#there's basically zero physical traces of it

[blaiddraws]

dragon based on the theoretical Lockheed CL-1201. giant cryptid in the sky

[badgalsasuke]

My thoughts on the Naruto ending pt. 2

So I wanted to add something regarding my thoughts on the Naruto ending (if you have not read that post, I suggest you do so you can understand this one better).

On one of my posts regarding NH and Neji's death @calculosavulsos pointed out something that I had missed out.

I had dismissed Neji's death as simply an act of pettiness from Kishimoto, y'know, killing the beloved more developed and compelling Hyuga as payback for being forced to make NH a thing. But after reading calculosavulsos comment, it made me realize that the theme of conformism in the ending might have been established several chapters prior to the actual final chapters 699-700.

Although Neji and Hinata had both been introduced several chapters before their duel at the chuunin exams, it is until this fight that we're revealed information on the Hyuga clan and the philosophy that rules it and the values they live by.

For genin Neji, fate is unchangeable. Every single person has their destiny established from birth and it is no use to try to challenge it. This pisses off Naruto, a ninja that defies everyone's expectations and who goes through life challenging the status quo and urging others to do the same. Naruto then, swears to win to prove Neji that a person can, in fact, defy their destiny.

The reason why Neji believes people's destiny is assigned at birth is due to the segregation in the Hyuga clan, some members are born into the main branch and some are born into the cadet branch, members from the main branch enslave and torture members from the cadet branch who must serve them and protect them with their lives. Neji's own father suffered this fate, cementing this idea on Neji that's what he will live to do as well.

Naruto, on the other hand, believes the opposite. He believes he is the master of his own destiny and is capable of changing whatever the status quo might be, clashing directly with Neji's ideals. Naruto believes that those who are passive and let life come at them instead of facing it are cowards.

It's during their fight that Neji reveals to Naruto why he feels he can't escape fate and Naruto responds that he's actually been fighting off his fate, calling him a hypocrite.

After an intense physical fight Naruto swears he will change the Hyuga clan even if he still doesn't truly grasp the full depth of the issue, meaning he plans to abolish the division between the cadet branch and the main branch that other Hokages had enabled until then.

What I love about this fight, and this panel in particular is that Neji is using his Ultimate Defense: The Zero Blind Spot which is supposed to protect him of any force that comes at him to attack him, a technique he coined himself, whereas Naruto is using the massive force of the Kyuubi chakra in a direct attack to Neji's defense. It's basically an unstoppable force clashing against an unmovable object. Once again, Kishimoto is communicating through the visual language of his work, the ideals and feelings the characters are seeking to evoke. Basically, the way both boys are fighting is a physical representation of Naruto's defiance and Neji's resignation.

Naruto is a series where we see a constant defiance of the status quo, society's apathy and the cover up of crimes against the marginalized.

But as I explained in my thoughts about the ending post, thematically the Naruto finale is about conformism. I had personally traced this conformism to the special chapter of Naruto's nameday as Hokage, but after reading Calculosavulsos' comment, I realized the conformism theme can be traced to as far back as Neji's death in the manga.

In several interviews Kishimoto talks about how he chose to make NH canon right in around the middle of the series, possibly after Hinata's popularity skyrocketed due to Studio Pierrot's added filler scenes for her fight against Pain. In a particular interview Kishimoto stated clear and plainly that the reason why he killed off Neji is because he needed to come up with a scenario to bring Naruto and Hinata close, he went as far as to calling Neji cupid. For me, as I stated at the beginning, this reeked of pettiness and I left it at that, not looking deeper to see if there was another layer to Neji's death, but turns out there is.

Neji, just like his father, Hizashi, ends up sacrificing his life for a member of the main branch of the clan. Hizashi ended up dying in Hiashi's place who was supposed to die to avoid dragging Konoha into a war with the Land of the Clouds. Neji ended up dying in Hinata's place who was supposed to die to avoid Naruto's death and the ultimate defeat of the Shinobi alliance at the hands of Obito and Madara.

Unsurprisingly, Naruto's guilt-tripping into returning Hinata's feelings begins here as well. Neji uses his last breath while bleeding to death to serve, as Kishimoto called him, as a cupid for Naruto and Hinata. Also notice how Neji never drops the honorifics towards Hinata even though he is the older one of the two and Hiashi had said the Cadet and Main branch were fighting as one (implying the segregation had been abolished)

Neji and Naruto were supposed to change the clan Hyuga, as Naruto had promised Neji years prior and as he states again to Neji who's slowly dying on his arms "you were gonna change clan Hyuga", meaning Neji was supposed to fight back against his destiny of a lifelong slave that would die to protect his enslaver and yet Neji was ultimately the first character of the series to conform.

Neji's death is direct parallel of his father death, to the point his final thoughts mention him understanding how he was only able to achieve freedom, at long last, through death.

Neji, like every other Hyuga from the cadet branch, was only able to attain freedom through death. Naruto would never change the clan Hyuga as he promised either. Kishimoto is establishing the theme of conformity that's the focal point in the finale, right here.

If Kishimoto hadn't been forced to make NH a thing, maybe Hinata is the one that would've died to protect Neji instead, reverting the roles of their parents, or maybe Kishimoto simply would have not felt the need to come up with a scenario like the one he did. But it's clear that Naruto and Hinata ending up together represents the apathy, resignation, defeat and compliance we see in Naruto and Sasuke's adult characters.

[jadeazora]

Champion's tierlist. Mostly ranking on initial battle, memorability, and personality. Lance and Geeta have better rematch teams, but you have to pay $30 for Geeta's (I personally enjoyed SV, but the games do have a mixed reputation since they were fairly glitchy, so not everyone was willing to do that), and grinding in HGSS was still kinda a pain, so I only ever bothered doing Lance's rematch once.

Trace, honestly, is memorable only for the Cubone, but has a rather lackluster team that doesn't even have full movesets and is just another friendly rival. He's very bland, especially considering that he's replacing the iconic OG final rival battle for that game.

Geeta's team is AWFUL. Using a trapper last? Using a Kingambit not last? Veluza, Gogoat, and Avalugg? Girl, why do I have to pay THIRTY DOLLARS for you to use your Pokemon correctly? What are you doing?

Diantha has zero story presence, but her team is pretty cool. Tyrantrum, Goodra, and Mega Gardevoir are all pretty solid Pokemon. She's not a hard battle, but in Gen6 they hadn't balanced the EXP Share yet, so it's easy to be overleveled if you use it.

Wallace, Steven (particularly in ORAS), and Iris are all better type specialists than Lance. Steven has two Sturdy Pokemon including one with Toxic, Wallace has Milotic (a Specially bulky Pokemon in a Gen where the moves strong against it are special) and Ludicolo (it probably won't kill you, but Double Team is annoying, and Flying and Poison weren't common attacking types back then. Fly is also inaccurate, and it's pretty much the best move you likely had access to. Unless you went for Dodrio as your Flying type and had Drill Peck, but it's a very late option when your team was probably set), and Iris at least demands a Fighting type in addition to the Ice/Dragon coverage. All Lance needs is Feraligatr with Ice Punch/Ice Fang, and Ampharos with any Electric moves for Gyarados.

Leon is a better battle than Alder, but how the game handles him just ticked me off. Like, it's good having a proactive Champ, that's why I like Alder, but I hate how the game uses him to sideline you until it literally can't anymore. SwSh was a boring game for me, and when anything interesting would happen, he was literally there to just shoo me off into doing my Gym Challenge. It feels like it goes against the "it doesn't matter if you're a kid or adult, anyone can be good at battling!" mantra of Pokemon, and having him be the face of that just made me kinda resent him. The player still feels relevant with Alder.

N, Kieran, and Nemona are some of the best rivals/Champs in the series. I like the story aspects to N and Nemona's fights more than finding them tough, but N had such a cool role in the story, and Nemona's love of battle and enthusiasm makes her a really fun character. Kieran basically has the best of both worlds in a tough battle since they use actual strategies in the DLC, and he's one of the most interesting rivals we've had for a story perspective.

