#the quality of your memes is all over the map

[toytulini]

god im not starting shit on the post but "medical and pharmaceutical companies thank you for your long term patronage" really does not work as a thing to shame anti maskers. this is not a system i get to opt out of even by masking. unfortunately, i really dont think masking is pwning the predatorily priced healthcare system in the usa. especially considering how many of the ppl who are still doing it are unfortunately beholden to it anyway for some other fucking reason. fuck, even if i didnt have medications i take everyday anyway, the company i buy n95s from is a fucking medical /surgical supply company? its such a weird. just. no.

[untilthcyrot]

ooc: meet the mun

NAME?: Christina

PRONOUNS?: she/her

MOST ACTIVE MUSE(S)?: as of right this moment eileen, jude, kelly, nadja, ramsey, and winnie seem to be the loudest but that doesn't mean the others can't be coaxed out ;)

RP PET PEEVES?: I would say people who are waaaay too demanding, such as expecting others to reply to them pretty much as soon as their own reply drops on the dash. RP is supposed to be fun and relaxing but when others make you feel like you aren't fast enough, it makes for a horrible experience. Also people who make it their job to constantly call people out because they don't agree with something or wouldn't do something a certain way. Like why are you so worried?? RPC Police much??

EXPERIENCE / HOW MANY YEARS?: I started writing on tumblr roughly around 2011 because I remember season four of True Blood had just wrapped up and a former friend convinced me to join this rpg and write Sookie. I was like rpg what?? What dat?? I've been writing Sookie ever since, too lol you can find her on @sookiestackhcuse hint hint wink wink <3

FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT?: I live for all three if I'm being honest but it really depends on two things - what my current mood is and what the muses are feeling, too. There are days when I liiiiive for the angst and need as much of it as I can get, but I love a good balance of fluff, too. Smut would definitely come third, like a little treat when ships are going good and hot and heavy lmao.

PLOTS OR MEMES?: I'm honestly down for both. I think a lot of good plots can come from random memes that are sent in and I've definitely enjoyed seeing how one symbol or sentence starter can turn into a thread I treasure. Then again, coming up with cool plots and exploring them and watching them grow is just as thrilling! If it's an intricate plot then yeah probably need to actually plan it.

LONG OR SHORT REPLIES?: Listen, I'm all over the map when it comes to the length of replies. In one reply it might be a paragraph, in the next I've become carried away with multiple of them, and then in the next one shorten it again. I think it depends on the depth of the thread itself. I don't try to force any length, but at least give enough for my partner to reply to. I think that's what counts - quality over quantity.

TIME TO WRITE?: It's 1am right now if that gives you any indication of when I actually really settle in lol. Nighttime with my headphones on and some instrumental music is when I get my best work done.

ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSE(S)?: You know, I think having a good "relationship" with my muses so that I can connect with them means that I put a part of myself in them as well as find something of them in me. Yes, even the villains who seemingly have no redeeming qualities lol.

tagged by: i think it was you @chaos--mode right lmaoooo

tagging: @shtkickr @guttcrson @gatekeepcr @rayofsunshinc @omniterror @applesdrowned @kindofuneven @deathsfollow @bloodsalted @ruinedmyself @unbearablyindifferent and anyone else have at! <3

[fayesdiary]

9, 18 and 32 for the meme?

9) Did you like the map exploration and why?

I like the exploration where you are in Alm and Celica's PoV and can just look around for stuff a lot! Examining the background is great and all the flavor text does wonders for Alm and Celica's characterization. It's also really funny.

But for the rest... the overworld exploration is really annoying with the endless reinforcements especially if they attack you first (had some units in my Ironman runs die because they got the first turn and I couldn't do jack about it), and the dungeons are fun at first but get kinda tedious on repeated playthroughs.

18) Who's your favorite VA performance?

Boring response but, come on. Ian Sinclair by far, Berkut would be nowhere the character he is without his performance.

But honestly, every voice actor in this game is wonderful. Especially Kyle McCartney for Alm!

32) Do you ship any rarepairs? What drew you to them?

Oh, do I!?

In order:

Faye/Celica: Childhood friends to lovers, it having a slight base in canon with Faye actually thinking highly of Celica (or at the very least, she's happy to see her if Celica comes to visit Ram in Act 2), kinda has the same sugar star-crossed lovers vibes Alm/Celica has except Faye is actually a villager with no strings attached, Faye getting over Alm only to realize she has a thing for Celica, them being the only girls in Ram so probably Faye was Celica's best friend in Ram excluding Alm...

I could go on, really, but the short story is it has a lot of potential of both fluff and angst and there are a bunch of quality fanfics that got me into the rarepair to begin with!

Faye/Rinea: It has a lot of what makes Faye/Celica good with the whole farmer/nobility thing going, but also you're pairing the two women who arguably got fucked over by the narrative the most.

In-universe it makes a lot of sense, too, two women who placed their whole identity around a man with it ending in tragedy of both finding comfort and meaning in each other. Has a lot of both fluff and angst potential, especially with Witch Rinea being a thing.

Also I wrote a modern AU fluff fic about them which only made me get attached to the pair more. It's also the first proper fic about Faye/Rinea, something I love to brag about!

Celica/Rinea: Completing the OT3. Red/Blue dynamic, both noblewomen and also Celica would give Rinea all the love she deserves! Also look at this fanart come on

Celica/Clair: I feel Clair would definitely crush hard on Celica. As most women seem to do, really. Also dunno, I think it fits!

Sonya/Catria: They pretty😳 Also, similar cool/chill vibes!

Palla/Mathilda: It literally just came up to me. I think it fits a lot.

Python/Silque: Similar color scheme, looks cute, also shipping the cynical lazy bastard with the tireless devout healer is always nice!

Clair/Gray/Tobin: Not really a rarepair per se, but I don't really think it's popular as an OT3? I don't know, I think the dynamic could be a lot of fun! (Even if I don't think Clair and Tobin like each other romanticall)

There are definitely some rarepairs I forgot, I often see a lot of pics with rarepairs I end up loving which is why it turned into a tag! #echoes rarepairs my beloved

[multifandomweirdo11]

Hello! This is my intro post for this Blog! 🎄🕎

This post will cover the fandoms I’m in and what I post on here.

•DNI ❌•

Zoophiles, MAPs, Proshippers, Xenophobes, Racists and Homophobes/Transphobes

• INTERACT PLZ 🫶•

Fandoms of these types of media;

YTTD — I LOVE YTTD. ONE OF MY FIRST DEATH GAME HYPER-FIXATIONS. (KeiSara and KaiSara shippers, especially, DNI.) WOULD LOVE TO DIVE DEEPER INTO THIS GAME, BUT SPOILERS SO.

Amphibia — I love this show SO much! The dynamics between Sasha, Anne and Marcy are immaculate and play off of the frogs, toads and newts so well; you have to watch this show if you haven’t yet. This goes for the whole list BTW. ^^

Owl House — I love this show, but I feel less of a connection than Amphibia because I watched Amphibia first ;-; THE BEST thing about this show is the characters. Amity, Raine, Hunter, Luz and Gus are the best characters IMO.

Deltarune — OMIGOSH PLZ TALK TO ME DELTARUNE FANS. TELL ME ALL OF YOUR THEORIES AND HC’s. If you cannot tell, I love Toby Fox games. Especially this one. I am Noelle (real) /j. Love all of the characters in this game. Not one I don’t like. (Maybe King -7-)

LOVE UNDERTALE. Don’t think I have to say that since they’re probably connected, (sorry Toby i just don’t trust you when you say that they aren’t ;u;) I will post about Undertale when we get news relating to the game!

Walten Files — Woah, if you’re reading this part this probably means you at least know what this is. Yeah that analog horror videos on YouTube. Also TW if you watch this… Uhh, used to be really into this one, but my interest has faded. I will be all over TWF4 whenever it comes out, but until now I’ll be posting about it scarcely. (SOPHIE AND JENNY KINNIES I SEE YOU OUT THERE.)

Disventure Camp — YES, THIS IS BETTER THAN TDAS, TDPI AND TDA. And yes, that was my opinion ofc. Anyway, more about Disventure Camp… ALLY, TESS AND HUNTER ARE ALL IN A POLY-RELATIONSHIP. Again, my opinion, but it makes so much sense! I’ll ofc respect your opinions. Also Aiden and James all the way.

Also I will interact with some Total Drama content, but not heavily. (Dave, Cameron and Sky IRLS DNI.)

Danganrompa Another — SORA AND YOUROKO IS MY COMFORT SHIP. Respect to Weeby Newz (YT) for getting me into this amazing fangan. So much better than the Source material. I recommend this fan-game for everyone but HUGE TW for the first game and a even bigger one for the sequel. We all meme on Mitch here. (Anyone glorifying Mitch Higa without being ironic DNI)

Danganrompa Edens Garden — OOH THE PROLOGUE LOOKED SO GOOD. If you’re looking for a alternative from the problematic air around the Main Danganrompa games, look no further than this game. ME AND JETT DAWSON ARE LITERALLY DATING. but … if I can’t have him cause he’s not real … he can date Mark. BUT I WONT BE HAPPY ABOUT IT. /j (I’m also a MarkDawson shipper so <: )

Inanimate Insanity — POSSIBLY MY OLDEST AND FIRST HYPER-FIXATION?? Bright lights forever! Anyway,,, Plot and Pacing: 2nd Season. Quality: 3rd Season. Sorry not sorry, the First season is problematic and unfunny. Anyway Cabby can marry me. (/hj) This animated YouTube series is so good!

I also do like other Object Shows! BFDI and ONEhfj are some I love. the ones I will post about will probably II and TPOT

Dead End: Paranormal Park — I NEED THE BOOKS AHHH. Love this show for the amazing Rep alone. THAT ALSO GOES FOR THE OWL HOUSE AS WELL. The story is great. It’s somehow Realistic and Supernatural at the same time!!?!

Omori — I like this game! The story is intriguing and heartbreaking </3 My Omori phase is passing away, sadly.

More Info About me:

If you’ve scrolled this far, you prolly wanna know more.

I’m Gay (MLM) and use They/it/he pronouns ofc!

I’m into Graphic design and MIGHT be getting a vinyl sticker printer soon!!!

I draw on paper and IBIS Paint X. I do have a drawing tablet, however it’s difficult to set up, it doesn’t help that I have a pitiful dell computer that’s on the edge of deaths door ;^; xd

anyway, like just ask to talk! Always open to that. <3

[poof346]

Sonic Frontiers: Opening the Zones

Back on my Twitter account, I posted a Twitlonger review of Sonic Frontiers after beating it for the first time. Since I'm transitioning to posting my reviews here, I wanted a review of the game on this account but also didn't want to just copy and paste it. So, here's a different idea I came up with: reviewing the individual islands. I'll be evaluating the exploration, platforming, story content, minibosses and Titan battles. Spoilers will of course be expected. So, let's begin with the first, Kronos.

Being the beginning of the game, Kronos Island naturally serves an important function of teaching the player everything they need to know about the gameplay before opening up. You play Cyberspace levels for vault keys, solve a puzzle to open up the map, fight smallfry enemies and minibosses, and use skill points to unlock the Cyloop. Surprisingly, didn't find the tutorial annoying on my second go, it was over pretty quickly.

Once you're properly in the action, I'd say this is a pretty solid first island. The platforming in the open zone starts simple to get you comfortable with obtaining collectibles from the challenges, the starting minibosses are fun and manageable (yes, even Squid, I like it despite the memes). Amy's story is also enjoyable, demonstrating a more emotionally mature take on her character that wants to spread love to everyone. Honestly, the only disappointment at this point would be the Cyberspace levels, all of the layouts here are reused and don't feel as fun as their source games.

As the first Titan battle, BOY Giganto fits that role perfectly. This ain't your daddy's Super Sonic boss fight, the degree of spectacle present is way above what you'd see in previous titles. And while not demanding much from the player in terms of combat, I don't necessarily think it needs to be hard, it's very fun. Oh yeah, and it has THE BEST VOCAL TRACK IN ANY SONIC GAME, DON'T @ ME. Undefeatable is incredible, not just because I'm stunned they got Kellin Quinn from Sleeping with Sirens for a Sonic game, it kicks so much ass and sets a perfect mood for the fight.

