything ok?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are you calling me?”

“Because my head is about to explode after being in front of my laptop working on an assignment for the past few hours, and I needed a distraction.”

“And I am a distraction?” I laugh.

“You have no idea” Pedri smirks. He… umm… what? “Anyway, are you free? Do you want to go out for a walk? I seriously need to leave my room and have some fresh air.”

“I just made it home, but… Yeah, why not?”

“Great!” he says with a smile that makes me feel all fuzzy inside. “I'll call an Uber and pick you up. See you in a bit, Inés.”

“Bye” I smile back before he hangs up. 

Did I just agree to go out with Pedri? As in some kind of… date? But it is a friends date, of course. Because that's what we are. Just friends. Though one of the friends is completely infatuated with the other, and for the past week may have been dreaming about very steamy cooking dates and other things that involve his churro. But my period just left and the days after I'm horny, ok? Ok.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I can't believe that as someone born and raised in Barcelona, I had no idea this place existed.”

“That's because you are a mountain girl, Inés. The sea doesn't call you the same way it calls me, an island boy” Pedri says.

“What?” I laugh, taking the hand he is offering me to help me jump from the rocks we just walked down to make it to the beach. I could very well do it myself, but letting him be a gentleman and help me won't hurt anybody, will it? Unless you ask Carla, of course.

She would probably say that us touching like this would cause a tsunami that would destroy the city. Though maybe the sea starting to boil due to the heat that is going through my body and coming from it right now, would be more likely to happen. Dear Lord, Inés. He's just holding your hand! Stop being so lame and… horny!

“You don't like the sea” Pedri says.

“I do.”

“But not as much as you like the mountain” he says while we walk, still holding hands. “When you have some free time, you always go hiking or for a walk around the woods, you don't come to the beach to have a swim like I do.”

“How do you know that?”

“I've seen it on your Instagram” he smiles. Wait a second… Pedri has been paying attention to what I post? What? And more importantly… why? “You are a mountain girl, and that's ok. Next time you have to take me to one of your favourite spots.”

“Next time?”

“Today I think this is the perfect one for us” he says, putting down the backpack he was carrying and completely ignoring my question, which only means one thing: I will be thinking about it and what he meant with next time for the rest of my life. “Fancy a beer?”

“What?” I say, my brain working again and making me sit down on the sand next to him.

“You can drink beer, can't you? Or is that something you are not allowed to anymore?”

“Oh, no, we can. They just suggest us to not drink too much.”

“I'm not planning on getting you drunk, don't worry” Pedri winks before opening one bottle and passing it to me. How did I manage to take it from his hand and not let it fall after that wink and our fingers touching again? Nobody knows. “So, what should we toast to?” he asks after opening one for himself. “This place?”

“Nah, that's too boring. What about… to getting distracted?”

“I like that. To getting distracted” he says, raising his bottle.

“To getting distracted” I reply, doing the same with mine before drinking. “Urgh, I had forgotten how good this beer is.”

“It is your favourite, isn't it?”

“It is, yes. How do you know? My Instagram again?” I ask with a teasing smile. Wow, Inés. Bold move there.

“No, not this time” he laughs, the sound making me feel funny things on my stomach. “I know it is your favourite because you mentioned it the last time we all went out together after class.”

“How can you remember that? I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday” I chuckle.

“I just do” he shrugs, taking a sip from his beer. 

After that, we both stay in silence, neither of us saying a word while we drink and watch the sun set behind the waves. But it isn't an awkward silence. It is one of the most comfortable and nice ones I've ever experienced. Nice, until the worst thing ever happens.

“Oh my God, Inés!” Pedri laughs while I cover my face with my hands and wish the sand would open and swallow me whole. “What was that noise? A dinosaur?”

“I'm so sorry you had to hear that” I say from behind my hands. “But I haven't eaten anything since before training and…”

“And you are starving. Big time” he laughs again.

“Yeah.”

“Should we go grab something to eat? After hearing that, I'm afraid you may try to eat me.”

“What?” I say, daring to look at him. Which is the biggest mistake ever, because he is: one, smirking, and two, way closer to my face than I had expected him to be.

“Are you going to eat me, Inés?” 

