#still don't think the internal parts are functional that way though

[kindacreepy-kindaugly]

weirdest fucking shit to fixate over but we just keep comin back to it huh

tmi in the tags probably

[celestial-sphere-press]

what kind/style of endbands do you usually do? they look so good 👀

hi!! sorry for taking a while to answer, I wanted to make sure I could give you my best answer.

I usually do what's called a "double core" endband. I use double core endbands over the "bead on front" method because bead on front style is not great for uneven distributions of color, irregular patterns, or using more than three colors. Functionally it works by having your extra threads wrapped up inside the thread that is showing, forming the smaller secondary core. Ultimately you are doing figure 8s around the main core & then your secondary core of thread. This keeps things pretty neat & tidy. The tutorial I first used was this one by DAS Bookbinding, though I don't think his endband tutorials are his best ones. Another binder I've spoken with endbands about a lot is maleeka, who recently did an endband tutorial herself.

maybe I should do one... but it takes a lot for me to get enough motivation to make videos. I'll take this opportunity to write up some tips I've shared when people ask instead:

1. Endband core material is the MOST IMPORTANT component. You need a core that is stiff but flexible - it should NOT be floppy because it wiggles everywhere under the tension of the thread, but still needs to flex with the opening & closing of the book. You want something that doesn't compress, to reduce tension shifts in thread creating a lumpy endband. Have a smooth core is less critical but helps to avoid snagging threads & allows you some leeway on sliding threads around for adjustments. My personal choice is smooth leather jewelers cord (link is just an example, I get mine from a local craft store).

2. Thread size. All your threads need to be the same size; it will be visible if you are using two different sizes, and mess with your front core. Additionally, I know lots of people will use larger twists of multiple strands of embroidery thread, which can work, but is more likely to compress & alter its size in unexpected ways. A single strand is preferable. If you want something thicker you can find some thread weights that are heavier twists intended to be used in a single strand, not pulled apart. I prefer smaller sizes because it works better for the gradient designs I like.

3. Silk thread is your friend (if you can spend the money on it). It reduces fuzz (no fuzz like you get with cotton/DMC embroidery thread), it's usually easier to manage, has a more compact twist, and a higher shine. I use Japanese silk hand sewing thread in size #9 (9号). There's multiple brands (Tire, Daruma, KNK/kanagawa, etc). Here's a wholesale listing (minimum 20,000¥ for international). A non-Japanese brand is Guterman silk (German brand). Both the Japanese & German threads come in a heavier weight (Japanese is #16, Guterman is buttonhole).

4. Thread tension is the most important part of the actual technique. You need to ensure the threads currently wrapped in the secondary core keep tension when you are working the thread around them.

5. Working on a curve. This is only really relevant if you're doing an endband on a rounded book, but the circumference of the curve means there's more real estate on the outside vs inside of the curve. Sometimes this can cause bunching on the secondary core. My own solution to this is that sometimes I wrap the primary core but drop a wrap here or there around the secondary core (only between two wraps of the same color I'm dropping). I uh... don't know of anyone currently recommending this besides myself so I can't point to any pro endorsement for this method, it's just what works for me. Forgive my terrible writing:

6. Pattern management. I... don't really plan much how my patterns sit on the spine, which is not very helpful. HOWEVER you can do some pattern management on the fly, if you really want your pattern to end at a certain place. Thread can be packed more or less densely on the core, resulting in some pattern compression; you could also strategically drop wraps in less noticeable locations. An unintended example: I was replicating the pattern on this endband (left) when I realize I wasn't packing the thread as densely as I had the first time around (right), which resulted in the overall pattern taking up more space. You can do this on purpose, if you need to.

this was way more than you asked but it gave me a chance to put all this in one spot. Best of luck in vanquishing the dreaded EndWyrms.

[didyougaming]

Hi, gamers. I know the results of the Sandwich Poll have been gnawing at you. So many people wondering whether they answered correctly, which as a reminder is a very important factor in determining which afterlife you end up in when you die. Please understand that I needed a lot of time to internally process these poll results and also that I've been kinda busy/tired. But the people need to know, so here we go.

In total, we received 372 responses. I also spent a lot of my weekend annoying anyone who would listen to me in person about these questions, but I didn't write those answers down.

Question 1 was fairly non-controversial, as it should be. It is worth noting that 3.2% of respondents chose to write-in an answer, and most of these write-in answers were what scientists would call "bad" and "not really useful." So you can assume a 3.2% margin of error on everything in this survey. That's how statistics works.

Question 2 is where we see a real divide. Most respondents consider a sandwich cut into two separate but equal pieces to be one sandwich. This is a real shame, because it's the wrong answer. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Question 3 considers whether one piece of bread cut in half and used for sandwich-making results in a sandwich, and surprisingly the majority of respondents do consider this to be one sandwich. This is really interesting, because despite ending up with functionally and aesthetically the same result as one of the pieces of the sandwich from question 2, a significant number of respondents believe the results to be inherently different. I wish there was a way to better track how much overlap there was for those two seemingly contradictory answers, but the big Sheets page Google Docs is daunting and I don't feel like figuring out how to parse that data, so we just need to accept that we'll never have that exact number. That's how statistics works.

Question 4 mostly just cements the findings of the previous two questions. I do want to point out the one person who answered "who the fuck does this". Sandwich shops do this. Go to a sandwich shop for once in your life and really watch them do their work. Open your eyes.

Question 5 did not get me a lot of useful data, as it turns out having a question that only allowed for write-in answers was a bad idea. However, there are more or less two camps for people who really took these questions seriously and gave it their all. The first school of thought suggests that intent is the most important factor, and if you deem what you've made to be a sandwich, it's a sandwich. While I appreciate the critical thinking on display here, I believe in the other school of thought, which is that when you put ingredients between two breads that's a sandwich, baby. There is a sub-school of thought here that requires those two pieces to be whole pieces, but that's wrong.

One question that I should have included in the survey I think proves my point. If you order a sandwich platter from a deli and they use a single really long piece of bread (think like a several foot long hero) into multiple sections, you would say that you have sandwiches, plural. If you wanted to grab one, you wouldn't say "I'm going to grab a 64th of a sandwich" because you would sound deranged. Despite being parts of a larger whole, they are still ingredients between pieces of bread, and thus fit the definition of "sandwich."

Anyway, thank you for coming on this non-gaming detour with me. It was extremely important that I prove a friend wrong on this topic, and even though I don't think I did that and I think he's choosing to double down on his incorrect opinions, I'm still choosing to spin this as a personal and moral victory. New actual DidYouGamings will come out as soon as I discover any new facts about video games (right now there's only a couple hundred facts about video games at all and I've basically covered all of them.)

[rubra-wav]

Vox HCs #4: Theories about how he works like biologically

Cw: Sfw - but discussion about non-sexual anatomy type stuff

A/N because I've thought way too much about the logistics of him and robotic/tech demons and how they work/could work way too much. 💀 These are just some of the things I've thought about

- The main thing I see people wondering about is his face and how he drinks stuff, kisses people, etc.

- I think that the screen of his face is a full screen in its resting state, but he can influence the way it kind of functions/presents. ie. Manipulating the area around his mouth so he actually does have a mouth and its not just a projection on his screen.

- I don't think his mouth is a constant actual 3 dimensional thing though and is rather something he can change at will whenever he sees fit.

- If you were to touch it just in casual day to do life, his mouth would just be the screen / 2d.

- Also, I don't think his mouth feels like a normal mouth. If you were to kiss him I feel like his lips would not feel exactly like normal lips, and that his lips and tongue would kind of have that kind of static electricity sensation to them.

- Like if he were to lick you, I feel like you'd get that kind of static electricity sensation that makes your hair stand on its end.

- I'm not too sure about the rest of his face though. Maybe he can manipulate the rest of his face to become more 3 dimensional, but I don't think he would do it often as it's not necessary.

- Due to him being seen drinking during season 1, I think it's safe to assume that the way his internal functions are designed are relatively similar to normal humans.

- I believe he'd also have a somewhat similar body system as well. However, it just would be like metal parts, wires and artificial stuff underneath his skin rather than actual muscle, veins, ligaments, organs, bodily fluids, etc. Etc. That mirror those bodily systems.

- Having said that though, I do think parts of him are sensitive to being damaged by water. He may be just fine drinking water and liquids, but if they got in his ports (like on the back of his head), that would be bad.