Overall, Kronos Island is pretty good! With how many games usually have a slow start, this one lays the foundation without showing their whole hand too early. But with that foundation established, we move into Ares.

Ares Island is a very natural follow-up from Kronos, upping the ante with platforming, exploration, and combat. The terrain is more varied too, with tons of rocky canyons, mountains and an oasis. Enemies have some more fun solutions as well, my favorites being the spring you stomp after letting it fling you and the flying saucer thing you chase with its light trail. However, I do think the parasol enemy should've been reworked, at least make it so the camera doesn't hard lock towards it automatically.

The Cyberspace levels are still fairly whatever here, but the real star of the show is Knuckles. His story is great, and more than makes up for how recent games had been portraying him by just...getting everything right. He decides to lead an army of Koco in preparing the desert for war, feeling a kinship from his tribe. But when he discovers like his own tribe, they had already been wiped out long ago, the loneliness of being the last echidna sets in again, and Sonic cheers him up in an earnest conversation, gaining the resolve to live for himself and not just the memories of his people. This is GOOD.

Keeping in the theme of quality on the rise, Wyvern is a little tougher and better than the Giganto fight in pretty much every way. Flying on rails, you can use Super Sonic's parry to deflect missiles back at it for another counter opportunity, giving a SICK specialized animation where he throws Wyvern into a mountain and crumbles the whole thing. In general, more is asked of you in terms of fighting skill and the spectacle is better. The battle theme is a banger too, though I do have my preference for Undefeatable.

Ares Island, as a whole, greatly capitalizes on the potential of this open zone style and is a blast to run through. Let's see if the next one keeps the streak with Chaos.

Chaos Island is where the main story starts gearing towards its climax, with Sonic showing signs of fatigue from his quest to save his friends. The aesthetic fits this well, being a volcanic archipelago with lava and more platforming. Some would say...too much of it. Specifically the 2D, the game doesn't make it quite clear which sections are mandatory for progression so the place can be confusing to navigate in a way I felt the previous two weren't. Combat is about on par with previous, introducing a cool new enemy, a metal bird you can hitch a ride on after stunning it.

While the gameplay hasn't taken as big of a leap forward there, the Cyberspace stages are...starting to look up? Still not a highlight, but they're becoming less annoying at least. Speaking of less annoying, HALLELUJA THEY DID IT, TAILS IS A CHARACTER AGAIN! This one is my favorite character story in the game, as Ian Flynn masterfully demonstrated his skills in recontextualizing previous material. Like many others, I was disappointed in how the newer games were seemingly stripping Tails of his heroic edge, magnetized at Sonic's side. The method of course correction is clever in how simple, yet effective it is: Tails is still a kid, so he's not ready to be fully independent. It's okay for him to need help sometimes. Very happy with this direction.

Since I saw a lot of people talk about it on Twitter, figure I'll say: the pinball minigame was not that bad, you guys are just impatient. Was it perfect? No, but I really didn't run into that many issues with it on both of my playthroughs. Anyway, Titan battle with Knight. Another good one! Features the game's most interesting use of Sonic's parry in the desperation phase, having to angle it to throw the dude's shield back at em, as well as having another cool cinematic counter (evidently based on the movie). Find Your Flame is also a sick battle theme, seeing the return of Tyler Smyth on vocals after Forces.

Chaos Island is still fun, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the last two areas in my opinion. The next one is...less traditional, and you'll see why, if you don't know already.

Rhea Island is probably the way it is due to time constraints, originally a chunk from Kronos Island SIGNIFICANTLY pulled back in scope to house 6 different towers as linear platforming challenges. Reaching the peak of each tower also delivers lore cutscenes about the Ancients, showing them as beings from another planet who brought the Chaos Emeralds to Earth after the Master Emerald pulled their ships in. Because of this structure, Rhea is over much faster than usual and doesn't have any exploration or bosses to speak of, so I'll mostly be rating the platforming.

It's good stuff, mainly highlights how I don't think the game NEEDED Cyberspace levels, the original platforming ends up being more fun to me. Cause y'know, they can build the layouts with this Sonic's handling in mind. Once you clear the final tower, the blue boy becomes a cyber vegetable for like, a minute in what I consider the narrative's biggest missed opportunity. With how much the character stories were building up his friends doing their own thing, I thought playing as them would make a fun gimmick for the final island. But they join hands and enter Sonic's heart to bring him back to normal. Hopefully they're fun in the announced update.

Rhea doesn't exactly fit neatly with the other areas but I think I like it for what it is? A short gauntlet of self-contained platforming stages? For better or worse, I'm less conflicted on the final island, Ouranos.

Getting straight to the point, Ouranos Island is super underwhelming as a final area and feels like a gameplay stopgap after the team didn't want to end on Rhea. So they took ANOTHER part from Kronos Island for a more traditional open zone. It just feels stale in terms of content, with all the minibosses being hard mode recolors of previous ones, the environment and memory tokens being copied, and the difficulty being a noticeable step back from Chaos in terms of platforming.

Not really helped by the fact that nearly all the cutscenes are optional and seeking them out has the game spell out the lore from Rhea Island in case you didn't get it. Paradoxically, though, this was where I actually started liking the Cyberspace levels? They saved pretty much all the good layouts for this area, and I ended up looking forward to playing them for once. So maybe the idea could still work? I dunno, this island is a mixed bag. Eventually, I made my only visit to Big of this playthrough and splurged on collectibles because I was checked out.

Unfortunately, even the Titan battle, Supreme, is a big letdown. Weak spectacle, not very creative battle gimmick, and if you come in with a high attack stat, the dude drops like a fly. I'm Here is a great song but not a great boss theme if you get me? Like, I don't think it matches well and kinda wish Vandalize played here instead. The worst part is playing on Normal or Easy difficulty has the game skip what I consider the more satisfying final boss, The End. The gameplay changes to an Ikaruga-inspired shoot-em-up but I think it's more engaging, the music actually fits, and the monologue adds some menace.

I definitely see why this isn't a popular take. The hacking minigames at least try to prime you for the fight beforehand but it's still a massive departure from other boss fights. Also quite a bit more difficult than the Titans, I can see people less versed in the genre struggling a lot here. But me personally, I welcomed the challenge and enjoyed The End thematically. With the Ancients being hyped as this culture with great significance lost to time, it makes sense for the final threat to represent their metaphorical and literal death, having driven possibly hundreds or thousands of other civilizations into obscurity. Plus the boss theme is a nice mix of somber and triumphant, great stuff.

Ouranos, despite featuring a cool true final boss, is pretty weak as a finale and a sign that some parts of Frontiers still had to be rushed.

As a whole, I think the islands reach a good bar of quality and make a case for why Sonic should strive forward with this new direction for the series. Not all hits, but I've come to expect at least some imperfections when it comes to this blue bastard. If anything, I see it as worth celebrating that they got so much right on a first go, means they won't have to modify this formula too much in the next game and can focus on higher quality.

[seaofthethives]

Sea of Thieves on PS5: A Vibrant and Accessible Adventure

Sea of Thieves has finally anchored on PS5, bringing along years of content updates, quality of life tweaks, and some of the best-looking water in any game. But is this ex-Xbox exclusive still worth playing six years after its debut? And how friendly is it for newbies like us? After sailing with a crew on PS5, Sea of Thieves proves to be one of the most accessible live service games out there, and we’re hyped to see it grow on PlayStation. We’ve always had a low-key crush on Sea of Thieves. With its vibrant art style and meme-worthy viral clips over the years, it always looked like a blast with friends. And just a few hours in, it’s clear that Sea of Thieves is exactly the kind of fun we hoped for—and even more.

Sea of Thieves: Seamless Cross-Platform Play

This open seas online adventure has you and up to three friends tackling navigation, storms, and naval combat while loading your ship with treasure—and maybe taking a break to buy Xbox games. That's pretty much the core gameplay loop of Sea of Thieves, but it’s what makes it so fun. Developer Rare has created one of the most user-friendly live service games we've ever played. This game isn’t about grinding levels or perfecting builds. Instead, it's all about crafting fun, action-packed adventures for you and your crew. By doing treasure hunts and bounties, you rank up in one of the game’s three factions, unlocking more rewarding missions. However, the real rewards are purely cosmetic, changing the game’s structure fundamentally. “Levelling up” here means getting better knowledge and tactics to play more effectively. This setup means us PS5 newbies can jump in with Xbox veterans without having to catch up. Sure, there's stuff to learn and meta aspects to uncover, but there won't be any level gaps between you and your team. After falling behind in games like Destiny 2 and Diablo 4, it’s super refreshing to find a live service game that lets you play at your own pace.

Sea of Thieves: Dynamic Team Combat

Once you get the hang of the game, what’s the actual gameplay like? Unsurprisingly, navigation is a huge part of Sea of Thieves, whether you're charting your course through stormy waters or taking a moment to buy PS5 games while plotting your next adventure. Whether you're sailing a Sloop, Brigantine, or Galleon, you and your crew need to work together to reach your destination. You’ve got to use the lower deck map, angle the sails to catch the wind, steer at the helm, and even spot dangers from the crow’s nest. Everyone's got a role, keeping you engaged with the game and your crew. With no map markers, you need to pay attention to the world and in-game navigation tools, making the sea travel feel super immersive. But navigating your ship is just the beginning of your adventures, as the seas are full of other players. Player-operated ships aren’t marked by gamer tags unless seen through a spyglass, which means you’ll be constantly on the lookout for threats from the crow’s nest. The world is so vast that you’ll be guessing the intentions of distant ships based on their sail positioning and movement alone. Realizing a bigger ship is chasing you is a thrilling experience that kicks your crew into high gear. The constant game of cat and mouse is a blast as you load cannons, prep for quick turns, and change tactics on the fly. Combat itself is a team effort: one person steers, another fires, and someone else bails water and repairs the ship. There’s a chaotic flexibility to the fights, where retreating is as viable as launching a crewmate via cannon onto the enemy ship to drop their anchor. Sinking an enemy ship, even if it means losing your own, brings a euphoric sense of victory, like outsmarting your foe in a watery chess match.

Embracing Pirate Adventures in Sea of Thieves

Sea of Thieves is an absolute blast when you’re rolling with your crew. With its focus on customizing your pirate's look, we dove into the pirate life easily—even after six years of updates and seasonal changes. Its natural and immersive sailing mechanics make it a sandbox on the high seas that’s definitely worth exploring. Plus, the game’s emphasis on cosmetics over hardcore loot grinding means you can chill and play at your own pace. Getting the hang of the game’s mechanics, whether it’s outsmarting rivals or selling your plunder efficiently, is a real joy. It might not have the intense grind of other live service games, but there’s endless pirate antics to enjoy here. We’re stoked that PlayStation players can finally hop aboard and join the swashbuckling madness.

[sidebloggingaway]

Trying to translate the thing to myself, mulling it over: this is a curated pinboard built of 1.) a "map" of a tag-system used by a fandom or exploring a topic; 2.) a directory/list of selected/official blogs dealing with said fandom/topic; 3.) and a feed working from either or both of the previous two.

This tool could be used for: checking out more than one related tags at the same time via the Feed; getting instantly immersed in a fandom; getting to know everything about a topic; following several specific blogs with one single tap; keeping an eye of related fandoms/fandoms that share an universe; starting tumblr as a complete newbie with a few specific interests in mind. This tool might be not that conductive to: keeping a thightly curated dashboard; catching up with your dash; avoiding certain parts of fandom; keeping track of... anything, really.

Question: Is there an "Unfollow all" counterpart of that "Follow all" button?

Mulling further:

Using an example I've seen somewhere here: cute dogs. One could create a collection of "Hungarian dog breeds": under the "blogs" tab there would be a small directory/list of dog blogs, maybe a currently running related tournament, maybe an additional blog about a tumblr-famous dog, and under the "Tags" tab there could be the list the specific dog breeds: vizsla, wirehaired vizsla, transylvanian hound [and additionally it's name-variations], hungarian greyhound, kuvasz, komondor, mudi, puli, pumi, and... And then I seriously don't know what the heck to do with the thing.

I could see a fandom primer: This is the Good Omens collection, this tag is for the book, this is for the tv show, this is where you can look up the radio adaptation, here are the season 3 theories, those are the actors, here is everything about the Reverse!Omen AUs, the fanart is beautiful, here are the questions that had been answered.

