#poor Bernie lol

[not-xpr-art]

Len and Tommy's life told through nine photos ~

A fanart based on the Inside no 9 episode 'Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room' because I loved it so much!

(09/2024)

See below for close ups and unnecessarily detailed explanations of each individual artwork lol

First wanna say that I spent wayy too long on these (like 25+ hours), especially trying to make them look like actual old photos lol... also trying to get their likeness right for the various ages was really bloody hard lol, but hopefully each photo has the essence of each character even if it might not look 100% right pfft...

Second thing is that the dates & locations are very much my own subjective thoughts on their life and not particularly rooted in the canon of the show lol

Also I did go really heavy with the colour symbolism lol...

Ravenhill School, 1965.

The year they met, both are around the age of 10 (give or take). Len is 3 from the left in the top row, Tommy 2 in from the left on the bottom row (also I tried to include references to the other 2 League Of Gentlemen guys... Though I think the only vaguely recognisable one is Jeremy pfft)

Also shout out to @lapis-lazuliie for the idea that they met at school!

(side note, this is the least detailed of all the paintings not just because I was too lazy to render all those children's faces pfft but ALSO because of the significance of them being less recognisable or prominent in each other's lives in this point...)

I was planning on making another childhood/early teen photo but couldn't really think of any good subject matter that could also fit thematically with the episode (also the fact both are coming from poor families who would have had limited access to cameras in this era means we can just pretend that there are just no photos that really exist of them at these ages pfft...)

Photo booth in Leeds, 1974.

Both in their late teens, they'd (well, mainly Tommy) gone to a photo booth in Leeds with the intention of getting some professional looking photos only for Len to immediately make Tommy laugh once they got in there lol

The middle photo is covered in lines as Tommy had planned on throwing it away, only to find he couldn't bring himself to do it in the end... Is it platonic? Romantic? Both? Who knows, you decide lol! I mainly wanted it to be a candid moment between two people that love each other lol

(final one is them play fighting because that's kinda just what 19 year olds are like pfft... also I think photo booths technically gave you 4 photos? so let's pretend there was another photo that they did throw away for whatever reason lol...)

Rehearsals, 1979.

Deep in the midst of practising their routine for some of their first performances!

I'll admit this photo was mainly me wanting to include something more episode specific lol and also to get in some much needed heavy handed symbolism (the crease in the photo separating them, the bottle in front of Len's face, etc)

Polaroids taken at Tommy's flat, 1985.

In-between shows the two often spent a lot of time at Tommy's place (featuring that god awful sofa the previous home owner had left). I did originally plan to have them in the sofa shot together, but was finding it hard to figure out who would have been taking that kind of photo so figured it made more sense to make it shots they took of each other.

Also marks the beginnings of Tommy's weariness (& Len's over drinking...)

Outside the Glasgow Pavilion, 1988.

The morning of that fateful performance...

Ok not much else I wanna say about this other than the reference I used for the pose had Reece sorta awkwardly clasping his hands in front of him which I really liked but unfortunately in my art it just looked like he was trying to cover his crotch so I had to change it pfft...

Tommy standing at Len's grave, 2024.

The sixth anniversary of Len's death, and the sixth time Tommy has travelled across from France to lay flowers at his grave. Photo taken by Leanne from the inside of a taxi (I'd like to have had more references to her in these photos but was unsure of dates/ages where it would have fitted...)

She couldn't get her phone to not focus on the raindrops on the window as she tried to take a picture of Tommy at her father's grave but then realised that she actually liked the pathetic fallacy and had it made into a print anyway lol (look I'll be the first to admit that this is the least 'realistic' in terms of a photo that people would take, but I couldn't resist the symbolism of it lol...)

There were a lot more ideas for photos I wanted to do but for obvious reasons had to keep it to just 9 lol

Also will be posting these on my ao3 with snippets of stories to go with each photo so keep an eye out for when I share that link!

[expirisims]

Our First St. Bernie Wedding!

Okay, I had planned to share these pictures at the end of the Martinez rotation, however, I still haven't actually stocked up my queue and this takes much less time to organize than an entire day's worth of screenshots...Over explanation below:

[Why you may ask? Well, it is Spooky Season after all and (fun little tid bit) having grown up in an actual haunted house (which at least in my experience is absolutely NOTHING like Hollywood portrays it) I've been in the mood to rewatch some of my favorite Halloween movies. BTW if you happen to have never watched "The Haunting of Hill House" on Netflix, it's an absolute masterpiece. Be aware that if you have any triggers, you may want to check for trigger warnings on it before watching. It will in short leave you haunted. ]

Okay, back to it

Here is Bella and Guy's album! BTW, I'm sorry they are so washed out in some of the outdoor pictures--I forgot to box them in, and this was my inspiration to start looking for ways to spruce up my outdoor lighting mods-- I don't have links for all of the cc right off hand, but if you have questions about any of the outfits or poses you can shoot me a message and I'll look through my mods folder for you :)

Yep, the hide headline cheat apparently didn't get rid of the grouped up icons...facepalm.

Aaaand I am just now realizing that Bella's arm is clipping through the stairs...double facepalm. As always, it's time for a few outtakes!

Hmmm...got to find a way to hide some of those feet melding into the bench. I know it was a hot day, but geesh!

I like to stash the pose player close by. Maybe it was a little too close here!

I unpose the poor sims as I finish with them in photo shoots because they're always pretty miserable by the time I'm done. (don't worry, I use a separate save for photoshoots, so they have not memory, LOL) Maybe I should have waited to unpose Freddie. He was blocked from reaching the bathroom...

[fireemblems24]

Scarlet Blaze Ch 15 (Final)

Last one, everyone! After this, I finally get to play Spiritfarer which I got on . . . Christmas 2022.

NARRATION

Last chapter. Finally. Killing so many people in this route is really awful. Especially since you just . . . don't in the other two.

I think the last chapter will take place at the monastery.

Oh, great, does this mean I have to protect Bernie's dad in this route? I hope Rhea kills him, like gets this badass cut scene where she cuts him down for perverting her faith by using it as a propaganda tool.

So TWSITD showed up and is attacking Rhea and the Empire.

They're mostly after the "beasts" (aka Nabateans? Or humans?)

I wish this meant that we teamed up with Rhea, but we know Edelgard would team up with TWSITD first.

Catherine and Rhea got a cool moment together though.

Yep, we have to protect Count Varley, gross.

MAP

No side battles! This final chapter will be super quick, which is nice.

I'm VERY curious what the Golden Deer students say after Claude's moment last chapter lamo.

And if any Lions mention Sylvain :((((

OMG, Ignatz is savage. He only cares about painting the battle. No mention of Claude.

Yuri wishes he could kill Varley instead of save him. Good for him. He really feels more suited for AG/AM/SS/VW than SB/CF/GW.

Well, at least Mercedes mentioned Sylvain. And Ingrid and Annette. Saying they died for what they believed in and admires them for it, since she could never.

Poor Ashe is having a crisis. Still had no idea wtf he's doing in the Empire's war camp. Honestly, this game made him so much more interesting.

Linhardt also has no fucking clue why he's here. I swear he does nothing but complain every map (in a funny way) and wish he was doing literally anything else.

Lorenz is more concerned about his future bc of Claude than worried about him. Man, guy really has no one loyal to him lol.

DOROTHEA & CASPAR C

I swear I did a much better job getting supports in GW and AG.

Caspar has a bunch of books, and Dorothea's horrified by the idea that he'll use them in training.

Caspar plans to read them. Dorothea teases him. Apparently Lin made similar comments.

Dorothea makes him promise not to hurt the books. A woman after my own heart.

Caspar's like, did you know my dad reads! Dorothea's like, yeah . . . how do you think he got his role if he didn't.

Dorothea tells a story about an unlearned commander who studied strategy in books and improved to become legendary.

The only stupid part of this is thinking you can read and understand complicated books in 5 days and become an expect in 5 days. For once, Caspar was the smart one being like, uh, I need more time.

MERCEDES & LYSITHEA B

This support is SB locked, but neither characters are Eagles. It may be the only support like that in the game. But, hey, new Mercie content, I'll take it!

Mercedes comes across Lysithea in the kitchen, trying and failing to cook.

The fruits she wanted to use are moldy though. Lysithea has an idea to use something else for the fruit - a sugar syrup.

Lysithea has dedicated her time to learning how to cook because of how good Mercedes' cooking was, so she credits Mercie for the sugar syrup, which she learned because of that.

Baking also helped Lysithea learn the importance of taking breaks.

Mercie calls her a wizened old grandma, lol.

They arrange a tea party.

SHEZ & LINHARDT A

It starts with Linhardt saying they haven't learned anything about Shez's powers. I wonder how funny this sounds if you get it after the special chapters.

Linhardt says it's find because the war is almost over, so there's less need and chance for the powers to go out of control.

Shez pretty consistently wants to continue working as a mercenary after the battle.

He also seems to have no desire to stay in Enbarr lol.

Linhardt wants Shez as a personal bodyguard. Honestly, not a bad choice.

Then Linhardt says something like "spending the rest of my life with some random bodyguard" and then makes an excuse to leave. so he wants to stick with Shez for life. It's kind of sweet.

