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blackjackkent · 5 days ago

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Minsc's camp dialogue tree, we learned during Hector's run, is um. Large. I didn't send Rakha down every single path because some of them she just didn't care about, but there were a few moments that were quite resonant for her. Long post - but some very critical conversations for Rakha as it turns out. :O

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"You're quite quick to call me friend."

"Of course, my friend! Or - are we not friends?"

Rakha doesn't really know what to say to that. She rarely uses the word even among the people she's known the longest in the party; it's almost always 'companion' if it's anything. So Minsc's comfort with the word is definitely a major difference between them.

I think, perhaps, this is the first moment when Rakha realizes that she wants to take Minsc as a role model. She has already identified the things that are similar about them - their unstable tendencies that could be called madness, their inclination to violence, and (of course) the worm in their heads. But something about Minsc is different, given Jaheira's opinion of him; he is a good man, though Rakha is still picking out the distinctions that make him so.

He is proof that her violence and her madness do not preclude her from being good, the kind of person Wyll and Jaheira would approve of. And one aspect of that seems to be this open-heartedness that comes so naturally to him, and not at all to her.

So she makes an attempt. "Of course we're friends," she says cautiously, "friend."

Minsc beams excitedly at her. "Then you have a sword at your side and a hamster at hand, whenever you need them." He tilts his head thoughtfully. "Unless I die. Or you die. Or you do anything at all to upset Boo."

Rakha thinks that seems reasonable.

-----

"Answer me honestly. What's with the hamster?"

"Well, Boo? Explain yourself," Minsc says promptly, followed by a chorus of chittering squeaks from his pocket. This goes on for several seconds, and then he raises his eyebrows at Rakha calmly. "Clear enough?"

Rakha squints at him for a long time, trying to discern if he is making fun of her. But if he is, his deadpan is even more solid than her own, because he seems to be being completely sincere. "...Perfectly," she finally says slowly.

Again that broad, contented smile. "Boo has a way with words that we lack," he agrees. "All that space in the cheeks, I am thinking."

-----

"Do you remember why you were meeting with the Zhentarim?"

"So dark an alliance sealed with Zhentish contracts, cultish vows, and a dragon's shining hoard? You think Minsc could forget?" Minsc says. A slight pause. "You are correct. I have no idea what any of that was about. But we shall simply- GAH!"

He breaks off with a startled noise, rapidly fumbling Boo out of his trousers. "Boo, why do you gnaw at my soft parts? I am trying to--"

Boo: *urgent squeaking*

Minsc's head tips to the side; again his expression takes on that air of intense concentration. "Once again?" he asks helplessly. "In smaller words?"

Boo: *SQUEAK*

There's a longish pause after Boo finishes his second attempt. "I see." He looks at Rakha intently. "This truth you seek. Boo believes that Minsc is knowing more than Minsc knows. But it is a difficult thing." He frowns, shifts his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other.

Boo: *supportive squeaking*

Minsc draws a slow breath. "There are memories of this time that Minsc does not remember. And Boo suggests that, just as he helps with tricksome itches in awkward places... You must reach what Minsc cannot." He gestures at his temple with a frown. "The parasite. You can use it to tickle free whatever truth you seek."

Rakha considers this for a moment with some surprise. Generally speaking, her companions have been wary at best of allowing her to poke directly into their heads - but Minsc is offering explicitly. It's a trust gesture, and a significant one. And yet...

"You sound reluctant," she says cautiously.

Minsc smiles ruefully. "The worm has already whipped me around the city like a slack-backed pony," he mutters. "I have no wish to saddle myself a second time. But..." He meets her eyes steadily. "If it cannot be Boo who pops inside my skull for a rummage, then I trust you." A miniscule pause, then: "Or Jaheira - but she is currently possessed of an empty head."

"I count my blessings every day," Jaheira puts in dryly from her tent.(*)

Rakha nods slowly. She might think this was merely Minsc's simple friendliness in making the offer - but she has already seen enough to know that his mentioning Jaheira specifically means that this trust offering is a tremendous compliment to Rakha. So she does him the respect of accepting it.

[ILLITHID] Reach out for his mind.

Narrator: At first there is nothing. His mind is empty as a still expanse of open country. But then...

Minsc's head snaps back and he cries out in sudden pain.