Or: There are parts of the Sherlock Holmes-fandom you might not be familiar with! Check out: Granada Holmes, the Guy Ritchie movies, Doyle himself, the Strand illustrations, BBC Sherlock, Elementary, Miss Sherlock, House MD, Enola Holmes, The Irregulars, meta, pastiches, the classic movies, the Russian series... [An aside: Insta-following a tag system of a Holmes-sized fandom probably would make any dashboard completely unusable.]

The blog directory is the easiest part to imagine I guess: currently running cat-related tournaments; the best fact-checking blogs; highlights of museum artefacts; is the x cute?; quality meme content; contemporary art; these blogs post pics/videos of bird cams/trail cams/etc.; confession blogs; the founders of AO3... Wait.

Additional questions: Can you opt out of your blog being add-able to collections? Could this be used to make blocklists? Could this be used to make content filters? Will this be used to harrass people whose blogs are on specific lists? [Who I am kidding.]

I'm not not-interested, but I don't think I'd really use this tool. I can't see myself curating collections and my dashboard desperately needs a downsizing both regarding blogs and followed tags too. But on the whole... I can imagine this working.

Introducing Collections

Hello again, Tumblr. Labs division here!

A while back, we announced our comeback as a new team that would imagine big ideas for Tumblr—and would build them in public (aka with you). We recently announced our first failure, and today we're very excited to announce our first possible success!

A bit of context

As we've said before, an essential part of how we're working in Labs is speaking to people who use Tumblr pretty much on a daily basis and those who don’t use it at all.

In those interviews and focus groups, we learned that curating the Tumblr experience around different interests and fandoms is a big part of making Tumblr feel like your own space — and one of the main ways you do that is through blogs and tags (be it following or creating them).

So here at Labs we're working on ideas to help you curate the content you care about, and to help share what makes your experience fun with other people, even if they are not on Tumblr already.

Ok, but what's the idea?

Have you ever put together a song playlist to listen to when you're in a certain mood, or share with a specific friend? Or sent them books you know they'll love? Now imagine if you could do that with blogs and tags on Tumblr…

Maybe you're a veteran in a fandom and have the best recommendations of who to follow for your followers. Or your best friend won't join Tumblr because they don't know that their favorite TV show is actually really popular here. Or maybe you want to curate and browse content from a specific fandom, or a group of your mutuals, your own way.

That's the idea behind Collections!

You can check out that example collection on the web here!

We want your help

The first way we're testing Collections is by inviting some of you to create your own and share with followers and friends—they'll be able to follow all the blogs and tags in your collections. So we're looking for volunteers!

You want to help? Great! Here's what you need to do:

Come up with your own Collections of blogs and tags, write it down somewhere. Focus on introducing people to Tumblr or recommending stuff to your followers. What would you want them to first see on your version of Tumblr?

Come up with a name, cover image, and description for it. Also try to think of who you would send your collection to, and where you might post about it.

Write out that idea as a reply or reblog on this post!

We’ll give it a few days, and pick a handful of people to play with Collections. We'll let you know. Then we’re off to the races!

If you decide to participate (and get selected), please note that this early release won’t work on the apps yet, only in your web browser. 

What happens next?

Our goal is to keep working on improving and adding Collection functionalities while you test what we've built (and share your feedback with us).

Next we’re exploring making a collection something you can follow on Tumblr, as a way to curate Tumblr around your many interests and moods, and to give you more freedom to curate content on your dashboard.

And if this idea is not for you, remember we have many more experiments in progress, so stay tuned!

With love,

Labs division

[graffitibible]

danger days but make it a multiplayer fps au

xPoisonPillerx: usually opts for your more standard straightforward offensive classes or light infantry. a well-rounded player with a good sense of strategy, but way too flashy for their own good. excels at hit-and-run tactics and very adaptable; they’re never held back by their equipment loadout no matter how low-quality or substandard. excellent to have on your team for co-op matches, provided you can deal with them being exceptionally bossy on chat. genuinely good at getting the drop on opponents but it’s a toss-up as to whether this is engineered via genuine cunning or by them resorting to spawncamping and fucking around with map exploits. frequently gets strikes for this kind of shit but inevitably manages to sweet-talk the mods out of actually kicking them from the server for good.

KobraKiller: primarily sticks to support classes like medic, which leads people to assume that he’s a free kill during co-op if they can take care of whoever he’s buffing (usually his terrible sibling). this is a very poor beginner’s error to make since he can and will make short work of you if you try to get the drop on him. he almost always sticks to stealth and close quarters during freeplay, and is scarily adept at close-combat and melee to the point where people think he’s botting with how fast his reaction times are. he’s not. he could play competitively if he wanted to, but doesn’t care enough.

fungool69: swaps between heavy infantry, demo, and engineer classes. loves blasting people to gory meat-paste with RPGs and is an insufferable shit-talker. he’s decent enough at team plays but can easily sink to starting shit and screwing things up for their own side during a co-op match purely out of boredom. has a terrible habit of not giving a crap about splash damage and therefore has the highest rate of friendly fire on the server. always teabags their kills and is the second most frequent supplier of shitposts in the discord.

PvtJet: exclusively mains as a long-range precision sharpshooter. exceptionally good at sniping from cheap fuckoff borderline unreachable parts of the map and is the absolute scourge of the server because of the obscene number of immediate headshots he racks up. mostly sticks to co-op because whenever it comes to freeplay his only hope is to keep his opponents at a distance because once you close in on him there’s a 50/50 chance he’s actually lodged himself in some glitched section of the map and can’t actually get out fast enough to escape. communicates almost solely over text-chat and by sending the occasional incomprehensible deep-fried meme.

XxDOOMBOOMxX: never uses voicechat, probably because then it’ll be apparent to everyone just how young she is. n3ws4g0g0 is the only one in the server who knows that this kid is about 12 at the most; despite this being an all-ages server, the kid is insistent on sending GoGo a monthly tithe of pictures of her cat to keep them from kicking her (GoGo wouldn’t kick her anyway, but enjoys receiving cat pictures too much to complain). most of the time she mains as stealth and light infantry but is weirdly good with demo classes. she really shines in co-op when she’s working with a familiar team. fungool69 taught her how to rocket jump and no one has known peace since.

AgtCherriPop: offensive main and just offensive in general. favors a cutthroat aggressive play style and prefers high mobility to make frequent use of run-and-gun to the absolute max. default loadout, no bells and whistles, no special skins, and no specialized equipment. rushes opponents and takes them down, often screaming obscenities into the voice chat as he does so. it’s impossible to tell if he’s having a genuine fit of Gamer Rage or if he’s just doing a bit because he calms down stunningly quickly in time for the next match. in co-op he’ll almost always default to suicide-rush tactics, not caring if he eats shit as long as it secures his team a win.

wkil109fm: almost everyone thinks that there’s no way this guy is for real when they first hear him on voicechat and assume he’s too old to be any good in a match. they all forget that he grew up with boomer shooters like quake and doom and unreal tournament and he will absolutely school anyone who thinks he’s got a slow trigger finger. he sticks primarily to default loadouts, but swaps classes easily, having over time cemented a solid playstyle for just about all of them. he’s nigh unbeatable when it comes to classic one-on-one, which is made even more impressive when you learn that he plays with aim-assist off and crosshairs disabled. everyone calls him “doc” for short due to his tendency to play medic in team matches when no one else is on support. he’s one of the server admins and mods the discord.

n3ws4g0g0: exclusively an engineer main with an intimate understanding of game mechanics and how best to exploit them, a secret which they share with very few. she’s also one of the server’s dedicated griefers, and will absolutely throw a match to make someone’s life difficult from a technical standpoint if they’ve pissed her off enough. makes a brutal team-up with Cherri, backing him up and buffing him with supports in his reckless rush tactics and therefore making them about ten times more effective. text-to-speech on voicechat only and number one supplier of shitposts in the discord.

99hotchimps: mostly mains stealth and light infantry. she’s not a heavy hitter but she’s zippy and can wear opponents down over time. a decidedly defensive player who sticks to waiting out deathmatches until she can swoop in and wipe out any injured survivors. co-mods the discord and WILL kick you if you don’t log in often enough, and is also the only person in the server to bother maintaining this rule at all.

AttentionHorse: mains light infantry almost exclusively high-mobility, light-and-fast, glass cannon type of player that favors agility and sneak tactics. hits very hard but can get taken down quickly if they’re caught. always on voicechat so that the entire server can be treated to their seemingly bottomless music library which consists entirely of vocaloids and early-to-late 2000s pop music, much to the chagrin of any streamer who forgets to keep them muted. they actually have a decent youtube following thanks to a dedicated speedrunning channel but they’ll always make time to tear up some turf with Cherri or Doc during co-op matches.

tommy_chowmein87: literally just here to sell you cosmetics and rares. if there’s some kind of hard-to-find or unique weapon or skin you want, he WILL have it as long as you can pay. you can recognize him because he’s the only person with a default skin who never actually fires a single shot in a match. he moves around just enough to avoid getting timed out but almost all his time on the server is spent initiating or turning down player trades. anyone who thinks he’s a free kill during pvp matches quickly learns otherwise when Doc materializes seemingly out of nowhere to rain holy hellfire on you - and then, assuming Tommy is still alive at that point, headshot the son of a bitch himself at point blank range. 

scarecrow3542317: the server admin nobody likes. everyone shittalks him in the discord, which he has, as far as anyone knows, no idea exists. he’s actually very good at freeplay and pvp deathmatches but abjectly horrible in co-op. sticks rigidly to the server rules and gets huffy when people engage in pointless or cheap shit like map exploits. number one petitioner of player bans for that specific purpose. he’s best as heavy infantry and mid-range gunner classes but lacks creativity and is easily predictable once you’ve learned his patterns.

Ultra_Velocity: always opts for general offensive classes. he’s decent if bossy as a team lead (especially on voice chat) but is easily goaded into making mistakes and tunnel visions very easily. he’s a twitch streamer with a couple hundred casual subscribers but resents the fact that his most famous clips literally all involve xPoisonPillerx pulling off batshit stunts on Velocity’s streams. as a result Velocity fosters an extremely one-sided rivalry with them and is determined to beat them on the server scoreboard. he insists that he’ll manage it one of these days.

HotterTwin and CoolerTwin: they’re a matched set and frankly they’re just here for the cosmetics and player skins. most of the time they stick to support classes and buffing other team members (usually each other) so they don’t have to worry about tactics or making judgment calls. they’re surprisingly good when they’re on the same side and can tag-team other players fairly efficiently, but when they’re on the opposite sides of a co-op match they will focus their attention solely on each other and ignore everyone else, driving both of their teams utterly bananas. at times one of them will manage to score their team a win in a seemingly random stroke of brilliance (to which both will attempt to claim credit without fail). honestly it’s a wonder they don’t lose more matches thanks to their godawful ping scores. they’re both also very keen to plug their youtube channel in the discord (it’s makeup. sometimes nails. sometimes gaming while doing nails. but usually makeup.)

VINYLDESTINATION: heavy artillery weapons main only. he plays like any good disruption tank; he’ll soak up damage and deal it out hard. it takes a lot to put him down thanks to how much he’s beefed up his survivability over time. Velocity insists that he play support instead of tanking, and he literally never does. he never talks on voicechat and communicates solely through duke nukem soundbytes.

V0lumeControl: largely mains unobtrusive support and defensive classes and is possessed of a thoroughly average playstyle. the fact that he’s easily overlooked makes him pretty good at sliding past the attention of other players, and if he were interested in climbing up the server scoreboard that wouldn’t be a bad strategy. unfortunately for everyone, that is not his goal in any of his play sessions because Volume is purely there to spruce up matches by annoying the hell out of his teammates with Vinyl as the silent enabler. as it happens Volume is immune to actually being kicked thanks to his role as unofficial bot-wrangler in the discord.

mike_milligram: takes the game wayyyy too seriously. routinely spends gratuitous amounts of lobby time prior to a match meticulously planning a strategy with the rest of his time on the voicechat, oblivious to the fact that they all mute him immediately after. he’s a very conventional player to the point where it’s kind of boring because he always does the same loadout, the same skins, the same strategy, and he insists that it doesn’t need changing because it works (it only sometimes works). never plays support but will juggle offensive and heavy classes based on what he’s feeling.