EDELGARD & PETRA A

Their only support

Edelgard comes across Petra praying to Bigid gods. In Brigid they pray in nature rather than in churches in Fodlan.

Edelgard asks Petra why she's risking her life in the war because it's bad for Brigid.

So Brigid will only be freed if Petra remains alive.

To be fair, it's because she doesn't know the new leader. Still feels a bit icky for Petra.

Edelgard warns about "tricks" the enemy will use. She really has a beef with anyone using tactics.

Petra just says she's happy to fight and can't run while everyone else remains and fights.

Edelgard says she can't back out, which true, but she could've just not started one. But that's in the past I guess.

Overall, came across better than the Houses one where Petra didn't seem like an equal.

EDELGARD/LYSITHEA/HAPI PARALOGUE

My plan is to have Edelgard and Shez make the other two adjuncts and see if I can't beat the paralogue that way.

It's about TWSITD, which isn't surprising given that character list.

God, I've made SB Shez so fucking stupid. Never understanding anything. It's so funny.

So is this about Cornelia? They found one of her old hideouts.

I had Shez shrug about joining. Hapi got offended.

They're talking about Hubert. I wish he was here. He's my best unit.

I wish Cornelia showed up. She's so fun, but sadly she did not.

They didn't find anything. Hapi was mostly chill about it. Edelgard and Lysithea were more bothered.

Shez could show concern or change the subject. Obviously I made him change the subject since SB!Shez is not intelligent.

CASPAR/LINHARDT PARALOGUE

Like the last time, I just plan to adjunct Caspar and let Shez and Linhardt do all the work.

They're arguing if Caspar saw a ghost or not. Linhardt remains unconvinced.

Lamo, their dads showed up and Linhardt's dad called him a "fountain of positivity" when he brought up their could die any day.

Linhardt is also upset that he has to help.

We're hunting down Empire people who've turned against Edelgard.

I had Shez not want to go lol.

The main battle changed to defeating their dads. I don't think I'm supposed to take this paralogue seriously.

Linhardt had no fun.

Bergliez gave Caspar some gaunlets, and I could either be happy for him or jealous. I obviously picked jealous since it's fun to pick the dick answer lol.

FINAL BATTLE

Why is the S rank reward Edelgard's axe? This is the last battle, right? Is there some post game stuff? Because I'm so ready for this to be done (I don't think I'll do it).

Funny, Edelgard is the one defending the monastery this time, and Varley. Imagine your final battle being about protecting Varley. Ugh.

Only 40 points for the final battle?

Just killed Catherine :(

Cyril just showed up. Rhea's so concerned. Not looking forward to killing a child :((( He died too. This is by far the bloodiest route. I swear no one even dies in AG, and in GW it's only Sylvain's dad.

This can't be it, right? That was too easy. And Cyril as the final boss makes no sense. I'm betting it's a Thales and Rhea fight.

Rhea turned into a dragon. Badass. Glad she was the final boss poper and not Thales.

Spoke too soon. I think they're both here now.

Think I beat it. We're at a cut scene now. Thales is doing magic shit. Rhea attacked him and just ignored Edelgard and Shez like they weren't worth her notice lol.

Wait, that's it?

Rhea pushes Thales off a cliff? So RHEA's the hero??

There's no way they could've survived that - Edelgard. My girl, Rhea is a fucking dragon and Thales can warp. I have bad news from you. Also, Byleth survived a fall too so . . .

What happened to Dimitri? I don't think I killed Claude either?

Is that really it? The war just keeps going. The war just keeps on with no end in sight. Hahahaha. You mean I played how many hours for THAT? I'm going to laugh my ass off if all 3 routes end like this. What a cheap way to avoid killing any of the lords.

OMG. What a stupid ending.

Except for Rhea. She got the big hero moment lol.

I kept waiting for another battle. Esp since there's an S rank reward that's Edelgard's axe, so Idk what's going on.

OMG, this is going to take FOREVER. They're showing the MVP of every single side battle and not just the main ones. I'm only at ch 6.

There was a lot more variety in MVP than I thought. I thought it would be the Hubert show, but it's pretty varied.

Ok, so around ch 10 turns into the Hubert show. I like seeing battle data though, so I sat through it.

Ok, so you get a letter from the person you get a whistle from. Aww, I eventually won Hubert's trust, and he admits he and the army needs us. Glad I picked him.

Wait, no paired endings? That blows. I hope this isn't a new trend since Engage didn't do that either (I love paired endings)

Ok, so it looks like some stuff would carry over to another playthrough on this file. So, in the future, I'd replay AG over my GW or SB playthrough to at least get 2 on the same one. I can't see myself replaying SB or GW. It's not like the story would matter since I could just skip it, but the gameplay is pretty much the same, so why not play the route with my favorites and the most unit choices on top of that?

So you can carry over supports and even unit level. So I could play Dimitri as the absurd level he's at in level one if I saved over my AG file? Because that would be funny. Probably boring. But funny.

Still feels good. One down. Two to go.

xxxx

[loola-a]

@fe-oc-week day 6 - supports!

featuring sketches of very questionable quality

Linhardt - these two.. they r so special to me.. - lin and flo's parents worked together as ministers for the empire! however, after her family was exiled they lost contact. - they're both just so weird - their c support starts with them reuniting in detention lol... they both got caught sneaking into the restricted library section at completely different times

Bernie - bernadetta and florence were also childhood friends! - i can imagine their supports being vaguely like her supports with yuri, where she's for some reason entirely convinced florence was just an imaginary friend the entire time - and flo is like... I AM RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU........ - but anyway they're also very sweet, they like sitting quietly together and occasionally flo will scare bernie with a ghost story

Mercedes - ghost girlies!!!!!!!!! - flo is over the moon to find someone that isnt petrified of ghosts!!! - mercie is more than happy to accompany florence on her ghost hunts and will even sit in on a seance or two

Lysithea - the last of florence's childhood friends! - when her family relocated to ordelia territory, they spent the first few years living with count ordelia and his family - lysithea was a good five years younger than her, so they have more of a sisterly relationship. they seem to take turns with the elder sister role LOL - while they do seem to bicker a lot (lysithea is not a fan of how insanely lazy flo is) they do mean a lot to each other! florence is always telling funny stories she remembers about baby lysithea, and when twsitd took everything from her, lysithea at least knew she still had florence.

Dorothea - florence be any more obvious about your massive crush challenge (FAILED) - one day dorothea heard florence playing her violin alone and decided to join her, singing along and not realising the psychic damage she was doing to flo's poor poor heart - flo struggles with feeling like she has no choice but to inherit her disgraced house, but dorothea is having none of it!! she makes it her mission to show flo that she can do whatever she likes, her life is her own!!

Edelgard - florence starts off being incredibly nervous and guilty around edelgard, given how greatly her father's actions impacted edelgard and her family - edie very quickly puts a stop to this though, and makes a point to make sure florence knows that she doesnt blame her for anything her father did - (hubert is not as forgiving.. but dont listen to him)

[randomnameless]

Glancing at something on Ao3 -

What kind of feelings Jerry was supposed to evoke, actually?

FE16 pushes the player - through Billy - to consider Jerry as a good parent, because it plays with the red herring about the evil lizard lady being evil.

And yet, even with all of his misgivings about his kid, Jerry is still the one who calls Flamey's bullshit and wonders if running away from GM wasn't the stupidest decision he ever made, just before kicking the bucket.

Being the cheap copy of the Ike'n'Greil relationship, Jerry's presence and death is supposed to be important to Billy - even in Tru Piss where they look pissed at seeing Emile and working with Uncle'n'pals.

And yet, unlike what we learn about Greil being the chadest amongst chads with 1 (one!) blackspot to his record, whenever you talk to characters about Jerry you're met with... less than rosy thoughts, even if the characters apparently handwave it away.

Let it be with Leonie, or even Alois, Billy learns that their dad wasn't the chadest of chads like Greil, but a drunkard (before Citrus' death, since Alois was a kid!) who apparently played dangerous games with people who idolised him, left his kid alone to be showered with praise by Leonie's village as he dealt with bandits, and left bar tabs all around the continent for his "apprentices" to pay.

Come the "journal" where, imo, we learn that dude was so afraid of his baby not being "normal" than he ran away from the odd lady who saved them "a long time" ago and who's pretty much not normal himself, and the place where his own wife, who displayed - partly - the same "abnormality" as their baby grew up and lived.

Then Nopes happened and did a number on poor Jerry - from mocking their kid's potential aspirations at being something else than a sword for hire, to their singing (done to cheer him up!) and actually learning he at times apparently let them go without food while he never invited them to the "thank you" parties throwns by the people his company saved...

Billy still loves their dad, but is he a good dad by any means?

With all that knowledge, after playing both FE16 and Nopes, can we really feel upset when Jerry kicks the bucket? For Billy maybe, because Jerry is important for them, but does it has the same echo as Greil's death, or even, to remain in Fodlan, Rodrigue's?

I guess if in Nopes, Jerry acted on his heel-face turn (or suddenly growing a brain) from his penultimate FE16 dialogue, we could have had a character growing beyond the red herring and the "unreliable narrator" stuff FE16's first part gave us, and maybe make for a more grounded-complete character, like confessing that he panicked after Citrus' death and worried for Billy, but regrets not being able to bring them the best life they dreamt of, and willing to apologise and let Billy grow in the same environment Citrus did.