Narrator: Your face - the Stone Lord's face - mirrored in bloodied steel. In the heat of burning buildings, you hold your blade high above pale, frightened faces.

Minsc goes still, his eyes widening with alarm and dismay. "No. That is not right," he says hoarsely. "I slew only monsters. The voice said that they were monsters!"

(A/N: Oh, buddy. :( I didn't do this conversation with Hec cos Hec didn't want to use the worm, but this is so upsetting. :( Poor Minsc.)

Narrator: A whisper - the Absolute's voice, twisting the petty Guild Thieves before you into snarling, savage beasts, feeding on the weak of your city.

Rakha comes back to herself abruptly and realizes that she has a hand clenched tightly against her head. The images of blood and death - the death of masked innocents - have woken the beast in her skull and the hunger is roaring inside her with no available target. It throbs in her temple like a drumbeat.

Minsc's lip curls in rage; he is seemingly oblivious to Rakha's distress, far too focused on the images that have just been uncovered. "The Guild," he mutters. "The Stone Lord hunted them, peeled away their rotten ranks one by one to lay bare their corrupt heart - Nine-Fingers Keene. That is what the Absolute bought black Zhentish steel to do - to kill the Guildmaster!"

He looks remarkably angry but his tone is strange; as much of that rage seems directed at Keene as at those who sent him after her. Rakha squints, trying to parse the dynamics at play. "So the Zhentarim overthrow the Guild," she says slowly. "What then? What do the cult get?"

Minsc shrugs. "What does it matter?" he cries. "Cultish thinking has occupied Minsc's mind for long enough. Now it is time for doing!" He paces a few steps restlessly side to side, agitated. "And this talk of evil overthrowing evil - pah! Like a many-headed hydra biting at its own throat." He thumps a fist against his chest. "Bring forth the hydra, says Boo - more faces for the punching! First we pop the Zhentarim plot, then we show Nine-Fingers the five-fingers of Minsc, yes?!"

Rakha hesitates. That sounds pretty good to her - quite a lot of targets to attack with purpose, if Minsc believes it to be so. On the other hand - Jaheira clearly knew Nine-Fingers, and Rakha is not so confident that she would want the Guildmaster dead.

"As simple as that?" she asks uncertainly.

"Yes...?" Minsc says - and for a moment his own voice falters in answer, and he looks down towards Boo in his pocket for confirmation. "Yes," he adds hastily, more firmly, lifting his eyes again and squaring his shoulders.

-----

"We ought to discuss the tadpole." Rakha has had this conversation with every other tadpoled memory of their company thus far; it's Minsc's turn.

"As you wish," Minsc hisses. "But quietly. It. Is. Listening."

"We need its power," Rakha explains soberly. "The Emperor can help us control it, if we're careful."

Minsc blinks, then scowls. "No!" he snaps at once. "There is a very ancient and very wise saying that Minsc lives by. He who would try to control evil must beware lest evil tricks him, steals his clothes, and kicks his backside with his own boots. I read it on the privy wall in the Blushing Mermaid many years ago."

Evil. He is using that word to refer to the Emperor itself. Rakha frowns, for a moment uncertain. "You don't understand," she explains firmly. "The Emperor is the only reason we were able to save you." Though it didn't want to, she thinks bitterly. The tension of that argument still stings in the back of her mind.

To her surprise, Minsc shows neither surprise nor interest. Instead, his scowl only deepens.

"Oh, Minsc knows all about this Emperor. It has tried to introduce itself to me already. Minsc does not trust it."

Rakha blinks. This is a stronger reaction than she expected. "Care to elaborate?" she asks cautiously.

"No," Minsc says curtly. A pause, a low squeak from his pocket. "I do not think our new friend wishes to see me blubbering, Boo," he mutters.

That takes Rakha by mild surprise. "I'm listening,"(**) she says.

Minsc sighs, folding his arms. "Minsc is normally the strong and violent type, but if you insist on hearing a sad tale, he can tell it," he says.

A long pause, while he considers his words before going on, "This Emperor played a very cruel trick - it made me believe that something lost had been found. It came to me in dreams, wearing a face I never thought to see again. Dynaheir. A witch of my homeland."