- Because he prides himself on being up to date tech wise, he'd likely be waterproofed to a degree, but it still wouldn't be good. I can imagine him being damaged by it and bluescreening and forcefully shutting down to prevent any further damage to his less human reminiscent systems. (Do you think he lays down in rice when that happens? 💀)

- Also, I do not think he technically needs to eat or drink stuff. Judging by the fact he can plug into things (like how in the Stayed Gone video he plugs into all the computers and stuff), I think his main energy source would actually be charging using electrical wires and stuff.

- I think that him eating and drinking is just a preference of his, and that other demons who are similar to him wouldn't need to eat or drink. He can still get energy that way, but it's less efficient and more of just a preference/reminiscent of his past life as a human that he's held onto all this time.

- I also don't think he really 'sleeps' in the traditional sense or needs to sleep? He can likely regain power that way, but he wouldn't really need to sleep and could just stay awake all day and night if he's connected to a suitable charging source every couple of hours.

- I do think he would like powering down/switching off for a bit to rest though - just to not go crazy. Even if you wont die from lack of sleep, it's still nice to not have to think about things for a couple of hours.

Now I'm thinking about him laying down in rice after trying to go swimming without water proofing himself properly while bitching lmao.

[zahri-melitor]

Ric Grayson, or Tim 'Nightwing' Drake: a story of how Tom King's Nightwing pitch would have functioned.

You can often see the remains of discarded or overruled pitches in comics, if you look at structural decisions and compare them to pitches that you know were made.

One obvious one people might be familiar with is that Helena Bertinelli, back in 2003, was being set up to be removed from the Bat books and transferred over to what eventually became Greg Rucka's Checkmate 2006. There's a whole establishing storyline done in Gotham Knights by Scott Beatty. However, Gail Simone's pitch for Birds of Prey, which was published a mere two months after the Beatty story wrapped up, took Helena and used her to expand the Birds of Prey roster. It's a move that likely redirected Helena's character arc permanently (though the ghosts can still be seen in the choice to use Helena B as Matron in Grayson).

Equally: I hypothesise the reason we got Ric Grayson is because we got Young Justice 2019.

If you look at the storytelling, in terms of cover dates:

Dick was shot in Batman #55, in November 2018

Tynion's 'Tec run finished July 2018

Young Justice 2019 started March 2019

City of Bane started September 2019

King's pitch for Tim to take over the Nightwing mantle would probably have been a 12 issue run, to my eye; with the schedule that Nightwing had at the time, it would have been 6 issues (twice monthly) and then 6 issues (once monthly), ending the run and placing Dick back as a restored Nightwing...in issue #61, August 2019.

City of Bane kicked off the next month, being King's big 'all family-in' storytelling climax arc. It would have been the perfect place to put Nightwing, once again himself, reuniting with people. (I cannot tell how this placement would have gone should King have got his full 100 issue run; but I don't think City of Bane was significantly shifted forwards?)

Now I can't tell if the twice monthly issues dropped to monthly because Ric Grayson went down like a lead balloon with the fandom, but that would have been a very fast turn around in solicits for DC to withdraw support on a new direction (about a month). If it was expected to remain twice monthly, then I still think it would have been a 12 issue story, but might have stretched to 18 to meet plot needs over in Batman (King doesn't seem to have an issue about padding stories to get timing to line up in ways he wants them to)

King's pitch was also made at the time when Tim was still Red Robin, but clearly there was internal interest in transitioning him away from the name and into some other identity as part of the shift away from n52. Putting Tim into the Nightwing suit for 6 months to a year would have been a nice intervening step to use as the prompt to give Tim a new identity.

It's a pitch from King that just...fits in really really well. I can see how he'd have had it interact with things. Especially as King really hadn't had an opportunity to use Tim in his run yet due to the Mr Oz storyline, and he'd been pulling so many other faces through his story.

(I will also note that the 'Drake' identity and costume for Tim appears in January 2010 in Young Justice; Bendis' initial concept was clearly taking Tim back to Robin before he also tried a 'new costume' growth arc).

But instead Bendis wanted to use Young Justice to anchor the whole Wonder Comics initiative, and he wanted Tim as Robin for it because the concept was to pull in all the nostalgia for everyone for Young Justice 1998, thus having everyone in their original identities. And that whole decision probably had more lead time than your average comic, so it took priority over suggestions of moving Tim to Nightwing (because they already had plans brewing).

(And then Young Justice got fucked over with SO MUCH editorial meddling, to the point that I cannot wait until enough people have left DC that we actually get stories about exactly how bad it was, rather than just inferring it from what can be seen in the text itself)

Come back next time for when I instead explain what I think happened with the accepted pitch for Ric Grayson (and how I cannot BELIEVE this was actually an accepted pitch, given the way it was treated as a hot potato; it feels more like an editorial dictate of a concept that was passed off until Dan Jurgens came up with an idea of how to make it into an actual plot)

[shockinglysubmissive]

Day 9- Medical

Trafalgar Law x AFAB!Reader

Warnings: body inspection, fingering, slight power play (potential dub con)

He was your captain. You trust him not to take advantage of your body. Though it wasn't like you had any options if he did. And you couldn't lie. He wouldn't really be taking advantage of you since you have been dreaming about him for months. You were trapped on the ship with him as the only doctor. What it weird that he specifically asked about your last pelvic exam? Maybe a little bit. But he was just a concerned captain. Or at least, that's what he told you.

You were laid back, a sheet the only modesty you are given. The ship wasn't really made for these kinds of inspections, so you had your ankles on his shoulders as his gloved hands pinch and rub at your outer lips. You didn't really remember this from your last exam on your home island. Law could sense your hesitation as your heels dig into his shoulders.

"What? I haven't even gotten to the uncomfortable part." Hie eyes barely lift from your cunt, too lost in the sight in front of him. "Do you not trust me? Do you think it don't have your best interest at heart? Well I can assure you. This is just a thorough exam. I'm feeling for any abnormalities. Wouldn't you rather someone you trust telling you if something is wrong? Someone like me?" His long fingers tap at your clit making your legs twitch slightly.

"Then what was that about? That didn't seem like you were looking for abnormalities." You were embarrassed. There is no way that Law can't tell that you're growing increasingly wet by his actions. The way his large, warm hands manipulate and massage your entire vulva. He was waking up nerves you didn't even know existed.

"That was a sensation test. I was making sure the nerves still function. But if you don't think I'm inspecting close enough..." He trails off as two of his fingers part your lower lips, giving him direct access to your clit. With his thumb, he presses slow, firm circles around it. "Is this better? Can I continue with what I am doing? I'm going to start the internal inspection." His voice drips with annoyance from being interrupted.

It is taking serious effort to control your breathing as his circles continue. You have to swallow hard to keep from gasping when he inserts a slender finger into you, feeling it massage your upper wall. He was clearly looking for something and part of your mind wondered if this was really just a pelvic exam. From your experience, they never lasted this long, and they never stimulated your g-spot and clit at the same time. Not that you were complaining. If this was how all your future pelvic exams will be, you may just have to get them more often. Weekly seems like a good idea.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Cruella De Vil x Fem!Reader || Drabble

Plot: Cruella always demands you show her your outfit before you go anywhere in public with her, so she can dictate whether you change or not before she's seen with you.

Today you refuse.

Warnings: Degradation, control issues, yelling, poking the bear, bratty behaviour, etc. Cruella is a mean, controlling mommy with explosive tendencies. But what did you expect. Also reader is... a bit of a brat and into it.

As soon as you turned up in her office, ready to go out to the function Cruella invited you to, you do not want to show her your outfit. Every single time she takes you somewhere, she always has you take off your coat and do a turn for her- and she decides whether you have to change or not. And of course... usually, your outfit's all wrong and she just has to pick something better for you. You think she just likes treating you like a barbie doll.

Cruella De Vil; A stressful, controlling, maniac woman. Its a wonder how you put up with her. How you actually like her.

Tonight though, you're really not in the mood for it; You just want to get this ball over with and get into bed. So, you tighten the knot around your waist holding your coat securely around your body and immediately stretch at the door to reach hers for her off the ornate hook. "We should get going now. We don't want to be late, like last time- Shit."

That was the wrong thing to say. That was the W R O N G thing to say. You knew it the moment you said it. The only reason you were late last time, after all, was because Cruella made you change. And you just reminded her of it. Wincing, you gently pull her coat up and off the hook. Lower your heels to the ground again.

When you peak at her, she's still behind her desk. She hasn't made a single move to get up. A sketchbook still sits open in front of her and a red marker is still between two fingers, the knuckles of which are pressed against her right temple; expecting. She raises a perfect thin eyebrow at you, her eyes as sharp as the talons securely glued to her red silk gloves. "... Well?? What are you wearing?"