MonsterBash44: takes the game very seriously, which isn’t as embarrassing when you’re a child and also the target audience. prefers to play offensive and heavy infantry classes but isn’t opposed to changing things up if the team’s lacking a little spice. is a surprisingly aggressive and ruthless player during freeplay, sticking to melee rushing his opponents, which has a good track record as long as you don’t see him coming. his dad regularly tries to buy him cosmetics that he doesn’t actually want but he has no idea how to make him stop.

animaximum: has the prettiest avatar in the entire server, absolutely decked out with top-tier cosmetics and rares, which makes absolutely no goddamn sense considering how piss awful at the game he actually is, no matter who he’s attempting to main. Red saves his ass constantly even during freeplay matches when she’s ostensibly supposed to be another opponent.

100percent: dps tank. frontline heavy melee fighter who strikes fear in everyone’s hearts when she spawns into a deathmatch thanks to her absolute understanding of game mechanics to the point where she hits fast, hard, and out of nowhere. shockingly high-mobility lightning bruiser. she plays more defensively than her reputation and scoreboard position would suggest, and is a veritable bulwark in any co-op match. when it comes to freeplay, you’re better off either teaming up against her or with her if you want to make it to the end.

biginfrared: disgruntled team lead on co-op matches and begrudging ally for whoever looks like they need the most help during freeplay (usually Max, but sometimes Monster). when it comes down to the wire she’s real bad at pulling the trigger on Monster in pvp, which he positively hates because he doesn’t like the idea of anyone going easy on him. in co-op Red prefers support classes, primarily because she sticks close to her sister and together they wreak absolute havoc.

bluehairedbitch: lightning glass cannon of a player, highly mobile and favors super aggressive rush tactics but can leave herself wide open, especially in co-op since she generally operates with the assumption that someone else on her team has her back. positively lethal in deathmatches. will happily team up with someone else to mow down half the map but has no qualms shooting said partner in the back once the competition has been whittled down.

[puppy-phum]

Now that this hell year is almost over let’s celebrate the good things! If you’re receiving this it means you have made someone’s year better. Tell who on tumblr has made this year better for you (as many people as you like, it can be something as small as liking your posts or sending something sweet) and share some of the content you’ve enjoyed (your own or others)

thank you so much dear anon! ♥ I am happy to know that I’ve managed to make someone’s year at least a tiny bit better :’) as a year on tumblr, this year has been very special to me personally so am happy to know that someone has felt that too!

this is going to be a huge list so be warned! putting it under the cut bc of that~

@i-am-just-a-kiddo you are and will always be on this list first and foremost. you and our friendship is the best thing I have gotten from this hellsite and I continue being thankful for it ♥ I always have so much fun talking to you, you support me so unconditionally, share things with me and allow me to just yell about things every day! you never get bored of that endless stream of random nonsense I pour on you and it means so much to me ♥ I also feel honored to share your things, to see your paintings and read your writings and just be there for you. let’s hope the next year will be kinder to us and the world in general! and hey, maybe you get into guardian at some point heh (and thank you for getting into so many things with me this year already!)

@leonzhng I think I said this at some point too but you were the reason why I got into this community we have going on with @mdzsnet and gave me the confidence to just approach ppl here and love things together ♥ you are always so sweet and kind and lovable and I appreciate you doing all the things you do. your edits are amazing and inspirational and I love all the tag games we keep throwing around :’D 

@ashenwren you!! you are amazing and I’m so happy to have gotten to know you through our network :’) I am excited every day when I get to talk to you, even if it’s just for a moment as our timezones make everything kind of difficult :’D it’s just so nice to share mdzs and dmbj with you, to help you get into these dramas, to share all these ideas and thoughts we have, to share our different cultures and languages and whatnot. you are always so supportive and excited and kind and I wish I could hug you sometimes! I hope I still can write something more for pingxie and that I get to see a ton of your art! ♥

then to all the wonderful ppl in our network who have made my tumblr experience so wonderful this year, who keep being kind and amazing and full of so much talent! to @manhasetardis @aheartfullofjolllly @bees0are0awesome @highwarlockkareena @yibobibo @linglynz @yiqiie @wangxiians @leoyunxi @tiesanjiao @lan-xichens @oneautumnfox @aowyn @wangxianbunnydoodles @weiwuxcian and many others who I might have forgotten: I enjoy seeing you in my notes so much, I enjoy all of your content, seeing us all interact with each other and just being very friendly and welcoming ♥ I am thankful every day that I got to join this network and learn to know so many! continue being awesome and have a nice upcoming year :’)

then quickly to:

@lzswy thank you for loving my music and wanting to know me! I hope we get to talk some more and feel free to push music my way too, am always ready to drown in songs :’)

@kholran thank you for doing my tag games and allowing me to talk to you, to call you my friend, and share my love for liu sang! I will once again tell you that your fic (link here if anyone reading this is interested) was amazing and I hope we get to talk some more! 

and then thank you to all the ppl who I see in my notes all the time and leave amazing tags and just love me with interacting with my content and sometimes making it more known and just giving it their all: @btssjamss @a-force-dyad-in-space @cuppyhands @mylastbraincql @drwcn @fytheuntamed @distantsnows @brutalbeetle @intimisky @kazaore @inessencedevided @bluebelle88 @actualmichelle @sassyassassy @thebeautifulmacabre @merinnan @inkblue-black and many others who I might not recognize or remember or find right now! or who I have already mentioned in the network part bc you guys are awesome like that :’) especially when I have tried out new things this year and have dipped into new fandoms and reached out of this mdzs pit I am still in and unwilling to leave ♥ but you are still there and like my content haha

and then I want to mention some of my favorite works this year (I’ll try to pick one per month from my archives oh boy): 

@i-am-just-a-kiddo‘s amazing niemo fic that owns my heart, soul, and the never to be born firstborn ♥ 

@bloody-bee-tea‘s amazing mdzs related fics that always just make my heart clench but also bring me so much joy!

this amazing wangxian edit that still shatters me

this amazing wwx edit by hanyi ♥ @leonzhng I love the quote in this and this breaks me in all the best ways!

@fytheuntamed‘s whole the untamed memes series that single-handedly has saved this year for me (tho I suppose this started earlier than this year but who cares, quality content either way)

this jc outfits collection post by @linglynz ♥ everything for my am-a-hoe-for-the-angry-purple-guy -needs

this amazing art by @/hana-tox that still gives me so many feels that I feel like bursting 

this stunning edit set for the best album that dropped this year, map of the soul: 7, by @/kassareo

this wangxian edit that inspired me a lot and still makes me catch my breath bc damn that looks gorgeous (by @/itsazbitch)

another very inspirational edit set by @/sammyholdsacandle (some might recognize which one of my edits got inspired by this a lot lol) 

this very beautiful post by @alienwlw that’s really just goals tbh 

@sarawatsaraleo‘s favorite the untamed scenes series, every one of these edits is a huge joy and so beautifully done! ♥

@tiesanjiao‘s wonderful, wonderful wangxian edit that keeps being my one of my favorites ever and just. inspires me to this day, I hope one day I can gif :’D ♥

another one of my absolute favorites is this edit by hanyi again ♥ you just have the best ideas and you make everything so pretty!

this soft but heartbreaking, delicate but so emotional edit by @gusucloud ♥ I think I’ve never loved an edit this much, it’s so pretty and absolutely perfect!

this edit by @highwarlockkareena bc wth, the coloring? the gifs themselves?? gosh it looks so pretty and I might cry

@tiesanjiao‘s wonderful gifset made for the gif challenge that was going around during this time ;; as I was slowly falling in love with the iron triangle and dmbj in general, this felt like a blessing ♥ 

these absolutely stunning pieces of art by @/tiphs 

this absolutely gorgeous post for wwx’s bday by @alienwlw (all of this is just. perfect?? the colors, the gifs, the scenes... everything!)

this gorgeous edit by @distantsnows that makes me smile and cry at the same time ♥

this edit also by @distantsnows that is just. pure perfection?? bc fuck yes, sect leader jaing yanli!! I love you for this one

this edit by @lanzhansmiles bc the colors are just absolutely stunning and I love how they both sit there like that and just? wow 

this edit just makes me feel so many things and just looks so dreamy by @cescedes 

this adorable but also very painful edit by @manhasetardis ♥ I love all about this one :’)

and as a shameless self-promo (bc apparently I haven’t done enough of that lol) I want to mention my wu xie edit which was just so much fun to do and turned out so great and. I just love him a lot ok, he’s a wonderful character and zhu yilong played him so well ♥

I wish you all – all the ppl mentioned here and all who see this and all who still do not – a very merry christmas, happy holidays, and happy new years too! I hope the year 2021 will treat us all well and that you will remain as amazing, lovely, and wonderful as you all have been! ♥ 

[buildingrelationshipsinanarchy]

A New Intimacy Model

So what spurred this project is a culmination of a few things. Namely, frustration with the imprecise and incomprehensible words, Platonic, Romantic, and Sexual. The English language hasn’t been great at adapting the words for personal relationships as our times and values change.

I fell into Anarchism only very recently, stumbling into the language of ‘relationship anarchy’ through the internet in discussion with forms of polyamory years ago when I started this blog. Over the last year, I’ve been getting into radical politics and finding how my un-politicized opinions were validated, and then stretched the more I learned and studied up. While I’m still learning more about Radical politics, Anarchism, Marxism, Queer and Feminist theory specifically, the more I wanted to link some of my perspectives on intimate relationships with these political and theoretical texts.

“The Personal is Political.” - Carol Hanisch, Feminist Author.

@mythr1der​ wrote a post detailing a bit of the frustration I also share in regards to how the Dichotomy between Platonic and Sexual (which almost all definitions of Romance boil back into), leave much to be desired when discussing attraction, desire, intimacy and relationships in general. I believe that this very simple dichotomy reflects, oddly enough, capitalism and the history of the role of state power in culture. I rant a little bit about it as a response to @mythr1der​‘s post here. 

It’s long, and incomplete, but I proposed an idea of just building entirely new words, so we can build an entirely new map for talking about love, desire, attraction, and relationships that actually discuss what its like to be next to someone you like to be next to! 

What is intimacy? It’s closeness right? To be near some ‘intimate’ part of another person, or them near something meaningful about why you’re you. I wanted to start this series by talking about what it means to be close to someone. If you remember my birthday without Facebook, that might make me feel a bit special. But if you remember how badly I was abused by an old friend, its because I trusted you enough to share some of the sadness that I’m not as loud about.

Intimacy isn’t always trauma, sometimes its tears of joy hearing that your cousin is out of prison, or the laughter of your friends. Being close to each other in a hyper-digitized age is a bit tricky, but phone calls, facetime, snapchat are only some of the tools we use to keep each other updating on what we’re feeling. Whether its about our love life, sex life, work life, or home life, just sharing that information can be real special, and bonding.

When we say that we have friends or that we are [Queer] Platonic Partners, does that mean we’ve decided how often we’re gonna talk or what we’re gonna talk about? What if we just send each other memes or rant about politics? Am I supposed to devalue those interactions because they aren’t the person I’m crying on the phone with?

Intimacy can be as deep as childhood scars and as simple as surprising me with my favorite snack. It all just means you know who I am, what I like, and what I care about. I want to intentionally forge those connections. And this why I set these definitions first. 

Other Words:

A Daekkon (n.) would be person/partner whom you’ve developed intentionally this kind of relationship with. 

If you desired this kind of relationship with a certain person, you’d be feeling Daekeen (adj.) for/about that person.

People who are desiring or actively doing these activities together are Daekkoning (v.). 

This would be understood as Daekkonic (adj.) behavior; as in, “My roomate isn’t super talkative with me, but is deakkonic (adj.) with Sandra from the Mosque.” 

“Tom is going through it, he’s felt deakkonically (adv.) deprived since the move.”

________________________________________________________________

In our sex-negative, ironically repressed culture, we seem to think that if you’re touching your bodies together at all, it means *something*.  I want to remove that idea. I want to reclaim physical affection. I want to be touch and be touched by others. I don’t want my afab friends who have experienced some sort of sexual violence in their lives, to ever feel weary about the fact that I’m physically affectionate. It’s been my #1 Love Language for the last 10 years. 

