#sorry it's kind of inconclusive

[goingbuggy]

I NEED YOU TO DROP EVERYTHING! I HAVE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING ABOUT SHANKS SCAR I FOUND OUT THROUGH SOMEONE TAGS BUT I CANT FIND IT ANYMORE

It’s about your great theory of speech bubble

Someone found another shanks panel like that, where it’s covering his scar

It’s when mihawk comes to him and greets him. They both have their eye covered like in your theory

I think it was 96 chapter? I’m sorry if I found the tag I will link it to you!

What do you think about it? I’m going crazy u thought there’s only the two you pointed out… what does that mean? What is shanks hiding there? Is he hurt mihawk ended the rivalry? What is going on?

This, right?

I feel like it's actually a good counterpoint to my interpretation, honestly -- there's not a lot to glean from the panel in terms of double meanings/hidden vulnerabilities. At least on Shanks' side with that dialogue bubble. It's a good panel to use to argue, "Hey, maybe this is just an aesthetic for pleasing visuals and balancing out a panel."

My interpretations aren't always 100% correct. There is a variety of reasons Oda could be hiding Shanks' scar in a panel, both meaningfully and non-meaningfully. Chapter 96 is the first Shanks appearance since chapter 19 and his third appearance overall, so his most recognizable feature might have been hidden for the surprise reveal. (Shanks is back again! That sort of thing.) That also explains why he is re-introduced by name.

I think it could still fit into my theory, though! Shanks is shrouded in shadows for all of his panels in this chapter, so it's possible there's something more going on emotionally, but I don't know. Sorry if you were expecting me to have an in-depth explanation. I'm only guessing at Oda's possible intentions, here, seeing what might fit and what might not.

[chantiying]

You have a new message, would you accept it?

How to choose? Take a deep breath, close your eyes, think about that/those person/people you have something inconclusive with (if you can't think about anyone it's ok, dw) then choose the image that calls to you better

1 2 3

Before to start, sorry for any mistakes or grammar error. English is not my first language

Remember tarot is not set on stone and you can change your path whenever you want. This is for entertainment purposes

This reading is general so if it doesn't resonate with you just let it go

Option 1

I know you're still upset about the way all of this happened. I know you don't understand why I had to go away. You think I let you alone and I didn't really care about it. I know you think I was selfish all I did was look out for my own good. I know you keep blaming me for the things I did to our family. I know that, even if I say to you my reasons they are still just excuses to your ears. I needed to walk away, I was tired. It was the best, it was fair. I had to understand who am I, I had to mature but it doesn't matter anymore, does it?

I'll be back, any moment. I know that hearing that scars you a lot, I know it bothers you "go back?" "For what?" "To destroy all the the life I built in your absence?" Yeah, I break your heart, I was the person you trusted the most , I broke our little world, I broke us, and you are still afraid of trusting in me again, but could you give me another chance? Take your time to respond my petition. I promise I'll understand if you don't want to see me again, but I'm serious about that I want to make things work for us this time.

For some of you, this could be a male figure in your family.

Two more messages for you.

Take a rest, honey. You don't have to be the one who is always fixing everything. The solution for the pain you're feeling right now is not overexerting yourself. Don't worry, things gonna be ok.

This could be from someone who passed away.

The last message could be an ex lover

Something that ended because of people talking in your back, hidden secrets that came to light. Tbh, I feel that this person don't have any interest in fix anything. Maybe they are happy that all of that happened and the way it all ended.

Additional information.

I feel like in this pile there's a lot of young energy. Maybe that person was too young or the separation occurred when both of you where young or you were young when all of this happened.

I feel that for some of you the root of all your failed relationships is because of the message of the first person

Maybe you've been suffering from sore throat or neck pain and I feel that it could be because you don't know have to express your emotions. It's ok to cry and scream, if you feel like crying, just do it, everything will be alright, ok?

Option 2

I feel like this person is upset or mad. Probably the relationship ended because of an argument. One of you was not in their best moment (maybe one of you passed or is passing through depression or anxiety)

I had to go, it was for the better. This, the thing we had it had neither head nor foot. I do accept we had a lot of good memories, you were my sun, but it doesn't mean we were meant to be. Do you know what? Sometimes, when I think about us, the first memories that came to my mind are those where I felt tied to you. We were going to nowhere. We had different paths, different dreams, different goals. I actually think we share the blame in this one, and, I still blame you for the kind of love you gave to me. It was too suffocating. It was like when you water a flower, you know what I mean? You were drowning me. I needed to make a decision, the better for me, and I don't regret doing it

This could be a past friendship

This is another message it could be from a female figure.

Don't be silly. You need to be less immature and spoiled. Will you realize at some point that you are being your own worst enemy? I know you're thinking about me like a killjoy or like i'm bitter, but my only wish is for you to open your eyes and put your feet on the ground. Do you remember when you were happy only with what you had? Do you remember when you played with all your friends and relatives? Do you remember all the scenarios you imagined and all of those were easy to resolve just with laughs and superpowers? I want you to be that little kid again. I want to hear your laugh until your belly hurts. I want you to be more kind with yourself and with the others. I want you to let go whatever its making you feel bad. I want you to start dancing by your own, my love.

Some of you have a nickname inspired on nature "sun" "bunny" "peach" "twinkle" or you have a name related to flowers or stars.

I feel like some of you either are emotionally unstable or feel a little too much.

Maybe you are fan of Taylor Swift and like the rain

Option 3

I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for being the villain of your story. I feel so sorry for stealing your confidence. I'm so sorry because I know I'm the reason of your nightmares/insomnia. I'm sorry you don't feel good enough and all of that is my fault. It's horrible to be the person who hurt the one who most loved me. You were my wish came true. You were the madness I needed to keep me sane, it doesn't make sense, does it? I could have done better, I know. I'd have done better to give you all the things you deserve. I guess it's too late to own up to my mistakes. Now I've lost you

I don't want you to forgive me (maybe I do want to) I want to tell you that I love the person you are now. All of that is because of YOU. I just destroyed you. You had to pass through a lot. Sometimes I wish I could talk to you. Would you give me an opportunity? All the fights, all the arguments, all the screaming and crying. I'm so sorry, I'm really really sorry. I know I took you away from me. If it's worth it, I also wake up at night thinking I could have done better

I love you, I always have

I don't want to wreck your plans. I don't want to turn your world upside down. Am I being greedy for saying that I miss you? I know I'm the king of victimized myself, I'm aware of that. I'll try to change for better, even if it doesn't matter anymore. I have what I deserve and I hope you get what you deserve for loving someone who didn't know how to love you in return

This could be an ex lover but it could be a person who took "care" of you when you were a child too

Let your inner child to heal. Play with them, enjoy and do the things you want to do but you don't do for fear of being judged

I have a plan for you! What if you choose some animated movies, cartoons you liked when you were a child and enjoy your evening watching them?

You're so brave and strong, I admire you, keep going

I feel like you have a good taste on music

This is my first reading, hope you all like it

Alic (Chanty) 🪽

[hunting4fluff]

Spider Bite

A fanfic requested by @dropyoursocksandgrabyourcrocss, the first out of 2 promises! Sorry for the inactivity, I recently started college and it's completely wiped the floor with me. Anyways, enjoy!

Fluff fic, 1,328 words Lee!Reader Ler!Miguel O'Hara CWs: none Finally, a day of reprieve. 

You had been working hard all week to ensure the increasing anomalies in base were kept at bay and to say it was tiring would be a gross understatement. It had been alarm after rift after alarm, the blaring practically burned into your eardrums by now. You’d be lucky if you didn’t get tinnitus. 

What does anyone do after a long, thankless week of being on call? Why, treat themself of course!

You had just entered the bustling cafeteria with countless spider-people swishing on webs and standing in lines to get their fill when you noticed a slight shift out the corner of your eye. Your spider senses weren’t tingling, but people were definitely moving out of the way which only made the shift in the air more unsettling. Whipping your head to stare at the commotion head on, you can’t help but smile at the situation. It was just Miguel.

People knew when he was in one of his bad moods- usually he would be trying to make small talk with certain groups, grab someone’s attention when he had a small comment about their work, but never really driving people away or chatting much. Today he looked absolutely foul, glaring off into the void as he grabbed a to-go box with a burger and slinking off to his office once again. It was always a good idea to leave him be when he was in one of these funks, but the look on his face stuck around long enough in your mind to make you want to check in on him.

You grabbed a to-go box for yourself and opened a portal, bouncing down onto the platform of Miguel’s ‘office’. 

“What.” He grumbled out, hearing the soft thud and careful padding of your feet as you approached him. He saved his sharper tone for people he was less fond of, for now he just sounded tired.