"A dress." You tell her, stern. Determined not to do the stupid dance she insists upon. What are you? A teenager? Her sycophantic little intern? No. "Its blue. Pretty. Now lets go- "

She rolls her eyes, sighing. "Oh darling, lets not waste anymore time then we will already when the pretty little dress you chose out of that pitiful little single-door closet of yours is inevitably horrible. Now take off the coat."

"There's nothing wrong with my clothes! I can pick them myself!" You cross your arms tightly over your chest. "And I'm not changing."

At this, the blatant disobedience you were expressing, her eyebrows creep all the way up her forehead. A faint, disbelieving grin tickles at one corner of her lips like a ghost. "... oh?"

Its a dangerous 'oh'. An 'oh' that leads you to believe she wants to hear more of this from you. Its the 'oh' before you say something dumb, and she tears you apart with her words and you end up taking off your coat for her, feeling lousy and full of hot shame.

... but you were prepared for this when you walked in. You knew there wasn't even a sliver of a real chance that you would get her out the door before she remembered to check your clothes. You knew their would be a fight. So instead, you don't say another word. You just look back at her, arms crossed, a stony look on your face. A silent, stubborn yes. You heard me, crazy lady.

Cruella's eyes narrow and the shimmer of a smile dissipates into a nasty scowl, no longer amused at you. "Take... off... the coat."

You cant help the stupid, horny part of your brain from flickering to life at her being mad at you. After all, you like her for a reason. And its not because she's such a sane, comforting person to be around. But you do your best to ignore it. Or what? "No."

For a moment she manages to smooth out her expression, but you're no fool. You know the crazy bitch. And you can clearly see the hailstorm roaring behind wide, 'innocent', blue eyes. "... Darling, it is a Friday evening and I don't particularly want to go to this stupid party at all, but I have to. So be a good girl for me, hm?" When her voice suddenly raises, you're expecting it. That doesn't mean you don't still flinch. "-And take. off. that bloody coat!"

"No!" Make me.

"For gods sake, if you cant listen then you're going straight home. Do you want that??"

Yes. What are you gonna do about it?

... but you don't want to let her down. Fuck. In the end, you want to support her. You give a sigh, and you're about to say as much- tell her you'll do whatever she wants but you're going to talk about this later- when she says something that stops you in your tracks. Changes your mind immediately.

"Or are you just a filthy brat??? Hm??? Respond. Or are you dumb, too?"

Oh fuck.

Your crumbled resolve pulls together again, and you straighten your shoulders, raising your chin. "... You know what?" Promptly, you drop her coat on the ground. Watch her eyes flick down to where her very expensive fur now lays crumpled on the floor, disbelief written all over her face. "Maybe. What are you going to do about it?"

[familyabolisher]

Apologies if you've answered this before, but I've been following you for a while and the way you approach literary analysis is so interesting, and your takes have made me reflect on and reconsider the way I approach a text and how to respond to it! So I wanted to ask: when you read other people's takes/analysis for a particular piece of media, how do you determine if it's good or not? And not in a way where you decide it's "good" in the sense that the person you're reading has uncovered the One True Interpretation you could get out of that piece of media, but in the sense where you feel like it was worth your time, and hit the spots that you're looking for in particular when it comes to media analysis.

I'm asking because I've taken to reading more media analysis and commentary online a lot more nowadays, and sometimes I'll read something I'm not quite satisfied with but can't exactly articulate why I feel that way. I never know if it's in the particular language used or in the length, or in the details, because frequently I find that at the end of my reading I don't even disagree with the take or its premise, which makes my dissatisfaction all the more confusing. So I do like hearing about how other people approach things to try and figure things out for myself, and I respect a lot of your positions, so. How do you do it?

Thank you! I feel like “good/bad” is a very broad framework to be using here; I wonder if it might be more helpful to come to conclusions about analytical work based on how useful you found it. There’s a lot of critical work that I consider to be completely useless to me, but that doesn’t necessarily make it ‘bad’ or even ‘wrong’; it’s just not doing what I want it to be doing. Some questions you might want to ask could include:

Is this elucidating? Does this explain what it purports to explain, does it answer the questions it wants to answer and/or pose new questions that weren’t immediately legible in the text? Has it developed an idea clearly? Has it given you some new angles from which you can think about the text? In short: did you get something from reading it?

Is the argument followed to its furthest possible conclusion? What I mean by this is like, media analysis is often a process of asking a lot of “why” questions: why is X like this? Why is this significant? Why X and not Y?—over and over until you run out of questions to ask. I think the big thing to watch out for here is whether or not a piece of analysis lays out its observations as though events, characterisation, relationships, etc., are phenomena emerging organically (as though it were “real life”) rather than being narrative choices made with intention (and some impetus towards figuring out what that intention is). Saying that X character is like Y is far less compelling than saying X character is like Y because Z when Z is an argument that extends beyond the boundaries of the narrative itself. Narratives are a series of deliberate choices; we want to know why those choices were made and whether we agree with them.

To give an example: let’s say we’re talking about the significance of Shiv’s pregnancy in the final episode of Succession. Following it through to its conclusion might look like this:

I start out by saying, “Tom being favoured over Kendall as CEO of Waystar is in part due to Shiv’s pregnancy reaffirming the Roy family bloodline, something that Roman establishes Kendall as being functionally incapable of doing.” The first question we should ask here is: why is reaffirming the bloodline significant?

From here we can say, well, we know it’s significant because Roman uses the word ‘bloodline’ to mark Tom/Shiv as favourable, and this tells us that there is a logic of eugenics running through Logan’s empire. This is good, but we’re still operating in wholly diegetic territory ie. the only terms we’re setting for our argument are those of describing conditions internal to the narrative. The next question we’re asking is: why are the Succession writers bringing this question of eugenics and bloodlines into play here?

From here, we can go in a bunch of different directions—for argument’s sake, we can think about Succession’s relationship to imperial/monarchic narratives of dynastic succession crises and how the show generates tension in part by transposing those narratives onto an American capitalist media empire in order to suggest that networks of capitalist hegemony and the means by which such a hegemony is sustained can be discursively linked back to such dynastic interplay. We might then point to eg. Caroline and the British aristocracy and this question of blood purity that Logan’s relationship with her + his discarding of Connor introduces; can we think about the British imperial aristocracy as a crutch on which American capitalism rests, or are we being asked to consider how these imperial superpowers are a) functionally interchangeable and b) mutually sustaining, or? We can look at the fact that Sophie Roy is brown and Iverson is implied to be autistic (and obviously the fact that neither is biologically related to Kendall and the suggestion that social ‘inferiority’ is therefore hereditary) to identify whose bloodline a practice of eugenics within hegemony seeks to retain and who it seeks to dispossess, and how this links back to the willingness on the part of the siblings to collude with (or even openly support) a fascist when it becomes in their best interest to do so. We can ask questions about reproduction of the bloodline as a means of reaping the rewards of hegemony (Shiv) or punishment within the borders of said hegemony for impotence and sexual deviance (Kendall and Roman). All of these lead us from arguments about the internal conditions of the Roy family towards conditions of the ruling class articulated through the family structure. All of this is compelling, but it begs the question of: why are we able to extrapolate all of these conclusions from the narrative configuration of the Roy family? Where in the text is it evinced that this kind of metonymic reading is coherent?

Finally, we link this back to Succession by understanding the Roy family as effectively metonymic for the ruling class as a united body (and why it’s effective for a family unit to take on such a metonymic role! What does this tell us about the relationship between the cluster of kinship relations we call the “family” and hegemony?) as is pretty transparently evinced throughout the show, and which is what gives meaning to this series of observations and allows us to extract an argument towards thematic significance out of what was initially just a set of observations about what was ‘happening’ on-screen.

I hope this is a clear example—I just went with it because most people on this website are at least passably fluent in Succession by now, lmao. The point is, you keep asking questions until you’ve followed the throughline through as far as it can be followed. In evaluating a piece of critical writing, you always want to be asking: why is this there? Why is this important? A weaker piece of critical writing will often avoid or else seem not to consider these sorts of questions. As a general rule of thumb, the more a work of critical writing seems to take for granted, the weaker it tends to be.

How well does the argument match the expectations you might have? Is this line of interrogation something that you’ve considered before, and what conclusions did you draw? Does the argument fall in line with your conclusions; does it challenge or develop them by introducing something you hadn’t considered, or do you think that your understanding identified something that the argument missed? If you were asked the question that the piece purports to respond to, how would you respond?