Or maybe even explore what Jerry did in 300 years, if he never bothered to wonder why the fuck was he living to be as old as the elites, or his thoughts and feelings about Rhea periodically using hairdye to pretend to be someone else and "aging" even less than him...

Given how - or maybe i'm tainted by the fandom - FE16 thrived on the playerbase feeling characters/situation "relatable" from a doylist pov, I guess Jerry running away with bby!Billy because they weren't "normal" wasn't as weird as it sounds, babies should rightfully have a beating heart!

Bernie is a hikkikomori (forget the part where she's supposed to be the heir of one of the most important lands in Adrestia which would rightfully make her father disappointed with her (lbr, Greg would either have tried to get another kid with Bernie's mom, or got a second wife/bastard, or picked a branch member of his house to take his succession), Linhardt falls asleep and doesn't want to do his job as the next minister of Finances/whatever his dad does and prefers to hyperfocus on academic research ? How lol (please ignore the implications of House Hervring's heir being, uh, not interested in whatever his father does and how he is supposed to inherit his job (at least before Supreme Leader starts her war and pulls out her "reforms")).

Between the brackets are the first arguments that come to mind, if we consider the world those characters live in, aka Watsonian wise.

Jerry is worried about his baby's heart not beating and them not being normal? Jerry, you're not "normal" per Fodlan's standards yourself, you're over 300! Your wife had the same difficulties to emote than your kid and she might or not have had the same "heart not beating" syndrome given how it's her own heart that was transplanted in your kid

You know that what is "normal" for regular humans in Fodlan do not apply to you, your wife or your boss who oddly looks like your wife. So why was that argument even considered when you decided to run away and condemn your child to a life of "sword for hire" and danger at each day ending with a -y ?

IDK, it's as if, in BK, Kalas' bro, born without wings - which is an oddity since apparently everyone is born with some in this verse - finds Kalas weird for only having "one wing" and not two like everyone. It would be the pot calling the keetle back (but since BK is a game with coherent writing, this never happened).

Jerry runs away with the baby because the baby isn't normal despite the midwife assuring everyone they are?

Legit

300 yo Jerry runs away with the baby because the baby has the same condition as their mother despite the "immortal lady who saved his life" assuring him the baby is alright?

WTF

So, in the end, what are we supposed to think of Jerry?

Was he a character who made the best situation out of the shitty cards he was handed regarding their kid?

Or a character who swallowed an idiot plot ball to play with the doylist red herring, made errors but ultimately saw the light before being Clownya'd?

Or, given his supports and Nopes, a shitty character whose only redeeming point is to be Billy's dad, and who receives a lot of leeway by virtue of being Billy's dad by the writing team (given two fans) and the first game being from Billy's POV?

[itsallsternutation]

Hankies And Spice Make Everything Nice (2/?)

Part one can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/itsallsternutation/733912856588959744/a-beautiful-blossom-1-original-work-fenby?source=share

Sorry this took a bit. It takes surprisingly long to convert the stuff I write from a doc into the plain text here lol : )

If you liked this, be sure to like, comment, reblog, and all that jazz, and if you really liked it (which I'm guessing at least a few of you do) go tell me about it here on SFF too https://www.sneezefetishforum.com/topic/84545-bernis-burny-nose/

Anyway, without further ado…

Berni's Burny Nose Part 2: Hankies and Spice Make Everything Nice

The rest of the lecture wasn’t particularly eventful. That is, apart from a few more of the sneezes, sniffles, and blows that came from Berni’s poor nose. However, Sam’s big handkerchief and little smile helped her feel just a little better about each.

Sam was really starting to like Berni. She seemed nice and there was just something about her that made them smile. Besides, she seemed like someone who needed a friend and maybe Sam did too. Secretly, Berni was also really starting to like Sam too. Sam didn't know it but they were the first person Berni met who didn’t make her feel terrible about her sneezing. When the professor concluded his lecture and dismissed the class, Sam and Berni left the lecture hall together. However, before they left, Sam made sure to covertly grab a few extra tissues from a nearby box (with where they planned to take Berni, they had a feeling both of them might need a few tissues).

As the two exited the lecture hall, Berni’s tickly nose remembered it was still terribly allergic to ragweed with an intense “eh…EhgTISHEW! HehtCHOO! heugh…ehg-heh…Heeh-HIEH-HetSHOO!” and a congested snort. “Ugh fugk, I’b so sorry,” she said with a groan before blowing her nose.

“For what?” Sam asked inquisitively.

“For…being all snotty and for…egh…igh…gehg..KISHIOU! And for sneezing everywhere,” she explained stuffily. 

“Bless you. Are your allergies somehow your fault?”

“Ndo,” Berni replied after a long pause, her stuffiness now reaching new heights due to fresh and extended exposure to the pollen outside.

“Then why apologize?”

“Because I feel bad aboud it…” she answered with another snort.

“You shouldn’t” Sam told her, “I bet all the stuffiness and itchiness make you feel bad enough.”

However, with this, Berni stopped dead in her tracks. When Sam realized she did, Sam stopped and turned around to wait for her. They initially thought Berni stopped because she needed to sneeze or blow her nose, but when they looked at her, they realized she was staring at them and looking freshly miserable. 

“Why are…why are you doig thdis?” she asked softly, just above a whisper.

“Doing what?” Sam asked somewhat rhetorically, but also legitimately wanting to know what she felt was wrong.

“Givig mbe your hadkerchief, checkig if I’b okay, takig me to ludnch, blessig mbe…” she listed through the congestion in her nose, “Why are you beig so ndice to mbe even though I’b so igcky?”

“Because we seem like we might have a lot in common and you seemed like you needed someone to be nice to you. I know what that feels like to need that.”

Somewhat shocked and hesitant, Berni began walking with Sam again in silence. There was a long pause between the two before Berni asked, “Where are you eved takig me?” as she wiped her nose with Sam’s hanky, “idt’s not lidke I’ll be able to tasdte anythig with my ndose this blodked and once I startd sneezig again they’re just godda…shidt…AGSHIEW!...godda…ETGSCHEW!...godda tdry tdo CHOO! Hat-TISGHEW! Hik-TCHEW! Ughhhh,” she said with an extra congested groan as her nose became just as snotty and wet on the outside as it was on the inside. “They’re judst goig to kidk me oudt for sneezig all over everythidg.”

“Wow, bless you five times!” Sam interjected somewhat playfully before handing Berni one of the tissues they brought, “have you been around here much?”

Berni blew her nose hard, giving another wet gurgle which transformed into a congested honk before answering, “Ndot really,” in a slightly less congested voice. “My parents brought me here odnce when I was a kid and I rebeber thigkig the cabpus was pretty, thadt’s idt. With all the polled I’b nod sure it's so preddy aymbore.” 

“Well, I’m not from around here, but both my parents went to college here and they told me a few stories and brought me on a few tours. I think I might know a place that can get you some of your consonants back.”

“If idt’s a pharmacy thed idt wod’t be mbuch help. I’b already godt some shidty over the coudter mbedicine that dosed’t work, so unless you cad getd me the prescribtion I’ve beed tryig to get forever thed you might as well just take me badk to my dorb.”

“Nope, though I don’t think getting you an appointment with an allergist would be that difficult. I’m just taking you to a place I think might be able to clear you up a little.”

“Where? HEGSHIEW!” Berni asked before sneezing so suddenly and so snottily she was left unable to cover and got just a little bit on Sam’s fall flannel shirt. “Oh mby god. I-I-I’b so so sorry. I-did’t mead to…to...HIGSHEW! HIT-TISHEW!” she stammered in apology. In that moment, she seemed like she was ready to burst into tears, but her tears were of course interrupted by a duplet of sneezes.

Fearing that Berni’s complete absorption in her allergic misery might cause her to fall, Sam quickly outstretched their arm and used it to support her. “It’s okay. I’m okay. It’s all okay,” they reassured her, “Are you okay?”

Berni stopped for a moment and looked up at Sam with a watery, pitiful look in her eyes. Then, she threw her arms around Sam, thrusted herself into their arms, and burst into tears with a weeping “Ndo!”

Taken aback by Berni’s embrace, there was little Sam could do but hug her back and try to comfort her: “What’s wrong Berni? You can tell me. I won’t judge you.” 

“I haven’t been healthy in forever! I can’t even remember what it feels like anymore!” Berni moaned, “I h…hehhhh…Eggghhh…Egh-TSHIEW! I hate all my shitty hayfever for making me so gross!” she lamented, carefully directing her sneeze away from Sam’s shirt, but not completely sparing it from her spray, “I hate all the ragweed for making me so allergic TCHEW! I hate all the pollen for making me so itchy ah-ASHEE! I hate all my snot for making everyone hate me HISCH! I hate all my friends for avoiding me because I sneeze all the time AKSHIEW! I hate Japan for making me so sensitive ASHOO! And I hate my parents for taking me there! And most of all, I ESHEW! HATE! KISHA! MY! Ehht-SHIEW! DISGUSTING KASHEW! SNEEZING!”

