#plus what's your definition of problematic

[flightyalrighty]

Hey you got an advices for a newbie who thinks about doing commissions? :>

And did you have any bad experiences? (You don't have to answer if it is too private)

I won't go into detail for any bad commission experiences, but I can at least tell you what I learned from em in the form of the advice you asked for:

PRICING! When figuring out pricing, ask yourself the following:

What is an hour of my work worth? This question helps you avoid underselling yourself aka selling under minimum wage. You're definitely worth more than that. $20 is a pretty good starting point for folks who aren't too confident in their own stuff.

How long does it take to complete an art piece? Create one sample of every type of commission you want to sell. Time yourself when you make them. Whatever amount of time it takes to create each piece multiplied by the hourly wage you've set for yourself is going to be your base price for each thing ($20 x 2 hours for a full body sketch = $40). You can also use the samples you've made to help advertise in your commission post and show your potential clients what it is they can expect from you!

How should I charge for add-ons? Once again, figure how long something takes, and shoot for something that seems both fair for you and the client. For extra characters or something like a background, for example, I charge an extra 50% of the base price.

PROBLEMATIC CLIENTS! Got a client that doesn't know what they actually want? Too wishy washy? Too nitpicky? There's a solution! Offer a limited amount of revisions. I offer two free ones, personally. Once the client is out of revisions, I charge them 20% for each additional revision, and I MAKE SURE THEY CAN SEE THAT ON THE FORM THEY FILL OUT. That way, clients are encouraged to get their WHOLE idea in order before going to you. No one wants to be charged extra for a mistake they made, after all -- And it's definitely their mistake if they leave out any details they later deem important and want you to fix.

THE AFOREMENTIONED FORM TO BE FILLED! I used Google Forms, personally. It makes your little business look a bit more professional AND it helps you keep track of multiple projects at once, while prompting the clients to give you the info you specifically need (like reference images). It's good!

BE PROFESSIONAL! You're more likely to get repeat customers if you maintain a professional customer service attitude while handling clients, and deliver your work as promptly as you can. Delivering work PROMPTLY is definitely something you need to imagine me circling and underlining. Please do your best to not take, like, a year? To complete a commission? It's a really bad look. Treat it like homework. Give yourself your own little due date to work with.

While we're on that! DEFINITELY send your clients WIPs while you work! Showing that you're making progress is a great way to get feedback from the client before it's too late to change anything, PLUS it keeps their mind at ease about the possibility of you potentially taking their money and running.

KEEP YOURSELF SAFE! Speaking of taking money and running, set up a system that works when it comes to charging clients and delivering the goods. I have been burned in the past and have learned from this. Some artists charge their clients upfront before delivering anything at all. Personally, I'm not a fan of this, because then it leaves the client open to feeling uneasy about possibly getting scammed. Obviously I'm not a scammer, but to lift the weight of that possibility on the minds of my clients, I charge half upfront and half upon completion. This way, I already have SOME money so the client isn't gonna "dine-and-dash" me, and the client, likewise, is holding the other half of the pay in a friendly self-imposed hostage situation. I do recommend this!

I also use Paypal to INVOICE my clients. This way, I have full control over the nature of what I'm charging and can avoid the client accidentally (or maliciously) sending a payment with something in there meant to get my Paypal account shut down. DO NOT WRITE JOKES ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE CHARGING YOUR CLIENT FOR. DO NOT GET YOURSELF IN TROUBLE FOR SOMETHING STUPID.

And this is all the advice I currently have on me! I hope it helps!

[lycorisicecream]

of course you've gotten into problematic things.

Don't know if I should answer this but like what do you mean

[batshit-auspol]

So a bit of background first for our international followers: Clive Palmer is one of Australia's many mining billionaires who like to meddle in our country's politics, and as such he is utterly despised by all of Australia.

Picture for context:

He is most commonly known online by the title "Fatty McFuckhead", (problematic as it may be) because he tried to sue a youtuber for $500,000 for calling him that - and he lost. So the name stuck.

Up until his most recent foray into parliament, the legally certified Fuckhead was best known for his batshit business ventures, such as attempting to build "The Titanic 2" (failed) and trying to build a dinosaur theme park (also failed, but at least nobody got eaten by a T-Rex in this one).

For a very long time Clive played the role of sugar daddy to Australia's largest conservative party, the ironically named Liberal Party, until they had a falling out in 2012 after Clive claimed there was too much money influencing politics (lol), at which point he started his own party, days after saying he totally quit and wasn't fired and he only left because he didn't want to be a distraction.

His initial run at parliament was actually kinda successful, with Palmer's group winning 4 seats, plus a member from the "Motoring Enthusiasts Party" joined them too after accidentally getting elected and not knowing what the fuck to do.

Despite this initial success however, Palmer's party (which ran on basically no platform other than "I'm rich") hit an iceberg (titanic 2 achieved) and seven elected state and federal politicians quit within the first year.

By the time the next federal election rolled around, only one Palmer party candidate was still running for re-election. The most successful of this group - Jaquie Lambie - quit to sit as an independant and is still in parliament today.

Here she is with a painting of herself strangling Clive (she sells signed copies of this)

And here the senator is posting about liking sausage:

Anyway, we're getting to the point: which is the yellow posters. By the 2016 election, just two years after forming, the party was in complete freefall. It won just 0.01% of the vote at their second election, and it was announced shortly after that Clive was quitting politics and the party was being shut down. Australia breathed a sigh of relief.

It was, of course, short lived.

Clive, in desperate need of attention, restarted the party for the 2019 election, fielding candidates in every seat and spending $60 million in advertising in an attempt to win votes.

Every single candidate lost.

It was in this campaign however that Australia really started to fall out of love with Palmer, because most of that $60 million went towards putting up the world's least compelling marketing billboards on almost every single free space in the country.

For a good six months this was basically the only thing you would see in Australia if you went outside:

Clearly Graphic design is his passion. And yes, the genius did just straight up try and copy Trump's homework while changing a few words, hoping nobody would notice.

Very quickly these all got vandalised and it seemed the ad companies didn't care enough to replace them.

We could go on posting examples, there are thousands, but the best is definitely the one Ikea put up shortly after Clive lost the election:

In 2022, Clive's party contested the election AGAIN, this time also opting to send millions on spam text messages to every person in Australia begging for people to vote for him, as well as buying almost every youtube ad for a year, at the cost of $100 million.

He won a whopping one seat.

During this election Clive ran on an anti-lockdown, anti-vax platform with the slogan "freedom, freedom, freedom". That message, however, was slightly undermined when his goons, dressed in 'Freedom!' shirts, made national news for trying to beat up a protester who turned up at a rally dressed as an annoying text message, shouting "pay your workers" at Clive.

As if that wasn't bad enough, at another rally Clive knocked himself unconscious while trying to jump up on stage, and then a few weeks later was rushed to hospital with covid, while his anti-vax ads were still in regular rotation on TV, at which point it was also leaked to the press that Palmer had been alledgedly trying to buy Hitler's car.

Utterly humiliated, the party deregistered again shortly after the election.

Can't wait until he runs again in 2025.

Anyway, on the other "Clive tweeting Miss Kobayashi's Dragon" thing, we have no idea what that means but here's a screencap:

[newtkive]

confectionary clash - carmen berzatto

pairing: carmen berzatto x afab!reader (established relationship)

summary: carmy's girl is the human embodiment of a sweetheart. that is, unless it's that time of the month and richie provokes her.

wordcount: 3.2k

warnings: swearing, fighting, weaponized incompetence from richie but we still love him.

a/n: this was meant to be a drabble but turned into 3k words. so it's written kinda like a drabble?? (hence the lowercase i can't be arsed to change) but just... long. idk hopefully its entertaining. also, i don't mean to demonize richie, he's my favorite character i think,, i just love writing him as problematic lmao cuz he's so funny. anyways, enjoy!

as carmy’s confidant and girlfriend, you were always the voice of reason. with just a string of words, you’d be calming him down after a hectic work day, giving him a fresh perspective on his work dilemmas since you were outside of the restaurant circle. in the time he’s known you, he hadn’t seen you do as much as barely raise your voice. maybe the occasional snap, but you always follow it up with swift apologies and big watery eyes.

that is, unless you’re in pain. specifically cramps. the sight of you 180ing from a sweet girl with a bright smile and even sweeter words, to an evil sorceress with spells rolling off your tongue, inflicting curses onto anyone who irritates you is jarring. a bit dramatic, sure, but that’s what you were during that time of the month—dramatic.

carmy tries best to dote on you. you would never ask him to go out of his way for something, unless it’s grabbing a heating pad or water, but carmy wants you to. it takes prying to hear your desires and cravings after asking a million times, and you begrudgingly give in with no expectations. nevertheless, you end up with exactly what you asked for, or something close to it, and you’re endlessly grateful.

on days when you stop into the restaurant when you’re feeling down, carmy enacts this same routine. if it’s food, he’ll cook it for you; desserts, he’ll grab any extras marcus has (or marcus happily makes it from scratch if they're not busy, claiming he needs the practice). if you want snacks, he sends his right hand man richie out to grab them despite your protests.

richie does it often whenever you stop into the store, and he acts like it’s a chore sometimes, but everyone has a hunch that he really loves it. come on, twenty dollars to get a few items for you and pocket the rest for himself? plus a break from work? done deal.

