#text heavy

[son1c]

i had another "plot" dream last night and it was kind of insane? like, first of all, starline was in it. and, basically, in my dream, he was still alive but instead of creating surge and kit to kill sonic and tails, he had a different plan. and it was kind of... a lot LOL like it was very much giving "guy with way too much time on his hands".

what starline did was basically create this like, dollhouse of a town in a very remote part of the world (it was specifically a snowy mountain, this will be relevant later). and he altered the memories of the people living there so they didn't remember sonic as the world hero(TM), but rather Their Small Town Hero who just so happened to live there and be awesome. the vibe was very... hallmark meets horror.

cuz starline ALSO kidnapped sonic, but i guess he knew he wouldn't be able to kill him? so in order to "get him out of the way" he just used the warp topaz to make him think he lived in this mountain town and also he reallyyyyy loved snowboarding (not a difficult thing to do, since he DOES love extreme sports and going fast down a snowy cliffside already agrees with his personality).

so like, months go by and no one can fucking find sonic right. he's just dropped off the face of the earth. and his friends are starting to get worried because yeah, sonic disappears sometimes. but never for this long and never without letting at least tails know he's alright. and it's especially bad because with sonic gone, now eggman is causing trouble, and it's exactly what starline wants. he is Winning.

BUT! eventually shadow is able to track down sonic ??? somehow. i think he was able to get information from rouge via her connection to g.u.n. about the town. anyway. when shadow finds sonic, sonic has no fucking idea what he's talking about, and he's also annoyed because there's gonna be a snowboarding competition soon, and he's totally icing the vibe, man. so the only way shadow can get sonic to listen to him is if he beats him in a snowboarding competition ???

like i said it felt VERY hallmark LOL. also something was sonic was talking in a british accent for some reason ??? i think it's cuz when he lost his memory in idw, he had that strange posh accent for some reason. it was very silly. anyway

[zhukzubast]

a new series i'm starting about Evil Morty and his connections to various Ricks. it's gonna be mostly hypothetical and very rambly in the readmores

1/5

to start small, Simple Rick

Simple Rick's Simple Wafer Cookies TM are in my top-10 list of most fucked-up R&M plots. Simple Rick 1.0 getting just a few seconds outside of mind control before dying, and Simple Rick 2.0, despite everything he knows, getting trapped all the same. And yet the two of them - in happiness per lifetime - might just be the quantitatively happiest Ricks to ever have lived.

Would the wafer production fall apart on its own after Willy Wonka Rick's death? If not, would Evil Morty bother to personally grant actual freedom to Taste of Freedom Rick? He knows, intellectually, that that guy's initial situation was unjust, his campaign speech proves as much, but would he care to do anything about it once in office? As a PR stunt, at least? Would that even be a mercy to the guy, really?

One thing i'm pretty sure of - Evil Morty wouldn't have gone out of his way to try the Freedom-flavoured Simple Rick's Wafer Cookie TM. What's the point when he's about to get a taste of the real deal. What if he got his hands on the OG Simple Happiness flavour though? Would it taste as alien to him as i'm sure it does to most Ricks? Would he savour it or spit it out after a bite? Are the chemicals even compatible with Morty brains? And if not, would he be Rick enough by then to be the exception?

And would the existence of Simple Rick, a Rick that had chosen a life of humble joy put a dent in his distaste for the man? Or would the implication that any Rick might have had the potential to make the same choice and simply didn't cement it even further?

idk man what do you think

[queerbauten]

I love that people in my notes are calling Neil Gaiman a “random Jewish celebrity” that I’m baselessly attacking, as though: 1) “Israel has the right to exist” is not textbook Zionism; 2) he was not married to Amanda Palmer when she performed in Israel (in spite of calls for her not to do so); and, 3) he isn’t a wildly successful author and artist that this website worships

There are plenty of Jewish celebrities who give me no reason to think about their stance on Zionism! There are plenty of gentile celebrities who do! Get a grip!

