#so yeah. off the soapbox now.

[recitedemise]

𝗚𝗮𝗹𝗲, 𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗲. After ridding himself of the orb at last, in fact, the wizard becomes a force that's once more unstoppable. He can cast spells without a word, capable of summoning infernos with a wave, and the ease in which he harnesses storms is frightening, but only as frightening as it is an art. Of course, Gale, however, had proved long ago his more prodigious talent. Still, to see him in action beats just listening to this talk. Gale is powerful, relearning all that he'd lost with alarming speed, and that's all a testament to his blinding brilliance--and, of course, his ingrained ambition. With the orb, the wizard had to limit all manner of casting. He had to sate his hunger, was forced to draw back as to not tempt fate, and with the orb in place snuffing his most powerful spells, was something of a tempest in a thick glass cage. However, with the orb finally gone, those limits have at last been lifted. He had became a level 12 wizard with a hell of a handicap, and with that handicap absent beyond its lingering scar, it's like all his previous mastery finally returned--and with force, mind you, like a strike of lightning. In a way, one could compare him to a runner stripped of their weights. He'd learned unparalleled control with an arcane bomb strapped, but now no longer fearing his imminent explosion, is free, as goes the metaphor, to cast a god damned marathon. And Gale is learned. Rather, he's disgustingly learned. He knows all schools of magic, is qualified to teach every field in Blackstaff, and he doesn't serve his city or own his own floating realm, but he'll once again become archwizard in those ways that matter--in his ability to cast and his hellish ferocity. Maybe he won't become as great as he had been with Mystra, but as a former chosen, it's a helluvan accomplishment. In time, Gale Dekarios becomes Gale, professor at Blackstaff, but as a testament to his ability, the city again warms to the idea of Gale of Waterdeep--because she's really only one Gale one could possibly need.

Of course, he doesn't advocate for the title... But it still delights him.

[halfbaked00q]

catboy ask anon here. sorry i didn't mean to make u feel bad!! saw a mention of ficlets in your bio so i thought u wrote fic. mb. dont let me interrupt ur vibing <3

Oooh, hi babes! Thank you for coming back and clarifying the tone/intent/context and yea like I acknowledged,,, it kind of was me being bitchy about it :') and also I think whoopsie it might have been a bit of a NOO THAT'S THE THING IM SENSITIVE ABOUT.jpg kinda thing lmao,,, also since I'm pondering self-reflectedly, ig I don't do well without context due to personal stuff probs (lets face it, it's the mother; when is it not the mother- but yea,, ig when I get not enough context I jump to *narrows eyes* is this a trojan horse...)

but also lol,. Ahhhh okay I see where the confusion may have come from!! Unfortunately lmao, I have nothing so realized or respectable as a ficLET to my name,,. no, you see but alas, the bio says ficBIT,. as in.. crumbs lol. I have like the leftover scraps of cake after you make cake jars. and sometimes I squish them into cake pops!! but often I just serve them up as is,. bone apple teeth <3 still yummy, I hope! but you are indeed spooning alternate mouthfuls of cake bits & frosting here lol

[coulsons-left-arm]

Having a fic plot you wrote be realized irl is insane actually....

[chukys-mouthguard]

#21 fluff for Matt Rempe please :)

Prompt: “You’re the only one I have opened up to like this.”

“Did it hurt?”

You hand hesitantly moving to touch the black and blue mark that had found its place on Matt’s eye, trying not to inflict any more pain on him.

“When I fell from heaven? Nah, it wasn’t too hard of a fall.”

Rolling your eyes at him, he couldn’t help but laugh. His humor the one thing you could always count on, no matter the situation.

“Ha ha, you’re hilarious.”

“Well I sure think so!”

The two of you sat in Matt’s apartment as you’d put in your doctor cap and attempted to help his newly acquired battle scars from yet another fight. To be honest you didn’t know how he was still actively participating in the fights. His face surely couldn’t take another punch after 3 fights in a row.

“I mean, sure it hurts. It definitely doesn’t feel good. But, I kind of signed up for this you know?”

Walking the first aid kit back to the bathroom, you’d someone scoffed at his words. “Mmm, signed up for that? I disagree. I don’t know if anyone signs up for that.”

While he understood what you meant, he disagreed. Matt always knew he wasn’t going to be the next Crosby or Ovechkin. And because of that, he had to excel in other areas.

He sighed as you rejoined him on the couch, his demeanor now changing as he seemed exhausted. His body finally waving the white flag that it needed a break.

“I just, I love hockey. So much. And, I know that I’m not the greatest skater, I’m not scoring 80 goals a season, hell I probably won’t even play 80 minutes a season. But I know that I can support the guys who can do those things. And maybe that’s through fighting. Sure, I don’t necessarily love getting my face bashed in. But I’m willing to get punched in the face, if that means getting to put on that jersey and play in a place like Madison Square Garden.”

The emotion in his voice almost bringing you to tears, you knew how much he loved the sport. But hearing him talk about it like this, hearing him be vulnerable and not the joking goof ball he normally was. It was refreshing. For him to just be Matt Rempe, a normal 21 year old guy who is working his butt off to make a name for himself.