richie wouldn’t admit it, but he liked taking care of you too. you were always a sweetheart to him, but it wasn’t in his personality to be as sincere as you, so this was a little act of service to show his love. besides, the year and a half you’ve known him has definitely earned you the title of a friend, and you’d agree.

now, you don’t ever want to seem ungrateful, but when you ask for a specific treat, you get disappointed when you don’t really get it. maybe it’s the fluctuating mood talking, but you always end up snapping at richie due to his poor choices. if you ask for one thing, he’ll get you the next, and you even suspect he does it on purpose sometimes. pulling reactions from people is his specialty.

it’s not like you’re a complete bitch about it, because he took his time out to go get you something, but richie has a problem with weaponized competence even with his new and improved attitude. you know he can get you the jolly ranchers you suggested, but he chooses to grab goldfish because it’s closer to checkout. it was annoying, but you never really brought it up to carmy. it's not like you needed to, it wasn't a huge deal. you figured richie could use the little break, and you don’t hate the snacks he brings.

except on days like this.

you were at the restaurant on a slow day, dragged yourself out of bed despite your cramps just to see your little grumpy boyfriend and hide in his office. even as you entered the establishment through the back you glared at richie (who sweetly waved) in passing, side eyeing a few of the newbies who ran in front of you despite their apologies. none of your usual bright smiles and cheery greetings. the bee line straight to the office was a clear enough explanation for how you were feeling.

upon entering, carmy looked up in a panic, which quickly melted into a soft smile at the sight of his girlfriend. “hey, baby.” he cooed softly, immediately scooting back from his desk to reach out to grasp at your waist. you let him, but pushed down the irritation, not favoring touch at the moment. however, his rough hands sliding a little under your shirt to grasp at the flesh of your hips calmed you down, earning a small quirk of the lips from you.

“whatcha doin’ here, love?” he asks, bringing one of your hands to his lips to kiss softly, still looking up at you.

you shrug, squeezing his hand, face a bit stoic. you’d been like this for a couple of days so he wasn’t surprised by your lack of friendliness. knowing you this long, carmy became accustomed to your monthly mood swings, and he felt privileged that you didn’t feel the need to put up an act for him.

“missed you.” you finally sighed, scooting closer so you stood between his knees. palms found both sides of carmy’s face and tilted it upwards a bit so you could study his appearance. stressed and tired. however, he seemed to glow at the mere admission of you missing him. it took a few seconds for his brain to rewire, looking up at you like you created the cosmos. the only reason you heard his soft, shy, ‘missed you too’ was because of the stagnant silence.

“hungry?” carmy asked, beaming from the attention. you shrugged again, allowing him to tighten his grip on your sides and tug you onto his lap. whining a bit in protest, you reposition yourself, legs falling over his lap and arms around his neck. your faces were closer now, and carmy looked at your sad eyes with a little pang in his chest. brows furrowing, he tilted his head and snuck a hand under your chin. long, tattooed fingers tickled at your chin, and before you knew it you were giggling and grinning while batting his hand away.

“cmon, i know you must want somethin’.” your grin was infectious and laced in his soft words. you hummed, already cheered up, and tapped a finger against your chin to make a thinking face. carmy chuckled, brushing a lock of hair away from your eyes and patiently waited.

a thought crossed your mind and you met gazes again. “i might go grab some little debbie snacks from around the corner.” you decided and nodded to yourself as if solidifying your decision.

as you started sitting up more, carmy’s grip tightened on your waist. “ah, ah, no. stay here.” he protested. soon enough he was calling out ‘cousin!’ and richie came bounding over, opening the office door.

richie’s face used to contort in disgust at any visual sign of affection exchanged between you and carmy, but he was used to it now. “what’s up, cousin?” he asked, almost seeming out of breath, eyes flickering between the both of you.

a short exchange between the two occurred: carmy asking richie to run to the corner store, handing richie a twenty, and richie asking you precisely what you wanted. you made it simple and easy, something he could remember: oreos and ho-hos, a midwestern's guilty pleasure.

“ight, cap’n, i’ll be back.” richie says, saluting you two before heading out. both you and carmy exchanged an amused smirk, knowing the only reason richie went was to get himself some cigarettes and hot fries he would scarf down on the walk back.

__

in the twenty minutes richie was gone, the kitchen had gone to shit. the newbies had been running the wrong food to tables, online orders were filling the tablet nonstop due to a discount glitch, and carmy was close to losing it. sitting in the office, now alone with the muffled sound of your boyfriend yelling, you were more grumpy than before. arms crossed, you snapped your head to the side once the door creaked open. in walked richie with a plastic bag, inside of it holding your hope for a better day.

"what took you so long?" you frowned up at him, but sat up straighter in anticipation. you eyes almost shone as you looked at corner store logo on the bag.

"went the long way." he mumbled, digging in the plasic. the skeptical look on your face didn't leave as he pulled out an item and set it on the table. your frown deepened further as you noticed there was nothing at all you asked for, only met with a crushed sleeve of crackers.

“where are the oreos?” you sighed out, lips pursed in a bit of a pout.

“didn’t find any, so i got you some peanut butter crackers.” he mumbled, digging around the bag again, as if he didn’t just break your heart. if it was anyone else you'd believe them, but with richie you figured he just got bored of looking.

your jaw fell slack and you gaped like a fish for a moment, waiting for him to pull out more treats from his bag. but that time didn’t come, as he fished a pack of cigarettes out instead. “and the ho-ho’s?” your voice was hopeful.

richie perked up at that, putting the cigarettes down next to the crackers. the next second he presented you with a smushed mountain of brown and white concealed in a plastic wrapper sitting atop the palm of his hand. eyes flicking between the disappointment before you and his face, you frowned in disbelief.

richie only managed to emote as much as a ‘yikes’ face before placing it on the desk. “got smushed in transit, but tastes the same!” he gave his best attempt at a smile. your brows grew taut together and anger bubbled up in your chest. you were sure your face was quickly turning red.

“carmy gave you twenty dollars, and you come back with this?!” you hiss out, daring to look at the dry crackers and smushed up dream of a ho-ho. the sight only made you become angrier. this was something a senile old person would give you, not a competent 40-something-year-old man. his lack of care was clear, and you were boiling.

richie just scoffed—he had the nerve to scoff.

“no, not just that! i got a sprite and a few pack of cigs for myself and the guy.” he waved around one of them to prove his point. if you thought you were mad before, you reached a new level of anger. usually, you’d deal with the disappointment and thank richie for even going—aside from a smart alec remark.

however, the demon conducting your period for this month did not make your rational decisions seem clear nor enticing. as you shot up from carmy’s chair, you only knew you wanted to make richie as upset as you were in this moment.

with one finger poking his chest, you began raising your voice. as soon as you started talking, richie's eyes turned wide as saucers, exactly like a deer in headlights. a string of curses snuck into your tirade, between phrases such as “you always fucking do this richie!” and “are you fuckin’ dumb?! did you get dropped on your head?!”. you only figured he didn't fire back right away because he was so stunned.

outside of the office, the kitchen was calmer now. things were finally falling into order but still required carmy’s supervision until the sudden rush ended. the only disturbance was you. now, it was your voice yelling behind closed doors and not carmy’s.

the chef—in the middle of helping sydney plate a dish—just about gave himself whiplash with how fast he turned around to look at the barely cracked door of the office. there was the telltale muffled yelling, but what shocked him was it was clearly you yelling.

turning back around, carmy gawked at sydney who silently shared the same look of surprise. it was only until they heard richie start yelling back that sydney silently pushed him toward the door. it didn’t take more than a second for carmy to snap out of his surprise and march over to the office.

throwing the hand towel he was using over his shoulder, he yanked the heavy door open before all but body slamming his way into the room and slamming the door closed. the yelling was suddenly clear, as if carmy was being pulled out from underwater.

“YOU GET ME WHAT I ASKED YOU, OR GET ME NOTHING AT ALL!”

“THEN YOU’D BITCH ABOUT THAT TOO—“

“OR NOTHING AT ALL!”

“hey, hey, HEY!” the two of you were too busy at each others throats to even hear carmy enter, until his voice brought you both to a halt, heads turning towards him.

carmy’s eyes were immediately glued to you, not paying the least bit of attention to richie. your arms were stiff as boards to your sides, fists and jaw clenched, brows taut, and race beet red. the man had never seen you look like this before, and his instinct to comfort you took over. turning to richie with a look that could kill, carmy finally spoke. “what did you do?”

“what did i do?! except take precious time to get your girl shit she didn’t even want?!”

an offended gasp left your mouth, and you retorted instantly. “oh please! because a crushed up sleeve of crackers and a mountain of mushed up cake is just what i asked for!”

“you’re ungrateful.” richie pointed a finger at you now. carmy launched forward and slapped it down. he knew richie would never hurt you, and you knew it too, as you just rolled your eyes in response, but carmy’s instinct’s took over. richie didn’t even look phased, just irritated. carmy stood in front of you and forcefully turned richie around by his shoulders to send him to the door. if carmy didn't have half of a sane mind, he would’ve kicked richie's bottom with his shoe for good measure.