Cynthia has the most aura of the Champions, and, especially with BDSP, has the toughest non-DLC added battle of them. Her roster also has very hard to get Pokemon like Milotic and Spiritomb. The physical/special split made Milotic easier to deal with, but back in Gen4, Spiritomb had no weaknesses and could usually live at least one hit. Garchomp is always strong, but in BDSP, has a Yache Berry and hits like a truck due to being properly EV'd. In Platinum, she's also pretty proactive, going thru the Distortion World with the player.

[megumifuckmeguro]

A-Z [almost] SEX WITH CHOSO KAMO

As most of my sexy supporters know [171] as well as my poor infographics, long-form writing is not for me but I tried guys!!!!! 🎀

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex):

 Cuddling, cuddles, being cuddled. No cleaning, he doesn’t wanna. I no no wanna :(

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s):

Yours: Everything about you, if your in a relationship with him he expects that you will accept him for who he is, despite his interesting background, as he does the same for you. He cannot even fathom favouritism for any part of your body but he does unconsciously touch your hands a lot, during sex, cuddling, tracing them with his own. He’s very expressive with his hands in the show too (breaking Mahito’s game piece when he’s angry, crushing Mechumaru…when he’s angry)

His: He’s proud of his big arms and built back, it makes him feel masculine and worthy enough to protect you..and his tongue…so he can taste you everywhere

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically):

 Patient zero for hyperspermia (producing too much cum to a medical level)

Piercing cum

His cum is so projectile, it moves his dick side to side as it spurts out.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs):

If you just allowed him, he would be more than willing to do dirtier things to you. The curse part of him gives zero fucks and would eat you out during your period or drink your squirt, just to make you feel good. Since he hasn’t been in his human form for too long, the preconceived associations of body fluids being disgusting just isn’t conditioned into him, especially when it comes to you. He rlly dgaf

 E = Experience (how experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?):

 0 pussy in 150+ years…yet a quick learner

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying):

 Missionary, to see your face and learn your reactions. Mating press when it gets very passionate.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? etc.):

N/A

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? etc.):

He doesn’t pay attention to it but if you point it out he’s more than willing to groom himself for your approval.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? The romantic aspect):

 Very romantic, he only wants sex for romance, just another means to show his passionate love to you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon):

He lowkey feels guilty for jacking off as he’s wasting cum that he could’ve spent making you feel good and one day impregnating you, you’ll probably have to reassure him that it’s okay for him release himself because you won’t always be there to take care of it.

He rubs off to pictures of you, not even a nude, just like..you and him smiling next to the Eiffel tower or something.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks):

L = Location (favorite places to do the do):

 Bed, coach somewhere safe, and away from people and curses. you could convince him to do it in the woods but he should feel like it’s safe enough.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going):

 He doesn’t need motivation. He’s needy 24/7 but just doesn’t wanna overwhelm you.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs):

 Just doesn’t want to harm you, physically or emotionally. If you ask him to be rougher with his words or to choke you or something…he’ll try…but it will come off half-hearted or hesitant “you’re such a…slut..” he frowns “y/n” he says softly “why do you wanna be called this again?” LOOL

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.):

Definitely prefers giving, because he just wants to please you, and honestly blowjobs can be too stimulating for him, he would rather cherish your pussy by eating it slow, eyes droopy, dark eyebrows slightly upturned, kitten licks on your clit like it would produce milk. Much more enjoyable to him.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.):

 Can be both, it depends on the mood if your egging him on with dirty words he might clench his teeth and push you into a mating press fucking you deep and fast like an animal.

He could also be loving and breathless and whiny, fucking you slow and deep, holding your head down with both hands staring into your eyes intensely. He’s breathing harshly through his nose, trying not to succumb to overwhelming passion.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.):

 He doesn’t really like them, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need them, he definitely yearns for you in public or when your busy, he would fuck hard and fast in the moment but gets post-nut clarity, he wishes he savoured you longer. He pushes his dick slower and slower, trying to prolong the moment even after cumming giving you pleading but knowing eyes, that the moment was just a quickie.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? etc.):

 No way, your safety is his top priority, as an older brother he has confidence in his ability to protect and make the right choices for their safety, that will also include yours. So he wouldn’t risk hurting you or having sex in a comprising environment.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?):

However long you let him, he can stay hard as many times as he likes since he can control the blood flow in his body.

T = Toys (do they own toys? Do they use them? on a partner or themselves?):

He’s okay with them as long as his dick or his hands or mouth is inside you too. He doesn’t wanna miss out, otherwise he’ll probably get jealous of the dildo lol.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease):

 N/A

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.):

 At first, he tries not to make too much noise, as he is a man who’s only ever known to fight, vulnerability like slipping the control of his voice, subconsciously he tries to make sure it doesn’t. He’s not very good at it though, just reassure him once and he’ll be truthfully loud and whiny from then on just because you accept him.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character):

He really really enjoys it when after sex, you place your head on his lap and innocently seek comfort in the warmth of his flaccid cock and balls while you’re both watching tv or cuddling or something.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes):

Red tip dick due to increase blood flow, very stiff and very girthy. Many many stiff textured veins. Big heavy balls.

Z=Zzz(How fast do they fall asleep after?):

Regularly he doesn’t fall asleep very easily , he’s a light sleeper, but his cock being warm in his pants after cumming for you helps him fall asleep better and faster.

[kittilumpo]

based on @charlietheepicwriter7 's "twin au but also misunderstandings"

danny and damian are brothers, whether or not they are twins - check

danny left the league when they were extremely small - check

damian knows danny left - check

danny knows danny left - nah

what?

nah.

danny has amnesia! most of the loa was told that danny died on his first outside-headquartes mission; in reality, danny took a few MAJOR hit to his head (the target expected an adult, sue him) and he was so covered in blood and beat to shit when he was rushed back to base that no one *expected* him to survive. talia convinces ra's to use the pit to stop danny from dying, but it isnt enough: after he wakes up nothing is fixed because danny is rapidly forgetting EVERYTHING. by the time he's in the care of a modern-medicine government hospital, danny barely remembers his own name. after a few days of gradual deterioration, to the point that ra's compares him to jason, danny falls into a coma. ra's makes the call: danny has to go. they smuggle him out of the country and into the usa, where he's placed in a private, expensive hospital - the same one where vlad succumbed to the ecto acne.

a few months into the come, brain-damaged-but-pit-exposed danny wakes up basically fine but with heinous scars (mostly hidden after his hair grows back) and zero (0) memories. he's taught english, told what the doctors were allowed to tell him about himself to try and stimulate his memories, but he never regains anything.

talia reluctantly agrees to let go, and ONLY because ra's convinces her its the best option for everyone. danny gets lucky and only has one foster home before the Fentons find and fall in love with him and claim him as their own. damian locks that information away where he'll never forget it and everyone moves on.

danny's ABILITY to retain memories is compromised for a long time, but his family is very patient and supportive and accidentally constantly exposing him to purified ectoplasm. by the time he's 14 his memory retention has stabilized to almost normal levels; he has a hard time with short-term memories, and if he isnt paying STRICT attention to something (like classwork) it can slip away without a trace, but until the portal accident he does Well Enough. after the portal accident his brain actually, FINALLY heals to 100% functioning (because now the organ itself turns into straight ectoplasm whenever danny transforms and danny's core steadily takes over Being Danny as his two halves balance out and when a core is damaged it just heals until the damage is gone) over the course of (cough the show cough) about two years. by high school graduation danny's grades are back up to b's and he even has a few low a's.

jazz is doing 4 years at University of Wisconson before she plans to transfer to Harvard, tucker got accepted to Minnesota Institute of Technology, and since danny's body can't pass the physical requirements for a career as an astronaut (and he can just fly into space on his own now) danny follows sam to Gotham to study engineering at Gotham U.

sam has no interest in college; she's going to gotham to meet pamela isley, and an argument with her parents about it escalated the plan to sam MOVING to gotham to "join" pamela isley. in reality sam has no intention of becoming a poison ivy goon, but she *does* want to upset her parents AND stay true to her own word, so she commits to the plan. danny tagging along is just so she has backup/emergency extraction during rogue attacks