“I…I am so sorry. I am so sorry that you feel so miserable,” Sam said with tears in their eyes as they hugged Berni tighter. Berni tried to struggle and pull herself away to stop her snot from getting on Sam’s shirt, but they kept their hug strong. “I am so sorry that it has been so hard for you to feel good about anything, and I am so sorry that everyone hates you for something you can’t control.” Sam told Berni, sniffling from their tears as they wiped away Berni’s snot with their sleeve despite her protests.  “I would do anything in the world to make you feel better, and that’s why I’m bringing you out here,” Sam continued. “When my Dad went to college here, he would always go with my mom to this dumpling place where they served these spicy dumplings. When they brought me here, I was sick with a cold and so stuffy, but when I had the dumplings, all the spice cleared me up and I felt better, so here’s what we’re gonna do,” they explained. “We’re gonna go to that dumpling restaurant and you and you’re gonna feel a whole lot better. They’re gonna make both of us sneeze a lot, but they’ll do so much to clear you up. I don’t know how long the relief will last, but it’s the least I can do.”

There was a long silence between the two, and Sam was just about to ask Berni if she was okay again before she quietly asked, “Are they good?”

“They’re amazing,” Sam said, finally wiping tears from their own eyes.

Berni slowly broke away from the hug, but she looked like she felt a lot better. “Okay,” she said, her face slowly breaking into a little smile, “let’s go get some.” This was only Sam’s second time seeing Berni’s smile. Maybe if they had seen it in a vacuum, they wouldn’t have appreciated it that much, but they knew enough now to know it was the most beautiful thing in the world. It was a simple smile with a myriad of simple messages like “I feel better”, “I’m not hurting anymore”, and “thank you”.  It took Sam a moment to recollect himself after witnessing this thing of beauty, but not too long. After all, they weren’t finished helping her yet. “Okay,” they reassured her, “It should be just around the corner.”

It only took a few more steps before the restaurant came into view. The smell of spices and cooking lingered in the air outside. The restaurant was fairly small, and it was surrounded by a bunch of other restaurants, including a pizza place, a hibachi grill, a poke place, and a coffee shop. There was also a pharmacy at the other side of the block, but Berni said herself that there wasn’t much they could do for her there without a prescription. None of them seemed busy, as these places normally got most of their traction during dinner and on weekends. On top of the restaurant before them, there was a large sign reading “Hot Dumplings!”

“Sign seems a little on the n…neh-neh-NehSHOO!” Berni said before being interrupted by a particularly wet sneeze, “Sorry, I guess the spice is getting to me already.”

“Bless you,” Sam said with a sniff, the spice starting to get to them too, “Why do you feel like you need to apologize whenever you…hih..Hishew! Sneeze?”

“Because I always feel bad about it,” Berni justified before taking out Sam’s hanky to blow her newly leaking nose.

“You shouldn’t,” Sam told her as they reached for the handkerchief Berni had given them. “It’s normal. No one’s a perfect little doll that never does anything gross,” they reasoned as they blew their nose in the cute blue hanky.

“I bet you’re never gross,” Berni remarked as the two walked into the restaurant.

“Hah, believe me, you wouldn’t be saying that if you’ve ever seen me sick. You should see me at the peak of flu season.”

Not wanting to alarm anyone with their sneezes, handkerchiefs, and their discussion of colds and flu, the two decided to drop the subject as they entered the restaurant.

They were the only ones inside, apart from a man behind the register and a cook lurking in the back. “Three dumplings of each kind, water, and a side of white rice please.” Sam ordered.

“I’ll have the same thing he’s…he’s…HEHSHIEW! Heh-ESHIEW! AhtSHIEW!” Berni attempted to order before letting out three extra productive sneezes into Sam’s soiled handkerchief and looking absolutely mortified.

“Uh…please forgive her. It’s allergy season for her and she’s not quite used to the pollen around here yet –ah-Ah-ACHOO!” Sam lied before sneezing into Berni’s handkerchief.

The cashier did not look particularly pleased, but he seemed more eager to get things over with. “Okay. I’m assuming both of you will be having your food to go. Will that be together and will you be paying cash or card?” he asked flatly.

Berni seemed embarrassed, but Sam quickly took control of the situation with a, “Card please,” and quickly removed a debit card from their wallet.  It took Berni a moment to realize Sam was about to pay for her meal, but when she did, she quickly rummaged through her bag looking for her own wallet and tried to tell Sam, “Don’t worry. I-I-I can pay for my own food.”

“It’s okay,” Sam reassured, “It’s my treat, remember?”

The cashier only groaned, clearly annoyed both by Sam and Berni’s saccharine display and by what he perceived as their potential to contaminate the restaurant. “Just swipe your card right here, wait way over there, and we’ll get you your food as fast as humanly possible.”

Ignoring this remark, Sam swiped their card, left a particularly large tip to make up for stoking fears of contamination, and gave a warm “thank you.”

“Whatever,” the cashier muttered in response before passing the order sheet back to the employee in the kitchen.”

Sam and Berni both waited at the other side of the restaurant, breathing in the smells of spices in the air and occasionally sneezing, dripping, and blowing into their handkerchiefs. It didn’t take long for their order to come out, and when it did, they quickly took their meals to a picnic table just outside the restaurant. “Wow this is working really well,” Berni told Z through her newly runny nose, “Everything smells so good and I feel so clear. And we haven’t even…Het-TISHOO! We haven’t even eaten anything.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet. Hih-Ishoo!” Sam said with a particularly runny sneeze.

The two sat down, opened their to-go containers, and began to dig in. The dumplings were just as wonderful as Sam remembered and Berni seemed to love them, but it wasn’t long before the sneezing started. Fortunately, both had their handkerchiefs and some tissues ready to nurse their noses. 

The two were about halfway between their meals, both sneezing up a storm and blowing their noses before Berni tried to say something: “These are so…heh..these are so good AGSHOO! HIESHOO! ESHOO! ATCHEW! They’re really good at clearing up my nose too. Thank you so much.” 

“No pro..pro…Choo! Hachew! Hishoo! Achew Hi-CHEW!” Sam replied.

“Don’t worry, you don’t need to finish that. Bless you sweetie. And, I guess bless you for the couple thousand times before that,” Berni replied with a giggle and a “HEESHOO!”

“Whooh, excuse me.” Sam said as they wiped their nose with Berni’s blue hanky. “Hey, not only do you not sound congested anymore, but you didn’t apologize for being sneezy!”

Berni immediately blushed with embarrassment on top of her allergies, and covered her face in her hands, but Sam tried to reassure her: “No no no, that’s good. It means you’re not feeling as self conscious as you were before. Etchoo!” they explained, “you even blessed me and joked about my sneezing.”

Berni slowly brought her hands down from her still-flushed face before quietly saying “I didn’t mean to…”

“No no, Ashew!” Sam interrupted, “it means you’re not feeling as nervous and self-conscious about it. That’s good.”

Berni seemed too shocked to know how to respond, so she did so with a simple “umm���bless you,” before turning back to her food. Both Sam and Berni then focused most of their attention on finishing their meals, each letting out a few drippy, wet sneezes every few bites, before Berni broke the silence again towards the end of her meal:

“What do you even like about my sneezes? Yours are so much quieter and cuter. Mine are always so icky and loud and snotty HIEH-TSHIEW! Wow, that was a strong one.”

“I like them for the same reason I like snowflakes” Sam explained, “Even though each one is less than a second, each is its own unique little work of art. Besides, I like how strong and forceful they are. Each one shows how sensitive, passionate, and unique you are.”

“By ‘passionate’ and 'sensitive', do you mean ‘allergic’? AKSHOO!” Berni asked. “You must want to be an English major or something.”

“That I do. My main plan is to get my degree, become a travel writer after college so that I can travel the world and get some writing experience at the same time, then either write the great American novel or get picked up by some big studio or publisher or something.” Sam recounted 

“That’s cool. I don’t really like traveling that much because it messes with my allergies, but it’s good you can make it part of your job,” Berni told Sam, “My parents both wanted me to go here so I can go to medical school, but I’ve always been really good at programming, I even won some prizes for it back when I was in high school. If I can get my allergies under control and get a coding job that I can work remotely for, then maybe I’ll try to give traveling another chance.”

By this point, the two had finished their dumplings and their sneezing was starting to die down, so Sam decided to start cleaning up: “Well Berni, it was wonderful to meet you and I had a really nice time, but I think both of us should start heading back to the dorms and preparing for our next classes, especially before your nose starts getting stuffed up again.”

“Okay, but can you walk me back to my dorm before we say goodbye?” Berni asked, showing Sam her cute little smile. Unable to refuse Berni, Sam obliged. The two cleaned up, threw away their trash, and began their walk back to Berni’s dorm. As they began their walk, both Berni and Sam sneezed often, still recovering from the spice, but by the end of their walk, their sneezing had been replaced by animated conversation. 

“...So you’ve lived here in the South your whole life?” Sam asked.

“Yep. In a smaller town about an hour southeast of here,” Berni replied.

“Have you ever visited Japan?”

“I...I don’t really want to talk about Japan. Um…where are you from? I don’t think I ever asked you.”

“Oh, I’m one of “day-um yankees” that burned this place down a hundred and fifty years ago?”

“Ooh, what part of the north are you from? Are you from New York?”

“What, you think every Jewish guy is from New York?”

“What?...n-n-no I-”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you. My family’s from Boston.” 