“You’re in a fun mood today.” You point out, the playful smile evident in your voice as you hoist yourself up to sit on an empty spot on his desk. He spared you a glance and huffed, popping a fry into his mouth. “Aren’t you off work? Why are you still here?” He was avoiding the not-quite-question, so you of course answer then ask again.

“I wanted a meal and hopefully a conversation. What’s wrong?”

Miguel looked over at you before shaking his head with a defeated smile and rolling his eyes.

“Dios mío, you’re persistent.” He snorted, eating another fry. “Nothing, I just have one of those- what are the kids calling it? ‘RBF’s?”

You rolled your eyes at that, smiling as Miguel chuckled to himself.

“Yeah something like that.” You comment. Maybe he wasn’t in as bad of a mood as you thought.

“But since you’re here,” Miguel looked back at you, placing his food down in front of him and spinning his chair to face you. “I don’t think we officially completed your onboarding.” You blinked in surprise, quirking a brow. “Miguel, I’ve been here for three months.” You reminded him slowly, staring at him as if he had just lost his mind.

“Yes, I know that, but we skipped over a few details in your ‘canon events’ folder that I didn’t notice until a few hours ago. Lyla finally got to that part of the scan. Nada.”

Right. Of course, that made sense. You nodded your head and looked at him, waiting to continue. “Won’t take long. So, do you remember what kind of spider bit you?” He started, swiping up a screen and pulling up footage of your first canon event. The video was clearly inconclusive of the spider, the origin of it being unknown and making it harder to trace back to a definitive source.  You remembered the spider crawled under your shirt and bit your side, leaving a nasty mark the first night before you had actually gotten your powers- but you had no clue what it looked like.

“I… dunno. It’s been a while and I crushed that poor guy when I was bitten.” You shook your head. 

“Where?” It was an odd sounding question coming from Miguel, but his brain had worked faster than his words when it came spilling out. “Usually spider-people are bitten on the back of their hand, smacking it off for those who crush it. I would have been visible falling off your hand, but I can’t see it anywhere.“ He explained.

“Oh! Uh, somewhere on my side, like right here…” You gestured vaguely to where you remembered the spider biting- well, you remembered which side at least. Your left one.

“Alright… not super helpful…” He mumbled in thought, only for you to yelp in protest as he grabbed your side and held some sort of tool near it.

“Hey!” 

“Hold still, I just need a quick scan.” He ordered. Still you squirmed. It tickled. Miguel shook his head and grabbed your side again, this time earning a short giggle. He stopped in his tracks and looked up at you, processing what had just happened as you stared back at him tensely. You only had about two seconds to even stare before he had sat down his tool and scooped you up into his arms with a playful grin.

“Ticklish, are we?” He teased, one hand scribbling lightly up and down your side with the edges of his nails. The movement earned only more squirming from you as well as fresh peals of giggles as you kicked and wriggled in his grasp. His fingers skittered up to your ribs, gently tweaking the bottommost one before crawling up to lightly poke just below your underarm and crawl down again and it left you howling with laughter.

“M-miguel!” You cried out, squirming harder in your ticklish frenzy and almost managing to writhe free before he shifted his arm to wrap around your waist and start tickling your side. You doubled over with laughter, kicking out in front of you and pushing at his arm all the while his other hand came up to gently scribble at the side of your neck.

“You know, normally I wouldn’t be so childish, but I’ve been needing a little pick me up this week.” Miguel teased. You bunched up your shoulders, peals of giggles pouring out of you just as his touch began to slow down. He let you rest as you slumped in his grip, residual giggles bubbling out as you caught your breath.

“I’m a little surprised you weren’t laughing this hard as that spider crawled to your side.” He pointed out, emphasizing his point by poking two fingers into your side a couple times and sending a jolt through you.

“Ehehe- quit it!” You whined at his teasing, your cheeks growing flush as you squirmed again. Miguel chuckled, shaking his head. “Ah, what? Quit this?” He began gently pinching your side up and down, pulling fresh laughter from you as you nodded your head.

“Yes- yehes! Quit thahat!” You managed to squeak out. His fingers remained pinched on your side but had stilled for the moment, but for some reason that was worse. The anticipation left you shaking and giggling, waiting for when he would start up again.

“Quit that…?” He prompted, his voice dripping with amusement as you awaited whatever fate become you.

“Please!” You spat out and Miguel relented, patting your side and finally releasing you.

“Certainly.” He snickered. You turned around and rubbed your sides, only to be greeted by Miguel’s grinning face- you can’t remember the last time he looked this happy, or even the last time he smiled. He put his hands up in faux surrender, shaking his head.

“I’m done, I swear.” He assured, and you relaxed a bit. “Let’s just finish our lunch.” He offered, sitting back down and picking up his to-go box in a gesture of good faith. Your food was still warm and it tasted delightful.

[mathanlin]

Alien AU where alien!Tommy works with a team of humans. 

They’re… strange. He can’t tell what their mannerisms mean. If he’s annoying them, angering them, making them hate him. 

So, desperate for their approval, he does some research. 

“How to Make Humans Happy.” 

The results are… inconclusive. There’s far too many wildly different options, all sorted under… “love languages?” (Something Tommy’s translator strangely doesn’t have.)  

So he tests a few on SBI. 

“Physical touch,” specifically, “hugs.” Something about putting their arms — of which Tommy has four — around each other. 

So surely he’ll be good at it.

And there’s no one better to give it to than the crew’s fighter, Techno.

It’s *easy.*

The moment Techno appears, Tommy practically tackles him, throwing his arms around the human and *squeezing.* 

And it’s… nice, too. Warm. Solid. Comforting.

Until Techno pries him off with a grimace.

“Not my thing, kid.”

Tommy doesn’t dwell on it. 

(Doesn’t spend a sleepless night on panicked research. Doesn’t fill a notebook with frantic scribbles and ruined hypotheses. Doesn’t pace, terrified he’s ruined something.)

No. He just moves to his next target. His next test.

“Phil: ‘Quality Time.’”

This one’s a bit clearer. Something about giving the human ‘undivided attention.’ Talking with them. Being close.

(Tommy ignores how that sounds nice to *him,* too. This is about Phil. Not himself.)

And just like Techno, it falls apart in seconds.

“Sorry, mate. I’m busy.”

Phil brushes right past Tommy, captain’s coat flicking behind him.

Tommy stumbles after him, translator failing under how much he stutters. "I just— wanted to talk? Time? Just a little—”

“Maybe later,” Phil says. And to his credit, he sounds apologetic. 

But later never comes. 

He’s *captain.* Of course he’s busy. Tommy forgives him instantly. 

But he doesn’t forgive himself. His quarters are practically drenched in papers now, pieces of research, frantic notes. Failed attempts to show love (to see if they love them).

He has one last shot.

Wilbur.

Maybe he’d like ‘physical touch.’ Or, ‘quality time.’

But those failed. And Tommy can’t do, ‘gift giving,’ with nothing to give. Or ‘words of affirmation,’ with his translator so unreliable.

But he can try ‘acts of service.’ He can work more.

That’s why he’s here, after all.

In the next few days, he disappears.

He cleans, takes inventory of supplies, organizes plans, always trying to catch Wilbur’s eye. (Never *telling* him. Surely this love is supposed to be selfless. Quiet.)

But what catches Wilbur’s attention is how Tommy ruins everything. 

It was meant to be kind.

It was just one leak in the ship’s engine room. Tommy knows basic mechanics — he knows how to fix it. Just a few patches, a few readjustments—

And then every alarm light goes off, every emergency alert wailing. 

“What the fuck were you doing?”

It’s only after the leak’s patched that Wilbur whirls on him, face bright, jaw tight, eyes narrowed.

(Rage, Tommy can understand. It’s just love he’s confused by.)

“I was… I was trying to help? I was doing my job?”

Wilbur scoffs, snatching his mechanic’s kit and stalking out the door.

And right before he disappears, Tommy hears him mutter, “Then it’s a good thing your contract’s ending.”

And it is.

Tommy has a few more days with them. A few more days to try to show them love, to piece together the frantic notes around his room.

But he doesn’t. Just curls into a quiet ball. Small. Unnoticeable.

Because if they’re giving him up, then that’s what they must want.

.

.

.

“You were supposed to pack up.”

It’s Techno that stands outside Tommy’s quarters, peering into the room. 

Pack up — to leave, with the contract ending. And Tommy hasn’t even gotten up.

Or hidden the notes & failed research scattered around the room. 

“I’m sorry.”