Rakha does not ask who this Dynaheir is - but she does not need to. Minsc is lost in memory now, a small and sad smile touching his lips. "She was to be the greatest of them, and I her protector. It was not easy. She was a fierce and independent cub - she did not think she needed mother-bear Minsc to protect her!" He chuckles. "And she was right. The elders sent us out into the world, thinking it would teach her to bow a little. But it was the world that bowed to Dynaheir, wherever she went, and Minsc blundered along behind."

The smile fades, and his eyes drop to the ground. "And in the end, it was she who died - protecting me."

Rakha has gone very still, listening to this; she can tell she has trod into ground she is not equipped to speak about. But she is puzzled too. The Emperor never appeared to her as a face she knew - but then again, she didn't know any when it first appeared in her dreams. But to Minsc, it appeared as a friend, and not only a friend but a dead friend.

Why would it do this?

"Did the Emperor make you relive her death?" she asks unsteadily.

Again that sad, weary smile that seems so out of place on Minsc's face. "No, my friend," he says quietly. "It is not the past I saw. But Dynaheir as she would have been. Should have been. Hearing her voice again, for a moment Minsc almost believed it."

He trails off into silence for a moment, then sets his jaw. "But then the Emperor made a mistake - it did the one thing that Dynaheir would never, ever do."

He fixes her eyes with his, suddenly intent. "It told Minsc exactly what he wanted to hear," he growls. "Dynaheir, hers was more the habit of teaching Minsc many new ways to say the word 'fool.'"

Rakha says nothing. She's aware that on some level, if she truly trusts the Emperor and its guidance, she should refute this. The Emperor does not tell her exactly what she wants to hear. It tells her how to survive. It silences the other voices in her head. It guides her in places where she does not know where to step.

And yet this man - so like her in so many ways - saw it for nothing more than manipulation, and rejected it accordingly.

If Minsc realizes the stunning blow he has dealt her with these words, he doesn't stop to capitalize on this advantage. "Bah," he mutters to himself, crossing his arms with an air of frustration. "I think on what she would say to Minsc now, cowering from a creature in his own skull."

He grimaces, then gives Rakha a sharp nod. "Fine! If you say this tadpole is a weapon, then let us wield it. So long as it is still our hearts that guide us, yes? Or better yet, my hamster."

This should be a victory, but Rakha doesn't answer at all.

-----

"You traveled with Bhaalspawn before, didn't you?" Rakha asks - very carefully. She assumes Jaheira has already explained to Minsc the salient details of the situation, but she's also learned that it is a sore subject for others as well as herself. "What do you know of them?"

"Ah." Minsc nods sagely. "Boo has an inkling that this is not the question you *mean* to ask. I saw some hint of things when our minds mushed together - but Jaheira confirmed it for me. You are of the same blood as our old friend - a Bhaalspawn, and as close to Minsc as if they were his own kin."

(A/N: B'aw. Caden would be glad to hear himself described so. :) )

Minsc pauses, and then smiles from ear to ear. "That makes Minsc your uncle!" he says brightly.

Rakha blinks, then blinks again. Is that how it works? She isn't entirely sure if he's joking; Minsc is harder to read than most in this regard. "What manner of relation does that make Boo?" she asks, unsure if she is joking either.

Minsc grunts. "Better not to ask," he answers. "He has many dozen cousins, and not all are so open-minded about we who walk on our hind legs as he." He prods a finger in Rakha's direction, an unusually keen expression in his eyes. "There is a lesson in this. We are born into a bloodline, yes - but we need not be bound by it."

He thumps a fist against his chest again. "Take Minsc," he goes on. "He does not have a clear memory of the face of his father, but he does remember tugging on the thick red whiskers that sprang from his chin. A beard for the ages! Boo could have nested there happily through even the harshest of Rashemen winters."

He leans his head closer to Rakha, turns it one way, then the other. "Now - look closely at Minsc. And what do you see?"

Rakha narrows her eyes. "You don't have a beard," she says, the slightest upturn of a question on the end of the words.

"Correct!" Minsc cries jubilantly, and claps her on the shoulder hard enough to stagger her slightly to one side. "There are more whiskers on Boo's tiny face than on the mighty chin of Minsc!" Again that keen gaze, just for a moment seeming to stare past her blank featureless eyes and into her soul. "If Minsc did not inherit the flaming red hair of his mother, or the bushy red beard of his father, why would the spawn of Bhaal inherit His wickedness?"