“I love that, every single thing you said. And I wish more people got to see this side of you. Because this I’m sure is more meaningful to people. Your love and passion for the sport, I’m sure your teammates would love to hear you talk like this too.”

He shyly laughed as he tried to climb off his sappy soapbox.

“You’re the only one I’ve opened up to like this.”

His fingers intertwined with yours as he leaned in to give you a kiss. A thank you for being by his side and supporting him through it all. And for putting up with him on days he looked like he’d been in a horrific bar fight.

“Well, I’m honored that you opened up to me. Now, let’s get you into bed, I have a feeling someone is definitely sleeping in tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, please don’t wake me until at least 7pm.”

[appleswan]

Yeah sure, in another life Jeremy could have feasibly been a Fox. And I think it WOULD be fun to explore those dynamics especially considering he'd be recently sober and that messy dynamic with Matt, Andrew, and Aaron.

However, I am here to propose something different. I propose Raven Jeremy. Now now now, before I am booed off my soapbox. Mathilda likes control, she hides all of Jeremy's important documentation that could get him some semblance of freedom. But in another life perhaps she decides that if Jeremy was going to continue to pursue Exy he'd have to be best. She would want to control his exy career too. She'd send him to the best school for collegiate Exy players -- a school that could finally teach Jeremy some discipline. She'd make sure that after Jeremy got back from rehab he would transfer to Edgar Allen.

I think this has the potential for a LOT of fun situations. Im gonna be so for real before I proceed there's too many characters sometimes so I forget frequently what year everyones in and how far apart in age they all are.

Jeremy is told, almost first thing when he gets there that Ravens don't have families. He sees the sincerity in which the others say it, in their flippant attitudes towards any mention of biological parents and his heart sings. He doesn't have to be his Mothers perfect pet anymore. He can just be himself. It comes at a steep cost but so did his mothers love so what really is he giving away?

Similar to how Raven!Neil is Nathaniel Wesninski, Raven!Jeremy is Jeremy Wilshire, and he doesn't hate it. Also similar to how Neil is a striker off the Ravens, but with the Ravens he's a backliner -- Jeremy is too.

And yeah thats so that the Jerejean pining can be INTENSE.

But also The Sunshine Court JereJean. Jeremy coming back after being gone for three years. Rhemann snapping at him after a bad check during scrimmage. "Knox!" And he freezes. I have so many more insane thoughts TRUST

[jackina-box]

sooo this is kind of belated but happy anniversary to Stage Craft Studio’s Ride the Cyclone!! yknow, the one where Jane and Ocean were dating? that was us!! yes we’re still dating and yes we all still talk !! it’s super cool!!

also some pics! some that we haven’t even posted yet!! whoa!!

now it’s time for me to get up on my soapbox. our production was a labor of love and passion, scout (aka our Jane aka @noodlescout ) and i worked our BUTTS off making this production the absolute best it could be based off our budget, physical capabilities, and resources. it was really cool and im really proud of what we did!! was it the fanciest? no. was it the most high tech? not even close. but it was ours and we made it and we love it !! and it was really good!! that being said, our largest audience only had 40 people in it. yep. 40. i’m not exaggerating, that was our house count. we were not able to celebrate the amazing production we had, because nobody saw it. so this is my call to the void saying COME SEE LIVE THEATRE!!! support local theatre and local artists!!! support small businesses, which Stage Craft Studio is!!!! the audience is just as integral a part of a production as the cast and crew because without an audience… who are we performing for? of course art for arts sake is just as fulfilling and satisfying, but small theatre companies can’t survive without audiences. so yeah anyways i’ll make a fun post after this but this is my call out to the void and reminder to SEE LIVE LOCAL THEATRE IF YOU CAN!!! otherwise it will literally die. the ability to do community theatre is reliant upon the community as a WHOLE, not just the community performing it. we did ride the cyclone at the HEIGHT of its popularity, and nobody really saw it which sucks because i KNOW we deserved an audience. anyways. off my soapbox now.

TLDR: see live local theatre and keep the arts alive!! also long live scs rtc, gone but never forgotten :,) also i know a guy who might have a tutorial about how to make roller coaster themed slime scs version happy anniversary!!

[boredclarinet]

WILL WOOD TIME BITCHESSS

IM ONLY DOING WWATT AND WILL WOOD. SORRY

SPOILERS FOR THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Everything is a Lot

Front Street - Hilltop road. like, so much shit happened at that one house. holy.

¡Aikido! (Neurotic/Erotic) - DOORKEAYS. come on come on its doorkeays. im right. fuck you

Cover This Song (A Little Bit Mine) - Depends. Are you sad? Then Jmart to make you stay sad, but maybe improve the mood a bit. Are you happy? fuck you. Timsasha because all of you should suffer with me.

Thermodynamic Lawyer Esq, G.F.D. - i mean, theres tma vibes. i just cant explain them. so i wont. i tried once and look at where i am.

