#something a little different today!

[shearingsheeps]

science team-tober day 8: misfire

(you can read the accompanying fic for today's prompt here!)

prompt list | science team-tober sideblog

[iamhereinthebg]

Happy Lunar New Year!!

(the one from last year)

[llamasyes]

Ryoshu LCB

[ofmd-ann]

And I try to be the chill girl That holds her tongue and gives you space I try to be the chill girl But honestly, I'm not - (Chappell Roan - Casual)

[detshin]

[followerofmercy]

I think Freminet has some of the most interesting dissonance in his self perception of any Genshin character.

Like, of the Hearthlings we know, he's one of the most emotionally mature and intelligent. Lynette might still have him beat, but after playing her hangout... I dunno. I think they're tied. Lyney is Crumbling, Alrecchino is. Well. Arlecchino. Everyone else is a deeply traumatized child or adult and Freminet seems to pretty regularly be people's emotional support. His character stories talk about getting his vision by saving a bunch of other kids on a dive that went bad. The Selkie event literally had him being a therapist for a grownass woman, citing his past experiences with all the other Hearthlings that have died or killed themselves. And he handled that situation WELL. Yeah, he seems to live in a fantasy, but goddamn he's alive and a lot of people in his position aren't so clearly something is working.

Either his or Lyney's character story talks about the time Freminet had reached out to Lyney to try to ease his burdens, which resulted in Lyney blowing up at him. That probably contributed to Freminet thinking he's not good at it, but I think the reason Lyney reacted so badly was BECAUSE Freminet is actually a good support. He can't allow himself that from the little brother he's supposed to protect.

Freminet seems to both cry and dissociate often, but like... Kiddo you are in fact the only person in this family actually processing your emotions. Lynette dissociates 24/7. Arlecchino. Lyney lies and tells everyone he's fine and would literally rather die than admit otherwise. In comparison, Freminet is doing FANTASTIC

Freminet also gets a lot out of helping people! Like anyone, he needs to feel useful and needed. He seems to be an excellent mentor to the younger Hearthlings and perfectly competent on his own, but when you put him in a room with Lyney and Lynette who baby him and insist that THEY take care of HIM, he withdraws into himself.

Like, Freminet by himself feels like a young man and Freminet with the magician twins feels like a teenager. I have no idea how old he actually is. Logically, he would be OLDER than them! He's been with the House much, much longer and his experience shows. I think it's fascinating that they love him SO MUCH and yet, they just Cannot let him help them. Which is hurting him.

(Lynette is much better about not babying him and that is probably why their relationship is so much better than Freminet and Lyney's. Also why she keeps having to mediate between them. Because Lyney charges off trying to Fix Everything and that just makes Freminet feel useless and he doesn't want to get in the way and- you get the point)

Idk. It's hard to tell what things the previous director said to him vs what Arlecchino has said to him. I'm inclined to think our Arlecchino was the one that said he cries too much, but in a "crying in front of your enemies will get you killed" way and she herself is too fucked up to realize how "you cry too much" could be damaging.

Also I try not to consider gameplay stuff when it comes to story, but Freminet also has some of the most BRUTAL animations. He SMASHES HIS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT METAL PENGUIN INTO HIS ENEMY'S FACE. He doesn't think he's the most amazing fighter, and by Fatui standards he probably isn't, but he is winning fights against most grown men.

Tldr Freminet thinks he cries too much and is a burden and isn't good at helping people when he's actually the most mentally stable Hearthling send tweet

[cyclorose]

day 8: oliver

MISTA SWIIIFT !!!

[gingerswagfreckles]

I get your point about how the eugenics thing you mentioned isn’t just Christianity because Islam does it too but Islam came after Christianity and incorporated a lot of its elements so I’d still blame Christianity there.