“Oh, cool. I played Fallout 4 a bunch, so I know a little bit about what Boston looks like,” Berni explained, “Why aren’t you going to learn writing at an Ivy League or something? If you got into here you could definitely get into them, and I bet they have way better departments.”

“Eh, my parents tried to sell me on the fancy New England schools, but they just weren’t for me. They were all too stuck up and pretentious. I like it here better. Everyone’s smart here, but no one’s an ass about it. Besides, this is one of the “Ivy Leagues of the South”, so maybe I am at an Ivy League,” Sam mused.

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Berni said, “How many times did you rehearse that?”

“Eh, I had to give a similar spiel to all my Uncles and Aunts about why I didn’t want to go where they went. I’m glad you liked it, because they sure didn’t…” Sam and Berni had become fast friends like it was nothing. Pretty soon, the two had arrived at Berni’s dorm, which Sam noted just so happened to be a few floors up from theirs. They were ready to leave and say goodbye, but just before they did, they realized there was still one last thing they needed to do: “Oh, I almost forgot, here’s your hanky back. Sorry I used a little bit. You’ll have to tell me where you got it sometime because I swear this thing is so damn cute. I’m gonna order like five of them for myself,” they said as they offered Berni the handkerchief she had given them.

“Oh no, you can keep it. I’ve got plenty,” Berni told them. “Do you mind if I keep yours though? It’s got all my snot on it, but I love how big it is. It’s perfect for my big sneezes and blows.”

“Of course,” Sam said, “maybe we can swap more hankies some time.”

“You know what, before you go, I’ve got plenty of time left before my next class. Do you wanna see my hanky collection in my dorm room?” Berni asked.

“Of course,” Sam replied.

Berni removed the key to her dorm from her pocket as she dabbed her nose with her new (albeit now quite grubby) hanky. Unfortunately, she then opened the dorm to reveal it was not as empty as either assumed. Inside was a tall, lanky, redheaded girl rummaging through a dresser whom Sam immediately recognized as Lottie.

Berni was visibly startled by Lottie’s unexpected presence in the room. She immediately moved to try to hide her handkerchief, but Lottie turned around before she could hide it. However, when Lottie turned around, it was not Berni she addressed, but Sam, “Oh, hi Sam, it’s good to see you again,” she said flirtatiously, “I see you’ve already met my roommate…”

“Hi Lottie. Turns out that me and Berni sit next to each other in Latin. I thought the lecture was honestly really boring, but I sat next to Berni and she helped keep me awake through it, so we went to go get some lunch together,” Sam explained as Berni began to frantically wipe her dripping nose with her handkerchief.

“Oh, great,” Lottie said with positivity quickly fading from her voice. “Ew, gross. Where did you get that thing? It looks like a napkin you took out of a restaurant and contaminated with all your wet goop.”  Clearly deeply shaken by Lottie’s insults to Sam’s handkerchief, Berni tried to step back behind Sam to hide, but her hiding place was given away by a pair of hastily muffled

“Hrppshh! Hmpffshh!”’s 

“Oh, great, now you’re sneezing everywhere. Way to kill a girl’s appetite before lunch Miss Snot Factory.”

“Hey, she has allergies. Allergies suck. She can’t just not be allergic.” Sam told Lottie.

“Yeah, but the least she can do is try to hold it in or take it somewhere else?”

“Hold it in? She can’t hold it in! And where else would she take it? This is her dorm room.”

“What’s a cute boy like you doing with her,” Lottie said, changing the subject as she moved uncomfortably close to Sam.

“Lottie, they’re non-binary,” Berni said through her handkerchief.

“No, it’s okay. I’m okay with boy,” Sam reassured, “But to you Lottie, I’d prefer to just be Sam.”

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Lottie picked up her backpack, slung it over her shoulder, exited the dorm room with a nonchalant, “Okay,” and slammed the door. 

“I…I’m sorry for that,” Berni told Sam.

“For what?”

“She’s just been like that to me since I got here. Never to anyone else. Just…to me,” Berni explained dejectedly.

There was a long pause before Sam told her “You’ve dealt with enough for today. How about you show me your hanky collection.”

“Okay,” Berni said, becoming noticeably happier and giving Sam another momentary glimpse of her wonderful smile.

[aptericia]

So! A while ago I made redesigns for some of my least favorite Three Houses outfits. With a lot of the female characters, it feels like the priority with their design is "show boobs and/or bare legs". Obviously, I don't claim to be better at character design than the original artists, but here's my take with the following priorities (in order):

Representing the character and making them easily identifiable. Basically, the design should serve as a "condensed" version of their personality, abilities, culture, etc.

An outfit that I find (with my 100% correct and objective opinion, of course) to be attractive

Being reasonably practical, at least enough that it doesn't break immersion. Considers the character's job, available resources, etc.

Ordinarily I'd design an outfit to go with the character's body type, but I was lazy here lol. If people are interested, I could draw nice versions on the actual characters sometime. Oh, BTW, the concept for this post was heavily inspired by looking through the @bikiniarmorbattledamage tumblr :))))

Below are detailed descriptions on how I went about designing them, if anyone's curious! I will be bashing the original designs quite a bit because I find it funny, but I hold absolutely no disrespect toward anyone who prefers them to my poorly-thought-out versions :)

Bernadetta – I feel like the designers were trying to combine the female archer class outfit, Bernie’s own girly/plushie aesthetic, and the “fancy noble lady” style and it didn’t quiiiiiite work out. I really like the color scheme & overall shapes, so I just went about changing the few things that ruined it for me.

First off, the huge bell sleeves. They’re just silly and don’t match the outfit imo. I turned them into an elaboration on her cute gloves.

Gave her pants instead of booty shorts. I don’t think Bernie would wear a long skirt that would keep her from running around, but the exposed legs give her a “vulnerable” look that I don’t think she’d appreciate. Plus, having the leg-pouch strapped to her bare skin looked really uncomfy ☹.

The boots didn’t work as well with her shiny new Pants, so I gave her knitted leg-warmer things inspired by this gorgeous cipher art.

I expanded her leg-pouch-thing and gave her a teeny little dagger. I just think she’d carry weapons on her person.

Constance – Honestly, credit to her for doing the best she could with the god-awful Dark Flier class design. I still think her outfit is pretty ugly and sexist, so I made some adjustments. I tried to evoke a “noble lady” feeling, but keep the muted color scheme and lack of patterns to imply that she’s actually dirt-poor. I took inspiration from people like Ferdie (noble vibe; armor purely for show not practicality) but with her personal “edgy steampunk vampire” aesthetic.

I changed her stupid boob-cup breastplate. I don’t even care about the dangers of wearing boobplate in realistic combat—it just looks ugly. Like why do you need to go to extra trouble to say “I have BOOBS! TWO of them!!”? It’s embarrassing. I mean it’s fine if you’re proud of your boobs, but then don’t cover them up with metal maybe???

I realized that the designers probably gave her boobplate because, without it, her outfit isn’t actually all that feminine. Coco is a pretty feminine lady, so I remedied this by giving her puffy sleeves (inspired by the Awakening Dark Flier design) and a skirt-thing (with an awkward slit that would allow her to sit on a horse). The skirt had the added bonus of being incompatible with the stupid butt-grabbing hip armor. Good riddance!

Traded in her bare legs for some silly suspender-sock-things. I just thought they worked better with the skirt and more “girly” outfit overall. Also gave her shin-guards to extend the pink color scheme throughout the whole outfit.

I also changed her dress into a stylish vest that, imo, looks nicer (and comfier) with the armor. I gave her some gold accents on the vest & armguards for a dash of color.

Her belt got a revamp to work better with the vest.

Lysithea – On to our favorite doily princess! Her design doesn’t reek as much of “boobs and/or legs priority”, but it’s still silly and looks pretty uncomfortable. I actually really like the aesthetic, so I tried to keep it as much as possible. I did end up having to introduce another color (silver), though.

I think her doily skirt looks extra silly because it’s so dwarfed by her sleeves. I lengthened it, made it puffier, and added another layer beneath it.

More drastically, I ended up changing the whole top of the dress so it was a shirt & skirt instead. I’m not sure I have a justification for this beyond “I don’t usually prefer dresses”, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out 😊 Also, what’s with the weird rows of ribbons(???) at her sides? Into the trash lol.

The ribbon attachment looks like it would be really cold on her bare chest ☹. I moved it down to the level of her shirt and attached it to her shoulders instead of her neck (for comfort).

Her shoes got boringer but less dumb-looking. What can I say, I’m not good at designing shoes.

Hapi – Hers is the least-bad of the Ashen Wolves’ timeskip designs, not that that’s saying much. I don’t really like gray and green as a color scheme, so I gave her a bit of brown and some more gold accents. Other than that, I feel like she has a sort of forest girl/witch/traveler look, which I tried to keep as much as possible.

Obviously, the silly boob-separator strap had to go. I have no problems with Hapi being sexy, but she’s much more the “forgot to put on my pants when I rolled out of bed at 1:00pm” type rather than the “put extra effort into showing that I have TWO BOOBS” type. Therefore, I kept a similar amount of skin showing but tried to make it easier to assemble.

Her new skirt was based on the Valkrie designs from other games (you’ll notice the similarity to the Mist-inspired outfit in this post). I think this version is both cuter and looks easier to move in. Also, I love giving everyone too many belts! Hers has a lil pouch for carrying random junk she finds.