Red Moon - honorable mention cause i wrote a hunt statement based off of it. or was it slaughter? idk it was in october

Lysergide Daydream - i need you to turn this song on. right now. okay. now, imagine everyone who died/suffered. happy. haha. fuck you.

First Step - S4 jon dealing with an INTENSE statement addiction. Statement half spooky but id probably just take that too.

Jimmy Mushrooms' Last Drink: Bedtime in Wayne, NJ - peter lukas loves this song. thats it.

Everything is a Lot - you ever see those animatics or fanarts of jon inbetween s4 and s5 just staring at the eyes in the sky and being self pitying? yeah that.

Destroy to Enjoy - desolation loves this shit. this is that fucking cults theme song.

SELF-iSH

this album is like, so fucking much for me. so theres not many because i just. its a great album but so hard to pinpoint. so. yeah.

The Song with Five Names, a​.​k​.​a. Soapbox Tao, a​.​k​.​a. Checkmate Atheists! a​.​k​.​a. Neospace Government, a​.​k​.​a. You Can Never Know - MANUELA DOMINGUEZ!!! ASTRONAUT LADY! DARK! SUN! WOOOO

Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In! - literally just jon digging into EVERYTHING HE SHOULD DIG INTO.

Dr. Sunshine is Dead - Callum Brody lol. the stupid child.

The Normal Album

Suburbia Overture (im splitting this shit)

- "Greetings from Mary Bell Township!" - that dude who got trapped in an infinite suburban sprawl lol. idk why. but that sounds like a personal nightmare

- "(Vampire) Culture" - slaughter. just slaughter.

- "Love Me, Normally" - similar to everything is a lot, jon self pitying.

2econd 2ight 2eer (That Was Fun, Goodbye.) - this is the spirals theme song. micheal and helen. and my boy dr david.

Laplace's Angel (Hurt People? Hurt People!) - avatar theme song, but elias especially.

Outliars and Hyppocrates: A Fun Fact About Apples - opening is so jane prentiss. “youll thank me later” is elias killing jurgen. “and you were there” is jon waking from coma. whod wanna be human anyways?

Love, Me Normally - doorkeay ☺️

Memento Mori: The Most Important Thing in the World - oliver banks.

Camp Here & There

literally this is here just for When Somebody Needs You - jmart.

“In case I make it,”

Cicada Days - S4/5. Jmart AND WTGirlfriends. Especia what the girlfriends we havent had enough wtgirlfriends because their too happy and im incapable of being happy. probavly from melanies pov tho cause ya know. red flags.

Falling Up - can i say mike crew?

Um, It’s Kind of a Lot - OH SO JON. JON. yup. jon.

Half-Decade Hangover - jon. erm. yeah theres a lot of jon but at least ive escaped tim and sasha.

Against the Kitchen Floor - jon.

IN CASE I DIE:

Misanthrapologist - Jonelias lol

OTHER:

Ferryman - end.

ok what have we learned? will woods a spiral avatar. icimi is jmart coded. i didnt delete this finally. slay.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for breaking up with someone over fishkeeping and cat food? I know how the title sounds but hear me out. This happened a couple years ago and I'm still friends with the people this happened with but it still weighs on me. So I have always been kind of militant about husbandry when it comes to the animals I keep(autistic, it' a special interest) and I don't really like to deal with people who don't take caring for living creatures they willingly bring into their home seriously. I sold a fish tank to my, then, partner J who wanted to get into fish keeping. J and D, our other partner, lived together. After taking the tank home and cleaning it up we were throwing around ideas for what to put in it. It wasn't too big but also not small, but he kept throwing out species that would far outgrow the tank or species that would fight and kill each other. Every time I shot these species down J took it well, realizing the space was either too small or they would die and didn't want the fish in improper conditions but D kept telling me not to "squash his creativity" and he could "do whatever as long as it made him happy". At this I obviously hopped on my soapbox about how it's our duty as animal owners to give the animals we keep proper conditions and D went absolutely off on me and mentioned how I care "too much" about how other people keep their animals and had always made her feel bad about how she feeds her cats and now I was doing this. For context my cat eats a raw diet. I did a lot of research and talked to my vet and he's doing wonderfully while one of her cats is extremely overweight to the point he waddles instead of walking and the other two are getting there as well, both of which I've brought up concerns about but I have NEVER shamed the way she fed her animals. She had been interested in the interest I had taken and had ASKED for better quality food recommendations, so I gave them, but NEVER told her she had to feed them a certain way. A majority of our conversations were just me info-dumping and her being happy to listen and ask questions occasionally. Anyway J kind of backed out of the conversation at this and D and I went back and forth a bit before D finally said "I don't think this relationship is going to work out if you won't let this go"(This being I have pointed out one of her cats is grossly overweight a couple times and it's extremely unhealthy, especially since he's aging now) so I said "Yeah I think so too. This is something I clearly care a lot about and I'm not going to be with someone who puts their own or their partner's feelings over the well-being of the animals they are responsible for"(referencing when she said a few times when talking about the fish that it was okay if the fish killed each other or died from improper conditions as long as J was happy with how the tank looked and "it's not like we're putting kittens in with sharks, they're Just Fish") and we broke up there and then. Since then we've still stayed close friends after a short break from each other(I'm actually her Man of Honor in her upcoming wedding to J!) and she's actually made moves to better the quality of the food she buys her cats and is working on getting her obese cat's weight down and J's fish tank hobby is going very well(with proper keeping standards!!). But the situation at the time still weighs on me and even though we're genuinely too busy with work and life to make a relationship work anymore anyway and that was also a factor of the breakup.... AITA for beginning a breakup over animal husbandry?