“go take a break chef! or do whatever the fuck, i don’t care.” carmy shouted after richie, and the man left with a slam of the door.

you simply watched the scene unfold with arms crossed and that same deep set frown. carmy turned around to face you as the air settled, a hand running through his hair. blue eyes raked over your tense form and carmy decided he would give you a little space to calm down. however, the second he saw your bottom lip wobbling and eyes grow watery he threw that thought to the wind

“hey, no, no, don’t cry.” carmy extended his arms and collected you into them. the tense posture you held relaxed into his slouched form as he held you close; one hand in your hair, and the other rubbing circles on your back as you sniffled.

a pit of guilt burned in your stomach and spurred you into attempting to bury yourself into carmy. blue straps of his apron rubbed against your cheek as you shuffled impossibly closer. usually, carmy would love this, but right now he'd do anything to not see you so out of it. shushing you, he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

there were a few beats of you hiding away before you decided to pull back a bit to face him again—and boy did you look pitiful.

the same cheeks previously bright with anger were now flush with embarrassment and stained with tears. a tattooed hand found itself sitting on your cheek, thumb rubbing under your eye to collect a fallen tear. at the touch, your eyes fluttered closed, and carmy’s heart broke at the sight.

“you gonna tell me what happened?” your boyfriend asked, trying not to make you feel even more guilty. his full attention was on you. exhaling slowly, your eyes fluttered back open and were met with those bright blue ones that always calmed you down.

“i dunno, i just-“ you shook your head and carmy waited patiently, “it wasn’t even a big deal, but richie just really set me off for some reason.”

“yeah, may as well join the club.” carmen’s words were light, not at all sarcastic, but aiming to ease you and bring out a smile. it worked, your lips turning upwards and carmy mimicking the half smile. he looked down at you with such love, head tilted to follow every time yours moved, and thumb caressing your cheek as he took in every expression.

your smile finally faltered as you glanced back at the office desk. “i feel so awful. he went out and got me stuff and i just yelled at him.” you sputter out.

carmy followed your gaze over his shoulder to finally see what started all of this. at the sight of the crackers and ball of what looked like mush, carmy scoffs in both disbelief and amusement, because of course richie would bring you that. turning back towards you, the chef finally gets it.

“baby, if someone brought me that shit while my insides were shedding i’d kill them.” he chuckled.

“really?” you asked hopefully, smile forming again.

“yes, really. even if i wasn’t goin’ through that i’d actually kick his ass.” carmy mirrored your smile.

nodding, you let yourself chuckle along with him. strong arms found you again and you were wrapped in a tight hug, allowing his squeezes to take away some guilt you were feeling. a moment passed and you knew carmy had to get back to work. with a sigh, you pulled back.

it was your turn to reach up and cup his cheek. guiding his face close, you met him halfway and pressed your lips to his in a kiss. lips moving against his, your noses brushed, and after a moment you let the kiss dissipate; lips slowly falling away from where they were molded together. one last peck was placed on carmy’s lips, as if saying, ‘thank you for being so attentive’. that earned an appreciate hum.

you both beamed, faces still close as you came back down to earth. “you gotta get back to work, and i gotta apologize.” you murmured and carmy nodded obediently.

with apprehension, carmy let you go, arms floating in the air for half a second as he walked backwards towards the door. “don’t go easy on him, though. richie lives for a fight. that was probably his anger management for the day.” carmy smirked, grasping the doorknob.

you just shook your head, eyes narrowed teasingly. before he turned to leave, you called out to him. “thank you, carmy.”

the man just gave you a confused look, chuckling. “don’t thank me, you're my girl.” with that he was back to work and you were left to your own devices. with one more glance at the monstrosity on the office desk, you left the room and went on a search for richie.

thirty minutes later, carmy was due for a smoke break and approached the back door. he slowed his tracks, lighter and cigarette in hand as he cracked the door and heard giggling. the sight before him was drastically different than before: you and richie sitting on a ledge next to each other, giggling and bumping shoulders. carmy breathed out a laugh at the sight and fully walked out. this caught both of your attention, grinning ear to ear as you clearly made up.

“hey, cousin!” richie grinned, and you both waved. figures.

[hotvintagepoll]

Trying to get more into old movies because of this blog (I only know about half of these people and feel like a poser) do you have good recommendations on where to start or is it just a situation where you watch stuff and find what you like as you go?

you are not a poser <3 i myself am just here for the hotties.

here is my quick and dirty list of fun films to start with if you're new to old movies. and of course if you like one of these, do try to find more stuff as you go! there's no bad way to try out old movies.

(this list is not official and is SUPER quick. i'm tagging for content warnings where I can, but if I forgot something let me know.)

"I want to watch something SILLY!"

The Court Jester (Danny Kaye, Angela Lansbury, Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone)—everyone in this movie is hot. everyone is in fancy medieval dress, which makes them hotter. everyone here is very silly. You can stream this on Hoopla, last time i checked, so you might be able to stream it through your library!

Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang (Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Frobe)—some people hate this movie and to them I say What Is Wrong With You. dick van dyke is a hot absent minded inventor who lives in a windmill with his two adorable children, his gorgeous sheepdog, and a grandfather who is categorically useless. it feels like the two films mary poppins (1964) and willy wonka (1971) had a baby and that baby was born on roller skates singing an old broadway showtune. this one has been showing up in some odd places lately—I think you can catch it on Tubi or Hoopla? It's definitely around.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Jane Powell, Julie Newmar, Howard Keel, Russ Tamblyn)—my problematic fave. everytime i watch this i change my mind whether it's a sexist pile of garbage or a feminist paean, and fellas, today we're on the feminist paean bandwagon!! jane powell's millie is truly the star of the movie, she is the hero she drives the plot the narrative is on her side, and besides all that there are seven very hot men dancing next to her and six beautiful ladies making me bisexual. (on Tubi last I checked.)

The Duke Is Tops (Lena Horne, Laurence Criner)—I get a huge kick out of watching Laurence Criner and Ralph Cooper swindle everybody while also trying to put on a show; there's just something silly and sincere here, plus you get a ~musical extravaganza~ at the end when all is right as rain again. Free on YouTube I think?

"I want to watch something DRAMATIC that may make me FEEL SOMETHING."

Witness for the Prosecution (Marlene Dietrich, Tyrone Power, Elsa Lanchester)—I love a campy twisty turny mystery, don't you? :) I'm not going to talk about this one much because it's better to go in blind, but if you like Agatha Christie stories you'll probably like this.

To Be Or Not To Be (Carole Lombard, Jack Benny)—always relevant, always makes me laugh, also makes me cry. this takes place in poland during wwii so big tw for nazi imagery and mentions. (don't worry. this movie fucking hates nazis.)

Seven Samurai (Toshiro Mifune)—this one is Great Cinema™™™™™™™™™™™ for a goddamned reason

"I want to watch some stuff with the scrungles in it!"

Mr. Washington Goes to Town (Mantan Moreland)—I've been checking out more of Mantan Moreland's stuff because every time I see him in something I think he's delightful, and I really enjoyed this silly-spooky comedy. Does this story have a brain cell? No. Are the special effects and goofy slapstick fun? Yes. This is a fun example of an all-Black cast in a film that was made for Black audiences, and is a striking counterpoint to the stereotypical representation Black actors were given in white-targeted films, showing the enormous amount of talent and artistry the racist studios missed out on by excluding these actors. This is not A Great Film™ but it's still A Fun Time,™ with a goofy Laurel and Hardy type vibe. (It's free on Youtube.)

The Red Shoes (Robert Helpmann, Leonide Massine, Marius Goring)—hey kid, you wanna watch something fucked up? This movie is so fucked up. It's about ballet, it's about art, it's about technicolor, it's about dance and toxic relationships and making theatre and nightmares and ambition and death. A lot of these recs tend on the silly side (because I tend on the silly side) but this one is actually Serious Film and will definitely help you chat up Martin Scorsese should you ever meet him. Big content warning if you can't handle dark themes right now—this movie's pretty dark, not in the gore way but in the Haunting Creepy Image way. (it's also free on Tubi and Kanopy most of the time.)

The Invisible Man (Claude Rains)—my favorite of the vintage horror flicks and a great introduction to Most Dunked On Hot Vintage Man of All Time, Claude Rains. (it helps that you barely ever see him!) Very very silly but the special effects are just plain fun. (I think this is on Internet Archive in full?)

"Can I just get more hot people please?"

Flower Drum Song (James Shigeta, Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo)—there are so many unbelievably hot people in this movie which is somehow very good (thanks to its cast) and also incredibly, horrifically bad (thanks to its white team of writers, directors, and producers). on the one hand, it's a mostly Asian cast in a big budget, beautifully designed MGM style musical! there's dream sequences, lots of fun dancing, crooning Rogers & Hammerstein cabaret moments, and just charm galore. it is also freighted with so. many orientalist assumptions and stereotypes, absolutely ridiculous shit that the writers ABSOLUTELY should have known better about in the 60s and nonetheless carried into this. this is a hard one to recommend because I loved this cast, and I loved seeing them in a context beyond the usual stereotypical bit parts so many of them frequently were limited to—yet the movie itself perpetuates so many stereotypes on its own it can be a hard one to watch, and I totally understand if it does not work for most people. tl;dr watch for Shigeta, Kwan, Umeki, and the others, but content warnings galore for one (really bad) case of yellowface casting, orientalist tropes, extremely stereotypical character types, etc. (On Tubi/Kanopy last I checked.)

Charade (Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, James Coburn)—this movie feels like a Hitchcock movie except I had a ton of fun watching it, which I can't always say for a Hitch film. (I told you my taste was bad.) This one is free on YouTube and thank god because Audrey wears a lot of Givenchy, Cary Grant wears spectacles and keeps almost dying, it's very exciting and thrilling and funny and sexy. I don't think there are any content warnings but it's been a minute since I watched it. (I should go watch it right now.)