Both her arms and legs looked a little boring imo, so I gave her some pretty bracelets and altered her shoes. Plus, her original boots looked hard to move in. Here, the actual boot is pretty loose but is tied below the knee with an extra laceable piece and above the knee with a brown strap.

Petra – Ho boy. I always felt like Petra’s design could be potentially problematic, although I’ve never done any research. Anywayyyy, it’s clear that the designers wanted something “exotic”-looking, but they had no ideas beyond “well she’s from a warm climate right” (In reality, someone from a warm climate would probably be unadjusted to the cold and bundle up… but that goes against the goal of “condensed character description” so I don’t really mind). Instead, I took a lot of inspiration from this awesome Cipher art! Her color scheme is a hot mess but not without potential, and personally I think I did okay with it!

Ok, ok, her design also does a decent job of indicating that she’s royalty from a hunting-focused nation. When re-doing her top I tried to keep that in mind, so I gave her some fancy jewelry and animal goods (i.e. fluff). I don’t feel like re-iterating the boobplate argument, so suffice to say that her breastplate suffered the same fate as Constance’s.

I adjusted her arm jewelry to be more to my liking. Not really any logic there.

Her miniskirt is pretty dumb, so I changed the shape and incorporated some hip armor (someone tell me the official name). I also took away the fluffy fringe, seeing as she already got some fluff around her neck. Instead, I added the pattern that was originally on her leg-band.

Do I need to explain giving her another pant leg? I know her outfit is based on the female thief class, but it doesn’t look good there either. And once again, I had no ideas for her shoes beyond not liking the old ones ☹.

[rgr-pop]

if i was a normal level of unwell right now i’d be baking a loaf of bread. i don’t want to have to leave the house tomorrow and i can’t bring myself to go to this stupid womens meeting. i have been so clear that i can’t do non constructive meetings that don’t specifically need me right now because i’m worn so thin, but if i don’t come on my sunday off i’ll lose credibility and these other orgs won’t work on the abortion fund projects. it feels like it’s always all on me to defend the value of doing repro work— and sometimes that’s okay and as you know i’m stepping up to work on this structural problem. but the problem is that if i show any signs of fragility—or god forbid say, “i need my sunday to myself this week,” or even worse, “my pet snail is dying and it’s going to impact my productivity for a week,” what i will be told is, well, you don’t have the capacity to sustain this work, so we’re going to stop working on it.

and the problem isn’t exactly that i’m the only one doing it (right now for example i have a street outreach brigade pamphleting hash bash lol in ann arbor, a political research crew prepping for the leg piece, a new Posting partnership planned for soon, the fundraiser ask is being made by someone else, plus some workings in a second chapter… look at me defending the work to you!), but we don’t have quite everyone with ownership over the project yet (which you build to) and, as i’ve said, everyone is depending all their willingness to not put up walls around this on whether or not i personally look energized and perfect and like i know everything every time they see me. meanwhile i want only one thing all the time (to kill myself). and i can’t be in this position because i’m not doing great. but i’m an ill and severely mentally ill person who can—i know—do a couple hours a week of organizing most weeks. and i believe you can build effective campaigns that bring in more people and build capacity and bolster people’s belief in the power working collectively for 2-10 hours a week can have to change people’s lives and make them feel mostly better rather than mostly worse. it’s important to me to hold that line. but i personally can’t survive being scolded by social workers (anarchists) and sociopaths (postleninists and social movement strategists) not to mention the regular misogynists who I HAVE TO PRESENT THIS TO IN A WEEK HOPING THAT THEY DONT DO SOMETHING MEAN TO SCARY TO ME IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!!

anyway the thing is that i’m so fragile that i don’t see a way where this consciousness raising or whatever meeting doesn’t ruin my mood for the next few days, because every single one so far has been so bad it has edged on a traumatic experience. and i have to deal with that on top of everything else i have in my life (snail dying, baby, ANTS, being solely responsible for housework and most bills, feeding myself on no money, medical appointments, all my loved ones in crisis due to being poor women, eclipse???, my union, eating disorder, chronic pain, SNAIL DYING). and if you were a loser wannabe social worker you might say “it sounds like you don’t have capacity to organize” and, WRONG. i don’t have the capacity to waste two hours of my life + the bus travel on a consciousness raising meeting where someone tells me what’s wrong about me. and i disagree with the relational organizing (or even post bernie labor type) partisans a who say, that’s where the organizing happens. i disagree and i have a different theory of how this works (i may be inventing a caucus lol). and most importantly i think that i personally am more like a majority of working class women than i’m different. the main thing that makes me most different from other working class women is how much time i commit to communism. i want to change this!!!

today i need to work on things but i’m focused on my snail and the feelings around this. i’m having a hard time feeding myself. i don’t think crying on a saturday with my dying pet snail while managing mental illness during an eclipse makes me someone who can’t organize and i do NOT think getting psychologically torn to shreds by a social worker in training or a social movement strategist trying to force me to do drugs at a retreat is going to make me a better organizer.

j invited us over after the meeting and i’m overcome with guilt about coming empty handed. i miss him. i saw him in passing at the last meeting. he makes me happy and feel better. i don’t think i should be with him because i worry all i can do is complain. and he will be reminded why everyone hates me et cetera. but after i saw him that day when i wanted to die he reached out right after and said do you guys want to come over for dinner.

i can’t do the dishes. i made sniva a carrot. she got up to eat it. her trapdoor is so withered but i don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go on reddit to think about it. i want her to live six more days. i genuinely don’t know whether i’m neglecting her or should let it be. i am almost sure there is nothing i can do to fix her trapdoor. i’m going to do a small water change/replacement tonight if i can be upright enough. that’s it!! im as good as murdering her

[chuunijianghuyuri]

I think a part of usamerican advent defense of their veterans and whatnot exposes, as others have mentioned, the fact that many self proclaimed don't read theory and that many usamericans don't see themselves as part of a society or anyone outside of their countries as human beings, but also in particular that many liberals' understanding of class politics, again probably also mostly usamericans is "rich vs poor" instead of class conflict. Rather than examining different classes and their interests and why they're in conflict with one another whether they realize it or not, they might think they know what classes are when really all they know are rich, poor, "1%", and tax brackets. Defending literal lackeys of imperialism probably seems like serious progressivism or praxis or whatever when all you understand is that "poor oppressed by rich and that's bad" and you've never actually read any marxist theory and don't see anyone outside your country or at least the predominantly white west as human beings. It's just rampant individualism and bernie sanders slogans in place of actual marxism or theory of any kind to defend deadass imperialism.

No reblogs for this one cause I like my account and y'all ain't good enough at blocking imperialism defending shitlibs from y'all's accounts lol.

[dpsisquared]

What do you think of Raphael x Bernadetta?

I can't say I've ever thought of them at all 🙈 Raphael is a totally nice person but the big boisterous types are not really my cup of tea because I'm very noise sensitive lol. So I looked up their supports which are cute, with him turning around so she can talk to him more easily. But the end card takes a kinda weird turn?? I don't like the idea of unpleasant "training" to make her into a public speaker, it's too close to how she described her dad's abuse.

Now that I think about it, all of Bernie's endings end with her running House Varley, don't they? Even though she never expresses interest in doing it. We see she likes music, art, sewing, but never "I wish I could be a good leader/politician". Huh, I never noticed that before! Poor Bernie deserves her relaxing, painting by the pond retirement 💜

[safyresky]

Happy January 13th on the 15th Monday! Frostmas: Year One is now LIVE on ao3

Give Year One a read on ao3 HERE!

Year One

Jack becomes Santa; Jacqueline becomes Jack Frost. Then the trouble really begins.

And a Frostmas Summary for you as well, in case you missed it:

The Twelve Years of Frostmas

Nobody but he and I knew the truth. Jack wasn't supposed to be Santa; I wasn't supposed to be Jack Frost. He thought being Santa would fix everything. He was horribly, horribly mistaken. [My take on Jack's reign as Santa during the Escape Clause. MAJOR OC involvement AND First Person POV from said OC. Finally cross posting THIS behemoth! Enjoy!]

Take her from the top (Prologue) HERE (ao3) or HERE (ff dot net)

So my thing this year is crossposting Frostmas every 13th of the month bc I like symbolism, lol, and the vibe is very unlucky days haha.

I meant to have this up Saturday but had yet to read through the final scene, and also. The bigger thing. Went to a friend's bday party on the town and had a LOT of drinks and did Karaoke and it was LOTS of fun and I deffs needed it but this led to me spending the 13th on the couch half asleep most of the day, only moving for food and grabbing my joycons for some Stardew Valley 😅😅😅

(finally got the community centre DONE! FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER! My poor neglected desktop saves, lol)

ANYWAY. Year One is very short; it always has been. Jacqueline will tell us about Jack's official first Christmas out in Year Two, so hang tight for that! For now, check out Year One HERE on ao3...and I suppose HERE on blue site, though this ain't about her!!!

NOW THEN! Back I go to Finishing up CS, and off you go to click "read more" and get a fun little preview of Y2 of the Twelve Years of Frostmas below!

“Bernard, truly. I was devastated. It took so much courage to do what I did next, with the, the grief I felt! What I had to do next, mind you.”