What are these acronyms?

[madsims4finds]

Sooo Paralives and the Brainwashing EA has done

It's funny. Paralives launched a gameplay video that looks really good, along with some announcements. One of them being that they won't be offering paid DLC. I was watching Satch on Sims and him, plus a few other people, seem to think this is a bad move.

No shade, but it's easy to tell people who don't really game and all they play is the Sims. Like EA got yall so brainwashed that you actually think you're SUPPOSED to be getting charged for base game features.

His concern was wanting a different world to play in or different aethitics. Who said we can't get that for free? We may not know what all features Paralives are going to offer, but what rule says that they can't give us another world to play in for free? I mean literally, there are so many games that do free updates and only offer DLC if it's a niche theme that not everyone would be into, or if they're adding ADDITIONAL gameplay that has no resemblance to what's already in the game.

Only EA removes base game features just to sell them back to you later. Or expect you to buy a multitude of different DLCs that have the exact same theme or niche. Now don't mind me while I gripe on this point a little.

Growing Together and Parenthood should have been one generations themed pack.

Discover University and High School Years should have been one pack focused on education.

All of the occults (vamps, wolves, witches, ghosts, aliens, mermaids, plant people) all should have been in ONE paranormal pack.

Features from Dine Out should have been included in Get to Work. There was no need for that to be seperate DLC when they both relate to active careers.

For Rent and City Living should have been one pack.

Simple features that should not be locked behind a pay wall, and I'm not even talking weather. Like why do I have to buy DLC just for my sims to have access to a hot tub (Perfect Patio), an ice cream maker (Cool Kitchen), a popcorn maker (movie night), for them to have the ability to carve a pumpkin or have different holloween costumes, when Holloween is a holiday that comes in the base game with base game ability to trick or treat, etc. (Spooky Stuff), I have to buy Vintage Glamour just to have a butler (if anything the butler should have been in get famous along with everything in the luxury stuff pack. These are all things that should just be base game that they force you to buy DLC to have access to.

And speaking of weather, I do feel like packs like seasons, pets, laundry day, bust the dust, and my wedding stories should all be base game features. Yeah I don't care if we're used to paying for stuff like seasons and pets, things can and should change. These are all life basics, why am I paying extra?

Now I'm not all negative. There are packs that actually make sense. Get Famous makes sense. So does Island Living, Strangervile, all the vacation packs (jungle, outdoor, snowy). Hell, even Journey to Batuu made sense. Yeah, hear me out. These are all OPTIONAL packs. Stuff that not everyone is going to play with but they each bring something different to the game. Now whether any of these packs are filled to the brim with playable content, thats another story. But at least the concept makes sense.

Okay, off my soapbox and moving on.

I will forever and always use No Man's Sky as an example of a development team that chose integrity over money. That team has been releasing update after update for YEARS. Significant updates too. Updates that completely change the gameplay mechanics, adds brand new features to the game, or updates/changes the look of the game. All for free. Yes, it's normal. Not normal in the sense that these companies should be releasing broken games or not delivering on promises to begin with, but at least they weren't money-hungry assholes about it. The amount of updates that game has, quite a few could have been paid DLC and they didn't do that. Now if they started releasing DLC with specialty ships or different cosmetic features, I would have no problem paying for that cause it's optional.

Paralives knows what they're doing. As long as they are focused on making the base game everything it's supposed to be, I don't see why they couldn't sell the type of optional DLC that makes sense in the future. But I'm certainly not going to say that they're making a mistake by not having paid DLC right now.

I can definitely see them adding things like weather, a new life stage, or new clothes/build objects for free and that's dope. I'm excited about Paralives more so than Life By You. But either way, I'm just glad EA has competition in the life simulation genre now that isn't just about farming management.

[exeggcute]

the internet and Tumblr in general was already full of shut ins with anxiety and COVID has obviously transformed many of them into hypochondriac agoraphobes who are well trained on moralizing lol. there are people who still think we should never have ended lockdown and that it somehow had no negative social or economic impacts, or at least that the economy is fake enough that those impacts weren't really real

lol yeah. answering this in daylight hours I feel like I should preface it with a note about how I've been masking consistently for four years straight (and have only recently started easing up in certain situations), have lost respect for and/or ended friendships with people who were doing reckless shit during the height of the pandemic, all that. god knows I have an anxious hypochondriac shut-in streak lol. but if the bitch with contamination OCD who's been doing the "disinfect your phone when you get home" thing for years and years before covid and who has literal nightmares about people wearing shoes in my house is like hey guys I think you might be exaggerating some of this just a bit. well. imagine how literally anyone else is gonna feel...