@gerardwaygirlmoments I don't know how to further explain to you that the extremely complicated history of how social justice language is utilized to give legitimacy to eugenics and ethnic cleansing is a phenomenon that took hold in it's modern form in the aftermath of the Nazi regime during the rise of the Soviet Union, and how the co-opting of this philosophy by the Arab League in the 1950s is the result of extremely nuanced geopolitical situations during the mid 20th century. I don't know how else to explain that Islam developed in the 600s CE and absolutely did not adopt a social justice framework for justifying eugenics under the guise of anti imperialism from late antiquity Christianity. And therefore that the fact that Islam developed out of Christianity and Judaism is completely irrelevant to the discussion of why modern social justice organizations around the entire world are now using the concepts of anti imperialism and decolonization to justify ethnic cleansing and genocide against minority populations in their countries.

Entire books have been written on this subject by people much smarter than me. I could recommend one if you are interested. But if you aren't then please just stop and admit to yourself that sometimes you don't have a great understanding of extremely niche subjects like "how anti imperialism became the justification for ethnic cleansing and violence against civilian populations around the world in every corner of the globe in all kinds of cultures" and admit that you're probably not going to learn about it because it is boring and hard and we can't all have a great understanding of everything and the subject isn't that personally relevant to you. I promise that doing this is much better than trying to shoehorn every problem in the entire world into a social framework that you read about on tumblr. Cultural Christianity can be a useful concept to discuss some phenomenon but trying to blame the phrase "decolonization is always a violent phenomenon" on pre-Islamic Christians in the 500s in the Arabian desert is not what cultural Christianity is supposed to apply to.

[kyouka-supremacy]

(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[zinyli]

Sorry if this is an odd question, but how did you first go about learning how to draw and paint fish? Are there any books or tutorials you followed, or was it mostly trial and error going off of reference?

Not odd at all! Always keen to give advice for those who ask (´ｰ｀) In general I started practicing watercolor 7 years ago, been painting with goauche for at least 2 years now :-) With the help of short youtube tutorials, media content and just painting what i see irl, I got to this level 🫡

I was always scared of learning animal anatomy and anything animal related, at least i wouldnt practice that until I felt skilled enough to do it, trying every time to use references bc i wanna keep it as real as i can..here are some of my first fish paintings!

Been experimenting new things each time so i eventually got better at it,,,from previous years of practice you could say i already knew how to pick some of the colors, rn im just faster at mixing them, my mind just goes crazy when it comes to colors :P

My advice is to practice what you love, your favorite things, really makes the process a lot easier to bear, but not without forgetting the fundamentals of art, dont be scared to try new things when you’re practicing, you can always learn something new 🐚 JUST PAINT :D HAVE FUN!!

[bepomepo33]

Something Stolen, something earned.

[icewindandboringhorror]

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

-

(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

[feroluce]

“-and that's why I ain't allowed in Pier Point no more!” Boothill throws his head back and cackles, somehow completely comfortable on the bare floor of the archives. He's the very picture of ease, his arms behind his head, his legs bent and crossed.

Dan Heng barely looks up from his notebook, not much surprises him anymore after the first few tales of lawless exploits. “So they really have that many laws and restrictions there.” 

“And prob’ly a few more now that I've been through there! Heck, ya think they named any after me? I'm hopin’ so.” There's so much smug cockiness seeping through his voice Dan Heng could bottle it.

Silence settles in, stretches out. Dan Heng doodles pensive circles in the corner of his page.

He shouldn't ask. It's a private matter. It's none of his business. He of all people should know-

Something pokes his shoe, and when he looks up, Boothill has stretched one arm up to tap metallic fingertips against his foot. “Ain't like ya to hesitate.” With his head tipped back on the tiles and gazing at him upside down, Boothill's hair is out of his face and spooling out all over the floor, offering a rare view of his right side. His right eye is sealed over with a pitch-black patch, stark against his skin. Dan Heng wonders what he looks like behind it. “C'mon, then, out with it. Spill the beans, brother, just say it.”

“What does ‘Boothill’ mean?”

The man blinks at him, the crosshair in his cybernetic left eye flickering. Dan Heng shifts, smooths out his long coat. “I tried to look it up once. It's not in any database as a name...other than your wanted posters.” There's a thread beginning to fray near the hem, he should sew it up. “I couldn't find it anywhere.” 