Rakha says nothing for a long, long time. Once again, Minsc has caught her utterly by surprise. The sentiment is so unexpected, so matter-of-fact, so completely guileless almost in her own manner, that she doesn't know how to answer it.

No one hears of her bloodline - not even Jaheira, not even Wyll - with such equanimity and trust. No one.

Except Minsc.

"Thank you," she hears herself say, remarkably unsteadily. "It's nice not having to justify myself for once."

Minsc smiles. "Minsc is not here to judge," he says. "That is a thing for hamsters and hathrans alone."

-----

(*) This is a line that actually only plays in game if you're having this conversation while on the road with her also in the party. But I like it so I'm squishing it back in here. XD

(**) In-game line is "I'm a good listener," which I'm not sure Rakha could really say honestly. :P

#bjk plays bg3 durge #rakha the dark urge #WELLP #a few of these definitely blew me (and rakha) the fuck out of the water #i can't recall if any of the standard party-chatter dialogue tree conversations have ever had this much of an effect on hector or rakha #the way that this one just did #this was some fucking TAILOR-MADE shit for rakha's story lmao #sheesh #it is also incredibly long and also took me FOREVER to write #so more tomorrow #but ahhhhhhhhhh i love Minsc so gd much <3

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butchfalin · 1 year ago

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the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

#yeehaw #1k #5k #10k #posts that got cursed. blasted. im making these tag updates after... 19 hours?#also i have been told it should say speech loss bc nonverbal specifically refers to the permanent state. did not know that!#unfortunately i fear it is so far past containment that even if i edited it now it would do very little. but noted for future reference #edit 2: nvm enough ppl have come to rb it from me directly that i changed the wording a bit. hopefully this makes sense #also. in case anyone is curious. though i doubt anyone who is commenting these things will check the original tags #1) my friend did not do this on purpose in any way. it was not intended to distract me or to hit on me. im a lesbian hes a gay man. cmon now #he felt very bad about it afterwards. i thought it was hilarious but it was very embarrassed and apologetic #2) “why didn't he use 🫵🏼?” didn't exist yet. “why didn't he use 🆗?” dunno! we'd been using a lot of hand emojis. 👌🏼 is an ok sign #like it makes sense. it was just a silly mixup. also No i did not invent 👉🏼👌🏼 as a gesture meaning sex. do you live under a rock #3) nonspeaking episodes are a recurring thing in my life and have been since i was born. this is not a quirky one-time thing #it is a pervasive issue that is very frustrating to both myself and the people i am trying to communicate with. in which trying to speak is #extremely distressing and causes very genuine anguish. this post is not me making light of it it's just a funny thing that happened once #it's no different than if i post about a funny thing that happened in conjunction w a physical disability. it's just me talking abt my life #i don't mind character tags tho. those can be entertaining. i don't know what any of you are talking about #Except the ppl who have said this is pego/ryu or wang/xian. those people i understand and respect #if you use it as a writing prompt that's fine but send it to me. i want to see it #aaaand i think that's it. everyday im tempted to turn off rbs on it. it hasn't even been a week

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symphonyofsilence · 2 months ago

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Let the poor man rest.

#also no he doesn't want to experience life as a normal person. no he wouldn't sacrifice his powers to live again.#he LOVED being powerful. he was very proud of his powers. he was at the top of the world. what he disliked was being so lonely at the top.#which having reunited with Geto now he is not.#and he wanted to keep the next generation safe due to his past regrets and teach a generation of kids to be at the top together.#and he wanted to get rid of the corrupt higher-ups and reform the Jujutsu society.#and he did all of that. Yuta and Yuuji are both alive and safe and the kids are all reunited with each other stronger than ever #and the higher-ups are d**d.#Gojo obviously wouldn't hate to keep living. he clearly didn't expect to lose and die. but as he himself confirmed #he died doing what he loved. he went out the way he wanted. he went out with a bang. he had the best fight of his life and gave it his all.#as he said 'he had fun'. he said it would have been embarrassing if he died of old age or sickness.#and now that he's gone he's happy with his friends and especially Geto. he found peace.#He said it himself 'Now i'm wishing that it's not just a dream'.#also for those of you who say that Geto & Gojo wouldn't be together because one would go to hell and one to heaven... no. just no.#first of all. Gojo did a mass m*r*** before his death #second of all. they're Buddhists. they don't have heaven and hell. don't bring Abrahamic religions into everything.#and you'd be surprised by the excuses the Abrahamic religions find to not let people in heaven.#probably Gojo wouldn't go to heaven even if he didn't kill the higher-ups due to...idk... occasionaly doing pranks or sth.#but Gege apparently created a whole other afterlife of his own. and Toji Geto Gojo Nanami and everyone were all gathered there together.#you SAW that. so stop.#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #jjk gojo #gege akutami #my two cents #satosugu