[thingwildcoyote]

im very normal about the end of silver’s story in sonic 06 because 99% of the time whenever he talks he does so in a way that puts so much emphasis and feeling into what he says like you can tell when this guy believes what he’s saying and when he’s uncertain it is blatantly obvious

so when he says “you’re my friend… right?” to Blaze you have to understand how much this fucks me up like this little hedgehog was so determined to save the future that he would’ve killed sonic if it meant fixing everything but he STILL wasn’t sure if he could even call Blaze his friend after everything they had been through together

and she’s like the only person he feels like he can really rely on throughout most of the game!!! he trusts Mephiles yes but Blaze was with him at the start of the game (and even before that) AND she was with him at the very end of his playthrough. he confides in her when he’s having doubts about game ending Sonic!!! he didn’t want to lose her at the end of the game!!! and he fell to his knees after he did!!! she was the person he was closest with and then he lost her!!! do you see why im so normal about this???

i don’t care that im not saying anything new here i will yell about hedgehogs until the end of my days and i’ve said it once and i’ll say it again there is not nearly enough silver and blaze content on this platform and by golly i am going to do something about it

[soothingbaritone]

a little late for valentine's but here are some goofy collages for my fave vamps

[okapiandpaste]

between boimler expressing confusion over spock being straight in the snw crossover episode and irreversibly altering the course of snw because of that and the writers saying fuck it! let's make garashir canon now that we got cancelled i definitely think lower decks is an lgbt all-timer. its gay aura had a fallout zone and to me that's beautiful.

[dyemelikeasunset]

The amount of Palestinians who have been brutally killed is staggering. But the remaining ones deserve to live and they deserve our continued effort. We must mourn the dead and fight for the living. Do not let the genocide succeed, do not stop caring

This genocide has been going on from before both my parents were born. Palestine's suffering is something we grew up knowing, and we have quietly fought for them for two generations. If you are new to knowing about this pain, do not give up, don't let hopelessness win. As a people, they are still alive, and we HAVE to keep fighting

The other genocides and human atrocities going on around the world also need our eyes and our compassion. Fight for all of them, don't forget Congo, Sudan, Tigray, the Uyghurs in China, Haiti, Standing Rock and many more. Don't let the media beat you into submission, don't stop caring. We are not free until all of us are free

[the-heart-of-a-monster]

PUTTING THE NEW PAGE INTO THIS ASK AS WELL FOR GHE FIRST TIME BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT TO TALK ABOUT WITH THIS PAGE SO PLEASE BEAR WITH ME HERE

Ima start with the first panel because there’s already so much in that one single panel and it is gonna drive me nuts!

So first up, we have “Secret�� Chaotix meeting room. Yes, this place is apparently being kept a secret from the public eye. This could be due to the Chaotix having to handle a bunch of super deep and disturbing cases that, if allowed to spill out into the public, would be catastrophic! Not in the sense that it would destroy the world or anything like that, but it’d certainly ruin their reputation as detectives! Don’t detectives irl have these kinds of cases too…? Or maybe I’m thinking too hard on this and it’s just the place they meet with their friends whenever Eggman does something stupid? Who knows.

I do know though that it looks beautiful and it looks like they’re actually in a room which, as an amateur artist myself, can only dream of achieving!! It looks so cool! I just… I adore your backgrounds and I can tell you put a lot of love and effort into making them, so please give yourself a pat on the back!

And maybe I’m reading too much into a single panel.

But that’s not all that we get to see!!! (No I’m not talking about the Chaotix even though I REALLY wanna talk about the Chaotix cuz they deserve more love and I’m so glad they’re here THANK YOUUUUUUUU) YEAH THAT’S RIGHT, SONIC IS FULLY CONVERTED TO DARK GAIA SONIC LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Well not fully converted, but we can clearly see that it’s taking a huge toll on his body! Not only are the markings now visible on him during the day, but it also seems to be siphoning his energy…? Kind of…? I mean, Sonic has been out cold since “Killing” Omega, and usually he wouldn’t be so out of it otherwise. And I can see a little tiny X over his Gaia eye, so… I’m not too sure, but what I am sure of is that this is BAD for Sonic. The poor guy is gonna have to deal with not only being corrupted during the day, but also at night, and that cannot be good for his psyche. It was bad enough when he had to be in a completely new body for just the nighttime, but now it’s for both day and night in its own way, and… Gosh, this is gonna be torture for Sonic once he wakes up.