He clambers to his feet, swaying dizzily. Surely Techno won’t notice them. He hadn’t noticed Tommy’s failed attempts either, and if Tommy’s leaving, he surely doesn’t care now—

“What’s this?”

Techno’s brow furrows, eyes fallen on a sheet pinned to the wall. (Test 1: ‘Physical Touch’)

Tommy stumbles in front of him, blocking his view. “Sorry, I’ll clean that up—”

He almost slips on the papers across the floor. The frantic notes he’d written each time he failed.

His handwriting’s shit. But he can still see Techno reading them, brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

*Test 3: ‘Acts of Service.*

*Wilbur should like this one? I’m helping?*

*I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.*

*I don’t know how to love them right.*

Stupid. All of them. And Techno must think the same, with how he slowly looks up.

“Tommy—”

Tommy bolts. If they want him to leave, he’ll make it easy — and so he runs.

Or… tries to.

Because Techno catches him. Pulls him close, arms gently closing around him.

A hug. 

“What were you trying to do?”

Techno’s voice is soft, murmuring over him. He’s… not letting go. Not shoving Tommy away. So Tommy almost manages to say, *I just wanted to love you—*

“Tommy?”

And oh, this hug is nice. 

Because Tommy can hide his face in Techno’s chest as Wilbur and Phil slip into the room.

No one even has to say anything. There’s just silence, as the two slowly take in Tommy’s mess of research.

“I tried.”

Tommy’s voice breaks on both words. But the translator must catch them, because all three humans turn towards him, Techno’s hug gently tightening.

Even before Tommy whispers, “I didn’t know if I was loving you right.”

“You were.”

It’s Techno. He slowly lowers himself to the ground, still cradling Tommy so painfully soft.

 “You’re trying.” Techno’s voice catches as he looks at the scattered papers. “So, so hard. That means everything.”

And right there, Tommy starts to sob.

He’s done his research. He knows what SBI’s doing, as they comfort him.

Techno, holding him, rubbing his back. Phil, sitting at his side & never leaving, quietly talking like Tommy’s worth his attention. Wilbur, only leaving to bring blankets & fresh, warm drinks.

It’s love.

(Afterwards, there’s… a bit of change around the ship.

There’s clearer communication, for one, giving a bit of extra time for translation errors. 

And sometimes, words aren’t even necessary. Just gentle contact. Gifts. Time spent quietly in each other’s company, warm and safe. 

A different language entirely.)

[theamityelf]

(Kamukuras au)

Has Naegizuru ever said something that made his class hyper aware that despite everything-despite the similarities-Makoto is functionally dead? And what would you propose it would be?

Oh, absolutely let's do the angst.

So I'm thinking maybe it's not something he says. I think he's careful about his words.

At first, everyone, to some extent, quietly reached the conclusion that Makoto just went through some unexplained ordeal and lost his memories. It's still Makoto; he's just catatonic from whatever happened to him, and if they spend enough time with him, like he always used to spend time with them, they'd bring him back to himself.

And everything seems to reinforce this. He's learning from the things they say about him, and from candid pictures he's been shown of his old self. He wants to be what they want him to be, so he internalizes all this information and does his best to smile like Makoto, talk to certain people slightly more than others like Makoto, as if he had a preference, and ideally fill whatever vacancies Makoto has left.

(Some genuine character development comes from the fact that Kyoko knows when he's faking. She hates to see him fake a laugh or feign confusion; it's like some stranger is putting on her dear friend as a mask. And he wants to do a better job for her, so he does his best to mean them. And when he can't claw his way to feeling the "correct" things through sheer effort, he instead learns to lean into the inklings of feeling he does have, and nurture them. More on this later! If I go too deep, it will fully derail the actual answer to your question.)

When Junko gives him the hoodie and he starts regularly wearing it, it seems to them like Makoto is really on his way back. Maybe, in celebration, they arrange a surprise for him. His favorite food.

No one's in the room to give it to him. They just leave it on a desk for him to find, planning to come in later and collectively take credit for the surprise.

(Junko probably came up with that element of it, but Kyoko definitely agreed; she wants to see what happens, too. She hopes...)

Makoto enters the room they sent him to, and he sees the bento on the desk. He studies it for a while, thinking that this is some kind of test but unable to gather what his reaction is supposed to be from anyone else's behavior. He's alone. He's supposed to...eat it, right? That's all? Is there a particular way Makoto would eat this food? Is that why...?

Or is it a special occasion? Is it tied to a memory he doesn't have? Inconclusive. He doesn't have enough information. They haven't mentioned this food before. He doesn't want to upset them. If he does the wrong thing, they might be upset about losing Makoto, and he was supposed to fix that!

He hears them coming, but he feels paralyzed with indecision. He doesn't consider himself a perfectionist in the way that Izuru is, but now he is hyper-conscious of how badly it might be received if he reacts incorrectly to this clue.

His classmates enter the room, and instead of happily munching down on this food he loves, he's standing stiffly beside the desk, looking somewhat startled.

"I-I'm sorry," he says. He's learned to stumble over his words a little. Is that better? Will that make it better? Their faces are falling. Failure. He failed this one. "I got lost in thought." He sits down and starts eating, but he's clearly checking their reactions more than enjoying the food.

Yasuhiro lightens the mood with some comment about how Makoto's so weird, and they carry on like normal, chatting and bantering, but he and they can all feel a kind of dread underneath it all. Makoto isn't here. Makoto isn't here, and they know that, now. They all know it.

[blush-and-books]

okay okay whats ur dream episode of suits ??

ahhh ok so i've been really thinking about this and i still don't really have a good answer but here goes :)) sorry this took so long i have been cooking on it for the past couple of days!!💞

there's a couple of episode types i would really like to see. first of all, one of my favorite shows of all time (and the reason I started this blog like ten years ago) had an episode in their third season that put it's main couple (when they were in a will they/won't they point of their relationship) in an isolated situation and basically the entire 45 minutes was them going through various hurdles and discovering things about their relationship along the way.

my donnaharvey nonsense braincell would fucking LOVE an episode like this. like some kind of plotline where harvey has some kind of conference to attend for the firm and they obviously get two invitations but since the firm is always in shambles, they can't afford to send more than one senior/named partner away, and so they let donna go with harvey instead and she has to feed him the names of everyone they meet that hes supposed to already know. even tho in the show they're professional partners, i feel like we never explicitly see little donna and harvey work adventures like we see for him and mike. obviously harvey and mike have these adventures bc the show is about them but anyways

or an episode where there's a brutal case or smth and it's just an episode of him and donna in his office together for hours. idk where mike is - helping louis, maybe, or dealing with a case of his own, or the case that harvey is working on is just too delicate or high risk for him to want mike involved. so it's just him and donna. maybe marcus calls at some point, or donna's dad. they listen to gordon's records and talk about their families and their futures etc etc. i would love for this to feel like an expansion of when his office got moved to that lower floor and donna just had to sit across from him at his desk to do her work bc there wasn't an intercom.

OR, WAIT, the episode is about harvey's annual heart checkup and they call him back to run more tests after an inconclusive initial exam, and he needs to have someone drive him/pick him up, and of course donna finds out this is happening and just kind of invited herself along to wait with him for the results of the tests because she knows this annual appointment is like brutal for him every year. the whole episode he aggressively tells her to go away and she stays the whole time. yaps her ass off. but when the nurse comes out with the results of the tests he has to grab donna's hand. and regardless of the outcome he starts to cry the second that they get into the car. donna holds his hand and leans her head on his shoulder while he lets it out. they go up to his place for a drink afterwards, maybe they listen to some music, or watch a movie. while all of this is happening, mike is on a very silly case adventure with louis and jessica is enlisting rachel's help with a case that could come with some bad press for the firm, and they need to avoid that as much as possible. i thought rachel and jessica were a really great pair and i wanted more of them!!!!!

similarly i would love for something bad to happen to donna (affectionate) that just derails harvey completely and he spends the episode with her in the hospital while everyone else is dealing with like insane levels of bullshit from daniel hardman or someone and harvey has a big trial when donna is supposed to get a surgery and she tells him to go but he takes one step into the courtroom and had a panic attack bc they didn't get to do the can opener ritual and hes convinced he's cooked so he runs back to the hospital after haphazardly throwing everything onto mike at the last minute.

uuuh ALSO a holiday episode. CHAOTIC HOLIDAY EPISODE PLEASE. the firm is not decorated and nobody has the holiday spirit except, like, rachel, and probably donna too. harvey and mike are emo about the holidays due to family trauma and louis is getting everyone Hanukkah gifts. there's probably a firm party that's planned by rachel and louis to get everyone into the holiday spirit. harvey contemplates going to marcus's, and impulsively invites donna to come with him after mike makes some plot important speech at the firm party about he finally feels like he has a family to celebrate the holidays with again after his grandmother died, and how he doesn't ever want to take the time he has with his loved ones for granted. there's some joke about donna already buying her own gift from harvey bc he never knows what to get her.

in general i really like the idea of a bottle episode and would love an episode that takes place like, entirely in the file room, and we just see snippets of conversations or arguments or illicit meetups that happen in the file room over the course of one day. i feel like that format would be very cool.

this was a terrible answer to your question bc honestly i just think about what i would like to see between donna and harvey and that's not a good way to go about it but oh well!! thank you so much for this ask i love getting to write obnoxious long winded answers 💖💖💖🥹

also would love an episode where jessica meets a badass lawyer who just got brought in as a name partner at a competitor firm but the badass lawyer is a very beautiful and intimidating woman possibly played by lucy liu and they fall in love. yup!!