The Big Sleep (Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall)—they're so hot askjdljhjghladkghjksahkhgslkahgshskjhgsalhgsahgjh. i like this one a lot :)

[this is NOT A FULL LIST of all the hot vintage movies to start with but it might give you some starting places! i banged this out as quick as I could at 2 am, so apologies that it's sloppy and not perfect.]

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

The anti-evangelizing attitude prevalent on progressive christian tumblr is problematic. And part of it most definitely has to do with a lot of progressive christians being universalists.

Now. I know this is a bit rich coming from me because I do not typically evangelize. My interest is much more in discussing the faith with people already in it. That said, it is one thing to not evangelize and it is another thing to be anti-evangelism.

And if you're a universalist, it makes sense why you wouldn't evangelize: everyone is going to be saved anyway right? If everyone is going to heaven why evangelize to them?

Except that's ridiculous. Not addressing the problems I have with universalism, assuming it's true that would not be a reason not to evangelize.

One of the definitions for "evangelize" is "convert or seek to convert (someone) to Christianity". But that's, I think, a poor tho technically accurate definition. A better definition is: "preach the Christian gospel." The gospel, ofc, is "the good news". More accurately this is "the good declaration". Because this isn't good news like "Oh the weather is 75 and sunny" this is good news like "Omg we have a new king who is going to execute justice, righteousness, and holiness."

In a lot of thought, sin is something inside of you that is wrong and depraved and etc etc. But that is not the only or even main way it's discussed in the bible. In Genesis 4 (where sin is first mentioned), it is a monster or beast that wants to devour you. One of Paul's favorite metaphors is that of a "Cosmic Tyrant". Sin is something that humanity and society on large is enslaved to, and Jesus has come to liberate them from that slavery so they can be who they were created to be: glorified images of God who rule and reign in the world through the power and love of God.

What does it matter if everyone is going to heaven after they die? Ofc on a certain level that matters, but that is not Jesus's concern, nor is that the primary concern of any biblical author. "Going to heaven" is not even a phrase used in the bible!! The focus is on life right here and right now. Union with God, the experience of his life-giving love and presence - that is available right now! Liberation from slavery to sin, the renewing of the mind, the enjoyment of the family of God - that is available right now and that is what Christ is offering people.

I understand not wanting to evangelize if your conception is "God is angry so God killed Jesus and not you so you can go to the good place when you die and not the bad." That's stupid and unbiblical. Plus, nonbelievers don't even know what "Jesus died for your sins" even means, so any conservative christians reading you've got to stop that it's also unhelpful.

I do not sing forever the praises of the God who didn't kill me. I dedicate my entire heart and being - my entire everything to the God who liberated me from slavery to Sin and Death by dying the death of a slave though he had no sin.

That is the gospel and should be preached to the ends of the earth.

[yanderes-galore]

Is it possible to ask for a romantic concept of Eren + Mikasa (AOT) sharing a darling???

Sure! I'm not finished Season 4 so I chose this to take place during Seasons 1-3 personality and plot-wise. If you want a Season 4 version eventually, I can probably do that.

Yandere! Eren + Mikasa sharing a Darling

(Seasons 1-3)

Pairing: Romantic - Sharing

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Overprotective behavior, Jealousy, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Violence/Implied murder, Yanderes sharing, Blood, Stalking, Kidnapping/isolation, Dubious/Forced relationship.

Honestly, these two are such a duo.

They would definitely share more than fight over their obsession.

Although, as this is romantic intentions, I have a feeling there's some quarreling.

A way this could work is Eren starts with romantic feelings and Mikasa just means to support him at first.

So essentially... It can start as Platonic! Eren and Platonic! Mikasa... then Romantic! Eren and Platonic! Mikasa... then eventually we get to both of them as romantic.

You're no doubt a Scout like them, which just adds to their protective behavior.

Originally the two are just your friends and comrades.

You admire Eren's driven personality and his determination... even if it gets him in trouble.

You also grow to befriend Mikasa, mostly due to the fact she's grown up with Eren and naturally wanted to know more about you.

She may be quiet and stoic, but she clearly cares for both you and Eren.

The two very well may stay platonic for awhile.

They always have looked out for you since you were Cadets.

Now, as Scouts, they're always with you in the field.

The two are actually terrifying as yanderes, that's not even including season 4.

First of all, Mikasa is one of the best Scouts there is.

Second of all, Eren's a titan-shifter.

You are probably one of the most protected Scouts there is.

When Eren has more control of his titan, he probably lets you and Mikasa sit on his shoulders.

I imagine romantic feelings slowly develop when it comes to them.

It probably starts for both of them, but one of them is more intense (Most likely Eren).

Eren is no doubt the one who admits to Mikasa that he likes you.

Mikasa is surprised, perhaps even a bit hurt, but supports Eren.

Which transitions the duo into Romantic/Platonic instead of Platonic.

Mikasa's feelings take longer to brew, but Eren certainly adores you.

Two problematic "rivals" for both of them could probably be Armin and Jean.

They both care for Armin and in earlier seasons despise Jean.

I imagine if you were close with Armin, the two are conflicted.

They care about Armin a ton, so they'd never get into violent fights.

Eren may express irritation or feel dejected, but Mikasa is calmer.

They may be more subtle with Armin in their attempts to distance you two.

But Jean causes a more volatile reaction from both of them.

Eren, in earlier seasons, naturally hates Jean's personality.

Plus iirc, Jean would flirt with Mikasa sometimes, which she hates.

Safe to say they both despise it when Jean speaks or flirts with you.

Eren starts to pick fights but Mikasa tries to soothe herself and pull you away.

Eventually, Mikasa realizes she loves you too.

She probably learns this while working with you in the Scouts for awhile or realizing how irritated she feels when you take your attention away.

Eventually she probably gets the courage to tell Eren about it, feeling guilty as she knows Eren loves you... but hasn't confessed.

Eren seems to have a mixed reaction to this information.

He's a bit possessive about you and is unsure what to think.

However, if Eren was going to share with anyone, it would be Mikasa.

Which then makes the duo both romantic.

Confessing... well, confessing takes time.

The two have gained a reputation when it comes to you.

Many in the regimen know Eren and Mikasa collectively have a thing for you.

It's seen in the way they fight beside you, always prioritizing you.

If you're in trouble, Mikasa's either cutting down a titan's nape or Eren's tackling them in his titan form.

As for human encounters?

They're somehow around you, watching carefully.

Both of them don't mind spilling blood, even more so in season 3.

If anyone dared to hurt you... they're dealing with a dangerous duo.

Now eventually... confessing will happen.

The two ask you to meet them in private, that or one of them approaches you to meet them in private.

Then when you all gather, the two let loose.

They tell you their feelings, everything from how much they care about you to how jealous they are of those around you.

They admit they're scared to lose you and both want to date you.

The decision is... difficult, no doubt.

However, the two are willing to wait.

Due to their persistence... there's a good chance they aren't willing to give you up completely...

But they will wait until you're ready to accept them.

If you don't? Well... They'll find some way to convince you to see it their way... Even if it means losing the freedom you strive for.

For example, they stage an injury to keep you out of combat and with them... or they just straight up go rogue and kidnap you.

If anyone tried to stop them, Mikasa isn't afraid to bloody her blade and Eren certainly isn't holding back either.

You may be crying... shaking at the sight of them covered in blood... but everything will be okay in the end, that's what they say.

Soon... Soon they know you'll be happy with them.

You just need some convincing....

[roseworth]

Can you expand more on the types of the things Dick fans say or do that make you dislike his character?

(context)

the thing about dick grayson is that he is an extremely popular character but the way some people talk about him you would think that hes an unappreciated side character. i think that there are certain fans that need to remember that he has been consistently showing up in comics for 80 years so if hes out of character or left out in one book it shouldnt matter. like im sorry for your loss maybe you can wipe your tears with one of his other 10000 appearances

i feel like any time dick is slightly out of character in a book i see people writing paragraphs about what was wrong with his characterization no matter what the book is. if hes a side character in a book someone will be there to say "um☝️ this is out of character because dick didnt save everyone??? 🤨 why did the main character get the focus instead of dick 🫤" like!!! not everythings about him!!!! and a lot of his fans love that hes an extremely skilled fighter (and im not disagreeing with that!! he definitely is) but because of that they get upset whenever he loses a fight no matter what. even though sometimes to tell a story you need the character to lose sometimes. and i know that a lot of that is because people need to feel the need to defend him after t*m t*ylor wrote him like he was incompetent. but i stg its every time he gets hit someone says "actually this wouldnt happen and this is out of character"

also i feel like people shit on jason and tim fans all the time for stealing traits from female characters and projecting them onto their fav batboy (rightfully so!!) but then i constantlyyyy hear about dick's Eldest Daughter Syndrome and how he represents the female experience or whatever. like i dont have an issue with that on its own, and i think a lot of the people who i see say he has eldest daughter syndrome are people who also talk about women so i dont mind it as much, but there are Other people who basically talk about dick like hes a female character while ignoring the actual women in his stories

speaking of treating him like a female character. im so tired of people saying that the ass jokes are problematic. like dont get me wrong! theyre annoying and unfunny and i dont like them! but some people are convinced that theyre terrible because they objectify him and sexualize him for no reason and etc etc. and the argument i hear over and over is "can you imagine how terrible it would be if they did this to a woman!" like. yeah actually. i dont have to imagine. theyre doing it right now unironically. i think this fictional man will survive if hes drawn with a fat ass sometimes. its not a good thing but there are some people that blow it way out of proportion because "omg why would they do that to him 😨" like i really cannot bring myself to care even a little