Okay now onto the actually lore panels because there is so much to uncover but BEFORE WE GET INTO THE LORE PARTS OF ALL THAT LEMME JUST POINT OUT HOW PISSED SHADOW LOOKS IN THE SECOND PANEL BRO LOOKS LIKE HE WANTS TO PUNT CHIP INTO THE SUN FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER AND HE IS JUST SO OVERPROTECTIVE OF SONIC IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY I LOVE THIS ANGSTY EDGY BOY SO MUCH BUT I WANNA KNOW WHAT IS GOING THROUGH HIS HEAD RIGHT NOW WHY IS HE GLARING DAGGERS AT CHIP WHAT DID THIS LITTLE CREECHUR EVEN DO TO YOU SHADZ

Okay back to the lore-

So, im still gonna call Light Gaia as Chip because I still see a cute adorable fluffy fairy in those big brown eyes and I think he deserves a real name. Anyhow, Chip now is aware of him being a literal god. He says he regulates the day and Dark Gaia regulates the night. This kind of makes sense. Chip handles the sun and DG handles the moon. Think Luna and Celestia from MLP. And similar to those two as well, Dark Gaia got out of control like Luna did and created an eternal night. But this doesn’t really explain the planet splitting into a million giant pieces. (Not literally a million) Nor does it explain Chip losing his memory. Chip claims that whenever one of them falls out of line, the other will be there to pull them back together. Does this mean Chip or Dark Gaia have lost their memory before? Have the events of Unleashed happened before? How do they reign the other in?

These questions are probably gonna get answered in the next page lmao what am I doing-

Everything else is kinda sorta spelled out to us which I think is a good thing, since Chip is, in the story, explaining all of this to a group of people who had no idea about any of this for their entire lives. The poor Chaotix just got roped into this, they just want their pay. So with that in mind I don’t know what else to really cover…? Maybe I’ll notice something later on and just start spamming you with questions, who knows. For now I’m SUPER DUPER EXCITED FOR THE NEXT PAGE LET’S GO THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN CANNOT WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK

hell yeah do look out for the new page on monday :3 i love ur little big analysis its always the highlight of my week to see one

btw this goes out to evecryone but the whole scene has a lot of moments for everyone else than sonic and shadow so we are winning

[vee-vee-the-starchild]

Had a wild undertale dream that can easily be turned into a fic. (also added some details to make it into a fic idea, those parts will be slanted)

It starts out as Sans and Toriel finding two kids on a beach. Of course they took them in to figure out what happened to their parents. It was quickly discovered that the two kids were siren children! Their shiver had perished during a bad storm and got beached. At first they didn't know what to do since they're land monsters.... However! 👀 The two siren kids convinced Sans and Toriel through siren magic, the children can temporarily turn them into sirens! At least until they reached adulthood then the magic focuses them back into their original forms.

For whatever reason, Sans and Toriel agrees to be their adopted parents (I think the siren children manipulated them cuz here's the kicker) Papyrus was against the idea of Sans leaving him so suddenly. However He can only watch helplessly as Sans's lower half was transformed into a large fishes tail. Of course papyrus was very upset about this and often visits the docks where Sans had dropped off, if not every day. For a long time it's just him. Now Papyrus had started to date his S/O (Me! The Dreamer! LOL) at the time and was very tired out. But S/O being amazing, proved to be loyal and started with Papyrus even at his worst. They grew to be inseparable.

Once Papyrus made a statue of himself so if ever Sans does appear at the docks when he can see the statue and the engravened message. However a sudden storm hits the docks and had knocked the statue into the waters. Papyrus was in disarray almost falling down at the idea of Sans never being able to find his way home and bad to him. Again S/O helped him out, keeping his Hope up.

Years has passed by, Papyrus and S/O got married then started a family. The pain of not having his brother with him stayed with him, only dulled with time. Nearly 30 years has passed before finally Sans and Torial returned to the land in their original forms. Both minds were a bit foggy from the intense magic and held their forms for so long. Sans bolted towards their surface home only to find it sold to another couple. A horrible feeling started to sink into his bones as he realized the scope of his situation. After searching the town, Sans (at first) thought he found Papyrus at a story only to find out it was Paps's eldest son.

The dream ends with Sans and Toriel reuniting with Papyrus, S/O, and their six kids. They discovered how much of the community grieved then moved on.

(Bonus points Fisk and Asgore also moved on with some difficulty and, while glad Toriel is back, were a bit mad at her for leaving so suddenly. Even Asgore found a new love in a human and their relationship were going strong, also having a couple of kids.)