“What?” I repeat with a nervous laugh, my eyes moving from his to his lips. Have I said yet that they are the most kissable lips ever? Kissable, and edible too. 

“I fear you might” he says, closing the space between us a bit more.

“Pedri…” 

“Inés…” he whispers, his face now so close to mine that I've felt him saying my name on my skin. 

He is going to kiss me. He is, isn't he? Why else would he be so close to my face right now? There is no other explanation, is it? He is going to kiss me. He… 

“Inés!” he laughs again when my stomach makes another horrible noise, sending to hell my hopes for that kiss. “C'mon, let's get you some food before you actually eat me.”

“I was about to” I say, speaking before thinking.

“I know” he smirks, getting up from the sand. “But there is a really good restaurant close by, and their food tastes way better than I do.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Uh?”

“Nothing, nothing” I say, quickly standing up. I think I'm so hungry it has started to affect my brain. “Sorry about the dinosaur in my stomach.”

“You don't need to apologize, Inés. I actually am quite hungry too. Shall we?” Pedri says after putting our empty beer bottles back on his backpack. 

“Let's go” I reply, forcing myself to smile and to ignore the fact that we, as in Pedri and yours truly, almost kissed. I think.

[eternal-love-song]

Satisfying and Sweet

Odile is thirsty. Siffrin does her a favor.

[Odile/Siffrin] [Odile POV, Vampire AU, Intimacy, Fluff]

"Are you sure you're okay with this, Siffrin?" Odile questioned as she closed the door. She kept her hand on the doorknob as she turned back toward the room. Siffrin had made himself comfortable on the edge of the bed, smiling at her when she looked his way.

The inn they had chosen for the night had been mostly unoccupied. She'd taken the liberty of booking herself a separate room, something she did as often as possible. She liked her privacy and the others had long accepted that as the reason she often kept careful distance between them and herself, though that wasn't the whole truth. She didn't want to admit that she feared the temptation that being too close to others might bring, but she also wouldn't lie about such a thing to herself.

Even now, she could hear Siffrin's heart beating from across the room and it was… a horrible temptation. She shouldn't be standing at the door while she verified his consent. He should feel free to deny her, to leave, without her blocking the only exit. And yet, she couldn't seem to bring herself to remove her hand from the doorknob. The fact that Siffrins heart was beating steadily, calmly, put her at ease though. He was not afraid of her even after knowing her secret.

Siffrin laughed. "I told you already, I don't mind. I want to help you."

Odile wanted to call him naive for the easy acceptance that he was giving her in this situation, but… that didn't feel quite right. Siffrin, for all that it may not seem so at times, did not give his trust easily. Mirabelle might have naively offered herself in she were in this situation, perhaps even Isabeau, but not Siffrin. Siffrin trusted her because it was… her. He didn't think that she was incapable of hurting him, he just… accepted the risk. It was possible that he didn't even care about the risk because whatever pain he felt would be in service of her.

She wished that knowing that would make a difference to her, but all it did was make her mouth water as she turned the lock on the door. "That may not be the wisest decision, you know." She couldn't keep the words in, for all that the door had already been locked.

He began pulling his cloak from his shoulders. She watched as he unclasped it, folded it neatly, and then it set it on the bed behind him. "That's okay," he told her. "I don't mind if you hurt me, as long as I can help you."

Siffrin was foolish at times. His best and worst trait was loyalty to his friends. Somehow, she had earned that loyalty. It was unwise. It could potentially get him killed. It made her want to pin him down and see if she could make him regret that decision.

Odile looked away from him, swallowing hard as she tried to push such thoughts away. It was… unflattering to have such thoughts about one of her companions. She should have better control of herself.

"Your self preservation instincts could use some work," she told him. She still hadn't moved her hand from the door. Her feet rooted to the spot. It was easier when it was a stranger, when she didn't care as much about her thoughts slipping into something hungry and predatory. This was Siffrin, however. She would never forgive herself if she hurt him more than she had to. She would be… loath to scare him, even if it might do him some good in the long run.

He just smiled at her. "I'm not afraid of you, Odile." He waited until she looked at him once more before he added, "Because I know that you don't want to hurt me. If you did, you wouldn't be so worried."