plus a lot of his fans will act like hes special in some way in terms of fighting ability or intelligence. and again i do know that he is a great fighter and is very smart!! but hes definitely falling into the same issue that a lot of batman fans have in the sense that they think hes The Greatest To Ever Do It and other characters get put down so dick can be better. so people want to believe that dick can beat anyone in a fight and always wins with prep time. plus there are people that think of him as the perfect character for any situation so there are dick fans going "if dick was there during the utrh confrontation everything wouldve worked out fine 🤗" and "dick actually wouldve killed any character who hurt his friends" and anything like that. because a lot of his fans just want to insist that he is bruce but without all the parts they dont like. toxic nightwing fans are so similar to toxic batman fans but its worse because they dont even think he can have flaws. at least batman fans know he sucks and hates everyone, but nightwing fans say all the great things batman fans say but without any of the issues

anyways. but i think most of the reason that he bothers me has nothing to do with his fans and a lot more to do with dc. just because i really dont care about him. so many comic readers love him so dc will obv appeal to the people that love him. which means that those of us who dont really care about him have to hear about him in every book. like hes just some guy why is he being treated like the most important guy in the world during dark crisis and absolute power. and i have to hear about how hes the heart of the dcu or the glue of the batfamily or whatever else they've said about him. i dont care!!!! at least when its batman being treated like dc's specialest princess all the other characters hate him. since dc thinks that all the readers love him they make it so all the characters love him. and i just dont care about him. im tired of them shaking him in my face and going "its nightwing!!! we all love nightwing!!!! hes the best!!!!!!" i want that twink obliterated

[ryuichirou]

Why is Ortho included in ship art? He died as a child, and although he was rebuilt, his emotional intelligence and maturity level stayed the same as that of a child. Although I fully disagree, I do want to understand your reasoning. Especially since Ortho and Idia are related and I saw your art of them kissing. I am genuinely confused.

I’ll be honest, Anon: the amount of people who message us pretending to be genuinely confused while having ill intentions are more than I care to admit, and this is very tiring; this is why I might sound a little dry in my reply. But I don’t mind explaining it if you genuinely want to understand it. That being said, let this be the last time I am ranting about this topic because there is nothing new I can say.

Here is the short answer: Ortho is included in ship art because we ship him with other characters. Ortho having a maturity level, mentality and/or intelligence of a child is a myth that contradicts canon and only exists to antagonise people who view Ortho as anything other than Idia’s baby mascot with zero agency. The fact that Idia and Ortho are related is not a reason not to ship them: shipping is fictional and doesn’t reflect one’s views on irl matters. Exploring taboo and problematic dynamics and tropes in fiction is a part of natural human experience. What I care most about in shipping is characters’ dynamic that I find fun for shipping. Their relation to each other comes second, but I won’t pretend it doesn’t exist if it does exist.

Now I’ll give you a long answer. Starting with “Ortho is a child/8-year-old/5-year-old/toddler” argument.

We actually saw real 8 yo Ortho before his death in Idia’s flashback and, wow, we can see that AI!Ortho and flashback!Ortho aren’t the same Ortho. "My largest amount of birthday data comes from eleven years ago, when I was five” is the line that Ortho says in one of his Birthday vignettes, which indicates that even though he does have memories of dead!Ortho, he is not stuck in the age of 8 – he thinks and feels that his fifth birthday happened eleven years ago.

But also just in general, if you listen to him talk and compare it to how he talked in Idia’s flashback (both the voice and the manner of speech), it becomes pretty clear that he is older. He is younger-looking and has a high-pitched voice but it’s due to the fact that Idia designed him to look that way, and there are a lot of potential reasons why he could’ve done it (all non-canon and theoretical, so we won’t dive into them today), but he is definitely not 8 years old. Ortho’s AI constantly learns new information, learns more about being a human – he is clearly maturing as the story goes, thus showing that he is in fact capable of aging mentally, and he’s been doing it from the moment Idia first created him. He is naive and inexperienced, but that doesn’t make him an infant.

Plus, post ch.6 he is always being grouped with other freshmen who are also sixteen years old. This is his age group. This is how old Ortho would’ve been if he was still alive, and this is how old AI!Ortho feels. He’s a proper first year student just like Ace, Deuce and the rest of the boys, and the story keeps highlighting it in all the events that happened post ch.6.

Speaking of post ch.6. At the end of the story AI!Ortho and real/blot!Ortho actually merged a little, as far as you can remember. Blot!Ortho, wow, is also 16. He’s been stuck in the Underworld since he was 8 and he existed all those years and grew up as well despite his terrible situation and more than unusual company, so we can safely assume his age. His merging with AI!Ortho also influenced him (AI!Ortho) in a way, making him more human as a result as well.

Not to sound mean, but I think the majority of people who still insist that Ortho is mentally 8 either don’t pay attention to his character, his story and how he interacts with others at all, or straight-up choose to believe that lie because it makes it easier to attack shippers or anyone who likes Ortho in general.

But also guess what, none of that matters actually because ultimately he is a fictional boy, and fictional characters’ ages are irrelevant. Just like fictional characters’ family relations are irrelevant. Even if you don’t think it’s right, that doesn’t change the fact that it is irrelevant, and the only thing that could be done about it is that you can block people and/or tags that make you upset. There is no shame about it: I avoid a lot of ships and tropes that make me upset.

I would prefer people to stop accusing me, a real person, of actual vile crimes (or having dark thoughts about them? What the fuck is wrong with you?) because of fictional, made-up things. If I want to, I can unrelate Ortho and Idia, and my fanart would stop being incestuous with a snap of my fingers. I can make them enemies, I can make them kill each other over and over again, I can kill Idia instead of Ortho. I say this to show how little it matters, and no, ~the implications~ don’t count. People make them up and choose to believe that instead of listening to the person in question. About a real person, let me repeat myself. You (plural/neutral you, not you, Anon) cannot make shit up about another person’s thoughts, ideas, and views just because you find it convenient.

As for why I personally ship Ortho with Idia despite them being siblings, you’re in luck because in addition to this already long post I have an even longer post for you to read if you’re interested! It’s been more than a year since I’ve written that post my reasoning is still pretty much the same, so I think it’s a pretty good one to read if you genuinely want to understand us better.

But if you don’t want to read another long post but are still interested, here is a TL;DR:

I love their deep love for each other and don’t want to just explore the platonic aspect of it – there are a lot of other scenarios that I want to play with;

there are a lot of tropes related to this ship that we love (us two against the world; AI in love; causing an apocalypse for the sake of your loved one; unhealthy and codependent relationship; obsession, etc);

their story has a lot of motifs that could be read as romantic (i.e. Orpheus and Eurydice analogy) that we really enjoy;

personal reasons; relatability (not elaborating on that; not related to incest though lol);

they’re sexy lol I love robot parts, size difference and a lot of other aspects that I won’t mention here.

I hope that explained some stuff. Just to be clear: I don’t want to force anyone ship Shroudcest, in fact I don’t care if we are the only people in the world shipping them (that will never be the case though lol). I just love Ortho very much, and I think he is a very fun character that has a lot to offer, and I really don’t like that people want to create this aura of “he’s just baby don’t touch him” that stops people for getting to know his character better. He is cunning, he is smart, he is caring, he is psychopathic, he is a lot of things, and all of those things make me want to see him bossing Idia around, acting cute around Vil, bonding with Malleus over their differences and similarities, all of those things.

[mosneakers]

My 𝐓𝐨𝐩 24 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬 from 2024🎉

Thank you to the absolute legend @kari-sims for tagging me, your whole post was a magical treat ♥

-> tagging @ravingsockmonkey @lilamausmaus @beebeesiims @bananzerssims @echoweaver @simgnomeful @cinamun @salemssimblr @nova-kim @myopiccc @surely-sims @pixelsinmyveins @pixelshary and anyone else seeing this, don't let the the confines of tags stop you from joining in on the fun ^.^

obvs no pressure to participate, just for fun <33

January

From this chapter from Many Moons Ago- Erik and Agnes Darling 🥺

February

Oh god, it has to be this one. You know the one. My heart sinks seeing it. 😭

March

I really love all the shots from this post— Erwin's close call. I'm very proud of how they turned out, despite how his fate turned out 😥

April

This is when we were introduced to Mackenzie and his very short and very... brutal arc, but it was fun while it lasted. I also loved building a vampiric office lol

May-July

VOID August

Ahhh, the Salient Recollection documentary. By this point I had finally gotten access to a working computer and my creative juices could no longer be contained. It was time for the season 10 finale, and we were going out with a baaaang 😫 This post introduces two new characters interviewing Tycho as he reveals his alien identity in the documentary. September

Hopefully this isn't too much of a spoiler right? Lol hoping everyone is all caught up at this point 😄 But seriously this entire scene was so much work. Working with Coraleye's dress and hair alone, plus trying to capture movement during action shots like this? took hours to edit— plus multiple different versions of the same shot all merged together to get what we see here. It was really important that I captured the fear and desperation and also drama! of the moment though

Also another favorite of mine personally, is this one from this post! By this point I had made probably a million individual glove/suit wrinkles, tears, and hair strands in these edits alone and I think this edit reflects that lol— I also love the lighting and the eeriness of the glow from the TV static behind them, and the desperation and frustration they're both feeling, definitely one of my favorites probably of the year.