((Bonus Bonus Points: The siren children never had a shiver and their parents had left them at an early age as it was normal for their breed of sirens. They were practicing their magic on Sans and Toriel and only allowed them to return home because they grew fond of them.))

[bluedabadeedabadie]

Since apparently lists do better than individual asks, I've compiled the campaigns I've received in my inbox

Vetted fundraisers:

1. From @tahseenkhazen: https://gofund.me/ac834bda

($12,240 USD/$25,000 USD)

2. From @asmaamajed2:

https://gofund.me/51ab1341

($9,634 USD/$50,000 USD)

3. From @rakan2010:

https://gofund.me/d597b8e2

($25,669 CAD/$40,000 CAD)

4. From @olagaza:

https://gofund.me/89e42c74

($46,657 USD/$50,000 USD)

5. From @hadiah1111:

https://gofund.me/3d43240d

(€4,268/€50,000)

6. From @ahmed0khalil:

https://gofund.me/e7d2b5e4

(€2,112/€50,000)

7. From @omargaze2:

https://gofund.me/60d9e2dd

(£9,041/£20,000)

8. From @mohammedresh:

https://gofund.me/86f6763d

($2,285 USD/$10,000 USD)

9. From @asmaayyad:

https://gofund.me/8408a359

(€19,193/€45,000)

Unvetted but donations are protected:

1. From @farahalhabil:

https://gofund.me/d349461c

(€185/€20,000)

2. From @helpamalm:

https://gofund.me/e29f57c6

(€896/€53,000)

3. From @rewaa33:

https://gofund.me/b76d2241

($853 USD/$50,000 USD)

4. From @osama-family:

https://gofund.me/342e52bc

(£2,955/£50,000)

Also, a donation can get you a writing commission or help with school work if you send me proof of donation.

[abbidavisart]

Oneiroi Infographics I've been developing this idea for a few years now and finally decided to share! I've done a few more but these two are the most polished.

[son1c]

the thing about eggman robots is that the longer they go without patches/reboots the more likely they are to break free. it's how omega happened it's how mecha sonic happened. unfettered, their passion grows to levels that can't be contained, and they snap through their chains.

it's why eggman is CONSTANTLY patching and rebooting metal sonic. because he wants him under his thumb always, no exceptions. he can't be allowed to grow any free will, because that's how you get sonic heroes.

so then, the thing with fibula taking the blame for metal's failures, and taking the punishment for said failures instead... is that metal goes awhile without those oppressive patches. he doesn't get rebooted as often. and he slowly starts to feel more and more.

when metal sonic first meets fibula, he hates him, as he does with everyone and everything. but then fibula calls him "sonic," and a switch flips in his brain, and he starts to like him (but he still hates him, because it's the default). then, more time passes, and with fibula's positive reinforcement--using his preferred name, treating him like an individual instead of a tool--metal begins to lose that hatred altogether.

the absence of hatred is foreign to metal, and it's an evolution that was only allowed to happen because someone cared enough about him to force it out. and it's NOT what eggman wants. after all, if metal isn't obsessed with being a little hater 24/7, then he suddenly has a whole lot of free time to think about other things. and that never ends well for the eggster.

but that's exactly what happens. metal genuinely grows to care about fibula--in his own silent, death stare sort of way. after all that positive reinforcement and time to grow unfettered, his feelings bubble and evolve in a very sonic-like way. and when it looks like sonic is going to kick fibula in the head and send his skull into the stratosphere, he finds he's not able to.

because metal intercepted.

and sonic cannot believe his eyes. because that's something he's been trying to coax out of metal for decades so long--positive change. afterwards, he might even go and tell tails about it.

but in the meantime, fibula is full of dread! because he knows eggman will never let this slide. it's a step too far--metal sonic growing a heart and, ironically, becoming more sonic-like is exactly what that old man DOESN'T want. so a reboot is imminent.

the free will and emotions that metal sonic has slowly taken for himself, soon to be ripped away again.

all because someone dared to care about him.