[laurelsofhighever]

Hey, just saw your fic with Maric x Serving Girl Alistair's Mother. I read your author's notes on Ao3, and were you hinting at conflicting information on Alistair's mother's identity? Or is my tired brain misinterpreting? I'm all for writing whatever you want, go nuts, no problem with the fic. But this peaked my interest, because I've never heard of anything disputing Fiona, given 'The Calling' novel. Does it have to do with there being no acknowledgement in DAI if you have Alistair and Fiona at Skyhold at the same time? Any information or clarification you provide would be appreciated. I always loved Maric.

Hi Nonny! This has consumed my entire evening and I hope you’re prepared for the splurge about to be unleashed. Thank you for the ask! The disclaimer at the top of the fic is there because historically the subject of Alistair’s mother has been a… charged subject, for reasons that I won’t get into now because it’s not really relevant to your ask and I don’t have a horse in that specific race.

However, if you look into canon, there is indeed a bunch of conflicting information about the identity of Alistair’s mother – or rather, there’s a bunch of information that conflicts with the Word of God confirmation from David Gaider that Fiona is Alistair’s mother. Which… is also not exactly true. In an interview from 2014 when asked specifically about it, he said (after a long, weary sigh), “I never actually meant for it to be a thing … I thought the book was fairly obvious and then people were asking and I just never confirmed it … it comes up in the game and I will leave it at that” (timestamp starting 35:28 if you want to check it out yourself). Thing is, it doesn’t come up in the game, either in DA:O or in DA:I – which may be the game he’s referring to, since the interview is mostly to hype its release. It isn’t clear.

We do come close to getting in-game evidence for Fiona: in DA:I, the Inquisitor can ask her about her past, and if you read between the lines there is wistfulness there, and she’s sorry he dies, but her comments about it being “too late” to know him could just as easily be taken as being about her time as a Grey Warden if you haven’t read The Calling (TC) – she never comes out and directly says it, and we never witness a conversation between them, even if he’s a Warden presumably curious about how she became immune to the Calling (I have thoughts about this, but we’ll get to that later). In the DA:O end slides, it says someone orders an investigation into Alistair’s parentage that comes back “inconclusive” – but even without the dubious canon of the end slides (given that some, like Cullen’s, got heavily retconned in later games) this is a shaky piece of evidence at best that Alistair’s mother was anyone other than a servant. An inquest is politically motivated, after all, and would have been more concerned with his connection to Maric than the identity of his mother.

So where does this leave us? Well, we could go in circles debating what should count as canon or not, which isn’t entirely useful because people can draw lines in the sand wherever they like to make the points they want. We could argue that BioWare is really good at retconning and muddling its own lore and that the simplest explanation – that the devs made a mistake in some of the details and no one caught it – is the most likely, and that caring about it more than Gaider obviously does (with his well-known dislike of Alistair as a character) is kind of a waste of time.

Unfortunately, you’ve asked me about it, so what we’re actually going to do is go through every relevant piece of Dragon Age media, assume it is all canon, and weigh the evidence in the text to try and offer some clarification. Where things contradict, I will give more weight to the version that targets the broadest possible audience, i.e. the games > the books and novels. Where things contradict within the games, I’ll be considering which source of information is more authentic and direct within the game’s context, i.e. Alistair should know more about his history than a tavernkeep who’s listening to rumours.

Having said this, let’s start with TC, where all of our problems begin. In the last scene of this book, Fiona introduces Maric to a baby she says is theirs, and asks him to find it a home where it can be free of the stigmas of being the child of an elven mage. Fair enough. However, as conspiracy-brained as this is going to sound, there is no direct evidence to confirm that this baby is Alistair, and one or two things that suggest it isn’t. I’m not so shallow in my literary analysis that I count the fact that the baby is never named as one of those pieces of evidence. That would just be petty. Far more compelling is:

Timing: TC is set after Queen Rowan’s death. There’s some quibble about dates in World of Thedas and whether it was supposed to be set in 9:10 or 9:14 bur really that’s a numbers game and it’s beside the point, because it’s built into the plot that Maric decides to go with the Grey Wardens specifically because he’s feeling depressed and reckless through grief for Rowan. This is important because, as gets mentioned quite a few times in DA:O, Alistair was hidden in Redcliffe because Rowan was still alive. This is a conflict of information, and as already stated, games > novels.

There’s no amulet: Giving Alistair his mother’s amulet is a pretty significant moment in DA:O. It’s all he has of hers, and it’s something that ties them together narratively. If this was all meant to wrap up neatly, then the least Gaider could have done would have been to mention Fiona taking off her Andrastian amulet and gifting it to Alistair to be something of hers he can keep even when she’s not with him anymore. The fact that this doesn’t happen makes this scene emotionally empty when we know he got an amulet from a person whom he considered to be his mother. If not Fiona, then where did it come from?

'“He’s human,” [Maric] exclaimed out loud': if there’s one thing a lot of DA fans can agree on, it’s that “human/elf hybrids are totally human” is bullshit. It’s not how genetics works, it has some yikes implications considering how heavily the devs took inspiration from oppressed minorities to create the elves, and it’s not a plot point that’s ever used in an interesting way (we will get to Michel de Chevin in a moment). It’s also not true. In DA2 there is an entire series of quests about a character named Feynriel, who was born to a Dalish mother and a human father, and who is visibly part-elven. He has points on his ears! He has facial proportions halfway between the humans and elves in the game! He’s rejected by both sides of his family because of it! Now, there is also Michel de Chevin, who in The Masked Empire (TME) is revealed to have an elven mother, but this is never mentioned when he appears in DA:I, and is kind of a non-issue in the novel as well. This is the most nebulous piece of evidence by far, as it relies by default on picking which bits of material are canon, which I've already said we’re not doing here, and to be honest the physical differences between elves and humans are only really noticeable in DA2 where there was an effort made to make them look deliberately nonhuman.

Except for the timeline of the book, the evidence in TC is circumstantial. We get to more definite evidence in Until We Sleep (UWS), the third volume in The Silent Grove comics storyline, where Alistair gets to meet and talk with a dream version of his father, Maric. When Alistair asks his father to come home, Maric says, “I had a life. The people I love are all here – Cailan, your mother, Loghain… none of them are in the real world any longer, are they?” (A+ parenting there btw). Since this series takes place before DA:I, Fiona is definitely still alive, so Maric can’t be talking about her. Also, it’s interesting to note that this too is written by David Gaider, so it’s not a case of writers being at cross-purposes or not getting any intra-office memos. There are continuity mistakes in these comics, but these are mostly confined to the fact that neither Alistair nor Isabella match their in-game appearances – and remember, the games have more weight than the comics. Having said that, it does conflict with the "official" story.

With all this said, let’s come to the other beginning of all our problems, most people’s proper introduction to Alistair’s character, DA:O. In this game, it is a significant plot point that Alistair is the son of a servant from Redcliffe: it is explicitly stated in Alistair’s codex entry, and furthermore, it is something that multiple characters assert is true, including Loghain and Alistair himself.

First, Loghain. If you spare him at the Landsmeet, he joins your party and has dialogue options that talk about Alistair and why he was kept at Redcliffe. According to him, Maric nearly acknowledged Alistair, but “had more than his honour to think of”, namely the effect it would have had on Rowan and Cailan (implied: how that would have affected political stability in a Ferelden still recovering from the Orlesian Occupation). He points out that Alistair "would have been a continual reminder to Rowan of Maric’s infidelity”, which as mentioned above, means that she would have still been alive when Alistair was born.

As for Alistair, yes he was a baby at the time so doesn’t really have an objective viewpoint, and it’s not confirmed whether the person he considers his mother died in childbirth or just in his early years – the codex entry says “when he was young”, he says “when I was born”. Nevertheless, it’s clear he’s asked questions about her because he knows roughly who she was and what she did, and also at some point learnt the name and rough location of the person his entire companion quest (and Fade dream) revolves around.