Fighting r*pe culture is a full-time fight, but I think adding a word, and therefore an idea[l], can be useful in reclaiming safety, and boundaries regarding bodily autonomy, for all of us. Clear communication and respected boundaries and asking consent for everything are the bedrock we need to continually practice. And as trust builds, I believe this could be very useful theoretically tool for improving the quality of our relationships and help create clearer discussion about our individual boundaries, needs, and desires. I feel like this leads me to a relevant question. What activities are inherently platonic, romantic or sexual? Is holding hands inherently romantic when almost all of us have done it with a friend? What about those of us who are religious or spiritual and have held hands with members of church, mosque or synagogue; do you think we’re out here non-stop blushing at the Pastor? Or when we held hands with family members? Doesn’t sound like it holds up, huh? 

What about snuggling a roommate? Holding a teammate while celebrating a victory? The kiss my bestfriend gave me on our shared birthday dinner? Are we left to through our Aro and Ace friends’ out of the discussion, just because our culture has bad takes on sex and romance as the only forms possible of significant physical touch? Physical touch is such an important way to communicate love and affection, as well as care, concern, and comfort. They don’t get to cast their shadow on this space anymore!

Other Words:

If you had this desire for someone, or wanted to approach cultivating these forms of affection in a relationship, you could say you’re feeling Phaddish (adj.) for that person.

.Participating or initiating acts of a non-sexual physical intimacy Phadronic (adj.) quality are said to be phade-ing/phading (v.).

A Phadrone (n.) could be the name of a person/partner you share this kind of relationship with. 

Phadroning (v.) would the act of cultivating this kind of intimacy with another person. 

Phadronically (adv.) could describe a certain level of intimacy implicit in a physical touch between to particular people.

________________________________________________________________

Now lets talk about Sex. That’s the thing the everyone’s mind always gravitates to when discuss words like, intimacy, attraction, desire. It’s the thing we want to stay away from when you use the Platonic or Friendly. But, lets be real. Haven’t many of us had sex with people didn’t even consider friends? Or people who became our “Strictly Platonic” friends after we may have had sex, once or several times, with them?

People who gravitate toward polyamory or non-monogamy tend have had a “hoe-phase.” The boundary between friend and lover, or partner and fuckbuddy have been blurred in a good chunk of people’s lives. Non-monogamous or not, I think it’s useful to talk directly about our sexual experiences, desires, fantasies, and how different it can be with different people, or in different stages of our lives. But what makes an experience sexual? Maybe that sounds redundant or obvious; I mean, it’s got the word SEX in it, maybe that’s got something to do with it? But maybe not... 

Lets ask an odd question. Is sex inherently sexual? Who wouldn’t assume the answer is automatically yes? Well, my first thought is to talk to those in the Adult Entertainment industry or friends of ours who are sex-workers, in whatever capacity. Is every client sexy or shoot erotic? Those of us who have sex, have we never been doing it and been bored through most of at least one experience? 

If sex is inherently sexual, why do we have so many Sexual Health Educators, Marriage Counselors, Pornstars, Yoga Teachers, Personal trainers and Writers telling us how to have sexy sex? Dating Coaches and Websites, telling us how we are getting something that’s supposed to sound so easy wrong.

I’ve come to the opinion that sex isn’t about body parts, genitalia, certain body motions, or even clothing [or lack thereof]. I believe that sex, or eroticism, is all about the context and the people involved. There’s nothing inherently sexy about fruit, or food in general, but if woman eats a banana in public, there are at least several men in area thinking of something than her healthy food choices. 

This is why talking about sex directly is good. And understanding it as an energy that you imbue to any activity or circumstance, could help have better sex; and and on the flip-side, show us how we may need to more aware of how we may take up space with our body language. I do also feel, that in part, some of our Ace friends (those who aren’t sex repulsed), may be able to find some resonance with this model; sex doesn’t have to feel passionate or any particular way at all (other than good?), because sex isn’t about sexiness, but about human connection and pleasure.

Other Words:

Serotic (adj.) activities include any activity that is engaged due to, or is infused with, sexual desire and/or erotic intention. It also describes the type of desire you’re feeling for another person. 

A Serato (n.) is any person you engage in serotic activities or feelings with. 

An activity that was originally un-serotic (adj.), but became sexually or erotically charged, we could described as having become Serotically (adv.) charged. 

When you are cultivating or charging an act with serotic energy, you are Seroticizing (v.) that activity

________________________________________________________________

Lately, especially since diving into Radical Politics, I find less and less desire in defining Who I Am as a part of a relationship unit. It’s an overlay from monogamy, The Couple being the only social unit that is recognized, as it’s necessary to the Nuclear Family; a super important thing for Capitalism to sustain itself. The relationships I cultivate with others, with whatever forms of intimacy or interactions therein, cant be understood by that model. I am more than my interactions with a handful of people; I am a human person, and my engagement with the world isn’t actually reducible to whether or not I’m having sex with someone or not. 

We’ve talked about multiple forms of intimacy, and some of the desires or interests associated with them. Have you noticed that in the desire, or need, to discuss relationships on a basis of, ‘sex: yes or no?’, that we haven’t talked about the webs that form because we are all reliant on each other to survive? Not everyone in your community or workplace or online spaces, you’ll get to know or talk to. Do they, as people, matter less because they aren’t in your contacts list or your DM’s?  

This is a space where not a lot of us to tend think or engage as much. An easy word to discuss this space is community. But is a community the people or the place you spend your time, whether online or off? Is the community the place you live and your neighbors? Is it the people who may share some of your identifiers or face similar forms of oppression, despite living in a different city, state, country?

We are multi-dimensional beings, and with the use of technology, there are so many ways to form relationships, and share resources. I think the ‘community’ is any space you find yourself in, which means that mutual aid is something you are always able to engage in. Whether it’s feeding the homeless guys who hang out by the intersection, or dropping a few bucks in a trans kid’s venmo, mutual aid is so much easier.

But what if that feels so inconsequential? It’s not! But it does, from time to time, feel like the problems of the world are so big, and that you and so many you know are suffering in ways you wish you could help. Well, community organizing is always happening somewhere, online and off. It becomes important to join up with others in order feel like we can actually make a positive impact on the lives of others. We don’t have to wait on a government who’s interest isn’t ours, don’t have to wait for some politician to fail on a promise to Make Things Better.

We have each other, and we are all we really have. At the end of the day, all of our concepts are man-made. COVID-19 showed us how drastically things could be different if the people in power made decisions that actually benefited us. A lot of us understand the need to do something. Capitalism says that competition is what drove human kind into evolution, the fight for survival in a meaningless, terrifying world. Anarchism, as I’m learning, throws the whole idea in the trash where it belongs.

Peter Kropotkin, whose been called both the Godfather and Santa Claus of Anarchism, penned in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902), “under any circumstances sociability is the greatest advantage in the struggle for life.”

We are better off together. Capitalism and the property relationships in our compulsively monogamous society try to tell us other wise. We don’t have to follow that model.

Other Words:

To Mudshop (v.) is to build a mudship with a particular person, organinzation, or community; Mud-shopping (v.). 

A Mudshipper (n.) is an individual in a mudship of any scale. 

I’ve said a lot. I hope this reads as accessible to as many people as it can be. I built this because I want to tell the people in my life why I love them as dearly as I do. And that I’d love to build relationships with as many awesome, lovely people as I can.

If you try to use the words Romantic and Platonic while you look at this post, and find it almost impossible, I’ve done my job.

I hope those words die along with oppressive ideas they uphold.

[regrettablewritings]

Gives nose/forehead kisses, breaks the gift rule and remembers anniversaries fo r Benoit blanc!!!

Some rather tasteful things for the resident gentleman . . . I like that!

Gives nose/forehead kisses: Benoit, being a practitioner of “gentlemanly affection”, has perfected the art of non-liplock kisses. You see, boys think way too small: They tend to think that kisses should be reserved for seduction, or given out of exasperation. If a kiss is done in anything positive, it’s on the lips or the neck. The decidedly more minute kisses should be reserved for when one is in a rush, or when their partner -- especially when said partner is female -- has pestered them about something and the boy needs to try and quiet them down. But men understand that it goes much deeper than that: Kisses aren’t just a means of seduction or equivalent to a lazy pat on the back, they’re a means of assurance. Sometimes even respect if they’re done right. And far be it from the last of the gentlemen sleuths to devoid you of any such kisses. Socially speaking, kisses on the nose or forehead tend to be interpreted as something more innocuous. But there’s just something that lights a fire in your tummy when Benoit does it, even when it’s just because he’s about to head out for something relating to a case, or because he’s soothing you. Because it’s actually never just because he’s leaving or just because he’s calming you down: In every kiss he applies, there’s a warmth. There’s safety. There is a reminder that he adores you and is there for you even in this arguably unconventional relationship. They’re never just simple pecks, either: They linger. They are deliberate. They’re words that flavor his lips and are applied to your skin, writing invisibly on you reminders that all will be well. And just for assurance, it’s in his eyes when he parts from you (assuming you dare look into them). It’s so adoring and splendid that no matter how sweet the intent, you are always left wanting more. But, of course, absolutely nothing beats the kisses Benoit gives you on the backs of your hands. But those are for another time . . .

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas: When you first started dating, you thought you were under a silent agreement to keep a $25 budget on the gift-giving. You weren’t even sure what make you so certain of that besides just your own mind functioning in a way that assumed enough people thought similarly enough to you, at the very least your oddball boyfriend did. And certainly, while $25 didn’t always lend itself to the most high-qualitied materials, it still allowed for you two to be somewhat on the same page as to how wild the gifts could be. After all, it was just enough to purchase a lovely wooden bow tie with intricate designs carved in the wings. A small gift, admittedly, but imagining the rich wood with the blue tartan middle complimenting whatever snappy outfit Benoit chose to wear with it just excited you! In fact, you were actually quite proud of yourself leading up to the date when you both decided to exchange your very first Christmas gifts to one another . . . And when that day came, the pride got smacked to the ground. A weighted blanket. That beautiful, blond bastard went and bought you a weighted blanket. And not just one whose fillings felt a bit on the cheap side, all gritty and such -- this bad boy was quality. The texture was perfect, not even threatening to set off your sensitivities in the slightest. And it wasn’t even just one with the regular grey coloring -- this one had constellations on it. A glorious, beautiful star map etched in greyish-silver thread. Did -- did he get somebody on Etsy to do this? Did anyone on Etsy actually make weighted blankets!? You weren’t very good at hiding your distress (or pouting face) over the gift-exchange. To your further dismay, Benoit only found it amusing. Adorable, even, as he offered a low, “Aaaww” before pressing a kiss to your cheek. “No need to pout there, darlin’,” he tried to assure you. “I love the bow tie. Really.” “But you got me an entire weighted blanket,” you muttered, glowering at the beautiful cloth in your hands. “Because I remember you saying you always meant to buy yourself one, but it always fell out of your budget.” “But like -- Benoit -- ” You weren’t even sure what to argue. If you should argue, even. Probably not . . . But the worry didn’t go away. Not until your boyfriend took it upon himself to unravel the blanket and gently drape it over your shoulders. To your dismay, the damned thing worked like a charm as it squeezed out all the bad feelings and instead forced your body to squeeze good hormones into you. To the blanket’s credit, its effect did make it a lot easier for you to see that Benoit genuinely did find absolute delight in the gift you gave him. He wasn’t even much of a bow tie man, but he certainly loved the swirls and curls in the wooden accessory. Following that Christmas, you still fell into the trap of assuming he would keep a cap on the gifts. Would it have been smart to just sit down and flat-out tell him to keep it under a budget of some kind? Oh, most definitely. But you had the sinking suspicion that even if he demanded it, he would somehow manage to get his hands on something superior in presentation that you never would’ve thought to have given him. So in a way, it’s probably best to leave him to his devices. Even if said devices simultaneously drive you made and make you super excited against your stubborn will.