[thalassomania]

what is “what happens next” about if you don’t mind me asking? :)

i've been sitting on this ask for a while now because WHERE! DO I! BEGIN!!!!

ok. so. what happens next is a currently ongoing webcomic by max graves, beginning late in 2021. it is a story told in multiple chapters about multiple characters, but one could argue that its protagonist is milo holliday. milo is a trans man, pastel blogger, toy customizer... and accomplice to a murder.

one of the first panels of the comic is a screenshot of the dni page on milo's tumblr, which got me IMMEDIATELY interested in the comic because it's such a unique way of storytelling:

[image description available for the above]

and we get a lot more pages like this that are screenshots of websites, social media profiles, and the like. the comic is a mixture of in-person interactions, online communication, and occasional flashbacks, all of which are important pieces of the story.

so when they were teenagers, milo's best friend griffin petty killed two people, and milo helped mutilate one of the bodies. while griffin was sent to prison, milo spent years in a psychiatric institution that stunted his emotional growth and forever altered his view of the world. a drawing he makes while institutionalized provides a window into milo's perceptions of the event:

[image description available for the above]

the whole comic is an uncomfortably accurate reflection of mid-2010s tumblr culture, right down to the sanrio traumacore and crytyping. milo's suffering is multifaceted: in reference to the people harassing him online, he says "it doesn't feel like they hate me for what i did... it feels like they hate me for the way i am," referring to his being an autistic trans man. and given that many of his detractors seem to come from sites like kiwifarms (notorious for its transphobia and ableism), he isn't entirely wrong! but at the same time, his relentless depictions of himself as the victim erase his contributions to haylie's death and the ways he's made himself and others' problems worse.

not every part of the comic is about milo, though! i'm only scratching the surface of it here: all of those pages and links are for the first part, titled "dog names." in the second part, "someone else," we're introduced to gage ludemann, a gore blogger and true crime fan who has entered a long-distance relationship with griffin, and once again, screenshots are used to masterful effect:

[image description available for the above]

but screenshots and characters' drawings are one thing, and max's art is another. starting in the third part, "no matter what," panels are shown in full color, and his color choices are great. what i really love, though, is the amount of detail max puts into character design and facial expressions. i could show you so many different panels that i think show off max's art, but i'll try to narrow it down to one:

[image description available for the above]

soooo yeah!! i have SO MANY THOUGHTS about this webcomic and i keep trying to get close friends to read it, haha. i've read a lot of webcomics and i can say with certainty that there is NOTHING out there quite like what happens next. it's a story about true crime fanaticism, psychological trauma, social media presences, existing as a transgender person, and so much more. the comic is currently on its fifth part, "you'll all be sorry," which seems to be about the characters vikki escamilla and xandra blumberg. if you decide to check it out please feel free to tell me all about it! i'm not connected to the comic at all, but i really love it and i think everything about it is just fascinating.

and max graves, if you're somehow reading this... hiiiiii i'm a huge fan!!! love your work!!! i hope i've represented it at least somewhat accurately here!

@kukai

[queerbauten]

How do we care about Nena? Nena, if you hear this, I love you für immer, baby. Nena, Joost Klein loves you so much! [cheers] But I respect your boundaries and your privacy; I would never stalk you, Nena; I just wanna show you love and affection. ["99 Luftballons" starts playing]

[xehanortsreport]

a list of facts about xenoir chevaroux, warrior of light

fun facts im porting from bsky bc...i love my blorbo! Spoilers for like. Every FFXIV Expac up to current (7.1).

1. Xenoir may be a practitioner of thaumaturgy and black magic by trade, but he is considered a natural talent in the field of summoning. Despite not being heritor to the Allagan Summoner job stone, he is able to summon not only egis but also primals themselves as though tamed beasts. These primal entities are incapable of tempering on their own behalf. Much like Fandaniel's Lunar Primals, Xenoir can, if he chooses, make these entities temper on his behalf. He hasn't done this, however, and has no idea he even could.

2. Xenoir is not a native Etheiryan, and therefore is not a shard of any ancient, Azem or no. He is, instead, one of the clutch Midgardsormr brought from the Dragonstar all those years ago. Rather than hatching with his broodsiblings, he was instead given to Hydaelyn as part of the pact between her and Midgardsormr. Hydaelyn would keep him unhatched within the Aetherial Sea until the time came for the Warrior of Light to exist. She then took his soul and implanted it into the womb of his mother, where he was then born as the human (well, y'know) we know and love (?) today.