also for reference the thing that got me on this soapbox was an article I saw shared on bluesky about how san francisco is currently experiencing "the highest covid wastewater rates ever measured," which immediately sounded off to me, so I read the damn article, and what it actually seemed to be saying was that there's a summer spike in CA right now same as there's been for the last several summers, and SF currently has a higher rate than any other region in CA at the moment. (the article was legit poorly written to the point where it was hard to tell, but a different wastewater graph someone pulled up seemed to corroborate my reading of this. the current spike is still a fraction of pre-vaccine spikes.)

which, like, is useful information even without the embellishment! I would appreciate knowing that so I could adjust my behavior accordingly. and I'd like to believe that your average person who's receptive to stuff would also take the truth in good stride. so why do we have to fucking lie about it lol.

and to some extent I really do get the impulse to catastrophize because there's no way around it: we super duper fucked up the initial covid response. many individuals were callous and most institutions failed to protect us. but at the same time (1) barn door situation and (2) I don't think exaggerating risks now does anything to compensate for the downplayed risks being peddled to us for the last several years. it's more than fair to celebrate wins when they come (all the new tools in our anti-covid toolbelt, improved case/death rates) without erasing the many many losses up to this point.

still gonna wear a mask on airplanes and shit for the rest of my life though. I'm glad that's an iota more socially acceptable now (and jealous of places where it's already been the norm this whole time) because people are fucking nasty!!!

[imaginespazzi]

Hiiiii Nivi. Saw a Preath post and now I am back in my Preath days all over again, but I wanted to talk about how similar Pazzi is to Preath 😭

I know we’ve talked about the basics and how Paige = Tobin, and Azzi = Christen. But it’s crazyyy how true it actually is 😭

Paige/PB are your basic white girls that are attractive and have that masculine vibe to them. They both have their flashy ways of playing, but always put teammates over anything. Tobin and PB give “quiet leader vibes” (I think PB is probs more vocal, but that’s just bc of her team and who she plays with). I also would say that Tobin and PB are both all around players. Tobin being a great winger, was amazing in the midfield for us for a while, and also has a good defensive presence and played RB for us as well during that cursed Rio Olympics 😭😭. And obvs PB is a 3 level scorer, but also a 2 way player (I think we do not appreciate her defense enough tho!!)

Azzi/CP are your “they were so pretty they were bullied in school and called ‘pretty girl pretty girl’” meme (LOL). Both are princesses and sweet, but lethal on the court/field. (Azzi and Press being sharp shooters and also quick asfff respectively). I constantly think about how silky smooth Azzi’s shoot is and how you always want her to be taking the shot. Meanwhile, Press is amazing at creating her own shot and any sliver of daylight, she’s pulling the trigger and it’s going to be a GOLAZO. I also think both players could have been in the limelight more, but bc of other teammates (Paige for Azzi, and Alex Morgan for CP) and their bad timing with injuries, people/media don’t appreciate them enough.

All 4 of them have battled injuries, all of them being knee injuries as well 😭 I just think it’s insane how we’ve talked about the dynamic of Preath/Pazzi and how similar they are, but individually, they are all so eerily similar as well LMAO

Okay, I’ll get off of my soap box now. I hope you slightly enjoyed this breakdown Nivi! Can’t wait to see what you say and what other comparisons you can think about haha 🫶🫶

Hi lovely <3

I love soapbox asks. They're my favorite so like y'all please never hesitate to send me long asks.

I think I've subconsciously had all of these thoughts but damn seeing it all laid out like that, the parallels go kind of insane. I think we often talk about it in terms of personality, but yeah Paige-Tobin and Azzi-Christen have such similar playing styles, it's actually uncanny.

Okay I actually do have a parallel that I've been thinking about and it's about Gemini-Capricorn (Preath) parings and Libra-Scorpio (Pazzi) pairing. Both of these pairings are very much opposites attract pairings (which we see in real life obviously) to the point where honestly in most situations, these pairings aren't compatible. Except from what I've read, there are certain exceptions who know how to take their opposite approaches to various problems in life and find the perfect way to mesh them together. As a result the "exception" are some of the most strongest couples there can be and I think that's kinda beautiful because I think both Pazzi/Preath together and individually are the exception to so many supposed rules.

[blackstarising]

oooh people aren’t gonna like this part but when it comes to this discussion of miguel o'hara being racially fetishized (and I do believe it's happening, mind you) I think it’s really important to note - and I am metaphorically sitting down and saying this gently in my Auntie voice - that you're not automatically exempt from this conversation if you're a creator of color yourself. like, you're not, I'm sorry.