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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 1 year ago

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Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

#9/11 #serious post #not a shitpost #this should be one of the first things kids learn when they learn about the 9/11 attacks #politics #this is just...it's such an essential and brazen fact and i rarely see basic outrage over it #i want outrage. i want fury. i want disgust over the way fundamental facts are disguised and discarded and downplayed #because there are things we should KNOW. basic fact we should ALL KNOW. and they are tucked away in the footnotes.#and no this is NOT to put the blame on other middle eastern countries #we know this was carried out by a specific terrorist organization not a national government #but King George the Second decided (and was encouraged by his cabinet!) to invade a nation!#a nation that was not at all related or responsible!!!#a dictatorship to be sure--but a dictatorship that King George the First had been happy to support #so what changed? why did we go in guns blazing to DEMOLISH a country *we had NO PLANS OF REPAIRING*???#well. because they wanted a villain didn't they. a nice clean war. clarity of purpose. us the heroes against them the villains #and when you're in that mindframe--truth is irrelevant. you can pick your villain (your victim) by rolling a roulette wheel #truth is irrelevant #worse: to the people in charge #truth is a HINDRANCE #'Alternative facts' existed long before it became a catchphrase #facts don't matter. truth doesn't matter. the impulses of a handful of volatile & rich & power-high people--that's History. congratulations

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inkskinned · 1 month ago

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having good & true friends will literally save and protect you in a million unfathomable ways. like okay we have written so many times about lovers. but the way a platonic friend laughs and cries with you. the way they hold your hand at 14 years old and at 34. the way they keep a little silver tie to you, touching base over and over and over. how you can go years without talking, only to re-meet and discover: oh shit! you're still cool!

there are people who have been in my life for more than half of it, and i have loved every version of them. do you know how fucking beautiful that is. yeah love will save the world. but the way friends love you is gonna save the you.

#and before one of u is like '' i have no friends :(" i used to be there too actually #abusive partner cut me off from ALL of 'em. i didn't think i was lovable #it made me EXCEPTIONALLY shy. i still am actually!!!!#i just ... started saying ''yes.''#i would take pictures of flyers in my library and go to whatever events they had #i started taking community classes #if someone mentioned like ''i am gonna start x group'' i actually took a deep breath #and approached them to be like . okay i want in.#i started making the first move with new people - a small compliment #a smile or a little joke. just to share the space with them.#i have MASSIVE social anxiety. bad parent and bad relationship will do that to ya.#but i just... kept going. and going. and going. to each of these little things. and then...#like. .... idk i just am very blessed. i have a STUPID number of friends #a lot of which i reconnected with. bc it turns out love is never wasted. adult life just.#like. gets in the way. but also... i loved u as a weird little kid. i love u now as a weird big adult.#i promise i PROMISE ur friends are out there. u just have 2 find them. and btw #i didn't make friends with everyone. but i did get a lot of people to smile or laugh.#aint that something.#this process took me something like 2 years. it was HARD!!!!!!!!!!#i love u!!! hard things are often worth it!!!

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hinamie · 4 months ago

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I don't want to regret the way I lived

#my art #jujutsu kaisen #jjk #fanart #jjk fanart #jujutsu kaisen fanart #yuji itadori #gojo satoru #nobara kugisaki #nanami kento #choso kamo #junpei yoshino #jjk leaks #jjk spoilers #jjk manga spoilers #this idea started as a 2 part series . then my braincells decided to spark and supplied 7 PAGES #'did you sleep hina' no #ws looking up mentally stable things like 'who has died in jjk' smh i love my hyperfixation media im sooooo glad so many ppl r DEAD #i *could* have included more ppl but i think this is a good crew. this is a yuuji emotional support crew #also Was gna include his grandpa final panel but i Did Not Want To #he is implied through th dialogue #side note i donot like how i cn see this scenario playing out . ..yuuji this isnt ur stop u r monopoly voice Just Visiting ok >:(#anyway I broke my own heart with this and ik i hyped it up a lot but i hope that its not just me...#hope i did not hype it up fr nothing and no one else finds it devastating :((((( that would b humbling in the worst way #pls ...join the happy party train.......i hate it here i suffered pls :<<<<#also !!!! colours in this !! i cooked i fear . adding th first bit of warm hitting yuuji's face after th first 2 panels....#ive never had that kind of experience while drawing before it was wild . painful ! but wild.#the whole transition from p 2->3 might b the most emotionally moving piece ive ever made to me #not 2 sing my own praises tho i will shut up ! i wil. nap