What are the blind spots of the argument? This is similar to the above, but is specifically concerned with asking what the piece might have missed or what assumptions might be limiting its scope. This means looking for the assumptions upon which the argument rests and trying to unpack and challenge them in order to understand how they took the form that they did. An example of this might be the kind of “female rage”/“teenage girl ferality” arguments you often see circling about Yellowjackets: what narrative does this idea of girls’ youthful ‘rage’ implicitly exonerated from harm contribute to? What do we do when we reify the idea of ‘teenage girlhood’ as a unique, impenetrable state that affords those who ‘experience’ it a uniquely elevated condition, or when we flatten these characters into the apparently equalised category of ‘teenage girl’? How do these arguments elide questions of race in Yellowjackets as regarding eg. Lottie or Taissa, and how can we follow them through to think about blind spots not only in the argument but in the show itself? No argument can feasibly encompass every possible nuance and perspective that one could bring to a text, obviously, but a stronger piece of critical writing will try to get into these underlying assumptions with depth and thoughtfulness and try to put some work into showing why they came to the conclusions that they came to; again, it’s about what gets taken for granted, what the writer presumes can go unspoken, and whether we ought to drag it to the surface and take a better look at it.

How well is the argument substantiated? Here I would expect reference to the source material—how well are these references selected? Are they consistent? Is there some cherry-picking happening—can you think of a point in the text where the claims being made might be challenged or contradicted? Does the argument impose stasis or unilaterialism onto something that in the text is in fact depicted as dynamic or otherwise in development? How well does this hold up with your interpretation of these moments—can you interpret them differently? What do you make of that ambiguity?

Can you place a value judgement on the argument made? In other words: do you agree? This is basically just about synthesising your responses to all the other questions and evaluating how on the mark you think the argument is; how you would respond to it, how you might develop it, how it might have developed your understanding of the work or else can be applied to other parts of the text (or indeed, other texts).

Ultimately I think the best thing you can do here is develop your own positions on texts to the best of your ability—I find that writing my arguments out helps me to get to grips with them better—and engaging with analytical work relative to that, ie. going in with your own solid sense of understanding from which your response can be crafted; I have an older post here on some of the questions you can start asking when you’re looking to do so. Obviously this means keeping an open mind towards arguments that contradict your own or that you may not have thought of before, but knowing what you think and why you think it will make it a lot easier to notice what might be missing or contradictory in someone else’s work (or, again, what you yourself might have missed). Critical work is (imo) best thought of as a dialogue rather than a straightforward imparting of knowledge; how someone else’s analysis informs your own, and how yours informs theirs, without flattening this dynamic into a deference of superior authority on either end, is the clearest and most productive way to think about it all.

I hope this is helpful!

[mdhwrites]

do you think odalia should of had more depth?

So weirdly enough, I think this is an incorrect question because it implies Odalia by herself is important. A story needs to understand the usefulness of its characters after all, what their purpose is, etc. like that. For a lot of essentially one off characters, say Viney or Vee for example, a hint of depth but not exploring it is smart because you allow your fans to imagine what they could be like but they don't get in the way of the story you're telling. One off villains especially fall into this because their point much more often than anything else is simply to instigate a conflict. That's it.

I do not deride the vast majority of S1 villains for being one note. In fact, a lot of them are more fun for their simplicity. As Odalia is essentially a one off villain just meant for Amity's growth, because she's her daughter, she shouldn't need depth because she is just an obstacle to be conquered.

...That whole part 'Amity's her daughter' is a bit of a problem though, isn't it?

See, the minute you tie a villain to a main character, that starts complicating things. The more their relationship has effected either side, their narrative role starts to warp. They are suddenly a large figure within this person's life and so not only is defeating them a much bigger, more complicated affair but also that the villain's character is going to make or break critical elements of a main character's influences and backstory. They can no longer be one note unless their role was one note.

So instead of 'Should Odalia have had more depth' the better question is 'Is more depth for Odalia necessary for her place in the narrative related to Amity?' That requires us to define what her role in Amity's life is. What in theory her actions as told by Amity set her up as.

Odalia before S2 is a parent who has enforced onto Amity the need for social standing, power and exceptionalism. She also has so much power over Amity's life as to dictate who she can and can't be friends with and we can assume by the cruelty that Amity and the twins enact upon others, even within their own family, that this competition is inherent to the Blight family as a whole.

HOWEVER.

Also before S2, we see cracks of kindness within all of this. Odalia still caring enough to make sure Amity gets her lunch. Odalia overlooking the twins' bad behavior, despite Hexside seeming like the sort of school that would have called Odalia over them skipping class. Amity does not appear to fear repercussions from her mother anymore when it comes to her friend group as she befriends Luz and Willow without seemingly any fear of retribution (especially Luz) and discards Boscha and her entire old friend group without any real effort. This implies that Odalia isn't as controlling as Understanding Willow implies because her children actually have an incredible amount of freedom and free will. They do not live in the constant shadow of their parent, even if Odalia has had a large impact on them.

I focus on pre-S2 like this for a reason. You can retcon all you want BUT Odalia had to stand on what was setup before her arrival. Anything afterwards is damage control for fuck ups they made. Even then, many of their retcons actually make elements of this worse as Odalia was able to internalize her dream of Amity being in the EC so severely that just the idea of ANY threat to that was able to drive Amity to madness (Teenage Abomination) or close to the brink of tears (Covention). This further implies a great deal of influence over Amity and that her lessons left deep scars on her, to the point where Amity stopped distinguishing between her mother's desires and her own.

That doesn't FUNCTION with S2.

Odalia in S2 leans in ENTIRELY into the idea that she'd straight up murder one of her own children if they stepped out of line too far. She literally was willing to show how efficiently her HOME DEFENSE robot, which you would think would be used to protect YOUR KIDS, can murder a child in order to hurt Amity and prove her dominance. The twins, who are unrepentant in their schemes outside of Amity almost getting killed, do fear repercussions from Odalia. Odalia hates literally anything that makes them step out of line with the image she desires for her family, thus trying to dye Amity's hair. She is a monster, through and through.

A monster that Amity tells to go fuck herself and suffer ZERO ramifications from. If the show were as brave as people claim, that would have led to Amity being DISOWNED because why would Odalia continue to accept what is clearly an abject failure of ideals at this point? Yes, Alador theoretically pushes the idea of how Amity might be getting stronger based on this but why would she actually believe that? And even then, is a potential coven head worth it if it gives her no power back because they won't listen to her? Because they aren't profitable and loyal to her anymore? Even without the retcons to Alador, there's a real case that just in her first appearance, it's a cop out. Post Alador's retcons where Odalia doesn't care about him and doesn't listen to him, where she takes a single act of betrayal as a reason to accuse him of wanting to break off their partnership, all of this only becomes worse.

And all of this comes back around to crack Amity's character. That arc everyone praises from S1? Now it makes no sense because Amity's influences make no sense. What she rebels against is made trivial but also incomprehensible because there SHOULD have been consequences and she should have MUCH more scared of those consequences. Instead, it comes incredibly easy and naturally to her to break her bonds and be a good person with the 'right' friends now. This is compounded by how little anyone ever calls out her behavior or how almost all of the time she may spend being introspective is off screen. We don't get to see the ideals she holds be properly challenged besides... Luz existing and Understanding Willow. Meanwhile, HER MOTHER is like THIS. Where those ideals would be constantly reinforced and the consequences for breaking those ideals would be SEVERE.

So, to loop back around: Did Odalia need more depth? Yes. Or she had to have mattered much, MUCH less to Amity.