“Hmm, let me guess! Take Santa’s jacket since nobody else was around to do so?”

“Exactly! It was for the greater good, Bernie! The greater good!”

Reaching the top of the steps, Bernard stopped by the cookies, looking down at Jack as he ran up the stairs to catch up.

“Oh, don’t give me that look, Bernard! The greater good? Have you not been listening? I’m more than happy to tell you my tale of, of woe once more—”

“Something about this is not right.”

Jack paled, watching Bernard turn abruptly on his heel and cross the top landing, heading towards the doors to Santa’s quarters. “No, this is all as it should be! Would you slow down there, Bernard? I can’t keep up with all you elves.” Bernard ignored him. Pushing open the doors, he burst into Santa’s living space, eyes sharp as he looked around at the massive amounts of toys and knick-knacks littering the space. Jack flew in shortly after. “What are you doing?!” "There are so many things wrong with this picture. Right here. This one," Bernard said, stopping his rummaging and framing his view of Jack with his index finger and thumb. A frosty sprite pouted, the red jacket five sizes too big, hanging off of his lanky frame. “No there’s not!” Jack answered a bit too fast. Clearing his throat, he composed himself. “This is all just as it should be. I mean, who better to be the next Santa than me? Why, I herald the season! It makes perfect sense." “No, it does not.” He rummaged through he drawers on Santa’s desk. “This isn't right. A Legendary can't take another Legendary Figure's place!” There was a jingle as Bernard pulled something out of the desk drawer, kicking it shut as he glared at Jack. A small bell sat in his hands, the silver glinting in the light. “I'm calling an emergency Council meeting right this second.” Jack scoffed. “Like that’ll do anything.” Making his way around Bernard, he took a seat at the desk, leaning back and throwing up his feet. “Real confident for someone in your position to say, Jack.” “You mean Santa. I have the jacket now, Bernie! I’m Santa.” “No! Absolutely not! This isn’t right. This can’t be right. The council will know what to do,” he thought out loud, hopping that this wasn’t happening, that this couldn’t be happening, and ringing the bell.

Think Bernard's right? Think the Council can do something about this? Is Jack gonna get away with it? Check out Year One HERE on ao3 to find out!

We'll see you February 13th for Year Two >:)

[jotchia]

why did joshie and bernie say no to bernie baby dressing as a hunter so fast. is there a past trauma there i smell

*SMILES EVILY* I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED! this is a long one stick with me here.

essentially the bjs Story centers jotchie and his fucked up brain problems right. i mean i don't think that terribly shines through my art of them it's definitely more of a writing thing (smile) BUT. jotchie's issues stem from when he got attacked in the woods, which caused his turning into a werewolf. now he's all kinds of scared that since HE got attacked, he could hurt others too. which is dumb. but he's fucked up.

ect ect jotchie plays mercenary for a few years after running away from home, he never really makes any friends which makes him desperate and lonely as hell, then enter samir. samir is trying his damndest to study transformation magic but he's only got bernie as a test subject and he knows every inch of that motherfucker's body by now (high school sweethearts<3) and now some new shifter is in the woods?! THEIR woods?! oh boysy!!! so samir captures jotch and VERY politely asks if he can study him in a lab. jotch at this point is so desperate for connection he sees this cute dude asking to spend some time with him and he's like sure man fuck it like whatever at least if this dude uses me as a lab rat i'll get to stare at him while it happens. literally whatever man.

ROMAMCE ENSUES samir is so nice to jotchie it kinda fucking freaks him out cos he was kinda prepared to get killed or something but this dude is actually so sweet and likes hanging out outside of study time? so now jotch is all kindsa self conscious about shifting around him and it's so much worse cos samir is actually really respectful of his boundaries? like oh god how did he stumble into such a good fucking person that likes him and is nice oh god he REALLY can't fuck this up now.

NOW BACK TO BERNIE. LOL. bernie, too, is a shifter, though he shifts into a polar bear rather than a wolf. bernie was also BORN a shifter rather than turned, so he's all experienced with this shit where jotch knows little to nothing outside of his own lived experience. dude's never even met another shifter before. bernie sees this and kinda takes pity on the poor guy, shows him the ropes, drops the absolute fucking bomb that is the fact that your clothes just phase with you when you shift, so jotchie's whole "if i wear this collar it'll strangle me when i shift without wanting to" strat kinda goes out the fucking window. which is bad cos he cares about samir. there goes his fucking fail safe.

ah, but, there's bernard. bernard is much bigger and stronger than him, shifted and unshifted both. if bernie's around and jotch shifts without wanting to, if he tries to hurt samir, bernie can just kill him. easily. he's so strong! bernie is so cool! he's seen him kill deer like nobody's business! bernie, now, is his fail safe. as long as bernie's around, he can relax.

but oh ho ho, idiot that jotchie is, does not realize that bernie likes him too! even when the three of them all start dating, jotchie can't fucking compute in his brain that he CARES about him and, yknow, that kinda makes it hard to kill somebody? he also of course never ran that idea by bernard, just kinda assumed oh for suresies he'd be down to kill me the moment i did something bad. no problem. don't even worry about it.

now i don't have the Exact scene mapped out in my head on how i want this to go, but essentially it all comes to a head when jotchie mentions this exact thing, that ah, it's okay, if i do anything you can just kill me. bernie is absolutely fucking devastated because what the hell? what the fuck does this guy think of him? that he could kill him, just like that? that he could kill him at all? has josh only been keeping him around because he wants him to murder him? is that all he is?

jotchie's self hatred bleeds into his relationships with others A FUCKING LOT. it sucks. he does not even realize that's what's happening.

but of course love must prevail, jotchie DOES care for bernie very deeply NOT just cos he wants to be killed so he continues the absolute egregious process of trying to hate himself a little less every day. bernie does forgive him but shit still stings. (SAMIR IS ALSO CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE OF THIS, ANGEL PETNAME, SHIT SUCKS FOR EVERYBODY) so the idea of bernie dressing up as the character who's entire purpose is to kill jotchie's? woof! very bad!

thank you so much for asking i love you forever 🫂

[expirisims]

This is One Household I'm Happy to Split Up

Is that Trish?! I swear from this angle that looks like Aimee Williams. I've really got to remember to zoom in for screenshots, they always look further away than they seem in game. Anywho...it's our last day with the Malloy Houshold and the last day of winter, which means...Time to move some of these sims out on their own so they aren't all living on top of each other! I think everyone will enjoy having a little more privacy.

Kasey woke up with a hankering for a new tattoo!

Oh no! I wonder, how bad it could actually be...

Oh no! Bahahaha! She's literally COVERED with bad tattoos! Poor Kasey!

No time to cry over it, I'm afraid. It's time for work!

Seeing as Korey and Wanda are still pretty hot and heavy I kicked them out together. They hit the jackpot! The Borna! One of my favorite homes in all of St. Bernie! Now fingers crossed they can actually afford to keep living there!

Wasting no time getting comfortable I see. Let's just leave them to it.

Umm...Wanda?? Babe??? Is it sanitary or safe to prepare pancakes nude??? OMG! It's never ending with these sims LOL!

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 8

Spoilers for GW up to Ch 8 below.

STORY

Shahid may as well have been called "plot tool" lol.

Are Claude and Edelgard going to make some kind of Alliance now? I hope he's not stupid about it.

Claude's like maybe attacking the larger, richer country with more soldiers and resources wasn't a good idea, lamo. As much as I loved punching the Empire for once rather than just always fighting defensively, Claude really picked up the stupid stick.

It hurts every time I see Judith.

Man, I don't like how they retconned Gloucester. He's getting treated like a saint now. It's so weird. I feel like they softened up a lot of people, and I'm not sure i like it.

Haha, at least he called the Empire foolish for starting a two-front war.

CAMP

Oh, wow, no side missions. I have two paralogues unlocked though, so I'll probably do those.

Honestly, I'm a bit relieved. These levels take forever and I'm not even putting time into plotting builds or anything. I def want to replay AG one day where I put more time into just building out all my favs.

Honestly, part of me is tempted to drop AG and speed run SB and GW (which are both really boring so far, sorry) so that way I can just blow through them and take my time with AG, but I can't imagine not going back to AG to keep me going lol.

I'll just do an indulgent, S-Rank everything, unlock all the everything AG type run later.

MARIANNE & BERNADETTA B SUPPORT

Not who I would've picked to support Marianne, but I can see it.

Yep, this is as awkward as you would've guessed with neither sure what to say and lots of just "..." and "ums."

Bernie finally breaks the silence talking about pretty bugs. Marianne is into the conversation since she's a Disney princess animal lover. And Bernie just like creepy things.

Then it dies. And Marianne struggles to find another topic and talks about the sunrise.

In the end they had a successful conversation. Since I support Marianne having friends, I support this.

LORENZ & BALTHUS C SUPPORT

So why does Balthus get a support with Lorenz, but not Hilda?

Balthus asked Lorenz about a Claude investigation, but Lorenz doesn't know much about it.

Lorenz thinks Balthus' father is behind the questions. Balthus is doing it for money, unsurprisingly.

Lorenz puts down Balthus as a corrupt commoner, but Balthus is secretly a commoner, which doesn't surprise me since Hilda and Holst are his buddies.