Let’s talk about Goldana.

Really, she is the biggest wrench in the certainty that Fiona is Alistair’s mother, because there’s no way to square away that fact with her existence, and by extension the existence of the servant in Redcliffe who was her (and Alistair’s) mother. But what if she’s just an exceptional liar, thinking she could make a quick sovereign out of the king’s bastard by playing along? It’s possible. However:

When you take Alistair to meet her, she’s the one who brings up Maric (“I said the babe was the king’s, and they told me he was dead, and gave me a coin to shut my mouth”) – Alistair until that point has only mentioned his mother and that she worked in Redcliffe Castle. If she was hedging her bets, wouldn’t it make more sense for her to accuse him of being Eamon’s bastard?

If she were talking nonsense, why would “they” bribe her with hush money? It would be very easy for someone as powerful as Arl Eamon to dismiss or debunk such claims, and he shouldn’t care what a random servant’s kid has to say – unless there’s a kernel of truth in it that he doesn’t want anyone looking at more closely

On that same note, why would “they” tell her the baby was dead if it wasn’t, if it was just some random’s kid? Either there’s an entirely separate baby that Goldana believes for some mysterious reason was fathered by the king, which Alistair – actually fathered by the king – replaced at just the right age that nobody noticed, or they’re the same baby. One of these options is far more plausible than the other

If she’s that good at lying, why is she still just a washerwoman living in a hovel and asking three copper per load? She should be running Denerim!

Facetiousness aside, Goldana’s story confirms that at the very least there was a serving girl in Redcliffe Castle who had a baby at roughly the same time that Alistair was born, and that for whatever reason, she was connected enough to Maric that multiple people in the castle suspected he was the father (and resented Alistair because of it). If this was an entirely separate baby, then it makes Maric an absolute shit of a person to have taken one son and used him to replace one that had just died in childbirth. Either that or a complete idiot for sending his actual son to a place where he’s rumoured to have a son and deciding that’s a secure hiding place – because you can’t tell me Eamon wasn’t aware of what was going on under his own roof. Even the fact that Alistair himself knows and was aware of it from a young age suggests that it wasn’t a very well-kept secret.

So where does all this leave us? From here, things get a little more suppositional, a little more Doylist, and a lot more subjective. To start with, taking into account all of the above evidence, if Fiona is Alistair’s mother, then his arrival at Redcliffe relies on a – I would say – plot-breaking  set of contrivances.

1: Fiona, somehow cured of the darkspawn taint enough to have a child, arrives in Denerim with Alistair, who isn’t old enough to be weaned yet, asking for somewhere to put him that won’t draw attention. She does this after walking pretty much all the way across Thedas even though, as mentioned in TC, the Wardens already have procedures in place for fostering children born to their ranks, presumably ones that don’t involve so much steady exercise.

2: Instead of using his kingly resources to track down a woman in Denerim who has recently given birth and telling her to take on an extra kid, Maric decides to send the baby to the other end of the country, to the house of an unmarried nobleman who will definitely not stir any gossip if he shows up on his own doorstep with an infant he wants someone to care for. Where did the baby come from? Don’t ask. Are you happy that everyone will think this kid is your bastard? I’m sure it’s a decision that won’t have any negative consequences for me in the future. But you are going to tell everyone he’s your bastard to keep up the ruse, right? No, now stop asking questions.

2: Luckily, there’s a woman in Eamon’s household who has recently given birth, or is at least close to it, and they can substitute? add? this baby to that baby without having to pay her off, because she’s an employee. The bait ‘n’ switch is timed so perfectly that no one notices that there are in fact two babies, or that the baby is suddenly several months older than it was before (truly, a medical miracle). Unless they’re exactly the same age, in which case what are the odds.

3: Somehow, despite all the secrecy, this woman’s other child knows that the baby is the king’s and won’t shut up about it, to the point where someone has to pay her off and send her packing. But that’s all unnecessary, because the woman – and her original baby I guess? – both die and leave no witnesses.

4: Rowan still manages to be mad about this and everyone is worried for her reputation despite having been dead for two years.

It’s a level of convolution that does not exist with the alternative, which has been pretty common since forever in the real world: powerful man sees pretty woman, decides he’ll have that, doesn’t want to face the consequences, makes everyone miserable in the process. Alistair’s mother being an ordinary person caught up in the orbit of someone she can’t resist is so much more narratively coherent, if significantly less romantic.

And this is where we get into the biggest problem that I have with Fiona-as-Alistair’s-mother: it has no payoff. These are fictional people, structure is important for narrative, and while I’m not saying that every little thing has to have purpose or direction, a pretty significant amount of Alistair’s character arc in DA:O is wiped away if his mother isn’t who he thinks it is. His story is about social class and identity and whether legacy is even worth it: Fiona’s identity means nothing to him, and that’s not something that ever changes. In DA:I she looks a bit sad when she mentions him, but there’s no work ever done to explore that, or to explore how Alistair might feel if his mother is actually alive but abandoned him, and how awkward that makes things for him if he’s king. OR to have him hear that she’s now immune to the taint and be just a little bit curious about how that came about. There’s no conversation, no status quo shift. Instead, the devs rely on the fans who know this metatextual fact to do the emotional heavy lifting for them and extrapolate the consequences they don’t want to deal with themselves.

It is lazy writing.

In some cases I also think it becomes a prop that invalidates the point of his character arc – and even breaks the worldbuilding a little, turning what was originally a struggle to forge an identity separate from people’s expectations, into a straight case of nepotism. The two most egregious examples?

Is he able to use templar abilities without lyrium because anyone with enough training and discipline can do it, and the lyrium is just the Chantry’s way of keeping its army leashed and loyal? Nope, it’s because he’s special because his mummy was a mage and it gave him special latent mage powers. That’s far more interesting than examining the ramifications of a religious order using addiction and brainwashing to make sure its soldiers will commit atrocities without question.

Is he a Warden because of his strength of will and determination to survive, chosen from the ranks of the other potential recruits because he had a spark of something that Duncan knew would be valuable in the fight against the darkspawn? Nope, it’s because his mummy was a Grey Warden and gave him special taint immunity powers, and also she was best friends with the current Warden-Commander so he was picked even though there were better fighters among the potentials competing that day. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that all Wardens secretly have Warden blood already because that would be ridiculous, it’s just Alistair who needed that extra leg-up because otherwise he’d be useless at everything.

I promised myself I would rein in the sarcasm but from a storytelling perspective it really annoys me that this shift turns him from an ordinary person into the specialest boy in the world, because it denies him his agency and takes the teeth out of his achievements. I’m not even going to get into how it lets BioWare off the hook for representation, insisting he is half-elven and taking a gold star when he’s never identifiable in-world as a member of an oppressed minority, and it never has any bearing on how he views the world or how it views him. It feels like it’s giving the devs far more credit than they deserve, especially when the effort they put into this (minimal as it was) could have gone into giving Zevran more to say on this. exact. subject. He’s right there, and he is perfect for exploring this aspect of the worldbuilding when he isn't being overlooked.

This is getting a little ranty now so I’ll wrap it up with thanks for your patience, Nonny, if you’ve made it this far. What’s the conclusion? At the end of the day, people can make up their own minds with their own reasoning, all I’ve attempted to do here is lay out the various threads untangled from the snarl that is BioWare’s incomparable ability to fuck up their own lore. Personally, I think Alistair’s mother being an ordinary servant makes his journey and the themes of his character arc more compelling wherever he ends up, and I like that this means his parentage is a facet of his identity rather than the only interesting thing about him. I also think the weight of evidence in DA:O, the game where he’s first introduced, is greater than in a tacked-on scene at the end of a tie-in novel written by a guy who seemed to just think it was a good idea at the time. But hey, I’m not the authority.

However, if there’s one solid takeaway from this then here it is: don’t give BioWare more credit than they deserve, don’t do their work for them, and especially don’t assume they’re leading us down a merry path with super-secret truths for enlightened minds only when the simpler explanation is that no one stopped (in this instance) David Gaider getting carried away.

[sweetnsourhearts]

Have some fun with some dnd character incorrect quotes!

Novia: what kind of sounds annoy you?

Gravel: are we talking real sounds or imaginary ones?

Novia, now interested: let’s say imaginary

Gravel: spiders wearing flip flops

*everyone is giving advice to Arius*

Calinox: it’s okay to ask for help

Mhurren: you’re not a burden

Tanna: murder is okay

Deceit: your feelings matter

Scall: I need 28 lightbulbs for 28 ducks

Lunaris: ducks can’t eat lightbulbs?