-

its february in danny's first year at Gotham U when damian runs into him. damian is Fully PTSD Shell-Shocked and jon is confused and concerned. jon doesnt bring it up again but eventually duke and then tim find out about danny and THEY conclude that one of ra's old clone plans is finally coming to fruition. batman decides that danny going to Gotham U is supposed to be a method of creating a paper trail; insert himself into the town so that "when" he takes over damian's life, he can gasight everyone into thinking he's the "real" damian. (works best in older-brother!danny au's because "obviously the older one is the original", tho that only works on anyone who doesnt know about artificial aging)

thankfully damian is brought in before anyone actually DOES anything so that he can explain. bruce is now upset that talia made MORE THAN ONE bio-son, AND kept one a SECRET - and that DAMIAN never told him, either. damian justifies that "in every way that matters" danny is NOT bruce's son, (and knows well enough to interrupt bruce to stop THAT misunderstanding) and *continues* to explain danny's injuries and vegetative state. basically saying "by the end he wasn't even my brother anymore. he was a breathing corpse with my face."

damian wraps it all up by explaining that he knew danny had eventually woken up and been adopted because thats the last info they got when talia recalled the surveilance team. damian knew danny had been moved to illinois, but thinking about danny "back then" (lol) was more painful than damian used to be willing to admit - even to himself - so he never followed up further than that.

bruce is fucked up about it and hes in his fifties now; he's not doing well.

dick understands and respects damian's desire to leave danny alone, but is also kind of fucked up about it if for different reasons.

jason learns about all of this later and tangentially, and doesnt really give a shit passed "damn damian that sucks, i dont really remember him but this explains why i thought there had always been clones of you and was confused that you were surprised they existed" - the level of shits he gives lessens even further when he has to focus on "some wise-ass meta punk" bothering him while he's on patrol. ("i did NOT want my own personal fucking kite-man!")

aka danny as phantom has become one of red hood's least-serious but most-recurring rogues, all so that danny can try to sus out why jason ALMOST sets off his ghost sense and why, in ecto-saturated gotham, crime alley is almost completely devoid of it. turns out the two are related! jason's fucked up mutant core is sucking it up faster than gothamites produce it. this is also why jason feels "uncomfortably comfortable" in the bat cave and to a lesser extent anywhere in gotham thats NOT crime alley, even when he sincerely hates being there - those places still HAVE ECTO for his starving core to siphon. it happens to a lesser extent when he comes back to crime ally after doing away-missions with the outlaws, since the place has had SOME time to replenish its levels.

50/50 chance tim follows up on danny just so that he can share information about him to damian because tim thinks thats a resonable plan.

50/50 chance he tries to do this and the resulting plot is that several other batsibs thwart tim's attempts, compromising themselves several times and leading danny to think that ALL of them are stalking him. tucker thinks WE is scouting danny but he's literally still doing gen-eds and getting the same b-average-with-a-slowly-increasing-number-of-a's as always, so they dismiss that one pretty fast. sam writes it off as weird rich people shit, "trust me, im an expert," but jazz and valerie put forth the theory that they're keeping an eye on danny because the fentons are well-known mad scientists and danny WILLINGLY moved to gotham on purpose, and the waynes are known to be connected to batman.

its actually during his time running from various bats that danny flees into crime alley and finds out that his ghost sense reacts to red hood aka jason.

[transmutationisms]

You’ve introduced me to so many topics in theory but there are days when I have no idea what you’re talking about and i twirl my hair and kick my feet while I’m lying on my bed and giggle like omg tell me more

hi megan <3 this is fair also sometimes i am truly talking out my ass and making zero effort to make a thought comprehensible to anyone else lol but i remember you've read some of the 'speculative materialists' so you would probably get a kick out of this:

basically i was mostly just drafting a paragraph explaining how the french 'idéologues' in the 1790s-1810s conceived of sense perception and access to external phenomena, and i used kant as a compare/contrast because he's an easy reference point on this topic/time period:

Idéologie itself was never a singular scientific method, but described a loose methodological family (often referred to by ‘Idéologues,’ such as Cabanis, as analysis) that aimed to uncover the deeper truths and universal laws that structured phenomenal observations. It was this quality that led the historian of medicine George Rosen to describe idéologie as a meeting point of empiricism and the “passive psychology” of Étienne Bonnot de Condillac (1714–1780). For Condillac and his followers, including Cabanis, all ideas of the human mind had their origin in sensations—that is, in the impressions made by external objects upon the sensory organs. Thus, an idea could always be broken down to its component sensations, which could be traced back to their external sources. There were no human ideas or mental faculties that did not ultimately take their source from sensory impressions; human understanding could be studied, corrected, and eventually refashioned by careful application of the ‘analytical’ method. Whereas Kant, whose first Critique was published in 1781, defended a distinction between a priori and a posteriori judgments, the Idéologues considered even an inherited tendency or instinct to be ultimately and strictly a product of sensation. If Kantian transcendental idealism dictated that human observation could never directly access the external phenomena in-themselves, idéologie instead embraced the naïve realist position that the external objects could truly be known and described—but only by precise analysis of their noumenal representations.

and then i was like well condillac died in 1780 and cabanis's most famous treatise was published in 1802 so basically the timing lines up really well for this comparison to kant, and what you would need to do is derive these different attitudes toward things-in-themselves from the political-economic contexts that they're embedded in & patterned on. which would be extremely easy to do on the french side because cabanis was 1) a politician and 2) explicitly openly concerned about the health of the workforce as a means of ensuring the continued production of french national wealth, such that my argument about him is essentially that we should be reading him as espousing proto eugenic positions and as verbalising much of the biopolitical remit of the revolutionary and postrevolutionary french state. like essentially, analogous to the way that c. darwin 'found' capitalist competition in nature, you would say something like, cabanis 'found' (naturalised) the need for management and alteration of the labourer's body & physiology in his medico-philosophical treatises.

anyway i would need to brush up on kant biography stuff but given his interest in physical anthropology and specifically his racial essentialism, it would be easy also to argue that his 'correlationist' thinking derived from how he patterned psychology on a teleological racial-hierarchical view of human biology. which is in turn ofc an economic and political argument. so what i would want to prove here is that both these positions, while seemingly disparate, are ultimately just different bourgeois ideologies & follow superstructurally from the material alienation of capitalist labour relations etc etc. i would do this more elegantly and thoroughly in an actual article but this is tumblr.dashboard :-)

[tarakanpaintedpurple]

Getting to know your moots

Tagged by @prince--esque so now its your cross to bear >:)

•What's the origin of your blogs title?

Tarakan means cockroach in my native language, as well as shares the first two letters with my irl name. Sadly, just „tarakan“ handle was taken, so i colored the thing purple.

•Favorite fandoms

Although i post and talk exclusively about Destiny 2, i used to be a very active fan in most of the fandoms of 2010‘s (yes im old back off), so Undertale, Vocaloids, small bits of FNaF, TMNT, musicals (Hamilton and The Guy who didn’t like musicals mainly), animation memes community and Marvel at its prime. After 2020 the only fandom i remember being in is Arcana. I also like Ultrakill, but know very little about it lol

•OTPs+Ship name

Aside from canon ones i dont really have any solid ships. I do think some characters (Elsie and Shaxx) would look cute together, but to call them a ship would be an overkill imo. Basically ship the characters you like with the other characters you like, mix and match babey :]

•Favourite colours

Lilac, sky blue, yellowish orange and navy green

•Favourite game

From the ones that i play/played, Undertale, Katana zero, Stray, Streets of rage 4, Disco Elysium and Destiny 2 hold a special place in my heart.

•Weirdest habit/trait

Striking random ballet starting positions, minus the arms. Be careful with dance classes, kids.

•Hobbies

Aside from drawing and gaming, i sew with cross stitch, bike, try to stay alive during pilates and do jigsaw puzzles.

•Something you're good at

Drawing line by line(???). Can’t remember what my art teacher called it in school, basically instead of trying to replicate the 3D object using shapes or tracing an image, you look at the outline of the subject and draw it line by line. Helps when you’re learning to draw something for the first time. With that being said, been told that my art looks traced by my art professors, so tread carefully lol

•Something you're bad at

Expressing myself with words. Always either over explain or dont say enough.