======+++++======

As a note, this is one of those big examples to me for how TOH fans struggle to actually bring the show together for their analysis rather than cherry picking examples or using single episodes. Anyone who tries to claim Odalia and Amity's relationship makes sense is ignoring a LOT of elements that intrinsically tied to one another and how those elements cascade upon each other. Complex storytelling is like this where one creative choice creates a knock on effect. Making characters all be tied between each other somehow is one of the best examples of this but I feel like a lot of fans, for the sake of praising Amity's arc, only focus on Odalia and Amity like they are in a closed circuit and only for the specific parts they want to use in that circuit. That's not how this works.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[attex]

You think fp and lttm have some self soothing behaviors?

i have been regularly thinking of answetring this ask (it was sent 3 months ago.) but i kept fucking forgetting. i think they do tbh but theyre akin to how they move around their puppets by default, yknow how some people move their hands when talking its like that for their Thinking in a way. it can be like when someones mumbling/talking to themselves cuz theyre really lost in thought or something. (insert joke about italians here) this applies to every iterator with a functional connected puppet...

this is just advanced headcanoning btw, read more cuz its kinda long and not formatted well

for the cringe siblings though i headcanon five pebbles would be touching his robe fabric a lot (especially post-rivulet where hes more concentrated on his own puppet and tries to use it more to ground himself to his own body), he does that out of stress usually as another little external representation of his emotions- i imagine a lot of the structure straight up moves and has a lot of its parts basically shifting and wiggling around, its more involuntary but i think pebbles moves and bundles up his cables that are normally used for local data transferring. he doesn't have much to reorganize within him internally a lot of the time (anymore...) so he basically moves his devices for it for the sake of the sensation of having/doing some sort of action

i think moon sometimes gently rocks her puppet back and forth when under-stimulated. though she usually lands back to staying very still (she does this before her collapse too anyway, she meditates in a way have you seen how she moves her puppet to the middle of her chamber and closes her eyes and has her halo move gently etc. AHHHHH its so cuteeee) also i draw her with hair like wires so um :) she braids them sometimes or caresses them. shes much more disconnected from her entire body so its Something to do at least. she will hold and look at the pearls or other items that creatures end up bringing to her also <3 post-rivulet she gets a lot to do with her structure. she very often rumbles parts of her to hum sounds and such, she does this with her puppet too but its more akin to humming a melody for the puppet lol. while every iterator can has a near-constant background hum and noise caused by many things, moon explicitly alters her internal humming to match external things she is experiencing- (unlike other iterators who don't usually have their internal "rhythm" match their external environment as well) i believe she developed this habit to be more in tune with her environmental location as it helped with not causing as much harmful interference to all that is around her (she has an older, not as performant/optimized can so she needed to adjust to function better), its beneficial for her workings too lol! her organic parts do need to be in tune with the life surrounding her to be able to keep stable.

[nyxlaufeyson]

Your Stupid Face

Loki Oneshot Masterlist - Main Masterlist

POV: Second

Ship: Loki x Reader

Type: Angst and Fluff

Wordcount: 2,771 (Including lyrics)

Song: "Your Stupid Face" by Kaden MacKay Listen Here

TW: Miscommunication/Misdirected feelings/Loki being kind of an ass but it gets sorted out.

Synopsis:  Loki really hates your stupid face. Well, maybe not as much as he thinks.

A/N: Woah that's crazy, I'm finally posting something I actually finished?! Also the lyrics are incorporated as just text, dialogue, or maybe internal thoughts.

Your laughter filled the room, and the other Avengers couldn’t help but join in. You had been living with the Avengers for several months now, and nobody could resist your charisma. 

Well, except for Loki. At least, that’s what he told himself. 

For some reason, he couldn’t stand your face. At first, he didn’t mind being around you. He laughed at your jokes, and even got to know you as a person. 

However, after a couple of months, he started to develop feelings that made him feel exposed and vulnerable. And, uncomfortable with these feelings, he started to convince himself that he despised everything about you. He especially hated your stupid face. 

He didn’t hide these feelings from you, and so the two of you quickly grew apart. You had become accustomed to his daily quips. 

Despite him making his feelings known, his internal feelings about you were much worse. At least he didn’t spit the lies in your face.

I just really hate your face

Though I know that won't surprise you

But, to me, your skin is one giant wart

And your laugh's one big snort

And you stink, so in short

I despise you

The worst part was, all of it was a lie. He was lying to himself to attempt to stop his feelings from spiraling out of control. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, he was making the situation worse as his thoughts continued.

One day, Loki was having a peaceful cup of tea in the kitchen when you and your stupid face walked in. He scowled, and you noticed, frowning. 

“Dude, what is your problem with me?” You said, clearly pissed. This had been going on for some time, yet you still had no explanation as to why Loki was so cold towards you. 

Loki rolled his eyes, ignoring you. You scoffed, slamming the fridge. “Are you seriously that much of a prick to just hate me, not giving me any reason, and when I ask you about it you ignore me?” 

“Yes.” Loki replied, and you clenched your jaw as you resisted the urge to chuck the glass jar of jam at his head. 

You grabbed some bread to make your toast, glaring at him the entire time. “Fine. Be that way.” You said, sitting at the opposite side of the counter from where he was seated. 

Natasha walked in, noting the tension as she smiled and ruffled your hair. “Do you want to go swimming with me and Wanda?” She asked you, and you happily nodded. 

“Great.” She said, heading for the hallway. “Meet you there in like… thirty minutes or so?” She asked, and you gave her a thumbs up as you finished up your snack and left the room to go get ready to swim. 

Loki’s scowl lifted once you were gone, and his heart began to settle. He hated you so much that his heart couldn’t even function normally when you were in the room.

And if the world was perfect, you would be gone without a trace

But since the world could never be that great

I'll just hate your stupid face.

Later that day, Loki was scrolling through a social media app that you had shown him how to use back when you two were on speaking terms. 

He came across one of your posts, where you had posted photos of you, Wanda, and Natasha having a great time at the pool. Your smile stared at him through the screen, and Loki came to a horrifying realization.

Oh, no

No

I just really like your face

You don't have to look so happy.

After realizing that he had been burying his feelings with feigned hatred, he spent several minutes contemplating what the hell was wrong with him. 

An hour or so later, he devised a plan to attempt to apologize to you. Of course, he had absolutely no idea how it was going to go, but he had to at least try.

He enlisted the help of Natasha for his plan, because he doubted it would work if he went up to you and asked for you to meet him on the roof. You would probably think that he would try to throw you off of it. 

“Absolutely not.” Natasha said, arms crossed. 

Loki pouted. “Please, Natasha, I need to do this.” He pleaded, and Natasha seemed to be taken aback. 

“Why would I do this, when you have been making it known you hate them?” She reasoned, and Loki sighed. 

“I don’t actually hate them, I just thought I did.” He clarified, but this just led Natasha to become even more confused. “Just, please, I’m trying to make things right.” 

Natasha stared at him for a minute before finally nodding. “Alright.” She said, and Loki sighed in relief. “But you do anything to hurt her-physically or mentally-I will stick my baton so far up your ass that it will come out your throat.”

Loki gulped, nodding. “Fair enough.”

~~~~~

That evening, you were listening to music on your bed with your headphones plugged in. Natasha walked in, and you jumped when you noticed her, grabbing your pocket knife from your bedside table and holding it up in defense. 

You dropped it when you saw it was just Natasha, taking your headphones off. “Jesus, Nat, you scared the shit out of me.”

Natasha chuckled, shrugging. “Well, in my defense, I did knock. You didn’t answer because of your headphones.” 

You rolled your eyes, letting your heart rate settle from the scare. “What’s up?” You asked, and she smiled. 

“I need your help with something on the roof.” She said, and you scrunched your eyebrows.

“With what?” You asked, but she didn’t clarify. 

“Just meet me there in fifteen, okay?” She said, and you nodded. “Great.” She said with a nod, leaving the room.

You made your way to the elevator, pressing the button for the roof. You had no idea what Natasha would need your help with on the roof, but you didn’t question it. 

You stepped out of the elevator, noting the beautiful view of the sunset and the evening city skyline. “Natasha?” You called, looking around. 

You found a blanket set up with a bunch of your favorite snacks, and you smiled. “Natasha?” You called out once more, before hearing a response. 

“Hello.” A voice said, and you immediately spun around to find Loki.

Your smile quickly warped into a frown upon seeing him. Especially when he was acting so… casual. “What are you doing here?” You asked, and Loki shoved his hands into his pockets. 

“I-I needed to talk to you.” He said, and you realized that Natasha must have helped him to get you up here. Oh, you were so going to kill her when you saw her next.

You crossed your arms, not saying anything, so Loki decided to continue. “I realize I’ve acted poorly towards you the past few months.”

You scoffed. “You think?” You asked, sarcastically, still confused as to why you were having this conversation.

Loki looked down, nodding. “I wanted to apologize. That was unfair to you, and I hurt you by projecting my messy emotions into anger towards you.”

You widened your eyes, surprised at what you were hearing. Loki, the god who had been telling you how much he hated your stupid face, was apologizing. Loki, the person who hated anything relating to emotional feelings, was apologizing. To you.

I'm not really into love that you flaunt

In some glittery font

But if that's what you want

Make it snappy.

“I just feel so out of place.” Loki admitted, avoiding your eyes. “Well, except for when you’re near me. When you’re gone, I’m like a plant with no root, or a song that’s on mute…”

“Oh my god.” You said, slowly comprehending his words. “That’s so… cute.” You said, grinning slightly. 

Loki gave you a scowl. “Don’t you dare call it cute!” He spat, similarly to how he used to talk to you. But, you could pick up that it was more of a teasing jab than one of genuine prejudice. “You should fear me.”

You kept smiling, patting him on the shoulder. “Right, right, very scary.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, but continued his apology speech. “And if the world was perfect, you would’ve never invaded my space.” You frowned, tilting your head. 

“I thought this was supposed to be an apology?” You said, and he glared at you. 

“It is, now if you would let me continue…” You nodded for him to go ahead, and he did. “But since the world’s obsessed with saying, ‘psych!’ Now I like your stupid face.”

You could hear that Loki was being genuine, and your eyes softened and you gave him a light smile. You were relieved to hear this from him, and know that it wasn’t your fault for his ‘hate.’

“Loki…” You said, looking up at him. You could tell it had taken him a lot of courage to confess this to you, and he was in a very vulnerable state.

“I would like to be your friend, again, if you will take me as so. Of course, I understand if you do not want-” He began to rant, but you interrupted him. 

“Oh shut up, yes I’ll be your friend again. As long as you tone your jabs down.” You said, and he smiled.

Loki nodded frantically. “Of course, I absolutely will.”

“But, you have to understand something.” You said, and his smile dropped slightly. “Just because you have apologized doesn’t make everything you’ve said to me disappear. You’re going to have to prove to me that you aren’t going to continue to be an asshole before we can just go back to ‘normal.’”

Loki sucked in a breath before replying. “Of course, I will do anything I need to prove that I don’t see you in any sort of negative light.”

You playfully raised your eyebrow. “Anything?” you asked, and Loki’s eyes widened a little bit.

“Well now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves-” He started, but you had already started walking back to the elevator. 

“Your first task is rather easy: Please make me a sandwich. I’m hungry”