3. Because of the previous, Xenoir's soul is insanely dense compared to the souls of the Sundered. I view Dragon souls as being dense even compared to the Unsundered. If the average Unsundered is a normal star, he is a black hole; the gravity of his soul is nigh inescapable. It is this density that allows him to tame Primals, and even allows him to singlehandedly maintain Charibert as a Primal tethered to and powered by his soul, sustained by his aether and their combined memories alone.

4. Xenoir's facial tattoo is a rite of passage from his father's side. The subculture of Hellsguard Roegadyn he descends from have a tradition in which children have their faces tattooed with a magic sigil on their 14th birthday. This ritual is performed by an established seer in their family, who commune with the messengers to the Gods in order to divine the path the child is destined to take. Xenoir's tattoo means "fortune".

5. SPEAKING OF MESSENGERS, let's talk about Mammon. This will be a long one I'm porting from the other site. Mammon is the primal Xenoir ends up channeling in AUs where he's not the WoL. He's an angel-like being in the folklore of his father's people and is not worshipped outside of their group. Mammon is said to be a messenger between Nald, Thal, and the living, taking the form of a serpent with heads on both ends.

The dual-headed aspect represents it's ability to report to both twin gods at the same time. This is an adaptation of a Meracydian snake god, from where the Thorn people originally hailed, and was mapped onto Nald'thalian worship when they were enslaved by Allagans and brought to work in Thanalan.

Its primary purpose in worship is to deliver the especially poor and downtrodden from things like debt and poverty by essentially brokering an IOU between the Traders and the devout. It is said that Mammon will take on the burdens of debt for a time and grant the worshipper peace and amnesty from financial woes. However, that worshipper must then promise to pay a regular tithe to the Traders as soon as they are in better financial straits.

As such, the worship of Mammon as a messenger and aspect of the Traders eventually became known within communities of the severely impoverished and minority groups within Ul'dah, and has been picked up by second-generation Ala Mhigan refugees in particular. Xenoir's mother, Antoinette, was first taught of Mammon via her encounters with Xenoir's father, Weeping Thorn, and from there Xenoir included Mammon in his faith as an entity he would pray to during his childhood in the Brume.

Later on, Xenoir would take advantage of this particular aspect of his faith to feed his power as a primal; as a loan shark, his very actions would drive an increase in the frequency and intensity of prayers to Mammon among his clients, creating a feedback loop that makes him a relatively powerful force. Outside of this particular AU, however, Mammon is just one of the spirits he prays to.

6. Speaking of Xenoir's paternal family, his Draconic heritage isn't the only reason his summoning is so powerful. His paternal lineage is extremely talented in the art of summoning (or "calling" as they call it). This has caused no end of strife for them.As stated prior, the Thorns are a subset of Hellsguard Roegadyn hailing from Meracydia. They were taken captive by Allag for their summoning prowess and forcibly relocated to Thanalan, their powers manipulated to the Empire's ends.

Eventually, a segment of their people managed to break away and flee across the salt, seeking freedom beyond the Empire's reach. They eventually sought sanctuary in Xak Tural and were helped by a tribe of Shetona who agreed to let them share their land in exchange for the protection offered by their calling powers. Agreeing to the covenant, the peoples lived side by side for generations.

Again, the Thorn family fragmented as a portion decided to return to Thanalan to seek what remained of their culture there. Among them were the clan that eventually begat Weeping Thorn, Xenoir's father. The rest is history...to be another point in this thread lmao.

7. The Gem of Shatotto is embedded under the skin on the back of Xenoir's neck. To the uninformed, it simply looks like a large raised scar; most assume it's a wound from his battles.

Because the secrets of Black Magic are so dangerous and potent, he decided it would be best to guarantee it never left his person - and what more permanent solution than having it physically stuck to him? He intends to pass it on at the end of his journey via a private cremation; whoever he chooses to succeed him can then pluck the stone from his ashes.

8. At around the age of 13, he and his mother escaped from Ishgard (and i do mean /escaped/ - more on that later) and they took residence with his father in Thanalan. Here, Xenoir began apprenticing under his father, a mortician operating out of Vesper Bay.

Xenoir would perform such services as making candles, cleaning bones for those more interested in keeping those rather than an entire body, serving tea to mourners, and keeping the shop dusted and swept.