That had her finally releasing the grip she had on the door, taking a deep, unneeded breath as she did so. "So it seems."

It was almost ridiculous how comfortable he looked lounging on the bed. He smiled at her again, holding up a hand and gesturing for her to come closer.

She sighed as she walked to the bed. It was smaller than she would have liked. Only enough room for two people if they squeezed. Not that she needed more room for what she planned to do, but it was always nice when it was available.

"Hi," Siffrin said once she was standing right before him.

Odile rolled her eyes. "I think we've already passed the point of greetings."

He leaned forward, perched on the edge of the bed but not touching her. "But it made you smile!"

So it did.

She made the first point of contact between, brushing a hand over his hair, briefly cupping his cheek, before letting her hand drop down to his neck. He leaned into her hand and then stilled as she let her thumb rest on his pulse. It was still slow, calm. The trust he was showing her was nearly the most intoxicating part of all this.

"It'll hurt," she told him. "And I don't plan to stop once I start. Not until I've had my fill."

She would. She would stop if he reacted badly enough. She didn't think she actually had the fortitude to do this if he rejected her.

Siffrin didn't falter, simply nodding his head. "Alright." He hesitated before reaching out to touch her, resting his hands on her hips. He looked up at her to make sure it was okay, smiling when she didn't react poorly.

She stepped closer to him, sliding one knee onto the bed beside him, then the other. She was practically on his lap, but she pressed her free hand to his chest, prompting him to move back on the bed. He scooted back slightly, planting himself more firmly and she followed. Her hand moved from his pulse to tilt his head to the side. She watched him for another long moment to see if he would back out at the last moment.

His hands firmed on her waist, pulling her closer slowly, until she was full on in his lap. "Go ahead," he told her.

Odile didn't speak again. She leaned closer to his neck, practically hissing as she opened her mouth and revealed her fangs. Still nothing. His only reaction was a tightening of his hands on her waist, but rather than pull back, he just pulled her the slightest bit closer. She didn't hesitate any longer, snapping toward him and plunging her fangs into his neck.

Siffrin gasped. It was soft and pained. The grip that he had on her hips tightened painfully, but he still wasn't pushing her away.

Odile moaned as the first taste of his blood hit her tongue. She wasn't ravenously thirsty, she tried to never let herself get to that point, but there was a burning in her throat that begged to be soothed. The first swallow of blood was nearly euphoric and she stopped being able to hold back after that. She took long, heavy gulps of his blood, pulling him closer. She fixed her mouth even more firmly against his throat, not wanting to spill a single drop. She could hear Siffrin letting out a low whine, but all it did was make her pull him closer. Make her lock her limbs around her prey so that it couldn't escape her.

It was always different, drinking from someone that she didn't need to chase and hunt down. She was calmer, more controlled, but it also made her more greedy. Her body was more relaxed, without the adrenaline of her victim making her feel like she needed to cut and run, she took her time. After the first desperate gulps, her pulls became long and languid. She cradled his head, fingers threading through his hair, as she drank, and drank, and drank.

"Odile…" Siffrin's voice was so soft it nearly didn't break through her haze, but the sound of her companion in pain made her slow her pace.

Slowly, she became aware of her body again. The way she was cradling his head, angling him uncomfortably so that she could get to his throat. The way he was trapped against her body, practically crushed in the tightness of her embrace. The way she had settled herself so comfortably in his lap. And, because of that last point, the bulge that she felt asserting itself between her thighs.

She gasped as she pulled away from him. Her tongue traced the trail of blood that escaped his wounds as she lapped at the holes her fangs had made. It took a while for the bleeding to stop, but the time she spent dragging her tongue across his neck did help to ground her in her body once more. Once she was able to take stock of her own body, she began to pay more attention to his. The way his grip had only tightened around her, his small pants and gasping breaths, the way he was very slowly and subtly rocking against her.

"Siffrin," she said softly. He stilled beneath her as soon as she did. She watched him blink a few times before he looked up at her. He still seemed to be a bit dazed, but that was to be expected. He hummed to acknowledge her. "Did you… enjoy that?"

The evidence spoke for itself, of course, but she was curious as to his answer. Especially as he still didn't look to be thinking clearly enough to try and obfuscate his answer.