October

Oh geez lol October is always a big year for me creatively, so expect a bit more than just one :p

This whole post was so hearbreaking to make for me. Coraleye and Tycho (while incredibly toxic and problematic at times) were my favorite couple I've ever written, and breaking them up was so incredibly painful 😢 I loved how all these shots came out and I'm super proud of them. Take note of how Tatiana's winning the election was foreshadowed in that last shot 👀

Somewhat separately (although stay tuned for season 11, js 👀) from the main story, there's no denying this gifset was undoubtedly my most popular post. I've been in a liminal spaces kick for months now and needed to bring that to my safe space, and let's be honest, the most liminal space of all- the sims!

November

In the finale of season 10, the very last post- Coraleye recounts her mental breakdown. The flashback of cutting her hair at her bathroom sink, tear stained cheeks, bloodshot eyes, and then lying on the ground mourning her friend in front of the house the whole group used to room together at in Britechester—I felt—was pretty powerful. Then the juxtaposition of her months later, seemingly bounced back to her regular flirtatious self while interacting this filmmaker, clearly having him wrapped around her finger, I found quite eerie but also just compelling. Another very proud moment for me. I genuinely just love writing and exploring this character.

December

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ A render I made to show off some cc- but for those who get it, get it.

[roboj0e]

Wade would bully Peter bc someone said he would and wrote it happening and bc y'all are so boring and annoying. Fanfiction isn't about what's canon or strictly in character thats why they're called transformative works. I think y'alls weird obsession with what's cannon while also trying to heavily police what and how ppl make fiction is honestly been the death of fandom and creativity.

There hasn't been a large scale cross over in fandom in years that either wasn't completely ironic or torn down by bullies that it fizzled out bc y'all don't know how to have fun. Even that recent debate over how sans would react to his brother death is further proof of y'all's lack of understanding of interpretation and fan works. Fanwork are supposed to exist in the reality of the fiction of the person who wrote it. NOT what IS the right interpretation bc there are NO right interpretation except for what is made canon which can be anything bc WE aren't the creators.

Who cares what happens in the comics. The comic themselves don't care what happens in other comic runs unless it's specifically meant to be a spin off/continuation.

Wade is SUPPOSED to be a morally ambiguous character. I know y'all have washed him of all the ambiguity bc ppl have told you that how ur supposed to approach fiction and y'all can not perceive a protag who might not be the best person who ur also NOT supposed to hate (god forbid a protag not have Jesus adjacent morality) but thats what he is. He'll do whatever anyone wrote him doing bc he's not real and also anything thats morally ambiguous or toxic bc that's one of his character traits and what was supposed to set him apparent from other heros he's not even a hero he's an antihero. I can not believe y'all are moralizing something as tame as bullying. Bullies making up with their victims happens in DISNEY movies now y'all tryna make that into some problematic take. OMG. And this is from someone who WAS bullied briefly until I learned how to fight and stand up for myself.

Thinking that someone who romanticizes something morally wrong couldn't have possibly been through that experience is the direct antithesis of fiction. It also makes no sense. Plenty of ppl write from experience but also sometimes turning it into a story in which they control how they interact with a bully does A LOT FOR REGAIN CONTROL OF THOSE NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES. STOP TRYING TO SUS OUT WHO HAS TRAUMA OR NOT. also STOP thinking that you are an authority of certain traumatic experiences you aren't every experiences are very VERY personal and the portrayal of those experiences should have NOTHING to do with yours bc there is NO way to encapsulate all lived experiences. And even if someone hasn't been bullied who cares again decenter yourself from a fictional scenario that should in now way be a representation of you bc u are not the center of the universe.

(THIS SECTION UNDERNEATH IS MY HEAD CANON U DONT HAVE TO TELL ME U DONT LIKE AGE GAPS IDC)

Secondly wade only wouldnt bully Peter TO ME bc I'm not a teenager in highschool like some of y'all and highschool fics don't interest me and wade to me shouldne even be in highschool and always be the much older one in the dynamic. They shouldnt even be near the same age for me. But whatever floats ur boat. You can do whatever you wan't but when y'all make these long posts telling OTHER ppl what they can and can't do OR how you think YOUR interpretation of the character is the most right your crossing a line frl.

Edit: I read both Deadpool and spiderman comics btw plus the very wonderful spiderman/Deadpool run. GASP I know someone who likes the source material but doesn't adhere strictly to it bc I actually have an imagination and like to have fun instead of kissing marvels feet and remaining in a narrow interpretation of a character. A rare breed I guess.

Edit edit: I also think alot of y'all have a very romcom take on spideypool. And thats definitely fine love my fair share of fluff. But I have a much more complicated take on them. Again I think an age gap compliments these complications. It adds to an imbalanced perspective of both of them towards each other. I'm also very uninterested in a spideypool that grow healthy together or peter "fixing" wade. I want them to overcomplicate their relationship but for it to also be a healthy balance of comedic and fun and hot monkey sex that keeps them interested in a less than perfect relationship. A sorta push and pull from both sides.

[whoishotteranimepolls]

No Fandoms vs Illiteracy this week

I know I said there would be Fandoms vs Illiteracy today. But, after reading through the essay again, I noticed unusual language I hadn't seen before. I started googling and found that it's associated with the anti-shiping/anti-fan movement. All of a sudden, everything makes sense.

If you're not familiar with these people, they are a group of people within fandom spaces that believe it's their moral duty to harass anyone who consumes/enjoys problematic content or ships any problematic ships to any kind into conforming with their puritanical cult or killing themselves. So yeah, don't I want to engage with this one, but now I'm aware of this movement and will definitely be watching out for their lingo in future Fandoms vs Illiteracy entries

They are also very well known for doxing, and as someone who's had that happen before, I don't really want to engage with this one. Since I'm fully aware of what it is now and because of the hell they put me through in the old fandom. Plus, I now know they're aware of my blog. I will be monitoring the comments and tags more

Honestly, their movement sounds like the death of media literacy, critical thinking, and full-blown puritanical censorship. Because most people can separate fantasy and reality, and if you can't, you have a problem, and your problem gives you no right to bully, harass, and dox other people in the name of moral purity

Oh, and if anyone's curious, I found several good academic research papers on the phenomenon of the anti-fan/anti-shipper. Here's a good one

[thelunarsystemwrites]

Lunar's mental health. An update.

TW: bad mental health, EDs, depression, s/h, personal stuff, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, vent, self hate, heavy topics.

Sorry I haven't been posting!!

An update on me.

...Hi, you might know me as Lunar, or, TheLunarSystemWrites! I'm just an artist on here, trying to do things I like.... right?

Well, unfortunately, real life doesn't really... care. It doesn't care if I have friends to talk to, art to make, things I like to do.

I've been exhausted, physically and mentally. I've been busy working a lot in our home. (Painting, building, packing, inside work, cooking, etc) and it's always stressful... we're starting to get a little tight on money.

I've spent majority of my time in my bed. I don't wanna face my family members, so I've hidden away. It's hard to get up every day, and try to find the will to take care of myself.

I also recently relapsed with Bulimia, a disorder that, essentially means I throw up whatever I eat. I've been purging since September 16th, 2022. But I had awhile where I only purged once a day or none, but I'm back at it with full force. So my body doesn't have any energy left. I've also now lost my periods do to it.

I don't sleep well. It's much easier to stay up all night than waste my only free time sleeping. So I have no energy from sleeping well unless I sleep a whole day away, which makes me groggy.

Self harm is also something bothering me too, I'm too tired to do it and yet I keep doing it. Wasting precious spoons on it, I literally can't be clean for a whole year this year, that dream is dead. But, I am a few days clean as I type!

Suicidal and intrusive thoughts have been.... pesky. But I can't just leave my friends, plus I have prizes to make.

But, I'm unmotivated. I can't seem to write or draw anything. All my art is looking... regressed, to me. Everything is repetitive.

I've hated myself now more than ever in my life, I'm in a pretty bad place and I hate how self aware I am.

SPEAKING of regression! I have like, regression block. My brain isn't working with me, isn't regressing unless Involuntary. So my main coping mechanism is.... out of order.

I've been angry at the world, really pissy and moody. Tired, hungry, sad, then happy but not much. Numbness is a huge factor, I'm feeling depressed.

Not to mention, there's drama everywhere I look. This creator gets bullied, that one turns out to be disgusting. People get doxxed over opinions... it's constantly anxiety that I'll be wrongly accused, ridiculed, or abandoned. It's terrifying that people will go at each other's throats. It's exhausting to deal with it and be dragged into drama with problematic people.

Every day has been the same for me for the past 3 years. I'm tired, bored, understimulation controls me.

My friends are my lifeline right now.

I feel uncomfortable in my own body all the time, unsatisfied with my art, everything is essentially falling apart in my life.

Depression, anxiety... not a good mix to wake up disoriented and anxious, then gave zero spoons throughout the day. I'm not in a good home situation right now.

So... I kinda just... haven't been posting, role-playing, answering DMs, answering asks, etc...

I'm burnt out.

I feel like I'm a walking corpse.

Useless even.

I don't feel like myself anymore, I barely have the energy to talk to friends, every little bad things sets me back. I just can't bring myself to really engage much anymore.