•Something you excel at

Badminton, wanna 1v1?

•Something you love

Winter, it associates with a lot of positive things for me, like my partner’s bd and first time meeting my friend. Also snow, love the snow.

•Something you could talk about for hours without off the cuff

Conspiracy theories >:)

•Something you hate

Lack of empathy/understanding. Like dude, we have limited time in this world, and you decide the best way to spend your days is to make others miserable?

•Something you collect

Unique bus/train/subway tickets, my most prized possession as of now is a metro ticket from Kazan that looks like a coin :]

•Something you forget

A lot of things, im incredibly forgetful. There’s a possibility that there’s a forgotten cup of cold tea standing, waiting for me, as im writing this.

•What's your love language

Physical touch and words of affirmation. You’re awesome, squeeze my hand

•Favorite movie/show

Men in black (don’t laugh), Good Omens and Gravity Falls

•Favorite food

My mom’s tiramisu, my partner’s chicken curry and dumplings. And sushi, but everybody likes sushi.

•Favorite animal

Seals, polar owls, pigeons and bunnies. Perfect mix of aerodynamic and cute

•Favorite subject in school

Art class when we got to draw stuff and computer science. I also liked literature.

•Least favourite subject

History and sewing, because the teachers were just awful

•What's your best character trait?

Рeople’ve told me that my jokes and support help them immensely, so i guess im an excellent jester ‘,:)

•If you could change any detail of your day right now, what would it be?

No aching back, otherwise im doing great.

•If you could travel in time, who would you like to meet?

My grandma in her youth, she’s an amazing lady and i wish i could meet her before the time got to her. Also, Little Ceasar’s CEO

•Recommend one of your favorite fanfics

Not a fanfic reader, sadly. Buuut i did like @makoredeyes ‘s amazing work: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58466131/chapters/148934281

Also, no pressure mentions: @valdakon @perianth-nixie @makoredeyes @phoenixichi @cannyparagon

[lifenconcepts]

MY UTTERLY BELOVED TF2 OC!

I’m very proud of this, I’m not one to use digits art and so think this is actually applause worthy.

IVAN “VOLK” KATERZHNIK

LORE, DESCRIPTION, HISTORY, AND OTHER BELOW \/

A soviet pilot which crashed after flying through a storm and somehow ended up here rather that anywhere near Europe.

Pretty much godly when it comes to communications as he was the one to come to if you had technical problems or needed a message sent off through morse or radio. 

HISTORY / HIS STORY: I’ve done some good research on USSR in 1960s/1970s (about where the tf2 thing is set) to be able to comply somewhat with what tech and knowledge existed then. He flew a Tupolev Tu-95 plane (a fascinating beast, truly) which bares bombs and missiles and yet after a mistakenly taken dosage of amphetamine( after taking inspiration from British/American soldiers using it to boost moral and altertness), caused a buffer between logic/reality and delusional thinking of following orders, which allowed him to blindly fly from a runway in Khabarovski krai (beside the sea of Okhotsk), before being forced to crash land by a storm in New Mexico, where after taking a good 17 hour Power Nap, ventured the land with aloofness and nonchalantness and finding the RED base (TF2 ofcourse). There, he managed to recognise Ludwig as a medical personal and insisted he get treated for injuries, all the while speaking in the common broken English/Russian that many Eastern Europeans bare with phrases like “Amerika, da! Kennedy, Elvis Presley!” and has limited yet basic conversational knowledge on Czech, German, and polish. Greatly fluent in Russian.

His character in short:

Unattached, very limited family connections before he even flew, and laughs at the concept of a relationship that isn’t strictly professional. Aroace before the term even was coined. Very docile when it comes to being questioned and happily complied with initial allegations and requests despite a language barrier. Is surprisingly hyper aware of his surroundings and has a good grasp on the moral dilemma of war but also an insatiable appetite for confrontation and blood, and despite not liking violence, can handle a gun, blade, or explosives with a steady hand. Speaks a lot with hand gestures and isn’t afraid to be a bit strange, and most notable of a hobby is going out early dawn and late dusk to enjoy the rays of sun, take some fresh air, and at times go for a walk in the wilderness. Has disappeared without a trace multiple times before venturing his way back. Good relationship with most the REDs, albeit doesn’t take them seriously apart from Engineer and Medic - who he also sometimes helps with work. Doesn’t like to be limited with rules but respects the set basis of don’t be an asshole even if he makes harsh remarks at times without really noticing it. Can uphold a certain level of banter in English, but it is very bare bone and his knowledge of words is primarily based around technical terms so he could translate “Вам ни холодно?» (are you not cold?) into “Your system froze?” while gesturing to their body.

Physical appearance & taste:

Wears an aviator’s jacket with sheep wool lining, a watch by the brand “Kosmos”, has a busted up metal flask which he usually had a bit of whiskey in - in a (handmade by a long gone friend) leather casing with an intricate soviet symbol and pattern on it, some basic military brown/gray trousers, a dusty pecan coloured messenger bag, a muskrat ushanka (it fits his head properly I just like to draw it in a stylised manner), and some basic black soviet combat boots. He doesn’t really care for branding but knows random American things through cultural osmosis and exposure via his friend back in fatherland who is obsessed with ‘western’ media and food. Has seen a few American movies (don’t ask how his friend obtained it.. it wasn’t legal) and his favourite one is “North to Alaska”! He has zero interest in politics and a lack of understanding in certain aspects of life that may be important (for example battle tactics) but is ready to follow orders and make his own decisions based on prior experiences should he have to. Considers himself a patriot although knows very little about his own country, mainly the goings on in his hometown that shall stay unnamed. Loved the radio station Mayak and the song “Moscow Nights” practically runs through his veins.

Fascinated with snow, roads, and the sun like some eternally high schizoid (edit that out in tumblr entry). Likely has some underlying condition in his mind that hasn’t gotten traction in mass understanding yet so he just is overall chill, acts more or so like a child, yet understands and does things with the precision of a marksman.

Silly story & his plans for now: Has managed to tame a lynx cub once, well.. prior to it then mauling him. But his arm had a cool scar on it because of that! Within the lore though is more or less a helping hand towards the respawn machine and keeps the others company, as despite technically being able to return home, his superior ordered that he’d send out a message should he return from missions - and although this would be an emergency not a mission, he doesn’t want to risk being lost in Siberian wilderness should he go unguided or disrespect his fellow companion. Is trying to find his plane that he’d abandoned in some forest and scowered the place by foot for nearly a week, and once he managed to eventually find it, a good refuel and he’ll be sent off. That is.. if they manage to find it at all. And he is concrete and set about doing so and not just finding some other way about this because of a deep love and connection to the plane he so dearly piloted for nearly a decade.

Overall is a very laidback individual, physically and emotionally strong ‘n capable, loves music and often spends his free time listening to whatever the radio has to offer - and although he missed his usual Muslim Magomaev, Эдита Пьеха, or Я хожу по Москве, he still managed to enjoy the American tunes and sometimes hums Elvis Presley’s “it’s now or never”. Also adored all the various marches and anthems popular at the time. Favourite Russian song is Old maple/Старый Клён from the film Девчата (Girls).

PLEASE DO NOT use this a for your own ocs! I worked very hard :( you can take vague inspo but I’ll be heartbroken if you make harsh copies.

[pinkmochi56]

TLDR: Not explicitly stated as canon, but a scientific hypothesis given several hours of thought. Despite being of antimatter, which explodes immediately upon contact with matter (anything that takes space and can be measured, like air, skin, fabric, food, water. Basically all organism essentials), Koro-sensei doesn't immediately explode upon air exposure, changing clothes, poking students with tentacles, etc. because the outer layers of his internal and external organs have an electromagnetic barrier that protects the antimatter from exposure to matter. The barrier is ironically powered by none other than the antimatter.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not an expert. Please correct me if I'm wrong: I literally just skimmed through my sister's physics study guide as soon as I saw the words "antimatter" and "explode" and then I jumped down the physics rabbit hole for a few hours to justify and explain the connection to Koro-sensei. So I'm definitely not an authority figure or anything.