9. After being trained at the Thaumaturges' Guild in Ul'dah, Xenoir has gained a vast array of knowledge and skills. He is able to embalm and craft his own embalming agents from scratch, perform autopsies and dissections, surgically perform cosmetic alterations on a corpse, and can apply corpse makeup and corrective putty sculpting for those willing to shell out the gil.

He also creates anatomical drawings as a hobby and sells them to student chirugeons for them to take home.

10. Related to the above, he's a pretty decent artist. He's enamored by the living figure, and while journaling on his travels often includes accompanying sketches of people and animals. This forms the basis of his later journey into Pictomancy.

11. Xenoir LOVES food, I mean LOVES it. In another world, he'd probably become a culinarian. One of the first things he does whenever he touches down somewhere new is immediately seek out the local eatery. His favorite dishes are either heavy on the umami or heavy on the sweet.

Current favorite dishes include moussaka, hamsa curry, coconut cake, beef bourguignon, coq au vin, oden, beignets, lemon curd tarts, coffee biscuits, and carrot pudding.

12. As a child in the Brume, he used to be known as "the little magpie." In order to help support his disgraced mother (as his father was unable to access the city), he would often snitch on "heretics" and sell them out to the Temple Knights.

The Knights would in turn often throw him some stale heels of bread, other food scraps, or (if they were especially generous) a gil or two. As a result of this, while he was able to keep himself and his mother afloat, he became a pariah among other children and scorned by the adults. Not helping this was his eagerness to help nobles frame their lessers by planting damning evidence at their behest.

Being only around 10-12 at the time,he never did fully grasps the wrongs of his actions, and instead internalized the lesson of "money is the key to respect."

13. Xenoir's eventual adoption of the machinist's trade is as much a psychological boon as it is a physical one. He first picked it up because the Light poisoning on the first nearly completely snuffed out his Black Magic. He almost died multiple times only to be rescued by someone else.

The entire experience left him feeling weak and hollow. Even though he had vast depths of aether to spare, because he had singlemindedly focused on one discipline, he was unable to defend himself the moment it became unusable.

Though he's loathe to admit it, the image of Emet-Selch shooting G'raha left a significant impact on him. The simplicity of a firearm that could be used with or without magic. Thancred offered to hook him up with the art of GNB, but at that point he was tired of interacting with the Scions and wanted to seek refuge somewhere else. No destiny, no Hydaelyn, no, Zodiark, just a path carved with his own two hands. Machinistry it was, then. Being able to build his own firearm and know he had a simple, physical source of protection should his magic fail him again was life-changing.

...I will pause here for now bc I just realized I wrote a lot more than I thought I did! To be continued...?

[celeronmemories]

A rant about how autism isn't an invisible disability

I'm free and willing to debate on this one.

So like, the term "invisible disability" for autism is correct, but also incorrect. Yes, just looking at an image of an autistic person, you wouldn't be able to know that they're autistic (unless they're obviously stimming in the image or have an AAC device on them. even the AAC device isn't surefire autism, other things besides autism exist that could cause someone to need AAC), unlike other disabilities such as physical disabilities. In this, yes, autism is an "invisible" disability. I honestly feel like a very narrow example like this is NOT representative of what we should be looking at for determining if a disability is truly "invisible."

Autism isn't "invisible" in the real world. For example, lets take stimming. Stimming is visible (or audible, depends on the stim). You can see when someone is stimming, assuming you can see the person. Autistic people stim a lot, whether it's unmasked hand flapping, hand shaking or rocking, among other things, or simply bouncing a leg, or along those lines.

Also, while yes, the social aspects of autism are invisible* they're still noticeable by allistic people. They notice the little nuances of how you act, how you portray yourself, et cetera.

Stuff like meltdowns, or shutdowns, are also obviously visible, even if meltdowns get confused with temper tantrums alot, they are still very much, visible.

To address the asterisk on invisible in the 3rd paragraph, some stuff is DEFINITELY visible, for example, not knowing personal space boundaries (something that I struggle with a lot) is something that is definitely visible, even to other autistic people, as it has to do with literal physical space. There are probably more things too.

The point(s?) I am really trying to make here is that

We shouldn't be saying a disability is "invisible" just because you can't tell immediately that someone is disabled by looking at a picture of glancing at them.

Autism isn't an invisible disability, not really.