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o0kawaii0o · 8 months ago

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no mercy 😭

#one piece won the poll and I wanted to draw smth nice and wholesome #but I hated the perspective process and the multiple characters were a pain so where did that bring me?#that's right; perspective and multiple characters in shtpost format #don't you just love it when you put too much pressure on yourself and the way to fix that is to draw smth silly #vibrant colours go brrrr #pls trust me when I say I like sanji #I mean look at him #one piece #strawhat crew #sanji #luffy #zoro #chopper #usopp #nami #nico robin #cyborg franky #o0kawaii0o

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joshuamj · 5 months ago

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Hero.

#legend of zelda #echoes of wisdom #loz eow #loz #zelda #tri #josh art tag #been meaning to do a full on stained glass drawing for like 2 years now lol #ive had ideas but none really stuck with me until this one #and the reason why is cuz this one was more of a scene! it wasnt just a normal drawing made to look like stained glass #it had what is supposed to be a literal window with someone standing before it looking up at it #also i find the timing of this drawing funny #cuz i just recently changed my shading style to resemble stained glass even more so than usual #cuz for years now ive gottem comments saying #my style reminds people of stained glass #and sometimes i see it sometimes i dont #cuz my shading style changes and sometimes it really did look glass like #but other times i dont think it did?? but i still got those comments??#maybe its like the way i do lineart or block out shapes?#idk but recently when i was growing tired of my previous coloring style i remembered those comments #and decided to lean into it #but now just a little while after that #here i am doing a legit stained glass illustration lol

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time-to-write-and-suffer · 1 year ago

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I love how on Tumblr, "media literacy" has become "Um, just because someone writes about this doesn't mean they're endorsing this. I hate all these media puritans ruining everything."

I'm sad to inform you that knowing when and whether an author is endorsing something, implying something, saying something, is also part of media literacy. Knowing when they are doing this and when they're not is part of media literacy. Assuming that no author has ever endorsed a bad thing is how you fall for proper gander. It's not media literacy to always assume that nobody ever has agreed with the morally reprehensible ideas in their work.

Sometimes, authors are endorsing something, and you need to be aware when that happens, and you also need to be aware when you're doing it as an author. All media isn't horny dubcon fanfic where you and the author know it's problematic IRL but you get off to it in the privacy of your brain. Sometimes very smart people can convince you of something that'll hurt others in the real world. Sometimes very dumb people will romanticize something without realizing they're doing it and you'll be caught up in it without realizing that you are.

Being aware of this is also media literacy. Being aware of the narrative tools used to affect your thinking is media literacy. Deciding on your own whether you agree with an author or not is media literacy. Enjoying characters doing bad things and allowing authors to create flawed or cruel characters for the sake of a story is perfectly fine, but it is not the same as being media literate. Being smug about how you never think an author has bad intentions tells me you're edgy, not that you're media literate. You can't use one rule to apply to all media. That's not how media literacy works. Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Aheem heem. Anyway.

#anyway this is just more of that lefty shit where 'well i can't be racist because i'm gay!'#'well i can't be media illiterate because i love villains!'#not how that works babes #'well I KNOW bad from good so i can't be affected by media!'#'everyone else also knows bad from good and defines it the exact way i do!'#'so if i think this is bad then the author must also think this is bad!'#i have bad news ....#also how do you know bad from good? who taught you that? hmm?#did you fall out of the womb knowing? or did you pick up some things on the way here?#'i just know' no you don't! that's what i'm saying!#assuming one thing is always true is the opposite of being a conscious consumer of media soz #assuming someone thinks and knows the exact same shit you think and know is not media literacy!!