Lamo, Balthus said Lorenz says whatever just pops into his head. Doesn't sound like a compliment.

BALTHUS, HOLST, & HILDA PARALOGUE

I'm using two of the three, so this shouldn't be too bad. I can make Balthus an adjunct.

Balthus is hiding from someone, then turns around and asks Hilda and Shez for money. Hilda encourages him to pay them back. Then Balthus leaves.

Holst arrives and bothers Shez about bothering Hilda. Then they catch him up about Balthus.

Balthus sounds like an absolute nightmare and asshole of a person, ngl. He steals from people, fights, and drinks. Hilda and Holst can do better.

Oh, shit. The goal is to rescue Balthus, so I can't just rescue him? But the Golden Deer are basically broke, so IDK if I can level him up enough to survive.

So his stepmother sent assassins after him because she wants her younger son to lead instead. Honestly, don't blame her for that last half, but big yikes.

Ok, that wasn't too bad since I got to control Balthus pretty quickly.

Balthus seem wholly unbothered by his step-mother trying to kill him. He talks about it like she's throwing a tantrum, lol.

Did Balthus' real mom raise Shez?

LEONIE & SHAMIR PARALOGUE

Welp, they didn't get a support this time, but they got this at least. Feels bad Shamir didn't get one with Cyril, but I don't think the poor dude is even playable this time around.

Shamir is trying to pull a mysterious vanishing act and Shez can guess what she's up too including romantic rendezvous, fighting, or drinking. See, this is why Catherine and Shamir are meant for each other.

Ohhh, Shamir is breaking up with someone.

Not a former lover, though. A noble who has an infatuation with her and is threatening her if she doesn't come back. Shamir plans on just dealing with it herself.

Lamo, Shamir doesn't mind killing them.

Leonie is leveled up, but not Shamir, so Leonie will just tout her around.

Shamir burned the captain bad - "You're still alive. I guess it's true only the good die young." Like, damn, woman.

They sent a whole army against Shamir lol.

Cool to see three mercenary women all talking mercenary stuff.

Wait, WHAT? A WOMAN is the one after Shamir. Go off, Fire Emblem.

Leonie, my sweet summer child, has no idea what Shamir was alluding to. That's Caspar/Hilda support levels of naive, except Leonie's older lamo.

MAIN BATTLE/STORY

Short chapter this time around, which is nice. I saw it's the same for Scarlet Blaze in chapter 9. I'm assuming Azure Gleam will get a chapter like this too, except that time I'll be bummed.

Shahid has no personality outside of bloodthirsty idiot.

So Shahid has no clue that Claude is in the army he's attacking. So Edelgard is the only one the writers don't make kill their own family. Claude and Dimitri are just built for angst.

Yep, here's a cut scene where poor Claude gets to kill family now. He should've just let Shez do it. Cool cut scene though.

Claude thought he wouldn't feel bad about it, but he does. That's just being human, Claude.

Lorenz is like a whole ass 10 levels ahead of everyone else. Dude is a monster in this game.

Will the Golden Deer actually learn Claude is from Almyra this time? Claude lied again, saying he just went there for political stuff and that's why he meant Nader. Ah, well, maybe later on.

Shahid really was just a plot tool in the end. He had no personality and was just the evil prince from Almyra that makes it easy to wrap that up with a nice bow.

Lamo, Raphael gets closer to figuring it out about Claude than anyone else. Perfect.

Arval is like ugh, why are they celebrating? There's still a war going on. Arval is a party pooper, confirmed.

Claude feeling bad because he killed Shahid, which would have more weight if Shahid was an actual character.

Arval doesn't trust Claude, but I swear if I hear the word "scheme" in a Claude route one more time, I'm going to scream.

xxx

[fractualized]

Well, whatever the fuck is going on in Zdarsky's Batman right now doesn't make me feel great about the eventual reveal for the Jokers in The Man Who Stopped Laughing, but I enjoyed TMWSL #8 today and I'm going to focus on that and not how very fucking over the multiverse I am.

As always, spoilers for TMWSL ahead!

As much as I enjoyed last issue, I'm happy to catch up with who I still think of as Protagonist Joker. He's got that sad, half-dead underdog appeal! And he has a half-dead friend!

Grundyjokes lives!

They don’t have to be this cute. Why are they so cute in their weird little subterranean friendship.

You may remember, however, that the Joker in Los Angeles is, uh, not making friends.

Real original commentary, lady!

How much people across the country (or the world or the galaxy) are familiar with DC's heroes and villains changes depending on the needs of the story, but I think I prefer a world where their notoriety is more localized just for opportunities like this. lol

And so does Joker, who takes the opportunity to stab Manhunter and escape, before we’re back in the Gotham sewers with another Gotham creature, Killer Croc.

>:[ Joker, you're not gonna make more friends like this.

As Protagonist Joker antagonizes Waylon, LA Joker is desperately trying to not be in LA.

I thought the door lock was a funny beat, and then this happens.

Hee, classic.

Just when I think Mr. Waffles will finally come to the rescue...

Oh, perhaps Killer Moth is a friend? But this issue is cutting back and forth pretty often, and we’re back with a different Killer on the hunt.

Oh. Oh, that poor utility worker.

Just burning up to nothing behind Joker, who is still wearing the same damn underwear. But at least a lot of his hair is back!

Well, I certainly hope both of you aren't the result of another comic's multiversal nonsense that sure seems to be undermining your villain origin story in favor of making you more of a plot device than the character I enjoy BUT I SAID WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT THAT

Anyway, Protagonist Joker passes out, leaving his fate for the next issue, and it's back to the west coast.

Though just when you think Killer Moth flew across the country to help Joker for some reason...

Oh, of course he's here for revenge. That makes more sense.

Moth, you have to know you're gonna regret this.

Hey, speaking of Jason!

That boy sure loves his Austen and Shakespeare and treatises on how violence is a tool exploited by the state.

A strange figure appears!

I'm not sure if more is happening here than a visual signal or what, but Tiffany is actually Barbara.

I'm going to assume it's Steph on the other end of the line just because of her previous appearance, and going by Barbara's last remark, I'm also wondering if this help for Jason is without Bruce's knowledge, but time will tell!

And then it's back to Los Angeles, and... ugh... the answer to why Mr. Waffles didn't come to Joker's rescue..

But Joker said "almost!" Waffles can recover!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO goddammit, I shouldn't have gotten attached. Buuuut maybe there’ll be a gag next time about how he’s barely hanging on??

... Also I wouldn’t hate it if Joker dragged poor Waffles around Weekend-at-Bernie's style.

Sigh. Alright. Onto the backer. Francavilla is back for the art! Hooray!

Joker's an especially sad clown in this one! And he's sick of all the fighting, so he comes up with an invention.

Of course Joker’s not gonna try out being good. Can’t you make out his badge?

The fact that the victim's head merely goes POP. I can't.

And the device works in the air! It works in the sea!

They had to put the "Superman created by" credit at the start of this story just so we could see Clark's head get obliterated.

I really try not to post too many full pages but lol these chyrons

Naturally, after Randolph Joker decides to go all-out with his device...

Holy unintended consequences, headless Batman!

Speaking of losing your head, don’t get too many bright ideas, Gaggy...

Joker decides to go with a different career opportunity.

Gotta love a good bookend! And look, it's Two-Face! Also is that a new Gaggy or a continuity error or what am I even saying it doesn’t matter

I'm not sure if the Joker duplicate in this story is his new life as a for-real clown or collectively all the shitty people he enabled... but this stupid @!#$?* mime is as unfulfilled as always, and isn't that what really matters? ✨

[ratgingi]

if your dialed town oc's had to get a pet, or could choose a pet, what animal would be their go-to? any prefer dogs over cats?? any like rats, hamsters, maybe ferrets or something else?? this is a silly fun question btw, idk what else to ask /lh, 😭😭

DW DW SILLY FUN QUESTIONS ARE BASED

under cut bc its a lil long lol

uhhhh aside from some who have obvious animal connections/already have pets/have already had their favs mentioned (ie cora with reptiles or outis with his turts + fish), of the dateables at least:

i think jackson would probably get a dog . hes not really a Dog Person he probably actually likes cats more but based on convos ive had with friends i think cats would hate him BFJSVFJD . he probably would get a pitbull from the shelter

margo wouldnt ever want to get a pet out of the fear that shed become bored of the poor thing like she does people, but i think if she Did shed probably get something pretty unconventional or exotic. think like a sugarglider or maybe one of those tiny goats

lillith is not big on animals either, How Ever i think theyd like birds. probably specifically pigeons or doves. something gentle and affectionate that they could just hang out with thats relatively easy to upkeep yknow

michy would def want a rodent of some kind, probably like a couple ferrets or a bunny, maybe some mice. something fluffy and cute

kara is a big cat person. i think she wouldve had cats in her house growing up and shed probably be that crazy chick with 15 cats if the world let her. shed probably get a siamese first and foremost

alex is probably Allergic to cats / dogs i think. but bernie would 100% go out of his way to try and get one that wouldnt bother that, i think hed be a huge dog person. hes getting them a labradoodle the first chance he gets im sure

isaac likes snakes methinks but i doubt hed ever get one because hed feel bad every time he was around vinnie's rats. if he did end up getting a snake though itd be a ball python