Leo: I think that’s the point

Scall: exactly. I want my ducks to glow so I can find them

Kori: we’ve been conducting an ongoing study to see what Nyth will and will not eat

Ash: grass? Yes!

Kori: moss? Yes!

Ash: leaves? Oh yes!

Kori: shoelaces? Strange but true!

Ash: worms? Sometimes!

Kori: rocks? Usually nah.

Ash: twigs? Usually!

Kori: Arthur’s cooking? Inconclusive!

Arthur: how did you… test this?

Kori: you just hand her stuff and say ‘eat this’ and if they eat it, they eat it

Arthur: I don’t know how to feel about this.

Hepia: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SPARE SHOELACES WENT?

Lunaris: I personally don’t think it’s possible to come up with a crazier plan

Scall: we could attack them with hummus

Lunaris: I stand corrected

Scall: just keeping things in perspective

Arius: you’re too late! You’ll never stop me now!

Calinox: that’s where you’re wrong, we will stop you with the powers of:

Mhurren: friendship!

Deceit: harmony!

Tanna: incredible violence

Calinox: and love!

Tanna: and then they ran into my knife. They ran into my knife 10 times

Calinox: you mean you stabbed them?

Tanna: they ran into my knife

Cy: Norwegia is NOT A COUNTRY!

Gravel: then where are Norwegian people from!?

Cy: NORWAY!!

Lunaris: I left instructions for everyone while I’m gone

Scall: mine just says “Scall no”

Lunaris: I want you to apply it to every possible situation

Nyth: I typed “bitch” into my GPS and guess what? I’m in your driveway

Hepia:

Nyth: vroom vroom, come out already

Azareth: we’re having a baby

Scall: oh, congratu-

Lunaris, slamming adoption papers onto the table: it’s you, sign here

Nyth: *Posts a super low-quality image to the group chat*

Hepia: If I had a dollar for every pixel in this image, I’d have 15 cents.

Nyth: If I had a dollar for every ounce of rage I felt in my body after I read this text, I would have enough money to buy a cannon to fire at you.

Kori: Actually I did the math, Hepia would have $225, not $0.15.

Hepia: Fam I’m right here....

Arthur: If I had a dollar I would buy a can of soda :)

Nyth: while you’re there could you buy me an apply juice please?

Arthur: Sorry I only have a dollar.

Nyth: :(

Kori: Hey I just realized my friend is right, Hepia would have $22,500 because it's a dollar for every pixel, not a cent.

Arthur: If I had $22,500 I would buy a can of soda and an apply juice.

Kori: You can buy anything you want with $22,500.

Ash: Yeah and he wants soda and apply juice.

Kori: Apply juice to what.

Ash: Directly to forehead.

Hepia: Great chat everyone.

Tanna: don’t worry, I’ve got a few knives up my sleeve

Calinox: I think you mean cards

Deceit: she did not

Tanna, pulling out knives: I did not

Tanna: who hurt you?

Calinox: *snorting* what, do you want a list?

Tanna: … yes, actually

Hepia, dramatically: they called me a fool

Nyth, sick of Hepia’s shit: they weren’t wrong

[doobs]

May we have Dallas quotes? He is my fave vent crawling fella out there

I don't know about you but that statement makes Dallas seem very sus... 🤔

EDIT: I ACCIDENTALLY DIDNT CHANGE THE NAME OF ONE OF THEM AND IT SAID AHSOKA INSTEAD OF DALLAS LOL IM SO SORRY

---

Brett: We've been conducting an ongoing study to see what Dallas will and will not eat.

Lambert: Grass? Yes!

Brett: Moss? Right.

Lambert: Leaves? Ohh, yes!

Brett: Shoelaces? Strange, but yes.

Lambert: Worms? Sometimes!

Brett: Rocks? Usually nah.

Lambert: Twigs? Usually!

Brett: Ripley's cooking? Inconclusive!

Kane: How did you... test this?

Lambert: You just hand him stuff, say 'eat this', and if he eats it, he eats it.

Kane: ...I'm oddly disturbed and concerned for Dallas' wellbeing.

Parker: IS THAT WHERE ALL MY SHOELACES WENT??

---

Parker: Guess what I'm about to get?

Dallas, under his breath: ...on my nerves.

Parker: LAI-

ripley has hit parker in the head with a flamethrower

---

Dallas: Tired of just deserving better. Gotta start taking it by force.

meanwhile crawling through a vent with an alien in it

---

Ripley: You have friends, and... I envy that.

Dallas: You're welcome to share my friends.

Ripley: *looks at Parker and Lambert*

Ripley: I don't want those.

---

Lambert: So, what’s Ripley's type?

Dallas: Blue eyes, kind, oblivious, good sense of humor, turtle lover.

Lambert: Sounds kind of like me. Too bad we’re just friends.

Dallas: Did I mention oblivious?

Lambert: Yeah, why?

Dallas: Okay, just making sure.

two weeks later, lambert laying in bed: oh my GO-

---

Dallas: I wish I was a cat, but not in a furry kinda way, more like a "I can sleep all day and hit people with no consequences" kinda way.

---

Ash: Is it still visible? Where Ripley slapped me?

Lambert: Your face looks like a don't walk signal.

Parker: Your face looks like a photo negative for the hamburger helper box.

Dallas: A palm reader could tell Ripley's future by looking at your face.

Brett: The phrase 'talk to the hand cause the face ain't listening' doesn't work for you, because the hand is your face.

Ash: ...A simple 'yes' would've sufficed.

---

happy 2024 :)

[cloudyswritings]

Hollow knight bugs and real world species: P2

Hornet: So we know that Hornet is the daughter of the pale king and Herrah, making her some sort of biological monstrosity. But what bug is she based on? My best bet would be a horned orb weaver, specifically either a long-horned orb-weaver or Gasteracantha versicolor based on coloration and her horns.

Zote: So the in game/logical answer is that zote is whatever type of generic beetle that team cherry concocted from stag, Hercules, and rhinoceros beetles. However I think that’s really boring, I personally subscribe to one of the single best crackfics in the fandom Camouflage of Great Renown and think zote is a nosk that left Hallownest and lost his memories before retuning and adopting his persona. It’d even explain how he’s actually really hard to damage(see coliseum) and how he keeps getting places before ghost does.

Midwife: So I’ve seen a lot of people headcanon that she’s a centipede of some sort, and it kinda makes sense? Like centipedes are actually really good at caring for their young and protect them until they’re able to hunt on their own, so I think it’s a plausible and likely theory. That’s said I’d like to present some alternative ideas. Midwife to me, looks a lot more like she has an earwigs body shape, based mostly on the width of her. That said her behavior matches up far better with a trapdoor spider and she lacks antennas. Overall I’d say a trapdoor spider is more likely as an alternative reading of her species.

Lord fool: So here’s the thing with lord fool, there’s a lot of evidence he’s a higher being of some sort. Most of it comes down to the way the fools, while infected, seem less damaged by the radiance and seem to keep a large portion of their mind intact. Plus his position-dead on his throne- seems earily similar to a certain pale wyrm. Interestingly however it seems like his mask is actually just a mask, because we can see the top of his head and it looks to just be soft carapace. He’s also got six limbs so we know he isn’t an arachnid, or crustacean. My best guess would be either a deathwatch beetle(the texture on them looks like a good match) or a more likely a green junebeetle. Him being a junebeetle also matches nicely with how the fools are regarded as invasive, or not belonging in Haloownest. My last theory is that the bug the colosseum is built in may be the Lord fools old shell, aka wyrm.

Bretta: She looks a lot like a hair soft-shelled beetle to me, but her colors are all wrong. Based on that I’d say she’s actually a female scarab of some sort(sorry y’all my beetle knowledge isn’t up to par just yet!!)

The Hunter: So I’m really and truly unconvinced that the hunter is a bug, or crustacean, or arachnid of any kind. Bro visibly has a spine of some sort and the only beings with hands remotely similar to his that we see are THK, The shade lord, and the collector. That said we do still know he has an exoskeleton. I’ll admit I’m kinda stumped, I’d love to hear what y’all think. Verdict: inconclusive.

Baldurs: So I’m pretty convinced that these fellas are a pill millipede of some sort, they have the right number of legs and do curl up for defense. Additionally they spit infection, which I imagine when non infected would be some sort of toxin— something millipedes are well known for.