I'm not latine so I'm not speaking to latine creators here, but I am black, yeah? and you might not like to hear this but we are Just as capable of perpetuating the hypersexualization of minority bodies as anyone else. we do not get a pass, okay? we do it too, and to be blunt, that shit is not acceptable nor is it at all cute.

now before someone comes in saying “oh, so I can't be attracted to him?? he can't be sexual??” I think you know very well that is not my point here. my point is that the miguel o'hara tag is predominantly sexualized content right now - it's about breeding, it's about biting, it's about possessiveness and aggressive sex, fan art is constantly accentuating his physical size, and it would be FINE if this content wasn't the exclusive majority. but it is so, so dominant and creators of color are doing it too and we have to be accountable.

creators of color, especially black creators, I am not disregarding the time you've spent on your work. I know that some of the content you are creating is also for readers who aren't represented. but, please, I am asking you to be careful. I am asking you to think critically about the content you both consume and create. I am asking you to ask yourselves why you might be inclined to exclusively associate this darker skinned man with violence. I am asking you to ask yourselves if you're only considering him speaking another language in a sexual context. I am asking you to think very carefully about why you might feel tempted to fixate on quote-unquote animalistic traits. I get up on this rusty fandom soapbox every now and then because I do believe that fandom is not without implication. we perpetuate racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and other forms of bigotry in fandom as it is modeled in the real world. and the hypersexualization of black and brown bodies is very, scarily real, and it has real world implications that include adultification and sexual violence.

like, that's the issue here. look, I’m not trying to be the fandom police. I'm not telling you to stop writing or drawing. I'm not telling you to turn off your feelings. and I can block tags, I can monitor my own media consumption, and I will. but this doesn't exist in a vacuum and yes, white people should be called out but don't think we get a pass and don't think we shouldn't examine our own works because we're people of color too.

[almightyrayzilla]

I don't mean to drop any drama, and I know this is kind of futile, seeing as how this is already funded...but yesterday, this showed up in a kaiju collectibles Facebook group.

If you know me, my response was practically involuntary - "You lost me with the AI image." Actually, if I'm honest, the premise of this didn't sell me either. I could have sworn there was already a movie with this exact same plot, only this one has the killer demon toy be a dinosaur...but I digress.

They then proceeded to say that this was not made with AI, it was hand-drawn by Max Cave; they've worked with them for 5+ years, and I shouldn't smear their name. I proceed to look through Max's stuff - I'm an artist myself, I don't just make my own art, I like seeing other artists' works - and no, there is no goddamn way this was drawn by hand. Maybe at one time Max drew stuff by hand, but some of their latest stuff, Max is definitely using AI. And yes, some of it does look as if it were touched up...but it's still AI slop. It's got that weird, uncanny "smoothness". Not to mention this composition just looks so unintuitive, with the Funko Pop-esque T. rex pasted on top.

But yeah, I tell them again that this is definitely AI, that Max's portfolio is full of it, and that they might be getting bamboozled by this shmuck. They then proceed to double down, "tHerE'S nO sUcH tHinG aS aN AI dEteCtiNg eXpeRt", and that Max sketched it out, yadda yadda. It basically told me that they know that it's AI. Besides, I didn't claim to be an expert, I just know AI when I see it.

Apologies, I would post screencaps, but before I could get them, either these goons blocked me, or the post was removed. Or both. Either way, I FUCKING HATE AI.

Aside from being an insult to skilled artists who have spent years to get where they are (especially seeing how I tend to do a lot of traditional media), AI is theft. Not just scraping art to train the generator, but it's also wage theft. It is simply a means of a company not having to pay someone and divvy up profits. Much like how assembly lines use robots instead of people, or self-checkout lanes at Walmart. Y'know, our predatory capitalist society doing what it does best, making the number go up, but never down.

The silver lining to it though, companies are not seeing the returns they were promised because not enough people want this dreck.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.

[asordinaryppl]

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 15: PAINFUL RE:BAKE - Episode 28: Unforgettable Pain

most of this chapter is a play! due to the large amount of action involved, it's best enjoyed while read along in-game

Taichi: Our seats should be around here.

Omi: You may have this seat, Yuzo-san.

Yuzo: Yeah. Thanks.

Keiku: …

Izumi: You came too, Keiku-kun.

Keiku: Since they told me to.

Omi: (I wonder what kind of thoughts he’ll have as he sees Juza and Banri on top of the stage…)

Sakyo: It’s startin’ any moment now. Turn off your phone.

[Buzzer sounds]

Jakes (Kabuto): “A pair of talents, a pair of flames… Which one will be consumed, and which will reign victorious?”

Jakes: “It’s unfortunate I won’t be there to witness it myself, but… This curtain won’t rise without my departure.”

Troupe member (Aoshi): “Who would have thought that Jakes would leave us so soon… Will this troupe be okay?”

Baal (Banri): “It doesn't matter what comes our way. Our troupe is full of talented members.”

Izumi: (They assembled the soapbox set as if they’re cleaning up a room…)

Sakyo: (Huh, so they’re using those in place of props during the play. That’s an interesting way of doin’ things.)

Baal: “And what of your acting experience?”

Judas (Juza): “Only the bits Jakes taught me.”

Baal: “Are you sure it wasn’t a different Jakes? My mentor was not that incompetent.”

Judas: “Jakes told me to come to this troupe. There’s no doubt. He said this is the stage I’m meant to stand upon–”

Baal: “Are you kidding me? Your acting is worse than an amateur’s. It’s centuries too early for you to stand on stage.”