Remembers anniversaries: Benoit, to your dismay. It’s not that you want him to forget, per se, but sometimes the way his memory can put yours to shame makes you feel a bit self-conscious. You know you probably shouldn’t expect anything different, though: The man is a detective, after all, so having a profound memory is a part of the gig. . . . But does he really need to remember the day you both met, down to what you were wearing!? Really, remembering anniversaries should be simple: All you need to do is write it down somewhere. Somewhere safe. Somewhere where it can’t be lost. Not like on a receipt like you did the first year you were together. Or on a calendar, which Duke the cat tore up. Or in a planner which, through a series of seemingly impossible events, wound up becoming a part of evidence for a case you technically weren’t even involved in. Hell, even your phone wasn’t safe after, in an act of some sadistic god, it wound up glitching and deleting only a couple cat photos -- and the reminder of when your anniversary was. And only those things. Benoit doesn’t seem to mind your occasional forgetfulness, actually. It makes it easier for whatever he plans to come across as more spontaneous. Sure, it would require planning to set up a reservation at a high-end restaurant following a show for a touring version of a Broadway production you’d been dying to see, but it’s a lot easier to get genuine surprise and delight from you when you entered that weekend without any expectations beyond catching up on episodes of Law & Order or something. Besides . . . With how often you forget certain dates, grabbing good gifts tends to become a bit of a task due to how last-minute it is. Which means you sometimes have to rely on things that come . . . naturally to you . . . Make of that what you will, but just know: Benoit never minds it.

Aaaand that’s a wrap for this round of ship memes! Thank you very much for your participation and patience!!

[rpmemesbyarat]

RP Meme from Oliver & Company

Now, it's always once upon a time in New York City.

It's a big old bad old tough old town.

Let me have one, please.

Right away, you're making time and making friends

If they pick you out, you're on your way.

Get out there and go and try.

Why does nightfall find you feelin' so alone?

Dreaming is still how the strong survive

Keep your dream alive.

Got to look out and open your eyes,

You're in the fast lane

What's the matter with you? I said get outta here.

I don't eat cats. It's too much fur.

I've been watching you, and I think you're in serious need of some professional guidance.

I'm an expert at these things.

All you gotta do is learn some moves.

This city's got a beat.

When are we gonna get those hot dogs?

I hate to break it to ya, but the dynamic duo is now the dynamic uno.

Our partnership is herewith dissolved.

You're not being fair!

Fairs are for tourists, kid.

Consider it a free lesson in street savoir faire

Hey, wait! I helped you get those! Half of those are mine!

Why should I worry? Why should I care?

I got street savoir faire

You can wear the crown!

Everything goes.

Everything fits.

They love me at the Chelsea, they adore me at the Ritz!

Stop that racket! I'm trying to watch this show.

Shut up, you little rodent.

Come on, let's watch some boxing. I wanna see some action

You think this place is big enough?

What we need is some good quality stuff

Oh, shredded leather.

You insulted my pride! That means death!

It was your turn to get the food today!

You remain our preeminent benefactor.

It was tough. Only I could have done it.

I love a story with food in it.

Enter the opposition.

Gang war! Gang war! Watch out! Here comes a gang war!

Take cover!

It's just a cat.

I followed this dog.

He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's lying!

Oh, boy! Dog pile!

Don't let me down!

What do you got?

Let's see what you got.

I was just on my way out.

Actually, I've got something much better than money.

Some luxury items that should make a considerable dent in my debt to you.

Oh, my! You waxed your car, didn't you? Did they use the buffer on it, because I can see myself.

I don't think you grasp the severity of the situation.

Now, I lent you money and I don't see it.

People like you get hurt.

I can't figure out why you'd rather hang around a dump like this when you could be living uptown with a class act like myself.

Isn't it rather dangerous to use one's entire vocabulary in a single sentence?

You bad, man.

Hey, you got something to say to me, fat boy?

Why don't you pick on someone your own size?

Oh, I'm having a bad day!

I like cats. I like to eat 'em.

Your master's calling.

Come on and say it to my face!

How am I ever gonna come up with all that money?

It's hopeless.

That took a lot of guts.

All right. Time for bed. We've got a big day tomorrow.

We've got two days to do or die.

You got a lot to learn. And if you don't learn, you don't eat!

But if you're tough, and always use your head, you'll be right at home, on the street.

When you got talent, everything is free.

You're gonna see how the best survive.

These are streets of gold.

You'll take the town, and you'll take it with style.

You're in charge of electronics.

Hey, but what about me? What do I do?

Ready? Go!

What have I done? Poor thing.

You oughta be ashamed of yourself!

Run along, little fellow. Go on, now. Shoo.

Be a lookout.

I only got one more wire, okay?

Oh, you poor kitty. Here. Let me help you.

Where's the kid?

We can't just take in a stray off the street.

Don't worry, kitty. I'll take care of you.

Your public awaits.

Girl, we've got work to do

Pass me the paint and glue.

Perfect isn't easy

When one knows the world is watching, one does what one must.

See how the breeding shows

Sometimes it's too much for even me!

But when all the world says "Yes", then, who am I to say "no"?

Don't ask a mutt to strut like a showgirl

Perfection becomes me, ne c'est pas?

I'm beauty unleashed!

So classic and classy

They're barking up the wrong tree!

I have your hearts, and you have my pity

Pretty is nice, but still it's just pretty!

I wouldn't go in there if I were you.

What is the meaning of this?

I guess I'll have to handle this myself.

And do you have any idea whose home this is?

Isn't he cute?

What in Heaven's name are we waiting for?

Alas, our beleaguered benefactor bearing the brunt of our futile endeavours.

Cool it!

Our mission begins at daybreak.

I don't hear any practicing.

Oh, you wanna practice too!

We two can be good company.

You and me, just wait and see.

I'll handle that ruffian.

Body slam! Body slam! Oh, come on, you fool! Hit him! Hit him!

Come back here!

Huh, this place looks pretty nice. I mean, how bad off could it be here?

Chagall. Matisse. These are all masterpieces.

Hey, man, if this is torture, chain me to the wall.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down.

Don't come any closer! I knew this would happen one day.

It's not you I'm after.

Not good enough for you?

I mean, do you even know who I am?

GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU LITTLE BUG-EYED CREEP!

Something's not quite right here.

Shh. Quick. Before he comes back. Follow me.

I mean, let's just forget the whole thing.

No, no, you can't do that! You don't understand. The poor dear's so traumatized.

What is going on here?

Hurry. Use the fire escape.

Ooh, I could've danced all night! I could've danced all night!

You were very good.

I was rather good, wasn't I?

You okay, kid?

I have another home now. And someone who loves me.

You're in the gang.

I just wanna go back.

You wanna leave? Fine! There's the door.

You lighten up!

Oh, it's hopeless.

Looks like you're doing all right for yourself

So that's where you've been!

Feel it. That's it. Very good.

This is an airtight plan

I'll even toss in a little extra for your patience.

It's my final offer. Take it or leave it.

I said, push!

No, you don't kill 'im yet.

Did we bring something green and wrinkly to make me happy?

I'm getting your money tonight! It's coming tonight!

Hey, I think there's hope for you yet.

Yeah, you're starting to think big.

It's creepy down here.

I drew a perfectly good map.

A child could read that map.

I didn't do it! I didn't do it! I was framed!

This is a tough neighborhood. You'd better go home.

I came to find my kitty.

You brought a piggy bank.

What kind of a person would steal a poor little kitty?

I'm so scared. I don't know what to do.

I found a little lost kitten.

No! No, wait! You can't do this!

Keep your mouth shut.

Stop! Stop! Time out!

There's gotta be some way in.

Peasants.

Well, it's nice to see that one of you has some manners.

After you, my little croissant

And remember, quiet.

Oh! I broke a nail.

Oh, balderdash.

Freeze!

I don't think you really appreciate the situation. Somebody could get hurt.

You smell that?

It's party time!

Where are those dogs?

I thought I'd never see you again.

What's the occasion? Come to rescue your little friend?

All right! What a woman!

Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work we go

This has all been very entertaining. But the party is over.

Hey, man, you're ugly!

Aah! Save me!

Hey, get off my back, woman! I'm driving!

All right, anybody want some cake?

Murder him! Twist his arm!

The gifts were great.

We'll start with a bath.

You know, you're not so bad for a bug-eyed little creep.

You come back here this minute!

Tell me why should I care

What a delightful scoundrel.

[illegiblewords]

Fic Writer Meme

Swiped this because it looked like fun!

Name

Fandoms

Most popular oneshot

Most popular multichapter

Actual worst part of writing

How you choose your titles

Do you outline

Ideas I probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice?

Callouts @ Me

Best writing traits

Spicy Tangential Opinion

Tagging: @nilim, @azwoodbomb, @wouldyouliketoseemymask, @parvus-pica, @peregrineroad, @spiral-seeker, @frostmantle, @autumnslance, @strangefellows, @redbud-tree, @maccaroni-eh, @entropytea, @prettyparadoxes, @ivalane, @kunstpause, @fogfens

Name: Illegible or Illegiblewords lately. I’ve switched it in the past a few times.

Fandoms: I’ve been in Final Fantasy XIV for the past couple of years now. Passively I might be in Pathologic fandom and Dragon Age fandom? Maybe others too on and off. I was in comic fandoms for a long time but honestly that spiraled into a hot mess of epic proportions so I’ve mostly peaced out of there. Still love stories, characters, and buddies from there though.

Most Popular Oneshot: Ironically it’s Ideation for Bladerunner 2049 haha. I did exactly one fic there right after seeing the movie and didn’t go back, but I thought it was very good and I had a specific story I wanted to tell. It’s one of my most popular fics, and given it’s gen too I’m actually kind of happy about that.

Most Popular Multichapter: The Immortal Wound for FFXIV fandom! I had only just started writing for the fandom, and the series leading up to this fic was my first time writing NPC shipping in FFXIV. I was seriously, SERIOUSLY nervous at first! I wrote the first fic, Posturing, as a personal challenge to do an ambiguous protagonist/NPC since I saw other people doing that and wanted to see if I could pull it off. Posted it at around 4 in the morning then deleted within a few minutes out of anxiety lol. A week went by before I read it again, realized I still liked it, and put it back up for good. That being well-received helped encourage me to keep trying, and by The Immortal Wound it was getting solid attention. The experience really meant a lot to me!

Actual Worst Part of Writing: Probably chapter maps within the outlining process for me. It’s needed for how I approach things, but shit is anxiety-inducing and stressful af lol. I basically plan each event out in high detail before actually writing the fic, so when the time comes for me to legit write I’m more or less following a plan I can trust. Making that plan is the tough part.

How Do You Choose Your Titles: Often titles are the last things I figure out before starting the fic itself. I know I like punchy stuff if I can manage. Sometimes it’ll be one word, sometimes it’ll be a quote or song lyric, sometimes it’ll be a saying, sometimes it’ll be a phrase that feels fitting. I go fast and loose usually, and tbh I’ve tried to tell myself not to overthink it too hard. I do try title related works in ways that have some thematic link when I can.

Do You Outline: HahahahahaHAHAHAHAhaha yeah. Straight up my outlines are eldritch terrors for their detail, length, and complexity. I don’t mean that as a brag at all, seriously--I tend to get frozen a bit if I don’t have an outline by and large because it’s hard for me to keep track of what’s in my head and plan accordingly. Just end up with too many moving parts + revision and pacing get wonky otherwise.

Depending on the project I might have sections tied to setting, characters, magic systems, religions, etc. at the top. Fanfic this is less likely but does crop up sometimes.

To give an example of the first bullet of the first chapter of an ongoing fic:

Post-Shinryu, the Warrior of Light lingers in the Royal Menagerie alone at his own insistence to search for the Eye of Nidhogg. In the process he remembers the fight against Zenos and Shinryu. Note he was overcome by an almost feral rage at Zenos’ assumption that he was the target of anything resembling lust. Those attentions (“bite down upon my jugular”) belong to another, but note similarities of two pale-eyed, long-haired blondes. Seeing Shinryu, the Warrior had no idea whether Lahabrea survived within. The fusion was horrifying to see and as he fought he didn’t hold back because besides obvious dangers, he was also ready to mercy kill if needed. Also note Warrior wanted to intervene against Thordan for Lahabrea but wasn’t fast enough, questions a little privately how far he’d have gone against him. It might not have mattered even if he’d managed since he knows Lahabrea was going crazy and unable to listen. Locating and examining the Eye, he recognizes how drained it is. Certainly not enough to threaten him when dealing with post-battle exhaustion. So he reaches inside with his own aether, relentless in pushing aside every foreign element—Nidhogg, Thordan, the corrupted Rhalgr, the places Zenos caged them all under his own will. Zodiark’s tempering is what helps him ultimately find Lahabrea, who is barely alive. Zodiark’s tempering has preserved what it could but has a much more tenuous grip in consequence. When the Warrior finds him Lahabrea isn’t even aware, functionally unconscious. The tempering flares against him defensively and this time the Warrior focuses on it. This is all that has allowed Lahabrea to stay alive. He could force himself closer but there is no vessel. Besides, the process of separating a fragile soul so deficient in aether is too great a risk. So he keeps the Eye.