~~~~~

It had been six months since you and Loki had become friends again, and Loki had quickly proved that he meant every word that he had said. The two of you had quickly become close friends, although he still harbored his crush on you and your stupid face. 

You, also, had begun to develop feelings for the god. You had always thought he was cute, and before he started being a complete jerk to you, you had a tiny crush on him. As it seemed, these feelings were re-ignited now that you were back on good terms with Loki. 

One day, as the two of you were sitting in his room watching TV, he blurted something out that he definitely did not mean to say out loud. 

“I love you.” He said, and you looked at him in shock. Loki looked just about as shocked as you, but he mistook your shock for horror. “I’m sorry-”

You bolted for the door, quickly running down the hall to your room. Loki didn’t bother to chase after you, as he was certain he had just ruined things. For the second time. 

‘Damn you and your stupid face.’ He thought, hiding himself under the covers of his bed. 

~~~~~

The next day, neither you nor Loki had left your rooms. Loki rolled out of his bed, and grabbed his journal that one of his court-mandated therapists had gotten him. 

He hadn’t touched the thing in months, but he figured it might help to write down some of his emotions. He didn’t necessarily enjoy it, especially since it made him feel vulnerable and weak, but he couldn’t deny that it made him feel better as he scrawled words with a green ink pen.

‘I just really miss your face

Though, by now, I must disgust you

I had tried to be the stubbornest mule

'Cause I knew life was cruel

So I guess I was foolish to trust you

But I wait here just in case

Though I know I'm being senseless

How could I have ever been so naive

And wear my heart on my sleeve

When I knew it would leave me defenseless?

And if the world was perfect, you would be here in my embrace

But since the world denied me one last kiss

I'll just miss your stupid face’

Loki heard a knock at his door, and he quickly shoved his journal under the blankets and got up to answer the door. When he opened it, he was surprised at who he found standing there.

“What are you doing here?” He drawled, expecting you to punch him or tell him how much of an asshole he was.

You almost seemed out of breath, but you tried to compel your thoughts into sentences. “I didn’t run away!” You exclaimed, and Loki tilted his head.

He would regularly laugh at the situation, but considering the circumstances, he decided against it. “That’s exactly what you did.” He said, bluntly.

You winced at his words, trying to form a response. “It was… it was a strategic retreat!” You said, and he raised his eyebrows, letting a small chuckle slip. “Anyways, we need to talk.”

“What is there to talk about? It’s over–I ruined it.” Loki said, not wanting to have a confrontational conversation. 

“Look, I was just surprised, that's all! It kind of came out of nowhere.” You explained, and Loki looked at the floor. 

“Well, yeah of course I’m sorry, but-” He started, but you put your finger over his lips. 

He stopped talking, looking at you confused. “Stop it. Loki, don’t ever apologize for your feelings. It’s not your fault.”

“No, no, don’t forgive me!” He said, removing your hand from his face. “Why do you do that? Why–why give me another chance to mess things up?”

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!” You yelled, a little too loudly, and you prayed that nobody else heard you. However, considering you weren’t too far off from where other Avengers would be, it was very unlikely.

The two of you stayed silent for a moment, before Loki finally spoke. “Because you–what?”

You took a deep breath to steady your nerves. “Because I love you, you big idiot.” 

“Those three little words, out of the blue, completely uncalled for, especially from you.” You tried to say something, but he didn’t allow it as he continued to ramble on.

 “Why don't you hate me?

Why do you care?

Can't you berate me? Isn't that fair?

Where is your glare?

Don't you dare leave our problems and pain on the shelf!

Because if you don't hate me, I can't hate myself.”

Your eyes started to water. “Loki… Is that truely how you feel?”

Loki hesitantly nodded.

 “Sometimes. 

But that's why I need you.

You shatter my fear.

'Cause despite my misdeed, you are still right here.

Though it's stupid to date me,

You're willing to try.

And if you don't hate me, then why should I?”

You smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want to give up on me?” Loki asked, and you rolled your eyes.

“Yes, Loki. I’m not giving up on you that easily.” You said, and he smiled, and you could tell he was relieved. 

“You’re a moron.” He said, laughing, and you joined in.

“So you think that we could work?

Here I thought I'd been the dumb one”

You scowled, and he laughed. 

“--What? 

You're forgiving me for all I did wrong

You're unmuting the song

And, again, I belong to someone.”

You smirked. “So you belong to me, eh?” 

“No! You can drop the stupid smirk

Though by now I guess you've earned that

'Cause no matter how intensely I pout

Your stupid face will win out

And I guess it's about time I learned that”

“Yeah, you better believe that my stupid face will win out. Have you seen this thing?” You gestured to your face, and he laughed. 

“And though we go together like a Chanel Number 5 and mace

At least it's not as dull as fitting like a glove

'Cause you're a nightmare that I've not been dreaming of

But I suppose that when push comes to shove

Fine!

I love your stupid face”

You grabbed Loki’s shirt collar, pulling him down to your height to give him a kiss. When you pulled away, he pulled you back in for another kiss before leaning your foreheads together.

Your stupid face.

Tag List (Comment or inbox me to be added/removed; along with what to be tagged for): @michief-dream @iceeericeee

[deeplovelydark]

saw a post some time ago about how if linking is akin to sex for changelings, then what are the implications of all of them being together in the great link, progenitors and progeny. I think that they do not have concepts such as incest because they don't have the concept of, well, any relationships except the great link. I am you and you are me. my name is legion, for we are many, etc. (as an aside–this is so dax). they don't have the concept of sex at all! neither as a biological function or a cultural phenomenon. but, despite their isolationist policy, they still come in contact with other species, with 'humanoids' (though for some reason they seem to ignore the fact that not all other species are humanoid or even corporeal. oh well, maybe it's an oversight on the writers' part). and they come in contact with humanoid concepts, including sex and incest. they can interact with and internalize these ideas. but ideally the product of this contact is not assimilation into humanoid societies (or their subjugation/destruction as a preemptive measure against assimilation or genocide) but syncretism. something new and *more* than the sum of its parts. I'm connecting this specifically to the great link & sex & incest because it's something that can be deeply uncomfortable to think about but that's kind of the point. accepting this reality of this species' existence (the great link) would mean accepting that they have a from of intimacy that is in some ways similar to sex. but different. and that they practice it with those who could be considered their relatives. but also not really. so, can we read the great link through the lense of incest? yes, I think so. can we compare the relationship(s) existing in it to the ones humanoids have and examine the role power and violence play in them? yes. will we be able to come up with a description that neatly fits into our paradigms and schemas? not if we want to be objective.

[smithiecollege]

Fall is here, and nothing screams fall more on Smith's campus than the tweeting of sparrows drowned out by the ground-shaking, teeth-chattering noise and reverberation of construction. Yes, Mountain Day came and went, and the once wide and welcoming Chapin Path, where any student was once welcome to be passive-aggressively passed by a cyclist, is still shuttered. Many students have so missed that crucial part of the campus experience that they've taken to walking to class in the bike lanes along Elm Street, hoping to replicate that same thrill Chapin Path usually provides.

While many students have complained about the construction all over campus (says one junior: "I'm a liberal. I believe in investing in more eco-friendly energy sources. But maybe--maybe not here."), some have managed to live amid the disruption. "The construction noise doesn't bother me. I'm just screaming in my head, constantly," said one senior. "God knows I don't have a job lined up after graduation. I'm going to have to move back in with my parents, and they're going to ask me why I'm not gay married yet, and that's just not something I can take."

Yes, while many gripe and groan about the construction, there is an objective argument to be made here: Construction is God.

Proof:

Is that not God, streaming through the clouds that cover the sky above the early site of the Kathleen McCartney building? No doubt--God Himself casts his gaze upon Smith, and He has decreed "You shall have only one stir-fry dining hall this year. Also, the price of Celsius at the Julia Child Campus Center will be increased by a half-dollar. But fear not--you shall have a building made of ghastly timber, like the remodel of a historic home in a morally dubious HGTV series."

And so we shall.

Therefore, if Construction is the word of God, it is our duty as a once-secular (but now, clearly, blessed) school to pursue this plan. Many students have suggested lights at crosswalks, to perhaps mitigate the number of students who end up in collisions with vehicles, or even functional elevators in every house, or possibly even better pay and treatment for all Smith employees. While these are all certainly options, do they honor the word of Construction God? We think not. Smith's next project will be Holy.

Now proposing:

The Barbara Bush Center for Eat (Construction 2025-2035)