So... sorry. I'm sorry, if I wasted your time. Or if this isn't like what you wanted to hear. I'm just not okay anymore, April was the last good month I had this year. APRIL.

I just wanted to update you all, there's a lot of other stuff I didn't share because it's nit important. I swear I'll get to the prizes eventually, I just ain't up to it right now. Might not be for awhile, apologies in advance!!

Hope you guys can understand, I might or might not be back to doing art, who knows. But I'll definitely get things done before that if I ever stopped. It just doesn't bring me joy, I used to hope I'd make an AU people cares about, and I've barely achieved that ^^"

Hope you're all well!! Stay safe, take care!! Remember to hydrate and to try eating if you can, you're spectacular!!!

Daily clicks!! ^^

Previous pinned post.

[twsted-kinks]

>ageless and minors dni<

Fjsjsjn thank you for liking my work! I may write something similar again but it was when I was really early in the game and didn't know the characters well plus I escalated things very fast and didn't know where else to go from there.

Anyway, I'm used to virgins being the ones humiliated so this idea is definitely interesting to me. Had to think about who's a virgin and who would humiliate the reader. Decided to keep this one limited with characters cause I tend to get carried away

This can be read as either connected or seperate. Your choice.

Slutty MC X Azul & Sebek

Reader: is Yuu, you pronouns, gender neutral (if you want to read this afab pretend birth control is free and on it, unless you like the risk of pregnancy then don't)

Charactes: Azul (Sugar daddy & prostitution), Sebek (prostitution and hate fuck)

Content Warning: Humiliation, dubious consent and noncon in places, virginity loss, gangbangs, prostitution, everyone being problematic, Jade and Floyd wanting a turn in Azul's part, Sebek choking reader in his

Azul

It was a simple proposal. Azul at his desk with his cheeks bright red while you stand across from him with arms crossed.

"I'm sorry. What?"

"I'm your personal fuck toy and you pay me for my time." You lean forward over the desk with a smirk. "Or is a whore like me not good enough for you?

"D-do you really think I would be persuaded by-" Azul gulps. "I do not need your... services."

"Oh?" You chuckle. "You don't want a bit if stress relief? I can tell you're tense, Azul. When's the last time you got laid?"

Azul opens mouth to say something before looking away with a grimace.

"Won't tell me? Or is it cause you're a virgin?" You undo the buttons on your dress shirt and let it fall off your shoulders.

"That's none of your business." Azul refuses to look back at you. "I don't need some slut waltzing in here and distracting me. Go whore yourself out to someone else."

"No need to be so mean, Azul! You don't even want to take me for a test run?" You undo your pants/skirt, letting it fall to the floor.

"I don't- Why would I want a test run?"

You strip the last of your clothing and pull Azul's chair from under his desk. "I'm offering a free fuck. If you like it, you can pay me for more. If you don't, well you're not paying anyway."

Azul gulps as you sit down on his lap fully nude and right on his growing dick. "You fucking whore."

"Exactly. You can touch me however you want, use whatever hole you want, and cum wherever you want, even deep inside me." You take Azul's hand and guide it to your hole. "I'm all prepped and ready for you. What do you say?"

"Fine, you fucking whore." Azul stands, lifting you, and dropping you on his desk. "Prove to me you'll be worth the money."

You reach down, undo Azul's belt and zipper, and pull his hard cock from his pants. "Of course. For the next hour, you own me. All free of charge."

It doesn't take long for Azul to lose his virginity as he immediately shoves himself into you balls deep and ruts into you at a quick pace. You squeeze his cock and move your hips to meet each of his thrusts. You reach up and pull his face down to meet yours, pulling him in for an open mouth kiss. He'll never tell you how that was his first kiss as well.

Azul surprises you with his stamina. You expected him to many last a minute before he'd cum and make a contract with you. You didn't expect someone like him to be able to keep up. Even while sweat dripped down his neck and his breathing was heavy, he paid attention to you. Angled his cock in different ways until he found the right one that made your back arch. You reached down and began playing with yourself. Maybe you'd actually get to cum for once. Hell, you may even cum before him.

Before either of you can finish, the door to Azul's office opens and Jade and Floyd step inside. Azul freezes above you before trying to pull away, but you lock you legs around his hips, preventing him from pulling out.

"I- What are you-" Azul struggles to firm a sentence.

"I was wondering why your meeting with Shrimpy was taking so long." Floyd laughs. "We're gonna get a turn, right?"

"If Azul agrees to the deal, sure." You answer before Azul can.

"Oh? What type of deal?" Jade asks.

Azul grunts and begins thrusting into you again. "This slut wants me to pay them to be my fuck toy, but I don't think their holes are worth it."

"Aw, really?" You whine. "And let your friends leave with blue balls?"

Floyd takes out his cock and steps towards the desk. "Come on Azul! I wanna fuck them!"

"If they'll be your toy, won't that mean you can decide who they fuck?" Jade hums. "Think of all the customers that could attract."

"Mmm, yes." You moan under Azul. "I'll fuck anyone you want me to fuck. Any cock in any hole. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

"That's what you want isn't it? Azul ruts into you faster as he grunts and groans above you, making your legs shake as your core gets tighter. "You just want to be a cumdump, but you don't know how to profit from it. You just want every cock on campus to fuck you, don't you?"

"Yes! Make me fuck them all!" You moan and throw your head back as you cum around his cock.

Azul thrusts faster until his hips still, his cock pulsing inside you as he fills you with his cum. "Fine, it's a deal."

Sebek

"Y-YOU PERVERTED HUMAN!!!"

With your mouth currently being occupied by a cock while you get spitroasted, you flip Sebek off in response.

"DO YOU HAVE NO MODESTY!?" Sebek's screams with a red face. "THIS IS A PUBLIC RESTROOM!!"

The men fucking you ignore Sebek. The one fucking your face pulls his cock out, strokes himself, and cums across your face and in your open mouth. The man fucking you behind finishes soon after, adding even more cum to your hole. Another man takes place, shoving his cock inside you and immediately rutting into you.

"Listen, Sebek right?" You lick your lips and look up at the half fae while the man behind you keeps fucking you. "I have a business to run, so either get in line and cough up some cash or leave us alone."

"I-I WOULD N-NEVER!!" Sebek stutters. "T-THIS... THIS IS SOMETHING YOU SAVE FOR YOUR SPOUSE!!"

"So you're a virgin? Well, virgins get a discount with me on their first fuck." You respond as the man behind you pulls out and cums across your back. "I'll even let you cut the line if it means it'll shut you up. Okay, big boy?"

"NO!!! I WILL NOT PAY FOR-"

"I'll pay for him." One of the other men says. "Would be fun to see him lose his shit."

"WHAT?!" Sebek turns to face the man who is already handing you the money. You count it and everything looks right. You step towards Sebek and place your hand on the tent forming in his pants.

"W-WAIT!!" Sebek's hands hover over your shoulders, unsure if he should push you away or... pull you closer.

"Shhh, enjoy yourself." You rub fingers along Sebek's clothed cock.

"Y-you vixen." Sebek mutters.

"Vixen? Haven't heard that one before." You chuckle, unzipping Sebek's pants and pull out his cock. You turn around, rubbing your ass against Sebek's cock. "Now, are you going to make me do all the work, or are you gonna prove to me that fae fuck better, huh?"

"Y-YOU HUMAN WHORE!!" Sebek shouts and grabs your hips. He thrusts his hips forward a couple a times, missing your hole each time. You reach back and help guide him. Finally, he thrusts forward and almost enters you fully.

"That's a good bo-" Your taunt is cut off by Sebek grabbing your throat.

"SILENCE YOU WHORSIH HUMAN!!" Sebek growls and starts fucking you hard. "HOW MANY HAVE YOU PLEASURED?! HOW MANY HAVE TAKEN YOU?!"

You try to speak but only choked out moans leave you. The heat that's been brewing in your stomach gets tighter.

"YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A LOOSE HUMAN HOLE!!" Sebek lifts your body off the ground, one hand wrapped around your throat as he uses his other arm to lift up your lower torso. His hips fuck you faster and deeper, pummeling your insides without holding back. Cum drops down your body and out of your hole(s), pooling on the floor beneath you.

You try reach your toes to the ground to get some stability, but each thrust has your legs shaking. Your eyes roll in the back of your head as choked moans escape you. It doesn't take long you you to cum around Sebek's cock, back arching as your hands grip at the one choking you.

"With how loose you are, I'm surprised I felt you cum!" Sebek groans in your ear, not letting up on his rutting. "A WHORE LIKE YOU DOESN'T DESERVE MY CUM INSIDE YOU!!"

Sebek fucks you even harder but then suddenly lets go of you, dropping you on the ground. You gasp for breath as Sebek strokes his cock above you. You flip yourself over, laying on your back, and Sebek steps above you, stroking his cock. You're barely able to mumble a single word when Sebek finally cums, painting your face and torso.

[engie-ivy]

(Short fic of Remus being a disaster😋 for @wolfstarmicrofic)

2nd: Rogue

Remus only dates so-called 'bad boys', because he isn't interested in falling in love, but also doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, and with those types, he doesn't have to worry about either. When he goes on a date with Sirius Black, however, Remus quickly realizes he's made a huge error of judgment.

Wasn't Looking For This

“You need help,” Mary states as she’s scrolling through Remus’ Tinder matches.

“Don’t you dare start swiping for me!” Remus warns.