Troupe member (Aoshi): “I’m sure Jakes had something in mind… Let’s respect his wishes.”

-

Yuzo: (Judas and Baal are overflowing with jealousy as they practice for Jakes’s posthumous work… They sure do resemble those two.) 

Izumi: (... This setting does bring how these two used to be during the debut performance to mind, but…)

Izumi: (Their acting, as they immerse themselves in these roles, is painful and heart-wrenching. They’ve become such incredible actors…)

-

Baal: “Do you even understand what it feels like to have what you thought were your genuine feelings taken from you in this damned dull life!?”

-

Keiku: …

Taichi: (Both Ban-chan and Juza-san are incredible! So this is where their level of difficulty's at.)

Izumi: (You can tell that Baal and Judas are both inching closer to madness, and their feelings are about to burst… They envy, hate, and are jealous of each other.)

-

Baal: “This is my theater troupe. The place where I belong. I won’t let anyone take it from me.”

Judas: “This is my stage… This is the place where I’ll stay. Jakes said so. … I will crush anyone who gets in my way.” 

Izumi: (And then, in the actual play where Baal plans to kill Judas– This unfolds like a play within a play.)

Baal: “Haaaah!”

[Baal unsheathes his sword]

[Baal attacks Judas, who parries the attacks]

Judas: “Hah!”

[They fight each other]

Yuzo: (A spectacular sword fight with lots of attention put into the details…)

Yuzo: (It’s such an intense choreography that even the slightest misstep could lead to serious injury, so you can feel the tension of their lives hanging in the balance.) 

Sakyo: (This is a scene they can pull off exactly because they’ve been part of the same Autumn Troupe for so long.)

-

[The fighting continues]

[Banri and Juza back off of each other]

Juza: —Oh.

Banri: !?

Banri: (He really is tryin’ to cover his injury…!)

Izumi: (He’s going to fall into the soapboxes–?)

Azami: (Is this part of the performance? Or is an accident about to–)

Juza: …

Banri: (Is he not plannin’ to dodge as Judas?)

[Banri pushes Juza]

Juza: –gh

[The soapboxes on the left side fall]

Izumi: (Baal saved Judas…?)

Baal: “... The show will go on until these curtains fall.”

Juza: ——

Baal: “I’m going to kill you, right on top of this stage.”

[Baal attacks Judas]

Judas: “No… I’ll be the one to kill you.”

Judas: “HAAAH!”

[Judas attacks Baal]

Banri: (... He’s comin’ at me for real.)

[The fighting continues]

Izumi: (The fighting has gotten even more intense. Was that last part a part of the actual performance…?)

Judas: “AAARGH!”

[Judas repeatedly attacks Baal]

Baal: “—gh.”

Banri: (The fight’s tempo is completely different from the rehearsal… He’s goin’ all out.)

Banri: (But even if his acting gets even more intense, I have no problem matchin’ him. I feel like I’ve got a strangely calm overview of the entire stage.)

Banri: (I can immediately counter Hyodo’s actin’ in my own way… This is what an exchange in a play is all about.)

Judas: “I– I’m Jakes’s disciple!”

Baal: “Shut the hell up!”

Banri: (What zeal… No, seriously. I oughta be the only one who can keep up with him, yeah?)

Banri: (I admit. He’s an incredible actor on stage.)

Banri: (But I won’t lose to him… Not unless he kills me!)

Izumi: (Neither of them is anywhere near giving up. You can’t tell who’s going to win. But if this goes on—)

[Baal and Judas stab each other]

Baal: “—ugh.”

Judas: “Augh…”

Izumi: (They stabbed each other…?)

Baal: “Watch. These are my genuine feelings…”

Judas: “This is… my stage…”

[Baal and Judas fall]

[Applause]

Izumi: (The curtain on the play’s play falls… And the applause of the sound effects overlaps with our applause from the audience…)

-

Juza: …

Banri: …

[Banri and Juza high five]

Juza: … Ouch.

Banri: Heh. Duuumbass. I felt it too, though. What stupid strength.

Banri: (... I’ll never forget. What this pain feels like.)

Banri: (Like I thought, all my life’s pain, and all my life’s passion exist on top of this stage.)

-

[Applause]

Azami: … What a play.

Taichi: Uh, that part with the soapboxes collapsin’... was part of the performance, wasn’t it?

Sakyo: I couldn’t tell whether it was an accident or no.

Keiku: …

Omi: How was it?

Keiku: I don’t really get it yet, but I’m interested.

Omi: Us Autumn Troupe will also be having a performance soon–

Keiku: I’ll come see that too.

Omi: — I see.

-

Kabuto: To think you’d have an accident right on the opening day… Well, all’s well that ends well.

Banri: We’re gonna have to incorporate that in the performances startin’ tomorrow, aren’t we…

Kabuto: Take all the good you can. We’ve confirmed the setup is safe, so there are no problems.

Juza: I’m really sorry!

Kabuto: Don’t be. I got to see more than I signed up for thanks to you.

Kabuto: But doing something you can’t repeat is something only second-rate actors do.