This project will take the ultimate step towards Smith's final goal of centralized dining. The Barbara Bush Center (Or Bushie, as students will affectionately call it) will occupy Green Street. Blueprints require the entirety of Green Street and all student housing to be razed to the ground to complete this construction, but ultimately, we feel as though it will be worth it. Bushie will stand ten stories tall, as it must be built to represent the time it was conceived of. Furthermore, the building will be in the exact shape and design of the Oceangate Titanic Submersible, to honor the failures of science, and encourage Smithies to do better. Bushie will serve breakfast on floors 2,4, and 7 from 6:45 AM to 7:04 AM, and after that, there will be no meals until 8:30 PM, and they will always be sold out immediately, as a way to teach Smithies about scarcity and competition. However, Bushie will serve snacks on floor 5 during the third minute of every hour of the day, just so students can internalize the importance of punctuality. Bushie will also offer fifty-seven lactation rooms throughout the building, and while it is understood that there are surely never going to be that many lactating people in need of a designated room in Bushie at the same time, these rooms will serve as a location for people with roommates to respectfully have sex with someone on the rugby team. However, all lactation rooms will be noise-transparent, because we value womxn's voices.

Finally, we would like to announce that in addition to First Tuesdays and Second Thursdays, we are beginning a tradition called Every Other Fourth Wednesday where on every other fourth Wednesday of every month, community members stand silent on Burton Lawn and practice taking a bra off of someone with one hand, supervised by the most butch members of our faculty. Members of the 5 College Consortium are invited and encouraged to attend. All skill levels are welcome.

With love from the bottom of paradise pond,

Smith College

[scriptstructure]

Heyho! Your blog is an amazing resource!

I have an ide that i am not sure will work and i am loking for ways to make it more organic.

My main character is trying to force himself to fulfill a role as a military leader within his society that makes him miserabel for the sake of protecting his family. I start the story in medias res and it moves him out of his usual enviroment into one where he doesn't need to fill his role because there is no comunication between him and back home, Most of the people from his army are not there with him except for two of his close friends so he can't realy properly fill it either.

Him trying to act as much within his role as a way to try to reasure himself that he is doing everything he can for his family (he is not thinking rationaly) and both stopping himself from getting used to something, that in his mind, can't last. The role he is trying to assume is not analogous with him at all. But since i write close third person pov and he is denying it, i cant show it clearly. I want to clue the reader in by only showing him struggling with maintaining his fake persona after it half fals apart and not a lot of him sucessfuly pretending so the reader sees that he is full of it and it doesn't come across like him suddenly changing character when he starts to let go. I worry it will not work out because the relative lack of exposition with him in the role proper and a lot of him being a disaster. I worry i will make him look incompetent. I worry there are a thousand other pitfals i don't even see. Do you have any idea how to make this character arck better structured.

There are a few different ways that you can approach this sort of thing, and it's going to depend on what kind of story you're telling and what kind of character you want this guy to be, so I'm going to show you how I would work through this character arc, giving a few lines of thought.

My main character is trying to force himself to fulfill a role as a military leader within his society that makes him miserabel for the sake of protecting his family.

Question 1: why is he trying to force himself into this role in particular, esp. when it effects him so badly?

Potential answers:

He sees this role as a position of power which he feels he must maintain to ensure his family's safety, using systemic influence as a barrier between his family and whatever danger he percieves as threatening them. He does not believe in the correctness, or function of his role, or the system he's a part of, but must pretend to conform in order to maintain his position

He's a true believer, he really believes that this role is vital and important, and that he needs to be able to fulfill it, or at least that if he were a real or proper (man, citizen, soldier, etc) then he OUGHT to be able to fulfill it. He probably sees his own struggle and failures as a personal flaw or weakness compared to what he believes he SHOULD be

He's been 'going along with' his position for his whole career, and due to circumstances or politicking has ended up in a position way above his ability level, and is stuck, if he shows that he can't handle the position it will cause danger and instability to himself and his family

He is a believer in the system and has worked to gain his position, but personal issues (poor health, mental health, outside circumstances, etc) have rendered him unable to fulfill the role that he had previously wanted. He still can't retire or give it up because he feels holding that position is key to protecting his family from the threat he percieves

There are probably many more options that you could go through for his particular position, but notice that in each of these, he must maintain the illusion of being completely competent and in control, even though he is internally suffering due to his position.

I start the story in medias res and it moves him out of his usual enviroment into one where he doesn't need to fill his role because there is no comunication between him and back home, Most of the people from his army are not there with him except for two of his close friends so he can't realy properly fill it either.

Question 2: Why doesn't he stop trying to fulfill his role when he is taken out of the environment in which it is required?

Potential answers (multiple of these may be true in varying degrees at once):

He has developed a habit of fulfilling this role which is difficult to break out of because he has been doing it consistently and constantly over many years, these actions have become reflexive for him

He really believes that what he does is good and necessary, and is determined to keep doing it no matter how much it hurts him personally, or how futile the effort may seem

He has developed a habit of fulfilling this role, and outside of it just does not know what to do anymore. Rather than being reflexive, as in answer #1, he uses the role to cover that he doesn't know what else to do in a given situation, the role has become a script he can follow

He does not know that he is 'out of the system' and may fear that this is a trick or test, and that if he fails at performing his role adequately, he or his family will be punished

And so on. The important thing here, is that fulfilling the role serves a purpose for him outside of the role itself.

Also, many times, when someone has been doing a thing for a long time, no matter how much they dislike it, they may automatically return to that action. Think, for instance, about people slipping back into 'customer service mode' or 'teacher voice' when they aren't at work.

Him trying to act as much within his role as a way to try to reasure himself that he is doing everything he can for his family (he is not thinking rationaly) and both stopping himself from getting used to something, that in his mind, can't last.

I would suggest that if you think about this situation from his perspective, he may be acting entirely rationally.

Does he know for sure that letting the role drop won't have negative consequences?

Does he believe that the role itself is pointless?

Does he know that the people who are with him definitely won't betray him if he lets the role drop?

Can he be sure that if he does let it drop in this situation, word will never get back to his superiors that this 'failure' has occurred?

If he doesn't have certainty about these points, then from his point of view, continuing to attempt to fulfill that role may seem like the most rational, sensible option.

I want to clue the reader in by only showing him struggling with maintaining his fake persona after it half fals apart and not a lot of him sucessfuly pretending so the reader sees that he is full of it and it doesn't come across like him suddenly changing character when he starts to let go. I worry it will not work out because the relative lack of exposition with him in the role proper and a lot of him being a disaster. I worry i will make him look incompetent.

As the story is in close third person perspective, I think that a good tool in your workshed here is going to be the expectations that the other characters have of this guy and his skills and competence.

If someone who knows him well expects him to be able to handle whatever the current situation is with ease, but instead he gets mad, or is avoidant, or decides that actually something else is more important to be concerned with, then you can use the character's reaction to his actions to shape the understanding of him.

Character 1: We should ask That Guy what to do about The Event, because he's got experience and he's always seemed like a sensible person who can deal with Problems That Guy: There's an Event? Well have you filled out the paperwork correctly? Do you think that we can just do things the wrong way just because we're in the middle of nowhere? If you don't do the paperwork, then no wonder Problem is happening! I have to go and polish my uniform buttons now, because the regulation handbook says uniform must be neat and tidy at all times. Character 1: Wow, he was very sweaty and flustered and that didn't seem like something he would say at all. Now I'm panicking because The Event is happening, and it seems like he's not even interested in helping with Problem.

The other characters probably won't know what exactly his problem is, but they don't need to. You could have them speculate that he's acting strangely because he just loves his role so much and is unable to function without it, for example.