Here's a teeny ramble about antimatter and Koro-sensei! I found out antimatter explodes when it comes into contact with matter. Specifically, I encountered a physics problem, and the answer showed that if an astronaut landed and touched an antimatter planet, both the astronaut and an EQUAL amount of antimatter would be annihilated (although the surrounding antimatter area of the planet would be heavily damaged from the explosion).

But the point is this: 30.6kg of human matter comes into contact with 5.9722x10^24 kg (that's earth's mass) of antimatter planet. 30.6kg of human matter + 30.6kg of antimatter planet is annihilated, leaving ZERO TRACE. They cancel each other out. The remains might be uninhabitable and invisible to the human eye, but it's still there.

What if it was reversed? 30.6kg of antimatter human (I calculated it, it's not a guess) comes into contact with the planet earth. 30.6kg of Earth will be annihilated, leaving no trace. There will still be at least SOME trace of the area outside of the radius, although it will most likely be uninhabitable and likely too tiny to be visible.

Now think: Koro-sensei, an antimatter being, constantly comes into contact with matter. AIR is matter (yes, I checked)! So one breath, and he should've exploded before episode 1. How has he not exploded? There must be an invisible barrier separating the matter from antimatter. I did brief research on antimatter storage and couldn't grasp most of it, but what I did somewhat grasp is this quote from Ruichen Zhang: "Antimatter shouldn't contact any matter while it is stored. This would be done by using the property of spin magnetic moment, which antimatter has. Using magnetic and electric fields, a force is applied to the antimatter, which directs it away from any matter" (Zhang).

So boom. Basically, an electromagnetic field serves as a barrier between matter and antimatter, and the latter is what fuels it. I researched the epidermis of octopi, which is the most sensical place for the barrier to be if it exists, considering Koro-sensei can interact safely with matter objects with his tentacles, especially the matter present in his clothes that come into direct bodily contact with him.

So I labelled a diagram of an octopus' skin layers to explain it. But it's not just his skin: his tongue is immune to anti-sensei material, which is made to destroy antimatter only, and he breathes without blowing up the earth via contact between his lungs and oxygen (oxygen is matter), so at the very least, the outer layers of all of his internal organs can't be made of antimatter.

References

Zhang, Ruichen. “Antimatter and Its Application-Collecting Antimatter and Storage It as Energy Source.” Journal of Physics: Conference Series, vol. 2386, no. 1, Dec. 2022, p. 012074, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2386/1/012074.Accessed 4 Feb. 2023.

[yougetsu]

The Fool Card

I wanted to write about this a few days ago but just had free time recently and as Hisashi confirmed it, it's better to do it now.

We already know that The Fool represents new beginning, infinite possibilities, and freedom from being bound by any boundaries. But I'd like to delve deeper into the meaning.

I'd like to clarify, I'm not an expert... I just enjoy reading about the Fool's journey from a psychological perspective and how useful tarot could be as a tool for personal growth.

Number 0 represents infinite potentiality, from which realities, life, actions, ideas emerge. This means that all things are possible because no defined form has been assumed yet. Zero also means emptiness of fears and hopes, The Fool does not wait or plan anything because he reacts instantly according to the situation he faces. This card is also connected to cards of difficult passage, like the Moon and Death, which in tough paths urges The Fool on despite his fears.

The Fool is linked to true innocence (openness to life) by trying to remain in a state of freedom and joy, which also involves being spontaneous, honest and loving naturally without judgment. This card tries to remind us that life is an uncontrollable force, a constant dance of experiences, nothing can be calculated.

We don't know further details about Imai's perspective in this area, but I do see that he embodies some characteristics of The Fool in his artistry and in his words when it comes to facing challenges.

You can read more about it in the book Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel Pollack.

...

I'd like to talk about The Fool (愚者/gusha) in "Mudai". Again, we'll never know what the lyrics are about with certainty. However, the surrealism and metaphors in the song catch my attention and I like to look at it from a somewhat metaphysical perspective, specially in the last lines where "gusha" is mentioned.

The Fool represents someone who is about to start a journey, visually we can see that he's looking into the abyss below and is moving towards it. So, The Fool is also perceived as the seed of life, the creature that is about to take a physical form to come to the world. The figure of this card is also read as a being that it's not in the physical realms yet, that might be suspended in the universe (nothingness). Basically, something invisible is happening, before having a body and before birth, which I connect with the lyrics:

"I'm a fool

In the depths of darkness, the fool goes

I'm a fool

Touched in the head, the fool goes

I'm a fool

Covered in blood, the fool goes

I'm a fool

To the end of darkness, the fool goes"

Additionally, The Fool relates to the 'immortal' self that later becomes trapped in the confusions and struggles of the ordinary world. The self in this card has no gender defined since it is expressing their complete humanity at all time naturally. The Fool dialogues with The World card in that sense, since both complement each other to reach unity through growth and to complete the journey.

It's very interesting to see how much Atsushi's word selection can convey because most of the time he left the lyrics open to personal interpretation and at the same time, those lyrics are full of visuals and symbolism (sometimes untranslatable), which gives much more weight and depth to his work. Love his writing so much.

More info:

Tarot Tracings: Essays on Literature and Divination by Camelia Elias

[goodfully]

oh god i cant believe ive finished reading the neapolitan novels already, its over??? ahh okay thoughts on the last book "the story of the lost child"..

honestly i was dreading the last maybe twenty pages bc i didnt want it to end hahaha. its crazy that everything we've read is essentially all for lila. "i who have written for months and months and months to give her a form whose boundaries wont dissolve." ahh!!!!! what!!!!!! to spend so much of the book saying how much lila suffered and feared from dissolving boundaries, how she had been so overwhelmed during the earthquake when the entire world felt like its boundaries were dissolving, and then say that everything shes written is to keep her from dissolving herself... my goodness. "i loved lila. i wanted her to last. but i wanted it to be i who made her last. i thought it was my task. i was convinced that she herself, as a girl, had assigned it to me." wow... you ever loved someone so much... also.. the way lenu was saying how connected they are, that even tho she has written a lot about her own life in these pages, "the very nature of our relationship dictates that i can reach her only by passing through myself"??? god.

i think my favorite parts of the book were all when lenu and lila were so close to each other during and after their pregnancies. i just thought it was so sweet, the way they were basically a family together, two mothers and their children. going to their doctors appointment tmr, taking walks together, taking care of each others daughters like their own.

i have to admit that i was confused by the meaning of the dolls at the very end, but i love that the openendness of the ending was referring back to something unanswered (where were the dolls) from one of the very first scenes from the first book (altho very interesting!, considering how not too long before the end of the book, lenu was telling imma not to believe in the cyclical nature of society). to me i thought, perhaps also it could mean that (assuming its lila) lila chooses existing (with lenu) over disappearing? actually, when tina disappeared and dede had accused lila of losing tina on purpose, i immediately thought it made sense. the first thing we literally know about lila is how she has felt the need to erase herself completely, and tina parallels/is an extension of lila the way imma parallels/is an extension of lenu. lila wanted to erase herself without a trace, and there was literally zero proof of tinas death/kidnapping/existence.

in the same way lila wouldnt be able to erase herself completely without also erasing tina, i think about the idea of how the ppl we love will never truly be erased if we love them? thats why even if tina disappeared, lila cant be erased bc lenu loves her. like how, whether its on purpose or not to keep her mother alive, lenu finds her mothers existence with her in her limp. i think the same could be said about the solaras, who altho arent exactly loved by the neighborhood, are important enough to most ppl in the neighborhood and their power is still felt in the neighborhood after their death. also, i think its a little different, but im reminded of when lenu said something like the many fragments of ourselves are scattered like splinters or something (altho i think the context here was about their children). but no one is ever never really gone, i think.. oh.. i go crazy every time she talks about her relationship/similarities with her mother (the ancestors in her body when she was physically violent back against her mother, and the.. "must i watch you become worse than me?"), and her relationship/similarities with her daughters (her daughters reaching the same age as the ghosts of her girlhood), and every time the imma/tina relationship parallels the lenu/lila relationship.