Kabuto: Watch the footage and memorize the improvised sword fight. Make sure to recreate it exactly as is from tomorrow onwards.

Juza: ‘kay!

Banri: You got it.

Kabuto: All that being said, it seems the reviews on our first day have been quite positive. Meaning–

Aoshi: All preparations for the opening day toast are ready.

Aoshi: I’ve also prepared some penny candies.

Juza: Thanks!

Kabuto: Good work on the opening day. Keep up this pace tomorrow.

Juza: Got it.

Actor: Good work~!

Banri: That’s a hell of a lot of penny candies. Again…

Aoshi: I figured they would be necessary during our performance period.

Banri: Why on earth would they be?

Juza: Thanks.

Kabuto: Hyodo, you're the type that can get 120 points, but today you took it to 125.

Juza: Thanks.

Kabuto: But, no matter how minor an injury may be, hiding it is lower than third-rate.

Juza: I’m sorry…

Aoshi: Have you shown it to a doctor?

Juza: Yeah. Said my injury wasn’t that bad, and it’ll be fine as long as I’m careful with the stage combat. I oughta be fine tomorrow.

Juza: I’ll make sure to be careful so I can keep gettin' 125 points.

Kabuto: You do that.

Kabuto: Settsu…

Banri: What?

Kabuto: You followed Hyodo suit, and used your strengths to take your performance all the way to 124 points.

Kabuto: Normally, when your acting partner goes wild, you try to reign them in. But you just went wild with him. Ordinary honor student, my ass.

Banri: (You’re the one who called me an ordinary honor student. Well, not that I’m mad ‘bout it.)

Kabuto: Well, to sum it up, I’ve grown interested in what kind of plays you guys will perform opposite each other next.

Kabuto: … How should I put this? You two make me want to put you under a microscope and study you.

Aoshi: What are you saying? Please refrain from getting us into any more run-ins with the law.

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[c-e-d-dreamer]

You bringing back that Cassian hair fic and your tags on it have me giggling. Clearly so passionate about our fave bat boy's hair! But you're right and you should say it 🤭

You know what, lovely Anon? I am passionate about it 😌 Like listen, this is absolutely the fandom hill I am willing to die on even if it's just me and like 4 other people, and I will not apologize for that!!!

I will say, the people who I was talking about this with yesterday (and thus sparked the reblog) are fandom friends, and they're lovely people, and they had no malicious intent in this joking and teasing instance, but I do think there's a wider fandom problem of lessening Cassian's character.

And I know what you're thinking, "but Caty. You shit on canon Cassian all the time." And I do! But that's still my boy!

He's a General. He leads whole armies. He has intricate military knowledge, strategy, probably history. Nesta notes in ACOSF that he has a lot of books. Like Cassian is smart. He is a smart dude. But I've found that often he gets cast as like the fandom comedic relief. Like you watch the skits on TikTok and they're fun, but Cassian will always be played as the Big Dumb Boi(tm). He's the head empty himbo. And now we're adding that he's unhygienic too? That he doesn't wash and doesn't care about his appearance/doesn't even try? No thoughts in his head and no care for the hair on that head....

Like please leave my boy alone 😭

Plus, Cassian's a bastard! And I know people often point to that as like further proof he's not doing much because he literally couldn't as a child and obviously had more important things to worry about while in the snow. But I actually think it had the opposite effect! Cassian isn't exactly a proud bastard. We see in ACOSF that it still affects him, that he thinks Nesta deserves a prince like Eris over lowly ole him.

I think Cassian learned something from Rhys. He learned something being raised by Mama Night. And I think he puts in the work to present himself in a way that reflects his status, his station now. He is standing there as The General(tm), and you better damn put some respect on his name!

And I know there's jokes to be made about SJM's choice to make Illyrians workout and sweat in leather of all things (🤢) and how Cassian is always in them and does he even own any other clothes? But I think that's part of it too! Him always in his Illyrian leather is part of him presenting as the warrior, as the General.

And mmm now I'm thinking about a fic where similar to Cassian seeing Nesta with her hair down and what that signifies. But it's Nesta seeing Cassian without the General mask. No leathers. No siphons. A little bit messy and not put together. So soft... So vulnerable.... Jots notes for Cassian Appreciation Week....

Anyways! This answer really got away from me, didn't it? So rambley. I've completely lost the plot and the point. But yeah, I'll just step down off my soapbox now.... 😅

[infoglitch]

Why am I having this conversation again? Oh right because I have a bone to pick with Jaune's harem because of the negative stigma its given the rest of the Jaune ships.

Hey ladies and gents friendly reminder about Jaune ships-

NOT ALL OF THEM ARE CONNECTED TO JAUNE'S HAREM. IF THAT IS THE REASON YOU DON'T LIKE THAT JAUNE SHIP, KINDLY GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!

If you don't like a jaune ship because you don't like jaune? Your alright. However if you don't ship jaune because you think he's still into Pyrrha.. sorry to say but you need to get your head out of your ass too.

And this ONLY applies to Jaune ships so yeah that's all.

Imma get off my soapbox now.