Mary shakes her head. “No, I mean like professional help. Have you considered talking to someone?”

“Please.” Remus plucks his phone from her hands. “I don’t see any use in paying a ton of money to have some therapist psychoanalyse how my dating life is problematic.”

“I agree,” Lily says, sprawled out on the couch flipping through a magazine. “You don’t need to be a licensed therapist to psychoanalyse what’s wrong with your dating life. Instability during your childhood that lead to an insecure attachment style, causing you to develop a great fear of commitment, and resulting in you only dating men you know you’ll have no risk of falling in love with. Men I would describe as rogue bad boys. Overconfident, narcissistic, inconsiderate, too full of themselves to care about anybody else’s feelings. Men who definitely aren’t looking for an emotional connection, so you don’t have to worry about not only you getting feelings for them, but also them getting feelings for you.”

Remus glares at her. “Rude.”

Mary sighs. “So, is tonight’s guy a rogue, self-centred bad boy with too much confidence?”

“We actually haven’t spoken much,” Remus admits. “But he definitely has the right vibe. He was wearing a leather jacket in the bar, everyone was throwing themselves at him, but he hardly seemed to care, and he had this haughty air about him. Plus, the reason we didn’t talk much is because he had his tongue in my mouth five minutes after saying hello.” He grins. “So I’m hopeful.”

Lily rolls her eyes. “You’re an absolute disaster.”

Remus gets to his feet and presses a kiss to Lily’s cheek. “Love you too, Lils.” He turns to the girls before going out the door. “Don’t wait up,” he says with a wink.

Lily groans and Mary shakes her head. “You have issues.”

Remus made a huge mistake.

He realizes this immediately as he wakes up in a bed that is most definitely not his. He’s relieved that Sirius isn’t there, which gives him some time to think.

Yesterday, Sirius had taken him out for dinner at a nice restaurant. Afterwards, some drinks and a lovely stroll through the city at night-time and its beautiful city lights, ending at the front door of Sirius’ apartment.

Sirius had been charming and funny, and sure, that happens sometimes. With his habit of dating vain bad boys, Remus isn’t surprised anymore at how charming they can be when they want to. But then Sirius had also been kind and caring and actually interested in what Remus had to say, and that most definitely wasn’t what he signed up for!

Sirius had been a true gentleman, holding out Remus’ chair as they got to their table. He had smiled at Remus with a smile that was so much brighter than Remus remembered from the badly lit bar after a couple of drinks. As soon as they sat down, Sirius had said that his resting face was often interpreted as haughty, and how that ‘so not was who he was’, and that he was glad Remus wanted to give him a chance anyway.

Remus had wanted to scream.

In hindsight, he should’ve fled right there and then. But no, he had stayed. And of course Sirius had offered to share a dessert and then let Remus eat all of it, of course he had insisted that he’d pay for dinner, of course he had asked ‘is the okay?’ when he took Remus’ hand in his as they were walking side by side.

And if that hadn’t been bad enough, it turned out Sirius loves animals. He had shown Remus pictures of his dog, beaming with fondness as he told Remus about her.

The cherry on top of this miserable pie that Remus definitely didn’t order, was that Sirius is a doctor. A bloody doctor. He works in the ER and he loves his job, because ‘it’s just so rewarding’.

When he had gently pulled Remus close and kissed him under a streetlight, Remus’ stomach did this fluttering thing.

It was awful.

Remus gets out of bed and starts putting on his clothes. He’ll shower at home. Right now, he needs to get out of here. He should’ve left yesterday, he shouldn’t have stayed the night. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone home with Sirius in the first place, but he just can’t bring himself to regret that, because holy shite. He’s only human, after all.

He’ll do the awkward goodbye, where Sirius might mutter something about breakfast and maybe having some yoghurt left in the fridge, which Remus will politely decline. He’ll leave and forget all about this. Forget that guys exist who are actually interested in what he has to say, forget that guys exist who look at him like he’s actually worth something, forget that guys exist who can make him feel like he’s actually worth something. Forget that Sirius Black exists.

As he enters the living room, though, he stops in his tracks at the dreadful sight in front of him.

The table is set, and Sirius is in the kitchen, wearing only his boxers and a t-shirt, his hair haphazardly tied in a messy bun, baking what appear to be pancakes. Sirius turns around and smiles at him, and Remus is floored by how he can look even more gorgeous like this then he did yesterday in his dress shirt and suit jacket. His stomach does that weird fluttery thing again, and Remus hopes against his better judgment that it’s due to yesterday’s wine.

“You’re awake, good,” Sirius says. “Since you told me yesterday how you have quite the sweet tooth, I couldn’t let you go without trying Potters’ Perfect Pancakes! Recipe from my chosen mother Effie, and I’m not even overselling when I tell you that they’re the best thing you’ll ever taste. Come, sit!”

Remus’ brain is shouting at him. Run! Get out! Just leave! But Remus’ body moves to the chair, sits down and starts buttering a bloody pancake.

It’s like watching a car speed towards a wall, knowing it’s going to crash, but there being nothing he can do about it.

His feeling of impending doom are interrupted by his first bite of pancake. It’s fluffy, and chewy, and gooey, and smooth, and creamy, and everything in one. “Oh my god,” he says.

Sirius is leaning forward in his chair, looking at Remus with an eager smile, his face brimming with excitement, his eyes sparkling. Remus can’t help but think that he’ll do anything to see Sirius smile like that. “It’s good, innit? I wasn’t exaggerating?”

“Really good,” Remus confirms. “And you definitely weren’t.”

As Remus digs in, Sirius places a mug of tea in front of him. Remus takes a sip, and it’s exactly the way he likes it. A warmth spreads through his body, that has nothing to do with the tea itself.

Then a beautiful girl walks into the kitchen. She has shiny black curls and she’s happily wagging her tail as she barks at Sirius.

“There she is!” Sirius drops to his knees and starts scratching her ears. “You were a little sleepy head, weren’t you? Yes, you were. Yes, you were. Who’s a good girl?” Sirius coos, as his dog starts wagging her tail even more and tries to lick his face.

And that’s just it for Remus.

The car has crashed. There’s nothing for it anymore. He’s done for.

The car has crashed, and all Remus can do now is hope that he’ll make it through in one piece.

Well, at least he has a doctor with him.

[aqlstar]

If you don’t mind answering, I have a few questions about Assyrian independence, cause I’ve been wondering for a while. Also apologies in advance if my phrasing is accidentally wildly inaccurate, I’m not very educated about the topic at all but it’s very interesting to me still.

I know the Assyrian independence movement exists, but how popular is it, and how put together is the actual movement? Are there any steps being made towards the idea of independence or is it basically just a hope for people that one day it will come?

I think it was you who talked about how many groups that fall under the larger ethnic group have different beliefs about who they originate from. Like an Assyrian could believe that they’re descended from ancient Assyrians, an Aramean could believe they’re descended from ancient Arameans, but to my understanding they will still think of themselves as the same group, or at least connected to each other? So how does that factor into everything? I’ve read a bit and it seems that it makes it much harder to figure out what to do because nobody can agree properly on a shared group and place of origin.

Connecting to that question, do people generally want independence to be in historic Assyria/Aram/wherever a group believes they originate from, or the places where they’ve been for a long time? (ex for the latter type of place. the area where half of my family spent galut in is part of Iran and has spent most of its existence in the Persian empire, was never part of the Assyrian one, but Assyrians have been there in substantial numbers for about a millennium because of I think the Mongol invasion of Baghdad)

Also, is there a general consensus of how there should be independence? Like a state, or more of an Assyrian controlled area in another country, similar to the currently more independent parts of the Kurdish world?

Sorry for kind of overloading you here, plus idk if Shabbat has finished wherever you are. Again, this is just a very interesting topic to me haha. Have a nice day!

Shavua Tov and thanks for the question! I’ll add some more info when I have my computer on me, but for now I’ll just say your instincts are right and it is a very very complicated situation.

So disclaimer- I’m one person who is genetically 1/2 Assyrian, and I’m not even a Christian, so even though I’ve done my best to talk to my dad’s family about it and look things up on my own, I am definitely not the final authority on this subject.

There is general agreement that Arameans and Assyrians are the same people, (if you call them related peoples, you will make exactly no one happy 😭- trust me ). The disagreement lies in what that people should call themselves in English, and where exactly they should call home (beyond generally the northern levant).

Some of this confusion comes from the fact that the Aramaic endonym for the group is “Suryoye” should be translated literally (and was, for a time) as “Syrian.” With the establishment of the Syrian Arab Republic in 1944, using “Syrian” as an ethnic designation became increasingly problematic as “Syrian,” the adjective describing nationality, gained prevalence.

The push for independence is strongest in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, which is home to the largest Assyrian minority. So you’ll see a lot of sources citing the areas most densely populated by Assyrians in Iraq as the sole indigenous homeland of the Assyrian people for political purposes. (IMO the Assyrian homeland is probably much larger than that and should include northern syria and parts of Lebanon too).

Remember that the Assyrians living in modern day Iraq were hit very very hard by the Seyfo under the ottomans and anti-Assyrian pogroms (we’re using the word because it fits) under British and Iraqi leadership.

So much of the Assyrian desire for independence comes from not trusting the Muslim Arabs to south and the Kurds to north not to try to murder them all again like they have in the past.

It’s a very difficult situation because the independence movement faces the challenge of the Iraqi federal government and the Kurdish autonomous government/Kurdish separatists.