His fingers flexed against her, adjusting his grip so that he could continue holding her tightly. "It helped you," he said simply.

"Didn't it hurt you?" she questioned. She knew some people enjoyed that, but she hadn't expected Siffrin to be the type. She pulled her fingers from his hair, only to find them catching on tangles and knots. With a sigh, she began to comb her fingers through his head, trying to detangle each and every knot she came across.

He nodded slowly. closing his eye. "It was nice, having you cling to me."

Warmth spread through her, surprising and unfamiliar. It took her a moment to recognize the small trickle of embarrassment running through her. Gems, she was far too old to be embarrassed by something like this, yet she couldn't help herself. There was always a bit of modification to being caught out in this manner, even if it was something small.

He squeezed her. She nearly jumped in surprise, her eyes snapping to his face. She was surprised to find him looking at her again. "You don't have to be embarrassed."

Was she really being read that easily? Had her control slipped that much?

"Hm, yes, between the two of us, I don't think I'm the one with something to be embarrassed about." She pressed herself against him a bit more to make it clear what she was talking about.

Siffrin's face darkened just a bit, but he didn't shrink away from her the way that she had expected him to. Instead, he looked her in the eye, entirely guileless, as he asked, "Does it bother you?"

Odile wasn't sure how Siffrin always managed to surprise her. He had always been rather sincere and straightforward, in his way. She should have expected this.

There was no way she could have expected.

She sighed. "Not really, no."

He smiled, relaxing even more beneath her. "Good. I wouldn't want you thinking that you couldn't do this again."

Odile raised an eyebrow. "You want to do this again?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

In a million years, she didn't think she would ever get a proper read on Siffrin.

"Why would you?" she asked instead, voice a bit harsher than she intended with her incredulity.

Siffrin didn't seem offended. Perhaps he was too used to her by now. "I like being close to you and it helps you. You never tell anyone else your problems, never let us help, so I'm happy that I get to do something for you."

"You're the last person qualified to give me that lecture, Siffrin."

He did duck his head at that, breaking eye contact as he tried to bury his face in a cloak he was no longer wearing. "Maybe…"

Silence followed.

It wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It had been a long time since she'd found herself uncomfortable in Siffrin’s company. It did make her aware of a few things, though. The way her hand was still combing through his hair, the fact that she was so comfortably sitting on his lap and the way she could feel him so snugly pressed against her, the way his hands had begun rubbing slow circles against her hips and back.

What was she doing?

"I should let you go," she said abruptly. She still found herself hesitating though.

Siffrin's hands clamped down on her. "You don't have to!"

She blinked at the insistence in his voice.

He lowered his volume, dropping his gaze as he spoke again. "I mean, you can if you want to, but if you don't want to… you don't need to?"

Odile assumed the slight question at the end was due to lack of confidence and not uncertainty. Still, she felt the need to ask, "Isn't this uncomfortable for you?" She pushed down against him to make it clear what he was talking about. His face darkened more, but he shook his head.

"I already said… I like being close to you." He looked back up to meet her gaze, giving her a small smile.

"Hmm… and you don't want… relief?"

It seemed to take him a moment to realize what she meant. He shrunk away from her at first, pulling up the front of his shirt as if to hide in it the same way he did his collar. It only lasted a moment though, before looked her way again. "It's… I like holding you this way. I don't care about… any of that. I just want to be near you."

Odile was pretty sure she'd had sex that was less straightforward than this conversation.

"Does it… bother you?"

"Not really." It was a bit more of a temptation than she was used to, but she did enjoy the tease. No, more than that she wanted the tease. Even realizing that it was likely just a reaction to her bite and not a reaction to Odile herself.

He was still watching her. His voice was soft as he asked, "Do you want… um, relief?"

She… remained silent. She surprised herself by realizing that the answer was yes.

It wasn't a result of drinking from him. Not inherently, at least. It was just that, like Siffrin, she was enjoying being close to him. She wanted… more of it. It would actually be less embarrassing if she just wanted to have sex with him. Instead she was just… greedy.

"It's alright if you do!" Siffrin was quick to assure her. "I said that I wanted to help you, so… if you want something, let me help?"