As well, I don't think that him 'changing character suddenly' is a problem in this case, in fact, I think that that is probably exactly what is happening: he is going from playing the role that he has had to fulfill, to having to be 'the real him' without any safety nets or assistance.

It sounds to me like a sort of breakdown, where all of the things he's relied on in the past are no longer functional options. That's upsetting for anyone, even when the structure you've been relying on is dysfunctional or harmful--'better the evil you know than the one you don't' and so on.

It might be helpful for you to read about military or quasi-military individuals in extreme situations, so that you can see some of the ways that these roles can be used helpfully, or clung to harmfully.

Military discipline is intended to be a way of training large groups of people to act in certain ways when given certain instructions, even when they're in immediate danger. This often involves very particular and arbitrary rules, which are treated with a large degree of weight when it comes to discipline.

Let's use uniform rules as an example:

A uniform creates a uniformity among members of each rank, as well as creating differentiation between ranks. It limits expressions of individuality, and creates an appearance of group cohesion.

Uniform rules may include things like the proper styling and grooming of hair and facial hair, the correct wearing of shirts, jackets, ties, etc. The correct method of shoe polishing. Clenliness, neatness, and keeping things in good repair.

Some of these are going to be functional: it's no use going into the field with a pair of trousers that are about to tear through at the seams.

Some of these are going to be non-funtional, but useful in creating order: Everyone wears their hat tilted to the same side, someone who does it differently may be trying to start conflict with superiors, may be struggling with the requirements of the rank, or may not have been properly instructed.

In an emergency situation, a good and competent officer should be able to tell the difference between these two things, and to adjust enforcement accordingly.

A leader of a polar exploration mission who is fixated on making sure that crewmembers have all polished their shoes correctly, but isn't concerned that the cold-weather gear is inadequate and leading to men getting frostbite or freezing to death, is not adjusted properly to the situation that they are in.

On the other hand: A leader of a polar expedition who notices that discontentment is leading to conflict among the crew may assign busywork to certain individuals who seem to be causing trouble, to keep them from having time to do so. The fellow can't keep picking fights if he's too busy and exhausted from having to clean and mend gear all day.

Of course, this is all going to be relative to your characters' particular situations, but if you think about how your character may attempt to utilise proceedures that he thinks of as methods of creating order, but applies them improperly to the situation at hand, then you can find ways to show that he knows what he's doing, and in another situation may be competent, but is unsuited to the current situation.

Things to keep in mind:

Learned and repeated behaviour vs 'true' feelings, intents, or wishes

Investment in his role and in the system vs desire to do otherwise

Outside threats or pressures vs inside stresses

Other characters expectations and assumptions based on past experience vs behaviours occurring in new context

I think you're probably on the right track with this character and I think it will be helpful for you to work on developing a sense of the relationships between this guy and the characters he is isolated with, so that their expectations and assumptions of him can stand in for exposition of him being 'successful' in his role.

I hope this helps!

Mason

(if I missed anything, or there's a need for clarification, please feel free to ask again!)

[cartoonrival]

ok + for goodness' sake sasuke so that the screenshot takes up less space

1)parallels between naruto/sasuke and naruto/kawaki. i think honestly carrying over and actually bringing attention to the love-obsession thing that was going on sort of mostly unaddressed in the original series (in terms of no one called naruto as insane as they frankly shouldve) has the potential to be very interesting, especially because bringing it into the sphere of a father-son relationship rather than a platonic/romantic one is not really something i've seen before, along with the fact that kawaki doesn't actually know naruto much at all, making this very much an idolization of an idea of the person who saved you, someone who can do no wrong and is so without flaw. it was what this dude said:

like kawaki's obsession is weird and emblematic of how he grew up. also, the way that both of them sort of end up treating the other like a thing to be protected or owned or passed around, kawaki trapping him in time prison with zero regards for the fact that no one wants to be in time prison, and naruto's famous "give sasuke back/dont talk about sasuke like you own him in front of me/i'll get sasuke back/ill break your legs if i have to", there is the dismissal of actual personal wants However.

kawaki does this because he thinks that naruto's life is worth more than anything ever, and the reason he thinks this is because he thinks naruto is the most perfect person in the world and the only one who can save the world from evil. in naruto's case, even though he has a habit of possessiveness, sasuke is very much still a person to him, someone he violently and desperately wants to be close to. he doesnt think sasuke is perfect or can do no wrong, he just doesnt really give a fuck what wrong things sasuke does because he loves him too much and wants him too bad to ever hold anything against him. anything sasuke does is understandable and forgivable. naruto wouldnt put sasuke in time prison to protect him because then they couldnt hang out, and he knows sasuke wouldnt want that anyways. while i think naruto's obsession is insane, its more possessive than dehumanizing, which is def the angle kawaki is taking. again, i think this could be interesting if it was expounded upon but i dont think anyone in boruto is enough of a character for this actually do be pulled off in any satisfying way.

2)boruto/kawaki vs naruto/sasuke. i think honestly i just dont really have it in me to even act like kawaki and boruto have a dynamic that even comes close to the bullshit naruto and sasuke have going on, but if i were to attempt to explain why i dont think this is the case than i think at least part of it (beyond the fact taht ever character in boruto is painfully undercooked) is that boruto and kawaki's bond is based almost entirely around both being marked by karma. like they become friends sort of on a more surface level same way boruto is friends with anyone else, but its definitely not the same as naruto and sasuke's inexplicable pull towards one another since they were kids. even though kawaki has like sort of stupid convoluted internal strife going on, boruto doesnt honestly have enough inner issues to even shadow the bizarre knot that is sns. boruto and naruto both didn't want to kill their wayward friends because it's hard to kill someone you care about, i don't think that reads as a strong parallel because its like . what kind of story would it be if boruto was just like Okay lets kill him... now! also if kawaki dies naruto stays trapped im p sure so if he kills kawaki he is also functionally killing his dad

3)naruto and sasuke are both terrible parents but sasuke is leagues leagues leagues worse and he sees boruto has his son more than he will ever see sarada as his daughter. to him, she is his daughter because that is the only way she should have the sharingan. he can't really stand being around her and any interaction he has with her is out of guilt. boruto is his son because boruto is naruto's son

4)why did they bring up that jiraiya might get resurrected and then just drop it or is this me forgetting since i watched boruto 6+ months ago

[kittiesarecuter]

I hate the modern internet, I'm getting a fucking headache. I hate trying to find art archives or complete comics and everything is linked back to a dead mega upload or imgr file. I hate trying to find a specific artist from 10's deviantart or tumblr but the search functions and purges have made it near impossible to find anything. I hate having pintrest be one of the most reliable sources for finding tagged archived art even though it's always posted with zero sources or the ability to find more than one from a set.

Every day I miss how open and easy and creative and energetic those years were. Most of the time when I talk to someone about the fan culture of 2004 - 2018 they immediately start talking about how cutthroat the social scene was as if that was entirely unique to the time and place and as if it was unavoidable. I don't know where to find anything on the internet anymore and it kind of feels like the infrastructure that allowed that amount of art and writing to flow just doesn't exist anymore.

It was bittersweet to look through forums that had only a handful of new posts since 2012 but at least I could still read them. Some of them I even joined and talked with the last few old guard that still checked it every week. But when it comes to art, writing, and comics of the era I can barely find the abandoned accounts. Other people have put the whole "dead internet" talk in better words with the whole funneling the whole of internet activity through a handful of app services but this is personal to me. It is genuinely depressing to see things get so much worse in so many ways in such a short amount of time.

I genuinely think I need to start building a server and learning how to mass archive & then host data for others because I'm in part terrified of how many gigabytes of work we've already lost to the either. It might be fan work and silly oc's but people poured their heart & soul, skills & hours into these things that shouldn't be deleted or made inaccessible because a boardroom decided making internal search engines pull up weighted results from a fixed time frame instead of just a list of all results was somehow better for revenue.