Mosskin: So this covers the mosskin as a whole, I’ll probably make a post for them specifically eventually. They’re obviously creatures that are in a symbiotic relationship with plants(because Unn). The only ones I feel super comfortable giving a specific species atm are the moss chargers who I feel are a species of velvet worm, mostly due to Unn being a big old slug and them living in a more tropical region. These velvet worms essentially copied the homework of the leaf sheep sea slug—which steals its ability to photosynthesize from the algae it eats.

That’s it for now!!

[fishandships]

🦎 ? Give me the goods!

Send me an emoji for a fic snippet! (ACCEPTING)

The Professor tugged his collar closer to his neck to cover the scales. “A gift from my research,” he explained.

“Sorry,” Eli mumbled. “I didn’t mean to stare.”

From the sheepishness in his tone, Rosario realized that the Seer was a much younger man than they initially took him to be. Their concern, however, was now on Professor Diruse. “Are you ill?” they asked gently.

He visibly softened to their question. “The results of my research thus far are…inconclusive. But the symptoms are mild - the unsightly bandages are only a precaution.”

“I don’t think they’re unsightly,” Rosario said without thinking. “They make you look rather dashing.”

Their eyes widened in alarm at the words that had just left their mouth unbidden. The Professor smiled and averted his gaze like a bashful schoolboy. “Dashing…? Certainly not the reaction I would have expected. But thank you.”

Rosario wanted to slide underneath the tablecloth and never come out. To prevent themself from digging their own grave ever deeper, they locked their gaze on their lap and resolved to say nothing else on the subject. Professor Diruse, however, apparently had other ideas. “Speaking of research, you haven’t yet told me about your own work. Naturalist is a broad title, is it not? What exactly is it that you do?”

In spite of themself, the chance to talk about their passion was far too tempting to resist. Shyly they lifted their eyes. “I illustrate field guides, mostly, and other natural history books sometimes.”

He lit up in delight. “Ah! I should have guessed. You must show me your drawings sometime. If the ones you were doing earlier were ‘just sketches’, I am greatly interested in what your finished works are like.”

Rosario dropped their gaze once more to the sketchbook in their lap as their face burned tellingly. “As I said earlier, you’re too kind, Professor.”

“I am in earnest,” he assured them. “Actually, I’ve been interested in finding someone to produce some illustrations for a paper I’m working on.”

Again they looked up, interest sparked, and found themself riveted by his inquisitive, piercing stare. His hands were folded under his chin, head inclined slightly as he regarded them. Rosario felt their heart begin to race, though it didn’t feel like anxiety. “Perhaps,” he continued, “this chance meeting could lead to a mutually beneficial partnership.”

[cosmicjoke]

i am so sorry u had to deal with that anon, i hope you are feeling ok! :’) it sucks how shippers make their own reputation bad by not accepting another perspective/opinion :/ and to go to this extent over a fictional ship is just… something else😭 i’ll never understand how some can’t just enjoy their ship in peace and always have to prove it is canon and fight everyone else who doesn’t think like them, as if you can’t enjoy a ship otherwise?

anon just reminded me why i never took an interest in any levi ship, and i probably never will. i sooo wanted to say that i didn’t understand why anon suddenly started to hate on levi x oc shippers, but it’s obvious bc most oc’s are depicted as women and that is against their ‘canon’ ship and beliefs about levi😭 why care so much, levi can be whatever sexuality you want seeing as nothing was confirmed, so just take a step back, touch some grass and let people enjoy whatever they like :’)

anyways, once again im sorry u had to deal with all of that i can’t even imagine how tiring or frustrating it must be to always be attacked/asked about the same things constantly. i love your levi posts and i feel like you really analyze him very well! happy holidays :’)

Thank you so much, truly.

I've said again and again that I have nothing against any ship or shipping group. People can ship Levi with whoever they want. But these people who harass me over it, then accuse me of "talking" about it all the time, but the only reason I talk about it is because they're the ones asking me about it.

The thing is, is I just want to talk about what's in the actual story. Levi has no love interest in the story, either directly acknowledged or even implied. Everything this person sited as evidence or "proof" of Levi being romantically interested in Erwin, I addressed to the best of my abilities. They didn't want to accept it, and then they accuse me of being a hypocrite, trying to claim that all of my analysis posts are based on the same, speculative, inconclusive and flimsy material they base their beliefs on. As if breaking down text, expression, sequential order of panels, and patterns in the text and past character behavior is the same as taking an off-handed comment from Isayama in an interview from ten years ago or whatever and using it as proof of some super secret hidden romantic interest between Levi and Erwin. You can literally look at every post of mine analyzing AoT and find evidence supporting, pretty damn concretely, my conclusions in the actual text. And I'm hardly alone in that. There's many, many great AoT fans who write brilliant analysis posts about the manga/anime, using only the source material. But these people can never point to a single panel or word bubble or piece of text that supports this notion that Levi was in love with Erwin, or anyone, for that matter. They need to site promotional material to try and back up their claims, and extrapolate meaning from the panels and texts which isn't, in any discernible, concrete way actually supported by the text and panels. They literally need to twist Levi's words and actions in the most absurd, nonsensical, illogical manner in order to make it fit. That isn't how Isayama operates as a writer. Even when there's subtext, there's a clear, undeniable line between it and the action on the page. That's what analysis is based on, after all. There has to be a viable, evident reason for drawing certain conclusions.

Levi holding the serum against his chest, or touching Erwin's hand when he took the serum from him, or him thinking of Erwin when wondering who he could revive, none of that is enough proof in and of itself to support a romantic interest between them. I tried explaining to this person what those things actually indicate within the story. The last two don't mean anything. It's just how the panels were drawn. But the first, if this person had paid any kind of attention to Levi's actual relationship with Erwin, and how Levi regarded Erwin, and the reasons he was so loyal to Erwin, would understand that he thought of Erwin in that moment because he regarded Erwin as the leader that humanity needed, and that humanity's future was dependent on Erwin's survival. It's the entire reason Levi tried to stop Erwin from going to Shinganshina in the first place. I come to all of those conclusions based on the actual text and what we know about the characters leading up to that point.

I explained all of this to this fool in my initial reply to them, and they accused me of "brushing them off", lol.

Anyway, whatever. But thank you so much again for your support. I just can't seem to get away from these people, haha.

[cowboylikedean]

Thereis a difference between everyone doing something problematic and being with a certified racist who said (TW: RACISM, SEXUAL ASSAULT) he gets off on the p*rn that actively humiliates black women in the most disgusting way(by white men ) after saying things like ' anyone who tolerates white supremacy is disgusting' and saying how much she cares about black community. Not hanging out with people who is actively damaging the community s the bare minimum she could do. And weren't you against Calvin because how much of a misogynist he was? No one is perfect can be applied in many places but this is not one if those

I could never be you

First of all, I know the whole fandom finds this cnc porn to be the most evil thing about him, but like I cannot. I'm sorry but there is 0 way, as in literally ZERO WAY, that what you like in FICTION (and porn is FICTION) means you like it in real life. That is now how it works. It isn't magically how it works with porn. Many many MANY studies have been done about this and there has not been a link proven between violence in porn and real life violent even inclinations. At absolute best, studies are inconclusive and contradict each other. The reality is, however, that the more scientific and unbiased a study is, the less it shows a relation. Studies that show high relationships are paid for by special interest (namely religious) groups. From a scientific perspective, I do not and will not ever use the porn someone watches as evidence that they are actually a bad person unless it is illegal and truly unconsensual. Ghetto Gaggers is not that. The women in these videos are consensual sex workers who agreed to this, and thus, watching it and enjoying watching it is not enjoying watching a literal sex crime. It's fiction. And what you like in fiction does not determine what you like in real life. You don't have to like what he does, I don't. But you can't pick and choose what consensual kinks to decide are actually morally bad. Consensual kink is not morally bad, it just isn't. That goes for kinks you don't like too.

Second, all the other things Matty has done are reprehensible in that he's a misogynistic edgelord who thinks he's cool kind of way. And I don't vibe! But getting dicked down by a dude who has not stopped talking about wishing he treated her right for fucking 9 years after the sudden loss of the most committed relationship she's ever had is not the same as dating calvin! like I hate to put it in those terms, but seriously, how many more ways does Tree have to tell you that they're literally just fucking and that to her, this is just sex? She's hooking up with him and they are having fun and Taylor has a long history of taking her mind off her problems with sex and so she's doing it again and like I can't be mad at her for it. Sorry, but I'm built different.

If it becomes something else, I'll adjust accordingly. But for now, I'm glad she's got someone consistent to get her mind off it and I hope she's well.