i was thinking that this book was more of accepting yourself and your origins, whereas the other books showed lenu and lila trying to escape them? perhaps acceptance of the past and the agency you have despite the past that defined you? like when lenu realizes that ninos actions are not attributed to his father, nino is his own person and he himself is the reason he is a piece of shit man, not just bc of the man who raised him. and that part when lenu said that antonios tone resembles the neighborhood, but it is entirely his own. more so when lenu had published her third book and said that only words and stories from the neighborhood were the only ones with meaning, and that she no longer felt she was a victim of her origins but was capable of dominating them and using them to climb higher. stuff about the past and present colliding. it reminds me of when mariarosa said something like, a woman without love for her origins is lost, or something.. i kinda forgot what the context was tho.

oh another thing, the closeness between the childhood neighborhood friends meant so much to me.. like there was a moment when carmen said that lenu and lila are her sisters during that little gathering with the neighborhood group of kids now all grown up just talking to each other... i think theyre like family, they grew up together. when lenu goes in the neighborhood after moving back to naples and is talking to carmen, lila, and enzo again... they care so much about each other. and talking about how much they love pasquale too no matter what hes doing. sobs.

this just reminded me of nino.. (he was there the first time, but whatever! he kinda wasnt.) when lenu makes nino come over, i was so pissed... and i had a feeling something bad would happen while he was there, but tinas disappearance was not what i was expecting.. oh but enzo.. my beloved, he was so caring and attentive, not only to tina but also imma. ahh.. while im on the topic of men, the part when gennaro and stefano find rino, and gennaro had to listen to stefano yell insults at rinos dead body and then beats up stefano while crying that he is disgusted with himself for being his son. it just made me really sad.. these are the two adult men he has and is related to..

tbh francos death sticks out to me mainly bc he said something that i honestly believe and live by, i repeat it to myself to not relapse into whatever mental illness, "it [is] a good rule not to expect the ideal but to enjoy what is possible", but then he kills himself immediately after and it... makes me so fucking sad.

lenu said this only in the beginning about feeling the hostility from her mother/lila and felt estranged from them, but i often think about freedom vs loneliness. i suppose its also something throughout the whole series, with how much she wanted freedom and to escape from her origins, she /was/ lonely. and the time spent trying to be on her own without lila was also lonely. the end of the entire series when she felt her friendship with lila must have ended... that was lonely. i think in this fourth book, lenu expressed a lot more of her love for lila.

anyway... overall i loved the entire series so much... i am so glad i read it finally, its some of the best books ive ever read. im on a trip with family rn and every time someone asks me what im reading, i really dont know how to summarize all four novels all together in a way that explains how good and thoughtful it all is. also i know its adapted into a show, which i really want to watch eventually! i still cant believe im done reading tho.. like what do i do now! ahhhhhh

[gumnut-logic]

The sun touched the horizon and lit up everything in gold.

Virgil closed his eyes and let its waning warmth soak into his skin.

The breeze was gentle, little more than a tease. It caressed his cheeks, lingered in his hair and tantalised the tracings of his mark across his bare back.

He shivered.

He was wearing only an old pair of cut-off jeans between himself and the warm rock. His feet were bare and dangling in the cool water, his toes teased by the ebb and flow.

His soundscape was filled with that water. The ripples of the lagoon splashing against the rock he was sitting on, the distant surf outside the safety of the caldera.

The squabbles of the petrels on Mateo as they argued about roosts for the night.

It was home.

The day had been a good one. No rescues. A moment to relax and sit back. Each of them had disappeared to their own corners, dabbling in their own pastimes in order to wind down.

Alan had taken to the air in the morning. He hadn’t managed to escape a cautionary word from Scott about staying close to the Island, but that was nothing unusual.

Scott said that to all of them.

Their youngest hadn’t been gone long, choosing only to stretch his golden wings with a few loops of their tiny volcanic rock in the middle of nowhere. Virgil had taken the moment to look up and watch his little brother swoop and dive, golden wings quite a sight in the early morning sun.

Scott and John, of course, were all about catching up on work. Virgil had to intervene at about midday and demand they eat. John was yanked down from orbit with a little extra threat from Grandma.

Virgil had been so happy to see his space brother. A little math and he realised he hadn’t seen him in the flesh for over two weeks.

John indulged him a hug as he knew Virgil craved a physical connection to ground him. Virgil was gentle, knowing that those two weeks in zero gravity would make his brother sensitive to touch.

But he had to.

The spark of connection as their minds reacted was like a tension release. Virgil sighed into his shoulder with relief.

John held him.

But after that, it was all Grandma and eat something, kid. Fortunately, lunch hadn’t relied on her cooking. Virgil had done a supply run on the way back from a minor situation just the day before and the larder was stacked with lazy day goodies.

It was a good meal. For once, everyone was there.

They had spent a good part of the afternoon just lazing about the comms room talking. While they lived most of their lives together, it had become rare being together all at once with no dire emergency needing attention.

There had been sun, conversation and rest.

John. John, of all people, had fallen asleep on the couch.

That had prompted a number of things. Lots of quiet. An interrogation of Eos from the kitchen regarding their brother’s sleep schedule.

This was promptly followed by grounding him for a week to play catch up.

Grandma was not happy.

And no doubt, John would be even less when he woke up.

But hey, the man needed to take better care of himself.

A blanket had appeared.

Virgil may have snuck in a medical monitor and gently clipped it to his shirt to boost the basic vitals his gravity wear provided.

John slept on.

So, they left him there and returned to doing their own things in other parts of the house.

As always, Gordon gravitated towards the sea as late afternoon rolled in. This time Virgil followed him to the water’s edge.

His fish brother’s forays out into the ocean always made Virgil just that touch nervous. There had been times where the aquanaut had gotten himself into trouble…alone, out in that vast wilderness under the surface.

It wasn’t that Gordon didn’t know what he was doing. It was just…Virgil couldn’t reach him.

And he worried.

But Gordy was as much a part of the sea as it was part of him and while the brat respected his concerns, he was still a brat. When he leapt up, morphed into his favourite eagle ray form, and made a splash large enough to soak his engineer brother, it was not unexpected.

There was a reason why sting rays always looked like they were smiling. At least this one thought he was funny.

The smart ass.

A flicker of shadow beneath the surface and Gordon was gone.

Virgil felt him grow distant, only to have a sun shower of mental energy thrown in his direction.

Clearly a ‘cheer up, Virg, I’ll be fine’.

Virgil grunted as he stared out at the water that had swallowed his brother. Gordon would be gone a couple of hours at least. Virgil would occupy himself for the rest of the afternoon, but he knew that come sunset, he would be down by the shore, waiting for him.

And here he was.

Staring out at the sea and the sunset, waiting for that little spark to return.

It wasn’t a chore. It was just something he felt he had to do.

Part of him wished he had brought his sketchbook or his tablet, but the risk was too high. Gordon wouldn’t intentionally soak his stuff, but accidents did happen.

And besides, he didn’t mind taking a moment to just...be.

The sun’s warmth was a caress on his skin and he revelled in it. He let his eyes close and just felt and listened.

Sun.

Water.

Wind.

Birds.

A wet touch on his shoulder.

He couldn’t help it, he flinched. Instinctively he knew what was happening, he knew his brother was being a little shit, but evolution tagged human receptors with flight response for a reason.

Suckers grabbed at his skin.

He stumbled on the rocks as he flung himself to his feet.

The tentacle did not go away.

It had friends.

Virgil suddenly found himself wrapped in several long, wet, suckered appendages.

“Gordon, what the hell are you doing?”

But then cephalopods weren’t the greatest of listeners since they didn’t really have ears.

Gordon, fortunately or unfortunately, did have the ability to transmit emotion to his brother, despite the muffle of transmutation, and the laughter sparkled across Virgil’s mindscape like a rain of sunny stars.

The evening was still golden and warm, but just a touch less relaxing. Virgil stood amongst the rocks with a giant Pacific octopus wrapped around his torso.

He idly stared at the flickering colours of laughter strobing across the chromatophores he could see.

“Gordon, you’re a shit.”

That, of course, only increased the mirth.

Virgil settled his mind and came to terms with the fact he was currently wearing a cephalopod and instead turned to problem solving.