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giantkillerjack · 2 years ago

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Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

[plain-text version of this post can be found under the cut]

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

Plain-text version:

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

P.S. Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

#hlep #original #mental health #my sympathies and empathies to anyone who has to rely on this kind of hlep to get what they need.#the people in my life who most need to see this post are my family but even if they did I sincerely doubt they would internalize it #i've tried to break thru to them so many times it makes my head hurt. so i am focusing on boundaries and on finding other forms of support #and this thing i learned today helps me validate those boundaries. the example with the milk was from my therapist.#the example with the towing company was a real thing that happened with my parents a few months ago while I was age 28. 28!#a full adult age! it is so infantilizing as a disabled adult to seek assistance and support from ableist parents.#they were real mad i was mad tho. and the spoons i spent trying to explain it were only the latest in a long line of #huge family-related spoon expenditures. distance and the ability to enforce boundaries helps. haven't talked to sisters for literally the #longest period of my whole life. people really believe that if they love you and try to help you they can do no wrong.#and those people are NOT great allies to the chronically sick folks in their lives.#you can adore someone and still fuck up and hurt them so bad. will your pride refuse to accept what you've done and lash out instead?#or will you have courage and be kind? will you learn and grow? all of us have prejudices and practices we are not yet aware of.#no one is pure. but will you be kind? will you be a good friend? will you grow? i hope i grow. i hope i always make the choice to grow.#i hope with every year i age i get better and better at making people feel the opposite of how my family's ableism has made me feel #i will see them seen and hear them heard and smile at their smiles. make them feel smart and held and strong.#just like i do now but even better! i am always learning better ways to be kind so i don't see why i would stop

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pineapple-frenzy · 8 months ago

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Book 2 au: sparring sessions and short hair katara

They like to have sparring sessions in order to keep their bending skills sharp. They allow themselves to go all out and not hold back at all cause they know if anyone got hurt, Katara could just heal them

But anyways, wouldn't it be kinda funny if Zuko accidentally burned Katara's hair tho? Aofkqldkkajfjd

The "I think we can save the hairloops" line is from @linnoya-writes thank you for that!! :>>

#zutara #zuko #katara #atla #book 2 au #my art #i mentioned in my last book 2 au post that i wanted to include short hair katara into it and y'all were so supportive of it!! 😭😭😭#so this is how i think it would go #it would happen as katara is trying to evade one of zuko's fire balls #she manages to avoid it but since her hair is long it still caught on fire #she'd be pissed so she water whips the hell out of zuko #and then promptly forgets about it akfhkakdkakdj #even after the sparring session she still hasn't remembered cause 'oh no zuko's in pain i have to help him!'#it isn't until zuko even mentions it that she remembers #zuko thinks she's more calm than i thought she would be after burning her hair so he mentions it to her #little did he know katara just forgor aldjlakdkaljd #n e ways zuko does feel bad so she offers to help fix it up for her #i think after the haircut katara would find herself looking in mirrors when there are any around cause 'zuko thinks i'm beautiful?? really?#zuko doesn't know this tho and he thinks katara is till sad about the unwanted haircut so he keeps telling her that she looks beautiful #and katara just keeps losing it aldjlakdlald #in conclusion they are idiots your honor

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wuntrum · 2 months ago

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2025 horror pin up calendar!!

print version | digital (/print it yourself) version

a labor of love, truly <3 prepare for the new year with 12 suggestive (and silly) horror characters :) featuring characters from: american psycho, bride of re-animator, the evil dead, hannibal, jason x, frankenhooker, alien, an american werewolf in london, jennifer's body, saw, the thing, and scream! to see the full specs of the calendar, check out the pages above!

#IF you have trouble w the print version website just lmk #ive used mixam before but not their print on demand. so there might need to be some troubleshooting #it is us and uk only though i think </333 very sorry #but if you get the digital one you have my permission to print it whatever way you want #anyways i hope you all enjoy :) this was fun to work on. even if it was exhausting at points lol #there is a free vers of the calendar on the digital one!#paying just unlocks print quality versions #my art #artists on tumblr #procreate #clip studio #<- did the lines in one and colored in the other lol #ok now to tag all the characters. deep breath #patrick bateman #herbert west #dan cain #(hes there too i promise)#ash williams #hannibal lecter #hannibal nbc #friday the 13th #jason voorhees #frankenhooker #ellen ripley #jennifer check #colin gray #adam stanheight #(ngl. had to look up his last name)#macready #ghostface