It’s not the only bullet of comparable size for that chapter. The overall piece has at least 40 total chapters, but probably more.

Ideas I Probably Won’t Get Around To, But Wouldn’t It Be Nice: Tbh probably some of the earlier WIPs I have that aren’t finished already. Not just FFXIV (Dead Language, With Good Intentions) but other fandoms. I could end up circling back in the future one day but who knows.

Callouts @ Me: “NO MORE WIPS HOLY SHIT YOU HAVE OVER 20″, “RELEARN HOW TO DO DRABBLES”, “GET UR PRESENTS DONE”, “REVIEW OTHERS MORE THE STAGE FRIGHT IS RIDICULOUS”.

Best Writing Traits: I try to write any character as the hero of their own story/with the capacity to be someone’s favorite. I do my research and prioritize telling a good story first and foremost. I can change my writing style according to need and am good at capturing the cadence and word choices of different characters.

Spicy Tangential Opinion: If no transaction has been made (esp. monetary), no one owes you shit online. Not reviews, not hits, not praise, not agreement, not content of any sort. It sucks to feel like you’re creating to a void. It sucks to be passionately in love with a rarepair when other ships are drowning in art and stories.

People still don’t owe you.

If you don’t like someone else’s content, create something exploring what you do like... or even why you don’t like that content. Tell a story. Create art. Make photosets and playlists and analyses. If it is not a literal crime (as opposed to portraying fictional crime), don’t discourage other creators no matter how awful you might find their stuff. Lend your own voice to an alternative as convincingly as you can. And if that doesn’t persuade others, you need to keep honing your own skills.

If you want more of something to exist, spread inspiration. Again this can be in storytelling, art, photosets, playlists, analysis, you name it. Give form to your passion. And if others disagree or don’t respond, keep working at it. This is a skill too, and it takes practice.

I’ve found it shows when work is created out of a sense of guilt, fear, or obligation. The quality is much lower and no one latches on to keep building in-turn. And IMO it is essential to build up rather than tearing down.

[joecial-distancing]

July Roundup

Lifestyle:

I’ve been getting back into running this summer. It’s been about 4 years since I’ve done any serious running, and I have been made painfully aware of the differences in my body at age 29 compared to 25. My knees hurt more, I need to attend to stretching much more seriously than I used to. I’m coming at the task with better self-knowledge than last time, though; I know how far and how fast I’ve been capable of pushing, and I find an enormous amount of comfort and strength from that familiarity. 

I’ve also been applying to jobs, a process which started as nauseatingly daunting, but has gradually settled into just a regular chore of the week (ideally chore of the day, if I’m to keep up with new years resolutions). Getting a resume mushed into a satisfying shape has felt nice, as has getting together a form cover letter that I know hasn’t hurt my chances of getting my foot in doors. Annoyance Boxes checked off, and the rest is getting familiar with the rest of the grind. Interviews have been and will be the same process.

Games:

I’ve also been playing a lot of Sekiro. I’ve always “liked” Fromsoft games, but it’s been rare that I’ve been able to justify the time investment. There’s an appeal in the structure, endless chances to bash myself against a problem until it clicks, being able to run drills when stuck or inadequate (and there is a hook in the inadequacy; nothing frustrates me more than being unable to Just figure out a solution, or requiring too much time to get there. I have a tense relationship with time and deadline pressure. Impatience is one of my greatest vices). So with school finished, I’m diving into this as a treat to myself. The systems are fun, and the camera is so fucking awful that I get unreasonably angry about it. One thing I always do with these games that I think is anathema to a lot of their fans is to spoil myself on what I’m up against. In dark souls I would always have open area maps, rather than try to navigate the combat and exploration simultaneously. It put my mind at ease, I didn’t like the discomfort of the tension of untriggered surprise. And with Sekiro, I know roughly the zones I’m up against, I’m not above watching videos of the boss fights to learn the proper counters etc. No shame, no honor, that’s not what I get out of these games, really.

As with running, so with jobsearch, so with Sekiro, the method is diligence, the appeal is the pleasure of feeling my improvement over time. There is nothing more exciting to me than casually accomplishing something that I know would have annihilated me only a short time ago. I can finish 2 miles in 20 minutes, I want to get it down to 15. This also means the videogame tends to lose out on the priorities list—if I’m wanting to dedicate myself to practice, there’s almost always a different outlet that’d be better outcomes in the long run

very 8 of pentacles mood overall, lately.

Books:

I’m almost done with Pynchon’s Against the Day, which had taken up all of my Reading attention span this month. Unless it does something in the final 8% to lose me hard, it’ll probably clock in as my 2nd favorite of his stuff, behind Gravity’s Rainbow.  Anarchism as expressed against American mining companies, European empires, and the Mexican state; searches for a lost paradise city; warfare between schools of mathematics; the nature of Light. At face value, it feels closest to Gravity’s Rainbow and Mason & Dixon, compared to the rest of his work (I know there’s a lot of subtext and referencing going over my head with all of these in terms of both history and literature; I noticed a lot of reviews of AtD focused about the variety of genre style work that he’s pulling from in certain sections, nearly all of which is lost on me. It has, however, been very fun to me that I’m able to keep up with the mathematic academia infighting depicted in this). There’s a “fairy tales coming to life” quality to all three, if instead of Grimms’ stories it’s historical models of the world: Supersonic rockets wreck the flow of pavlovian cause & effect, the destruction of natural landscape in the course of linear surveying becomes a direct conduit for a massive influx of evil energy, quaternion mathematics casting time as real and space as imaginary allow a yogi to contort himself out of sight and into the imaginary plane. The aether is experimentally disproven in the beginning of Against the Day’s timeline, which doesn’t stop holdout engineers and mystics from working wonders with it.

It feels like there’s about as much going on in here as GR, but where GR is claustrophobically overstuffed (which is also part of the reason it’s a better book) and Mason & Dixon gets kind of plodding, the material here is given space to breathe, without losing momentum. It probably helps that the characters in this are a.) numerous, and b.) unusually solid as far as Pynchon goes.

It’s also got many great examples of something else I really like about Pynchon, which is that he is willing to commit 110% to incredibly stupid jokes. There’s an Elmer Fudd reference in here that completely knocked me on my ass.

Viz:

Watched the Bo Burnham netflix, which was mostly pretty good, though I’m completely out of patience for ostentations self-awareness or fake debate where the ~comedian~ who’s concerned about being ~white privileged mannn~ feels guilty he might be ~taking up space~, doesn’t know that he ~deserrrrves it~... out of patience because I already know what he did with that guilt (if genuine) — he didn’t scrap the project, he released the fucking thing anyway. What am I to do with this, Bo Burnham? Would you like my permission? Would you like an “it’s ok dude” from people of marginalized groups within your audience? Why am I watching along for a decision you’ve quite literally already made? I don’t trust displays of vulnerability before an audience of this size.

Also watched through I Think You Should Leave, which... sure it’s funny, and also very effective at making me uncomfortable, which is clearly what it’s aiming to do, but. I don’t really get why it’s got such a strong cultural draw within the online spheres I’m normally checked into. Saw some discourse about how the quotability is somehow distinct from regular memeing, which, alright get over yourselves jesus christ.

speaking of flavors of the month, watched 50 shades and lmao. I’ve been told by a trusted source the books are worse which is hilarious.

also speaking of flavors of the [century], S.O. and I have been doing a rewatch of pre-MCU comic book movies, which has been some fascinating anthropology. It meant, though, that we had to sit through howard the duck, an absolutely wretched film. Other highlights so far: willem dafoe power rangers acting, the soundtrack on affleck daredevil (incl a fuckin choice Evanescence exercise montage), Blade & Blade II still hold up.

We’ve also made it to the final season of pre-reboot xfiles. Duchovny’s mostly gone from this last season, replaced largely by robert patrick of T1000 fame, who is a better actor but a worse character, dude’s basically just A Cop. The writing’s weirdly probably better than the last couple Duchovny seasons, but the show doesn’t work without him — his bad acting was the main thing keeping things together, the tone’s all off now.

[gleeandshame]

Semi-liveblogging

A New York Christmas Wedding, indie Netflix movie... All I know is it’s on Netflix, there’s not a trailer, and uh, it’s wlw??? SPOILERS below!

WTF did they say “you’re not my girlfriend”

“She can’t know you like me” and then immediate fornication, I Do Not Want

Okay, we’re expecting like Lifetime or Hallmark Channel levels of writing on this I see...

Wait did she say her best friend died? Or I wasn’t paying attention. From watching later uh, maybe she said they lost touch, i mean, a BFF would be like the person Who you would think it would be but...

Asian wlw extras!!! intimacy :’)

(Wonder if she’ll be bi or gay)

Blah blah, mom is insufferable 

Oh but so... is this a called off wedding then, I guess it’s her wedding, like that’s what the signs point to... huuuh.... Like, I hope there’s not cheating involved or I’ll be very :/

Wow, sassy BFF gay angel, lol

“You shouldn’t under estimate love during Christmas” 

Here comes gay supernatural sh*t (at least I hope)

Gay angel, is she just gonna see 1000 gay signs tomorrow? Lol

I sincerely forgot his name, like Abziel or something, I’m sorry gay angel

oh right, i kept thinking they would be cold, but this is 6 mo before Christmas. today is a really chilly night for me

Azrael, I was close. I only remember it because it’s marked by the captions

Her fiance does have a nice back though

hate when there’s unnecessary flashback v.o. in stuff, just have a thoughtful look, feel okay with being quiet!!!

OH MY GOSH TRANSPORTED TO A GAY LIFE, I f*cking love it!!!

the light pouring in from the window and it’s looking all foggy.

They have a dog named Smudge :’)

Oh my gosh they’re having a meeting with a reverand or something for their gay wedding???

her tentativly grabbing the leash, i’m hear for this, thank you gay angel, there are endless amount of signs!!! lol. 

I love smudges eyebrows!!!!

Oh thank you A... Azrael, i forgot Jennifer’s name for the whole movie (okay i took a couple hour break but still)

OKAY, the best friend is dead, or WAS dead. i was like how is this gonna work out, oooh.

This is rated MA and I think maybe just from cussing? We’ll see. So far she has said f*ck, lol

Those Christmas pajamas were corny, but it’s a family so that’s allowed. Bye David.

I hope I have a gay guardian angel

He said others are alive. is she gonna see her dad?

ghost of gays past

gosh dang it a flashback... it’s okay, it’s hopefully you know an inexperienced writer or filmmakers and they can get better.

I hope her dad is there

Oh but I forgot to mention since i wasn’t liveblogging from the start, uuuuuhhhh, why did she throw the cookies away, she was still there and her dad. Teens are so dramatic

where’s the dog? did she return the dog and go to her dads... wait, no he’s driving her home, Did they not want a dog in the car... lol

smudge? Smudge??? Lol. okay, i’ll ignore the filmmaking and continuity aspect.

Slide show interesting

Oh really noticing the handheld shakiness right now though

did that girl really sing it? doesn’t look like that voice comes out of that body

gays in a church, i’m feeling emotional (I know they’re not necessarily gay I’m using it as an umbrella term)

“you are my queen and I am your peasant” - this is like who’s the handmaiden and who’s the feudal lord meme, lol

why would a pastor.... whatever they’re call had a picture of just two church goers... parishioners?  (can you tell I’m not catholic, are they catholic?)

Dang, they gonna fight to have a wedding here? Like personally if he said sh*t I would want to be married by him, but I guess the location does mean a lot to them. 

They really be throwing Jennifer into this talk with no clue. Azrael give a girl some hints!!