The giant molluscs were quite fascinating. If there was one thing Virgil shared with his fish brother, it was a fascination with life in general, and because his brother spent so much time underwater, Virgil had done his fair share of reading on the topic. Unbeknownst to Gordon, Virgil found cephalopods quite fascinating, both in their communication methods and for painting subjects.

But then, this kraken was a whole different kettle of shellfish.

Virgil stood still for a few moments, waiting to see what his brother would do and, if he was honest, see if his brother would simply let him go.

The mental snickering pretty soon negated that response, so Virgil had to look for a more proactive retaliation.

He prodded a tentacle wrapped around his belly. It wriggled back at him.

Virgil was ticklish. He stifled the thought that his brother might take advantage of that while possessing eight arms.

He could lift. That would bring eight metres of black feathers into the equation, but Gordon was physically in contact with his mark, the feathers would likely phase through him like a piece of clothing.

A tentacle caressed his ribcage and he shivered.

He felt Gordon’s outburst of glee and before he knew it, all of those tentacles were moving, suckers puckering along his ribs and belly, a riot of tickle and tease. There was even one in his hair, its tip dangling in front of his eyes.

His brother’s maniacal mental laughter was all consuming.

Swearing, Virgil spun and leapt into the lagoon, the drop-off immediate enough to take the dive.

His world became a rush of bubbles.

Several tentacles came loose in the chaos and Virgil twisted in the water, hoping to dislodge the rest.

But the water was Gordon’s native environment, and the engineer didn’t have a hope.

The mental giggling was obnoxious.

Breath soon became an urgency and Virgil pushed towards the flickering light above. He surfaced with an octopus head bopping his nose. Somehow Gordon had slithered around to hang off his front instead of his back.

Virgil glared at his brother through the hair dripping in his eyes.

The head tilted and squirted water into his face.

“Gordon!”

Damnit, Kayo needed to show him some self-defence skills against cephalopods.

The thing was octopuses were strong, but their bodies were somewhat fragile and part of Virgil was worried he might hurt his brother.

Knowing Gordon, he knew that and was playing it to his advantage.

“Why are you doing this?”

Because I can.

Virgil didn’t need telepathy to answer that.

But there was a spark of something beyond the humour. Beyond the rain of sunshine sparkles there was a deep red, a welling of emotion his brother was reluctant to share.

A frown and Virgil reached out mentally to his little brother just that little bit more.

The octopus scrambled up his torso, over his face – to Virgil’s muffled protest – and perched on his head like a turban.

Virgil spat into the water and rubbed his face with both hands. “God, Gordon! Why?!”

But the answer wasn’t built with words, it was built with emotion and it suddenly washed over him.

An overwhelming need to touch, to hug and to feel.

But…?

Virgil reached for his cephalopod hat, but Gordon slipped off into the water with a splash and darted away.

Virgil dove to follow.

He didn’t have a hope in catching up, no matter his brother’s form, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

But Gordon had disappeared.

Damnit!

Oxygen became a necessity far too quickly and, yet again, Virgil cursed his inability to follow his fish brother.

Surfacing dragged his hair into his eyes.

How had he missed it? Gordon could be as in need of touch as Virgil was at times. How had Virgil not seen that his brother just needed a hug?

He mentally kicked himself.

“Virg, it’s not a thing. Don’t tie yourself in knots.”

He spun to find his little brother in human form treading water quietly behind him.

“Why didn’t you tell me you needed a hug? Hell, why didn’t you just give me one?”

Gordon snorted. “Is that a prescription, bro? You dispensing brotherly hugs?”

“I’m dispensing whatever works, Gords.” His head tilted just a little as he stared at his brother. “C’mere?” He held out his arms, his legs doing the best to keep him stable in the water.

Gordon rolled his eyes. “Don’t drown yourself.”

“Gordon…”

When his brother didn’t respond, Virgil took matters into his own hands and dove at him. The fact he was successful in grabbing a flailing leg proved that Gordon didn’t really want to escape.

A little manhandling and Virgil had his brother in the biggest hug he could manage. It was complicated by the fact that hugging was not conducive to swimming and if Virgil didn’t surface soon, he was going to start losing brain cells, but it was the best he could do with a wriggling fish brother.

Ultimately, it was Gordon who threw them to the surface with a spark of exasperation.

“Virg, I’m fine! What the hell?”

But the emotion bouncing across their connection told the truth. There was little but fondness and love for his silly brother.

“I’m not silly.” Virgil wrinkled his nose.

“Never said you were. However, you did nearly drown yourself trying to give me a hug.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Not.”

“Too.”

“Gordon!”

“What?”

Virgil glared at him.

Predictably, Gordon just smirked at him.

It was Virgil’s turn to be overwhelmed with fondness and love.

Gordon groaned. “Oh god, you are so soppy.”

“What? You’re my brother. I’m allowed to care.”

Gordon fell silent, and for a moment, those brown eyes just stared at Virgil.

Then he found his arms full of brother again. “Love you, bro.”

Surprised, but touched, Virgil’s arms tightened around Gordon and again they dipped below the surface.

Hugs were really conducive to drowning.

And disturbing to sleeping brothers as John startled awake with a rain of confused midnight stars.

Oops.

Virgil made to kick back up to the surface, but suddenly found his arms full of cephalopod again.

Damnit, Gordon.

The sparkling sunshine giggles were back and it was with resignation that Virgil made his way to the surface.

Perhaps Gordon had a reason for the change and for the cling because when Virgil walked back to the villa and into the comms room wearing his rather heavy cephalopod brother wrapped around him, it brought Scott’s tirade of lecturing John to a sudden halt.

Both brothers stopped and just stared.

Virgil stared back. “What?”

“Is that Gordon?” Scott pointed with both hope and a little fear at the octopus back-pack headwear combination.

A tentacle poked at Virgil’s nose from his forehead. He ignored it and shrugged. “Gords wanted a hug.” He turned away. “I’m going to go have a shower.” An absent wave of a hand.

If his brothers stared as he walked out, he could only smile to himself.

The rain of sunshine laughter from his hat just turned his smile into a grin.

-o-o-o-

[mostspecialgirl]

terrible little first ashenworks doodle

rambling no one will read below

thought id nail down the first run designs of the ashenworks staff since they’re only five characters and i needed to scratch the itch of having them formed. i tried to make a little chart explaining their place in the relicverse for twitter but it ended up like this

so like yeah no thats not helpful at all really

so instead im just gonna talk about them here on tumblr where i can write infinitely.

across the sea of stars, almost every weapon you can find, regardless of if you’re in association or hundred nights space, is branded somewhere with the label of “ASHENWORKS”. regardless of any perceived cultural design, make and model, style of weapon, level of wear, perceived level of technology available to make it, somehow, almost as if it has transcended time, the weapons used by most all in sea of stars is branded with their name. storefronts, ruins, pawn shops, high end stores, black markets, stripped from the cold hands of an enemy or inherited tearfully from those of a fallen ally, they all seem to mysteriously trace back to this “ASHENWORKS”.

the origin traces back to one of the earliest planeswalker myths. from back before the prevalence of the association had its powerhouses, and not long before the creation of the hundred nights guild, the death of Yima Thekhrós Berezaiti at the hands of Enstorm Savant, the King Of Rifts, which resulted in the scattering of his million ashen remains across the sea of stars.

privy to none but his own minds, a single ash caught fire within the scattering. an insignificant piece of his being, one who by all accounts was at fault for his death, the failure of his ashen pieces. the materia of his “Cunning”. the shard gaining life not through borrowed power, but through the will of Natura itself, Shen Diao Berezaiti was born as Straychild, upon what is now OBSCURANT EARTH. bearing with him not only the ability to planeswalk as the other shards, but with a mind that sought to truly capture the places his past self had only looked to travel. and he would be willing to play any role necessary to once again stoke the fires of his renewed youth.

but who cares about that???? basically, ashenworks is the sea of stars’s most prevalent weapons manufacturer, with their true identity buried under puppet companies, complicated trade routes, local merchants signed to benefactors of benefactors, and all manner of unnecessary obfuscation. created by Shén Diāo Berezaiti for the simple purpose of making a fuck ton of money at almost zero cost.

how has the “King Of Grifts”, the “Cunning of Yima” managed to pull of such a feat?! By exploiting the working class, of course!!!!

now with names

Shén Diāo Berezaiti - little weasel of a man, incredibly immature and juvenile despite his wit and cunning. could easily become an active threat to both hundred nights and the association if he were born stupid enough to want to be involved.