She shook her head, a smile spreading over lips before she could stop it. "You're… sweet."

Siffrin ducked his head and she barked out a laugh.

"Oh that's what you're embarrassed about? You'll let me drink your blood and offer to get me, but a genuine compliment is too much?"

He pulled her closer, pressing his forehead to her chest and hiding his face that way. "It's different when it's an Odile compliment! Those are rare."

"It seems we're treading a lot of new ground tonight." She squeezed her thighs around him and, when he didn't react, she ground herself against him just a bit. He took in a surprised breath, but quickly relaxed under her again, squeezing her.

She really was being greedy.

Odile draped her arms over his shoulders, cradling him close again as she ground herself against him. The friction was nice. It had been too long since she'd gotten to enjoy herself without a feeling of expectation looming over her. She moved slowly, listening to the slight hitch in breath that came from Siffrin.

How long had it been, since she'd let herself be close to someone this way? Close for the sake of being close and not for…

She stopped, taking a few breaths to calm herself. She relaxed the grip that she had on him, sliding one hand into his hair and tugging. He took the hint easily, tilting his head back to look up at her. She hesitated, licked her lips, before forcing the words out. "Would you do one more thing for me, Siffrin?"

"Sure. What is it?"

She really enjoyed seeing that smile on him. Open and confident, unafraid. It made her warm to see it.

"Stay with me tonight, if you don't mind?"

There wasn't even time for her to worry about his answer.

"Of course," he told her. "Whatever you need."

Odile was in great danger of enjoying his company far too much. She was surprisingly okay with taking that risk.

[cripplecharacters]

So I have a question regarding sign language and typically spoken/heard superpowers. For reference I have a character who was born dead and is culturally Deaf, her first language is sign language and she doesn’t speak. There are two specific characters with powers that either require something to be spoken or heard by the victim so I wanted to check in with y’all on how it could work with deaf people so I don’t end up picking the worse option.

1. The first power is mind control. The rules for this power is that the command has to be spoken and then the ‘victim’ has to hear it. The deaf character doesn’t have cochlear implants or hearing aids with little residual hearing left so this would technically make her ‘immune’. This wasn’t planned, but she’s also the best friend to the mind control user, so I wanted to see if her being technically immune was something that was ok (idk if the whole medusa and the blind woman trope is a good thing or not and I’m kind of seeing patterns of it here) or if I should find a way to still make her affected if the other route was offensive in any way (note that the mind control guy wouldn’t purposely try to control her or anything he’s just pretty bad at controling the powers since they’re new).

2. The other power is a lie detection power, which I haven’t fully fleshed out hence why I came to ask how it should affect sign language. On the one hand, from what I’ve seen, lie detection powers in media tend to only work on spoken lies, so that criteria would mean that by speaking in sign language you could evade the power. On the other hand, sign language is of course still a language amd should be treated as such, and I don’t want to make it seem like it isn’t, so I’m not sure if the lie detection should be affected or not (my main question here is basically just which of these two options would be better representation here). This one is also pretty important since sign language is quite prevalent in the story - the love interest is semiverbal autistic so the main character is learning sign language to be able to communicate with them, so it’s something that multiple characters could potentially use to ‘evade’ the power.

Sorry it’s pretty long, I thought condensing two similar questions into one post would be easier. Have a nice day and thank you for taking the time to answer ❤️❤️

Hi!

For both questions, I think communication and intent are the biggest things to consider.

For the first one, since the mind-controller has to speak and be heard to cause an effect, I think he should have to sign to affect your Deaf character (and signed commands will only affect those who know sign language). If he can't control whom he affects, then if he signs to her while using his powers he may end up controlling her.

For the second, lies should be detected in any language. From what I've seen, lie detectors rely on either body language or some mind-reading-like power. Either would still work for a signing character. If it's body language based, she might be good at hiding lies, but that shouldn't be language dependent.

Mod Rock

[horsechestnut]

Wild how Sabine is more like Tiana than Tiana is.

[amaltheas-garden]

people still shocked that in the year of our lord 2024 some of us don't want to see Dany get her 'happy ending' by becoming the white savior who was promised

[xhuuya]

The evidence I presented to my group chat when making the claim that Cait Wouldn't have missed that shot.