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soupdweller · 1 month ago

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DAY 28: TIME-OUT

#oh shit what did you do now??#one of my favourite voicelines :')#kellen goff's delivery is just sooo ashdkhasdkasd 12/10 #i reworked the text so many times. i couldnt get it the way i wanted :')#dcatober24 #my art #sundrop #fnaf sun #fnaf dca #fnaf daycare attendant #daycare attendant #the daycare attendant #dca fandom #dca fanart

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biggest-gaudiest-patronuses · 1 month ago

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main take aways from Halloween (1978) rewatch:

michael myers is canonically 21??? this bitch should be at the club

*sees tiddies* ***MURDEROUS RAMPAGE NOISES***

that's it that's the movie

outside of the fact that everyone who has sex is murdered by the narrative, this is a surprisingly chill portrayal of female sexuality? these teen girls are horny and actively enjoying Getting It On with their boytoys. no pushy boyfriends sneaking in through their bedroom windows--these ladies are taking the initiative to sneak out and GET SOME. one of them gets laid and then immediately orders her boyfriend to get her a beer. (yes she gets Slashered soon afterward, but so does the boyfriend so honestly, gender equality.) yes the Final Girl is the only one not having sex, but she's not bullied for that, nor are her friends slut shamed except possibly by being murdered by the narrative

actually the only character who is shown being morally condemned on-screen is michael myers. specifically FOR his violent overreaction to other people's sex lives. (people he is spying on). metaphorically, the villain is American Puritanism sticking its judgy nose into other people's business.

aka Michael Myers Is A Republican

but actually the real villain is the doctor. guy's a judgemental, shaming, pathologizing asshole. and he's been in charge of michael's care since he was SIX YEARS OLD? kid never had a chance. i'd go on a killing spree too

also the parents. where are the parents? it's halloween night and all the teenage girls are home babysitting their younger siblings? come to think of it, michael's first victim was his own older sister, whom he killed while she was babysitting him. teen girls are really shouldering a labour burden here. maybe parentification is the true villain

side note: mike commits his first murder wearing a clown costume...which is never referenced again? his 'iconic' costume is a generic mask and wig and jumpsuit, when we coulda had a Killer Clown Michael Myers??? travesty

i like how the Final Girl and her friend casually smoke weed in her car. yeah she's an honor student and her friend is the sheriff's daughter. yeah they smoke weed. so what it's 1978

(to reiterate, mike is 21 and should be at the club. im not saying he shouldn't be rampaging, im saying it's sad that he broke out, tasted freedom for the first time in his life, and immediately snuck back into his childhood home to go rampaging. let's have a remake where he goes to a nightclub and has a few beers. maybe some slutty dancing. then rampage)

oh no he's hot

#HALLOWEEN #halloween the movie #michael myers #do you think he's a mike? mikey? to his friends? if slashers had friends?#i'll be honest i was expecting this movie to be way more of a bitch to its female characters #i mean yeah they died but so did some dudes #there's just a lack of cattiness compared to the way most later movies portrayed teenage girls idk #yeah the Final Girl is a Virgin and a Bookworm. but there's no bullying or any strong sense that's she's morally superior to everyone else #mostly she AND the other girls feel a bit sorry for her lack of a social life. one even tries to set her up with a date to the school dance #solidarity! trying to get your nerd friend laid!#overall it's just teenagers being teenagers and then a slasher comes in and ruins everything with his Lack Of Chill #like yeah dude sometimes teenagers have sex. get over it #also something to be said about how while the girl who survives is the one who isn't sexually active and dresses conservatively...#ultimately those things aren't ENOUGH to prevent her from being targeted #you could say that the other girls 'provoked' the villain (the same way women irl are so often accused of provoking their attackers)#but ultimately that doesn't keep the Final Girl safe. it just delays the inevitable.#because violent men never need excuses. no matter how eager society is to provide them.#ultimately she is at the mercy of the same violent whims because it was never her behavior that invited the violence.#gendered violence doesn't need an invitation.#also she doesn't save herself the doctor saves her #it's not her actions or choices that put her in danger OR save her from it--once again it is the whim of a man #no this wasn't intended to be a feminist movie it's just fun how you could argue it that way

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