He nearly takes it back, but- “Heh, ya that curious about me, darlin’?”

Dan Heng quickly levels his face into the most impassive, nonplussed expression he can muster, but Boothill has already turned away, head pillowed on his arms and face once again turned to the ceiling.

“But nah, ya wouldn't. Hah, like they'd allow any record of the language, fudgeheads.” One arm sweeps around blindly until it finds the edge of Boothill's hat, sets it back where it belongs on his head. Dan Heng shuffles around, scoots a little closer, but the brim is pulled too low to see his eyes anymore.

“It's ‘cause it's not a name. It's a noun.” All that's visible of his face is a sharp grin, pulled too tight at the edges.

“It's my people's word for a grave.”

Dan Heng's pencil stops.

“It's the kinda grave fer someone who died with their boots on. If ya catch my drift there.” Boothill's foot starts to bounce. “There was a war, and it got reeeeeal intense, yup. Folks started droppin’ like flies, ‘n’ there was bodies faster'n what we could bury ‘em.” A cooling fan kicks on somewhere. Dan Heng is pretty sure it's not any of the Express equipment.

“We lost some real good people there, real good. Mighty shame.” His hidden Vidyadhara ears detect a quiet metallic click, a whir, pressurized gas. Boothill's next words waft steam from his angry circuits into the air. “When I left, I decided to leave my name there, too. Didn't feel right otherwise. The life I lead now is a whole ‘nother existence.” And then Boothill turns his head, raises his hat, and Dan Heng suddenly feels pinned dead center, caught in that crosshair.

“Ya know what I mean, don'tcha?”

Dan Heng swallows.

Does Boothill know? Who he is and who came before him? There had been that moment in the Penacony Grand Theater, after he activated the Jade Abacus… Dan Heng had tried to shoo him out, keep him from seeing anything, but Boothill has the astounding ability to turn up exactly wherever people are trying to keep him away from.

If he did see, does he actually understand it? Does he know what a High Elder is? Does he know about the sedition of Imbibitor Lunae, the transmutation arcanum, everything Dan Feng had done and Dan Heng was punished for?

He doesn't want to explain it all. Not now. Possibly not ever, truth be told.

And it's not the same as Boothill leaving behind his old identity when whatever event happened that caused him to leave home. Not really. But…

But so far, Boothill has slid so easily into Dan Heng’s routine. His presence never feels like an intrusion. He's already figured out what he can push and when to back down. And even Dan Heng finds himself able to roll with whatever punches Boothill throws with baffling ease. They share too much in their methods and ideologies, and sometimes Dan Heng knows what Boothill will do seemingly before even Boothill himself knows.

“...Tell me about Talia and the Nailscrap Town.” Boothill must know he's avoiding the topic. He must. But the man just throws his head back and cackles, melting easily back into what they had been doing before, as he speaks fondly of a planet that Dan Heng has never visited.

Not today. But.

Dan Heng inches just a little closer, just enough to nudge his foot against a metal leg. Boothill doesn't pull away.

Maybe someday.

[illiana-mystery]

I have no words, just admiring the canvas...

[mortallyclassypizza]

My faithful, my most ardent believer. How i love to see you quiver, trembling with awe at my presence as you worship me. Frail, weak, small, but so full of love, so desperate to give yourself. But a word from my lips and you are on your knees, praying fervently for the salvation only I can grant you, longing for the warm bliss of my touch.

You know you are unworthy but you plead nonetheless. A sweet little flower begging to be plucked. A perfect disciple that craves naught but the attention of your goddess.

So keep praying. Confess to me all your wants, those desires you keep locked away in shame even from yourself. For that, your reward will be a nectar sweeter than you've ever tasted before. All you have to do is open wide.

[windowsloth]

images from Sorry If I Talk In My Sleep, a zine I made with photos from a small road trip I went on with some friends back in 2018