Did the priest tell her to get an abortion? That’s the implication right? He wouldn’t say it though. Dang. 

Eeesh, is this the f*ckboy that was with ... Gabby in the beginning? Never heard a boy trying to be a unicorn in a wlw relationship. Yike.... 

lol, yeah she told him to f*ck himself. and punched him in the face, LOOOOL

Awww, she told her dad about her crush on her BFF???

Lol, Jennifer getting excited about talking to her dad, and Gabby is like, babe, u see him everyday

Aw, a song in spanish

i didn’t mention earlier but afro-latinx yaaa. Noice

hmmm, yeah i mean it would be a little awkward bringing up a childhood/teenage fight

being forced to read the note by gabby and saying “out loud” nice device to make it natural to the audience

smudge is my favorite character

lol sorry, but if it’s christmas, is it christmas christmas, i don’t want this to be over. can she at least make out with her wife! is this day one or day two :/ okay i’ll just watch and see

DANG THAT WOULD BE INTIMATE ARM TOUCHES FOR A BFF

i only snuggled like once on a bed with one of mine. 

O Christmas Tree playing during this make out is killing me

that was soft. just making out and some but rubbing but all just in undies, that’s nice

ok i think father is gonna do the old switcheroo on us. but this verse is engaging my fight or flight

Entertaining how neutral all these ppl’s faces are during this sermon, like realistic, lol....

okay there’s like one smile. there’s nodding now

(i know ppl would be upset realistically too)

Oh snap a man is walking out, okay yeah. There’s maybe three

LOL. I really did walk out once during a slippery slope sermon. Hate that white man took over one of my churches and he wasn’t even certified. I just sat on the curb until closing worship.... mmmm

did this man just invite all the lgbtq ppl up??

I wouldn’t want that attention, LOOOL........ i get it’s supposed to be a nice moment but, what?

They all have partners? Dang, where’s my partner at church (lol, church is hardly a thing anymore right now anyway :’) )

I DON”T want no SURPRISE WEDDING THAT IS JUST IN FORNT OF CHURCH PPL

glad they acknowledged that looong pause in a natural way

Imagine trying to attnd christmas service, and then it’s a secret wlw wedding

One of the gay couples, I”M SCREAMING, looks like a married couple at my current church, lol. I mean not like exactly, but same essense and energies

That SLITTTT, what a power move for a wedding dress / reception dress

Very weird lighting but i’ll ignore it

u don’t need to applaud the priest...

“to the day i die” (to the day i die) echo, echo... , that’s some corny audio

OH my goshhh??? is he the aborted BABY, whaiuhufheruahcyuahdsbhabshdfbahsbdfa

or their dead baby, whatever it was unclear on purpose. oh myy gosh????

what the f*ck david coming to get Jennifer like a horror movie

“what’s a smudge”

hmm i wonder how this can conclude

that map i huge on the console??? i don’t know modern cars

Gabrielle and I were mar-- we were baptized. LOLL, why woudl they just give away info about a parishioner

David must just be like, wtf is she on

oh okay, no abortion, just miscarriage

What, huhhh. this lady is same sex married too??? but the priest was kicked out?

is david gonna be biphobic

oh i guess not, that’s good

sliding doors? by Gbby’s son, Jennifer needs to get her girl

Me saying this show needs to let there be silence vs me almost falling asleep while she makes a decision. I MEAN, to be fair it’s almost 6am and i haven’t slept yet, lol

okay, but we didn’t spend enough time with Azrael for me to be sad that he’ll be gone, sorry not sorry

“it can wait” ... i.e. love can wait, be careful, i.e. use a condom

that’s entirely too many candy canes

i wonder if these kids are gonna have to carry the rest of the film?

these kids are the most chill! good they both like women and each other

they 3d printed a man just so he could be a gay angel

OH NO I watchd to the end of the credits and the guy on piano died this year

okay, so overall, p cute. Cute enough. It probably satisfied only about 33% of my cute wlw quota though. Corny and a bit awkward, but, i think gays deserve not high quality cinema as well. Lol. i half recommmend it, but it’s not costing you antyhing but time on Netflix. 

okay, I sleep

[elecman108]

Man, I forgot to post 90% of my art here for the past while. I’m gonna do an art dump in this post under the cut. Enjoy the bonk emoji if you don’t click the read more, and man am I dumb and forgetful lmao.

Includes: OCs getting names, a Sonic impression, a D&D map, homosexual energies, a sheep floating in the astral sea, a birthday drawing I already posted, Hex Maniac Ender, D&D Characters, D&D Characters as Miis in Miitopia, Little Hater Axel, local Demon in the consciousness of my D&D character yelling at him, illegal plants, a necromancer being cute, an actual event that happened in a D&D game two days ago, and Mermay drawing.

That’s everything in here as a TL;DR, I guess. Enjoy your day!

I’m gonna try and sort of have them in chronological order, oldest first, but I may end up putting them in the wrong order. If I do... Whoops, I guess?

[04/14/21] - This isn’t really new art, but I started to work on giving the four OCs of mine without a full name full names... I have not finished this bit, though. So Hunter and Akira have full names, and Warlock and Assassin only have temporary names. This may end up like Seven where I put in their names as a temporary name (7th OC I’d made at that time) and it just kind of... sticks. Lmao.

[04/20/21] - Alone on a Friday Night? God, you’re pathetic. I didn’t colour this one because it was a half-attempt at a meme image I still like it, though, so I might end up colouring it. It’s gonna appear again whenever I do my “unfinished drawings art dump” at some point probably in... June? I know I said I’d post them last month but forget it, lmao, it’ll happen eventually.

[04/20/21] - A D&D Map! This was to help me visualize the layout of my D&D character’s ship he used to be on. Also for my DM if they ever put us aboard the ship. The little fella in the corner is just there to vibe. This map is made of free to use assets from This Website, so while I’m gonna say DONT USE MY MAP WITHOUT PERMISSION, feel free to make your own!

[04/26/21] - Lesbian Day of Visibility drawing of yours truly, the disapointment! That’s... really all I have to say about this, honestly. It was just for that one day and that was it, lmao. I mean, I accidentally lined it in dark pink, so.. .That’s different, I guess?

[04/30/21] - Do Astral Seas dream of Ensorcled Sheep? Does the City know what Sheepleb is going to do? What crimes he may commit? Who knows! This was fan art of Critical Role ep. 134 if I remember correctly, right at the end when they jumped into the portal into the astral sea and Caleb was a sheep. Using my knowledge of the German language, I knew the word for “shit”, and had to use it.

[05/07/21] - This was already posted, but it’s going in here to dilinuate that it was drawn at this point. Also, aside from playing Miitopia, this is all I have to show for myself until the 12th.

[05/12/21] - Hex Maniac Ender challenges you to a Pokemon Battle! WIll you win against my team? My sis, who loves fairy types, pointed out to me that there’s a fairy girl and hex maniac duo, so I’d be the hex maniac. I spent... Over a week drawing this, because I basically had to redraw the Hex Maniac art from scratch in a higher quality size, and then draw myself over it. So... You can excuse the low-effort background for once. It was basically this, and then my birthday doodle from May 1st to May 12th, and then I took a break to draw up several D&D characters quickly for fullbody references.

[05/12/21] - Remember this art I made several months ago? I finally added my other two completed characters! I have three more named but without character sheet D&D characters, so for now this is just Kara, Axel, Golden Shadow, Kau, Cecillia, and Miri. Kress, Tempest, and Melia will have to wait until I make character sheets for them to be posted, and... For when I probably make more D&D characters. I have at least 9 additional, incomplete character ideas floating around, so... I’m never gonna be done this art, huh?

[05/12/21] - Speaking of D&D characters, did you know I’ve been making them as Miis in Miitopia? So here is their finished full body art next to their Miitopia self! Some of them look a little off (Golden Shadow, Cecillia) because of limitations of the editor and shading issues, some of them look a little off (Kau, Kress) because this is a human face canvas that I’m using to make a non-human face, and some of them (Melia, Axel) look REALLY GOOD. Common traits among my D&D characters include green eyes and tall. You wanna know why? Because I am tall and... despite having red eyes, I do have green eyes under the coloured contacts.

[05/15/21] - More D&D stuff! This is based around my D&D group’s current Rime of the Frostmaiden campaign where our Goliath Fighter, Nioh, ends up getting a little bit of hate for being cocky, and our little (well over 6′) hater, Axel, is just a man full of irritation. These are the tallest two characters of the group at the moment. Someone send help. Nioh belongs to one of the other D&D players, Axel (and his stupid additude) belongs to me.

[05/15/21] - This is what me playing D&D feels like. Me, the demon entity trapped inside the head of my D&D character, yelling at them to do things while the dice decide that they’re gonna get bopped a hundred times by a yeti and somehow still survive. This is also a reference to our first or second game where I just ran off like sixty feet to one side of the battle map to fight a Crag Cat and was just in Gay Baby Jail until like two turns later when I could run back to the others. I also drew him not in his winter gear even though this is a bit from when we were atop Kelvin’s Carin in an icy cave, so maybe that’s why he’s at low HP.

[05/15/21] - Melia has good gardening tips, such as Use A Mars Mii Trap To Hide A Body Because They Are Endangered And It Is Illegal To Dig Them Up. I love her a lot, because she’s the youngest of four, all four sisters based around the different seasons. She’s based around Autumn, so she’s all orange and yellow and brown and is so cute. Also she’s Chaotic Neutral, as if she didn’t need to be mildly more threatening.

[05/15/21] - Cecillia is my Tiefling gal who lived in a very northern town plagued by cold weather and snow, and Axel is my Pirate guy who spent most of his time further south on the high seas and warmer weather. So, naturally... I’ll use the guy more acclimatized to the hotter weather in the campaign where we spend 99% of it in the snow. She uses Tarot Cards as her spell focus, and I decided to sneak my other D&D characters onto her Tarot cards so naturally, Axel is The Hanged Man, given his backstory and personality. She’s a very cheerful and friendly Tiefling Necromancer of the Hexblade, so she’d for sure take care of those around her to ensure their success. Especially if they’re on her Tarot Cards, and their spirit comes to her aid when she asks for them.

[05/16/21] - Content Warning; Ryma thinks too much into local stupid moron’s lack of knowing how to answer a question and thinks too much into the reputation of Pirates. Poor Axel, man doesn’t know how to socialize with people who aren’t pirates and is used to being hostile towards everyone, so when he’s asked a question that his answer to is “uhh... no?”, he panics and ends up making a mistake that leads him to think that Ryma can read his mind. Ryma belongs to another of the D&D players. I guess me drawing all those spicy Cow Costumed OCs earlier just brought me to drawing Axel being a bottom in this, huh?

[05/16/21] - It’s Mermay, which means more OC drawings! Here’s Theo after drinking some potion that turned him into a mermaid, and Seven, tiredly, collecting his stupid boyfriend so that Lailah can fix the fact he’s turned into a mermaid. Mer!Theo is based around his sword’s colours of indigo-purple with red accents, which looks a little weird since Theo is the Blue one of the group, but... it looks cool, I guess. Seven’s just the same outfit as always, just no gloves this time.

--

And that’s it for the art dump! This was, frankly, MASSIVE. I’ll try and remember to upload both on Twitter and Tumblr at the same time, but... Ah... I have been drawing a fair bit. Just mostly sketches and linework that I haven’t finished and may not actually finish. If they’re not completed, I’ll dump them all into something at the end of the month or whatever. Maybe you’ll get the old sketch of the Axel face in panel 3 because in the sketch phase it was an Ahegao face, in the clean sketch it was a lip bite, and in the linework and final it’s just horny face. lmao.

Top ten things I have to remember for drawing: AXEL HAS A SCAR AND GREEN EYES. I remember his eye colour now, but if you look at his fullbody ref, he’s got brown eyes. And, naturally, I keep forgetting to put in his scar. He has more, but most of them are located in areas covered by his clothes. So if I ever draw him shirtless I guess I’ll have to place them somewhere.

Also maybe finish the reference sheets I have left to finish so I can post more of them, since I have two “Pets” completed (Roko and Mona’s nameless pet), but I have to do up Hunter, Warlock, Assassin, Akira, Myuut, and Stella. I’m betting when I do complete two more, it’ll be Hunter and Akira. Those two are the most fun to draw, at least.