[girls-are-weird]

Wilmon 44 & 45

44. What do they love about each other the most?

i think wille loves how simon understands him, or at least is open to understanding him, to the point that he's pretty much the only person around whom he can be himself, without simon judging him or expecting him to be "better" than he is (simon thinks he's more than good enough as he is). he loves simon's voice and musical talent, of course, and how he gives all of himself to help the people he loves, even to his own detriment. he loves how confident simon is, and how he doesn't take shit from anyone.

simon loves how earnest wille is. he loves that wille is the only person who will take care of him when he's running himself ragged trying to take care of everyone else. he loves how supportive wille is, whether over a choir solo or his political views. he loves that wille trusts his opinion even on situations outside his expertise, and trusts him to make his own decisions. he loves that he's the first person wille comes to for advice and comfort, even on matters unrelated to him, even though given his position in the social hierarchy, he doesn't need to involve simon at all-- but he still wants to.

("everything." that's the real answer to this question.)

45. How do they comfort each other when they are helpless to do anything about the situation?

so. let me get my nerd glasses on for a second. 8)

the concept of "love languages" is a very romantic notion but not really scientific at all. people are too complex and their personalities too plastic to reduce them to one or two ways of showing affection, and the research on this is pretty much inconclusive.

that said, fictional characters, especially ones with such limited canon as wille and simon have, are a bit easier to fit into a simple classification, and it can be fun to play with it. so i 10000% subscribe to the idea that wille's go-to (but not only!) form of showing affection is physical touch, and i think for simon it's an even combination of acts of service and words of affirmation. but they also have come to know the other, or at least the other's personality if not their life details, very well in the few months since they met in canon. so i think they have also come to know how to adapt to the other's needs regarding those love languages.

so basically, simon knows to give wille a hug or a caress when he needs support, on top of reassuring him with words. and wille knows to ask what simon needs, how he can help, and to show his support with actions on top of just offering physical comfort. it really is rather remarkable how we can already see this even in just the twelve episodes we've had in canon so far. and while the love languages might not be truly testable, reproducible, or falsifiable, it's fun to make such observations about fictional characters, in a "jane goodall studying chimpanzees in the wild" kind of way. ;)

(sorry this got so long. ask me about astrology next-- we'll be here for hours.)

50 OTP questions game | send me a question!

[fenicenera83]

Marius/Daniel Appreciation week Day 5

-Endless Love-

Chapter V

AU - 80's disco inferno

If time had been different with us… How would I be today beside you? And you? Would you be here beside me? If you had been you, but without the veil of immortality, and if I had been me, the intricate human with the wounded heart, what would have become of us?

That starless night, from the filthy alleys , with rain flayed streets, filled with puddles and smelly dumpsters, rusty fire escapes, and walls painted with garish round words, marked the entrance into my life of his cobalt blue eyes and his rich, harmonious laugh. Strange, how things change, but do they not always remain the same? Ah yes cheap philosophy, sorry if you expected something different! I am not so open to admit, how much the greats of the past, have left inviolable and tremendously true truths, about us and what we are. And yes reading them, used to make me bitter and feel like an inconclusive, now, they scare me… In my defense I have always been sarcastic, prickly and indelicate even. He blunted me. Oh no he didn't change me, no, but he made me better. And it is not the tales of unicorns or princesses of immortal loves or towers and princes. It is simply the story of two men, two men who understood, at the end of their wandering, the word love. My wandering heart and his lonely heart, and everything we never said to each other, not because we didn't want to but because we didn't need to.

And nothing was ever the same again. That night when I walked into that nightclub through a metal door in one of those alleys, letting myself be invested by the lights and the loud music, the bodies and their movements and their smells, I had no idea that he would be there and even less that I would meet him. Surely that was no place for him! Needless to say, his quiet figure sitting elegantly at a small iron table stood out alarmingly. And how his polite but cold smiles repelled any attempt at approach was even more endearing. Thrown into the middle of that throng, on the dance floor, I counted at least fifteen people trying to sit with him. Was he waiting for someone? Why was such a fine man in such a place? Certainly not for fun, it was clear from the bewilderment in his eyes that he was not used to that kind of place. The colors of the changing lights about them and the movements of the bodies abandoned to the music finally brought our eyes together. The truth was that I had not been able to take my eyes off him.

He finally noticed it. I might as well be the sixteenth, I said, and I went to him. Strangely, his eyes never left me, and before I knew it, I was sitting in front of him. "So little red riding hood, what are you doing in the woods?" I asked, noting the crimson red of his jacket. "Who says I’m the red riding hood? The best quality of the wolf is knowing how to disguise as a lamb." and his eyes glowed beautifully, I don’t know yet if because of the lights or my throat that had suddenly become dry. "I’m sorry to point out that you’re too flashy…" I said defiantly.

"I could say the same about you." he whispered. And I felt it, despite the mass, the music, the total mess, I felt it, as if nothing else existed. And that’s how my little, dead world got hit by that wonderful, warm figure that is Marius. That’s how the hours went by and we were immersed in each other, until I noticed the lights changing. "You know, you should at least give me a dance…" and I said it with shyness. "I’m not suited for this kind of movement…" he said, staring at a girl wriggling against a boy. I laught… "Please?" He stared at me laughing and then nodded his head. I took him by the hand and took him with me to the middle of the track. It was then that the lights changed and the atmosphere became intimate and tender. "I didn’t tell you that from a certain time onwards, they sound slow, for couples…" In all response he held me to himself, he held me as if I were the most precious, delicate and desired thing in the world. And from that moment on, he’s been holding me like this. And he keep holding me like this every day of our life.

[three--rings]

Hello! Sorry to bother but I am waaay too curious

If you have time/energy/mood, could you please elaborate? I am curious about your perspective. Psychology is one of my biggest passions and I want to start a degree in it (with possibility to advance further with the degree maybe) I am aware of some of its flaws, and the fact that it can be biased and inconclusive and not exactly exact and precise like the other sciences. Is there anything else that perhaps I should keep an eye out on? Thank you for reading and if you reply, thank you for replying as well.

So the thing about studying psychology, especially at the undergrad level, is that you spend all your time being taught about these landmark studies that defined the thinking of decades of psychology theory and practice.

And then at some point, which may be during or after your education, you learn all of those studies were terrible research bullshit that can't be reliably reproduced even if they could get past a modern ethics board.

Psychology is a field that is really uncomfortable with itself because it desperately wants to be taken seriously as a hard science and not be thought of as just people thinking about people. But it is REALLY REALLY bad at being a hard science. The research is just not rigorous at ALL.

My senior year of undergrad for my research methods class my group of slackers who rarely went to class put together a research study where we drew up entirely new models and tools that looked far better than the published ones, applied them to a much larger and more diverse population of subjects and basically put the leading research in that little niche to shame. On the weekends. Our prof wanted us to publish but we were graduating and it never happened. We sent it to the leading researcher in the field and he was all...uh, yeah, I'm working on some new stuff too...but good for y'all. He was a known prick though.

Like, it's not that there's not good stuff in there somewhere. But my god there's so much chaff.

Then you get into the grad school degree maelstorm and...ugh. There are a lot of options. They are split into practical i.e. you want to help people in the real world and clinical i.e. you want to do shitty studies and publish.

I worked both in psychology research (so I got to see how the sausage was made on the ground) and in social work for mental health care and...most of my coworkers at both jobs had some kind of advanced degrees and were making something around $30K doing the same jobs as me. There are far too many people with masters in psychology because they are easy to get and even if you get your LPC they are still way too many people with them with no idea what they are doing. Like you can go to Christian College Number 304 and get your Marriage and Family Therapy masters and come out and have only learned to Pray On It and do some supervised hours and now you're licensed and yeah I worked with these people. (Go get your masters, they told me. It is SO EASY they told me. Uh, yeah that's not winning me over to your program.)

Anyway, if you can't tell I'm jaded. Besides the fact that the field is one that will eat you alive, burn you out, and then spit you up, with no money and no accomplishments. I also deeply loved it even though it destroyed me. (I mean also my spine exploded, which didn't help.)

If you want to do hands-on helping people stuff I like the social work programs out there. And if you want to study hard science of human behavior neuroscience is killing it. Psychology is...IDK. The most hopeful way to look at it is that it's a discipline going through a transitional period maybe. But I'm also fairly out of touch with the field these days so talking to someone actually in the field now would be a good call for further advice. Unfortunately most faculty in my experience are...deeply behind the times. You would not believe the kind of 1960s relics I had to deal with teaching me.

And most of what I learned about mental health I learned on the ground, in mental health crisis work, on the go. Most of psychology doesn't really enjoy dealing with "abnormal psychology". Which is literally the term for people with any mental health diagnosis. I had one class on it.

So that's my entirely personal experience based opinion. For more, look into the replication crisis of psychology research.