If she can hit the bolts off machinery that's moving and trying to kill her and the people around her?

[arins-art-alley]

oh my gosh OH MY GOSH I NEED MORE BABY WEREKRAKENS THEY ARE so cute (only if you wanna) Did werekraken callie n marie get along?

Bbys!!! Their bond was so good, callie was actually the one werekraken that could calm marie down!

[bonefall]

naruto as a whole is a fucking mess and i say thisas somebody whos read the entireseries 3 times over. “naruto is going to change the system! haha teehee never mind hes not doing anytning about the child soldiers and slave castes and the genocides.” “sasuke can be upset at his brother for committing a genocide but actually genocide against an oppressed bloodline is good if theyre getting uppity and its sanctioned by the government and also have a genetic predisposition to be evil so he should just get over it and be okay with it” “sakura needs to stop obsessing over a guy whos not even interested and become strong for her own sake. actually shes a housewife now”

kishimoto im going to blow you up with my mind

YOU GET IT

For real though I think what they did with Sasuke's arc was one of the most baffling fucking things I've ever seen. "Actually. Your brother who carried out a genocide loved you :( he only put you in the Torment Nexus for several days because uhhh he wanted you to hate him and not find out about the government who ordered it. Everything he ever did was actually to protect you. And Uchihas are actually kinda rotten anyway so it's good an entire GROUP OF PEOPLE died. Don't think about any babies or children who were also slaughtered btw uhh nope all of them were bad."

Sasuke: "Yes I understand. I will now rule the world through fear. Actually nvm Naruto won our fight so, my philosophy is gone now."

Thank goodness that Evil Sasuke killed the three Bad Government Officials before that point, though. We had this whole theme going about toxic structures, cycles of abuse, and how oppressive regimes can propagate themselves even when a leader is well-meaning... but, like, Naruto REALLY wants to be Hokage, so actually if you just kill these Three Bad Governors it's gonna be fine.

There is no need for systemic change. Slave castes and child soldiers are fine. It's ok as long as the president is blonde :)

[genshin-projection]

wow wow wow ok ok ok ok

so im partway through the wardance event in HSR 2.5 and my mind is SPINNING

in particular finishing the most recent main quest with the Borisin, then hearing about Igor Haft of Belobog...

it's FASCINATING to me how the civilizations in HSR seem to not only follow a path that they value, but a path that they need and end up getting very little help from

belobog following the preservation because their small, impoverished planet is constantly under threat of death and destruction... such that very little is actually "preserved" with any success

the xianzhou alliance following the hunt to root out and eliminate their enemies without mercy... only for those same enemies to stir up trouble from within their own ranks, with the xianzhou luofu in particular failing to realize until two major disasters had already been set in motion. and even before then, considering everything implied with dan feng, i doubt this is the first time they've faced internal conflict like this

penacony following the harmony to ensure the happiness and unity of their people, only for what little harmony actually exists to simply cover up the turbulence and suffering belying every luxury... such that the order arose in the first place to deal with what the harmony couldn't, a thick undercurrent of inequality and divisiveness that plagued every worker, every poor soul that saw penacony as their safe haven, their last hope

that those desperate for preservation would come out with so little, with so many wounds. that those desperate to hunt down threats would be perpetually plagued by internal betrayals and setups. that those desperate for harmony, peace, and unity would allow its weak to suffer until the only option left is not prosperity but silence and preconceived "happiness"....

it's just fascinating to me how those following a path actually have the least of it. it's fascinating how the pathstriders of the preservation are on the brink of demise, the pathstriders of the hunt are under threat of ambush, the pathstriders of the harmony struggle to remain united and fair to their people.

[sugarless5]

“What if I told you that some part of me still hungers after suffering?”

Alex didn’t flinch. Of course she didn’t. It wasn’t in her repertoire.

“I’d tell you to keep your shit together, Darlington. We all want things we shouldn’t.”

-Leigh Bardugo, Hell Bent

[sukibenders]

Suzanne Collins saying that she only writes/will only create a new Hunger Games book when she has something to say, now announcing the release of her new upcoming book AND its film release? Interesting.