Rosewater Costeau - second son of the Costeau Noble Family and Shén’s infinitely capable partner in crime. has a knack for psychology and managing people. head obscured by a Rift bound to him by his family due to his “unsightly appearance”. hit it off with shén during one of the annual Savant Ball’s.

Zhofskyv Fanyne - a relic automaton indifferent to his own existence, born from the relic “mattercurrent”, capable of replicating countless machine processes, formerly uncontrollably. serves as ashenwork’s one-man manufacturing plant through the use of several other relics. formerly employed as a butler for the costeau family’s winter manor, after being gifted to them by Enstorm Savant.

Miron - the lindwurm queen and straychild born of the relic “Golden River”, seemingly bottomless physical strength, she’s naturally attuned to relics, being able to “communicate” with them. absolute brainless meathead. has a good heart. she’s always making that face.

Cassius Oganglyph - dwarven artist and designer who helps bridge shén’s ideas into reality. a student of kailash discipline who hopes ashenworks is the vital stepping stone for his art to reach someone who understands it.

i’m tired and i’m going to nap now maybe i will finish writing this post with more info later. nobody reads these anyway

[jaximusartwork]

(WIP)

I have a lot of ocs I made and never get back to them and Yasuke is one of them. The first time I drew him was back in 2019 (right). Yasuke was a fan character I made for someone's comic series. Somewhere down the line I decided to use him for my own project, which I have now abandoned but I can still have fun with him haha. Yasuke's first redesign (left) is what he was going to look like in my little project. Hey I was ambitious at 18. I probably thought that this was the coolest shit ive made. I don't even think I finished it because there's still some parts not colored in and barely any shading???

Now we're at 2024 and I have FINALLY gotten to this boy. I won't lie, I almost never draw full body pieces. They always look weird once I get to the legs but with this piece, I ate~. It looks really good hahah! Granted I did use a reference and I may have copied the pose 1-1, but at least I didn't trace though. As you can see, it looks very different from the other Yasukes. The Gi and sweater have been changed to a long coat. The stupid head band is gone. The katana as been replaced with a dagger. I envision my Yasuke to be a very aggressive fighter so I figured a dagger was a good fit. He's a physical powerhouse but because of that he basically has zero magic capabilities.

FOLLOW ME: linktr.ee/relaxjax

[honestlyvan]

Hey, Van, could you explain permet to me because I don't think I ever fully understood how it works or what happened at the end and how was it different from quiter zero? Please?

Oh dear. Gundam technobabble. Keep in mind that I'm writing this without having read any of the official additional material, this is just what I can glean from the show itself.

Alright so Permet's whole thing is that it can form a networks with itself under specific conditions. Presumably it means that anything with a sufficient concentration of Permet in it -- including human beings -- can act as components of that network, kind of like a big integrated circuit. For Gundams specifically, this means that the pilot becomes a part of the operating system of the mobile suit -- it looks like other Permet technology includes an additional layer of interfacing, which means they don't offload any processing onto the Permet networks of the user, Gund technology makes the connection go both way.

The upside is that controlling technology the way you "control" your body has immense benefits for stuff like reaction time, situational awareness and fine motor control -- the downside is that insides of humans are not nice and ordered like an integrated circuit, and so Permet trying to force itself into a structure like that clearly has some deleterious health effects. If I had to guess, it fucks with the subtle electric signals inside the brainmeats somehow, but why it causes high fever, I don't know. It also looks like constant exposure to things that activate the Permet inside a body is cumulative, like radiation poisoning.

"Data storms" are just what the larger expressions of a Permet networks are called. If I had to guess, I think the name comes from how these large networks inherit noise resulting from Permet reactions in the absence of a control system, becoming more chaotic the further their influence extends. In limited amounts, like the small-scale storms inside Gundam systems, a human consciousness can still exert control over them, organise them, but as the scale goes up, the amount of agitation the Permet inside a person is under exceeds some physical limit. The influence goes both ways, though, human biometric activity can become imprinted into a Permet network, like how Eri did with Lfrith.

Quiet Zero is basically an amplifier capable of forcibly organising ambient Permet. This includes Permet that is bound in extant systems, which is why it gives remote control over Permet-powered technology that gets within the zone of influence the large antenna structure provides for them. But, critically, I think both Eri and Suletta are amplifiers on their own, also, as a result of their physiology containing far more Permet than the average person.

Like, all Permet is connected to itself, somehow -- but most of it is too chaotic, and the trace from one end of the network to another is too long for any particular piece of information retained in the network through imprinting is too difficult usually. What Suletta and Eri did to convince Elnora was basically to use their extended reach to pull on the imprints stored in the various Gundams, stored with Eri, and stored within Quiet Zero's systems while they still had access to the large data storm.

But why that overloaded the circuit, causing it to break down... I'm not really sure. I think they may have just hit the upper limit of what is possible within the confines of the laws of physics of this universe. They extended the theory of what Elnora was trying to accomplish to, for a moment, remanifest everyone's imprints, instead of just Eri's. I also don't know why the entire structure and all materials containing Permet also disintegrated, although that could just be some kind of a cascade effect from whatever molecular or quantum links keep Permet connected with itself dissolving from being overloaded.

[luvtonique]

Wait, I'm a little out of the loop, why are you losing followers?

The most likely reason is because I support generative AI and people just immediately decide based on that alone that I'm in support of art theft, despite the last 12 years of me very consistently saying I'm against art theft.

I don't mind if people steal my art personally, go for it, take it, trace over it, edit it, I don't care, have fun. Even remove my signature from it, it literally does zero damage to me, I don't even sign most of my art anyway.

The point I'm making though is that I do in fact utilize AI myself because I am disabled and unbelievably impoverished. I use it to help me make backgrounds because I have 25 years of experience drawing characters and maybe 15 hours of experience drawing backgrounds so it helps to just generate something.

I use AI to turn the lyrics I have 26 years of experience writing into music via Suno.com because I make music of hundreds of different genres and for hundreds of different reasons and I nor anyone on earth wants to spend my entire fucking life looking for 60 different bands and commissioning them to turn my lyrics I write into a song when I could instead just use AI and make fun catchy songs I can listen to during my streams, and I take commissions to write songs for people too because I believe Lyricists like myself should be able to get paid without having to rely on instrument talent (I have arthritis and can't keep a beat due to mental disabilities) or hiring other band members. Independent Lyricists are artists too and deserve to be paid for their work just like any other artist and I think "You used AI so you don't deserve to be paid" is far more harmful to artists trying to make a living than AI "taking away jobs" is.

And, I am strongly of the opinion that "If you use AI you're supporting art theft" is as retarded a statement as "If you own a gun you support school shootings."

I am in support of generative AI. It exists, there's nothing you can do about it, and you can either learn to adapt this new absolutely extraordinary tool that can help artists and their commission clients into your art routine, or you can continue bitching about it and boycotting the artists you claim you're trying to protect.

Because for all the times you say "AI is taking jobs away from artists," the only jobs I've seen taken away from artists is anti-AI activists getting artists fired or getting their PayPals frozen or making "Please unfollow this artist" callout posts to destroy that artist's career.

YOU are taking jobs away from artists, not AI. AI has opened the door for a MASSIVE amount of artists of lower skill levels to be able to make money off of their art much more easily and YOU are trying to get their careers destroyed by being anti-AI.

Not you specifically.

I mean "you" in a generalized manner.

Since adopting AI into my art to help with backgrounds, my art has improved dramatically and my workflow has improved in rapidity. I am making commissions much more frequently with much higher quality. I have been able to generate music, making an entire album for a singer character of mine (Yumi Pop) which will be a full physical album release that will make me, the lyricist and writer who wrote all the lyrics into a massive psychological horror story told between all the tracks, a fair bit of money when the album is released. I am living proof that AI can help artists improve and form their careers while everyone is just so fucking convinced AI is "harmful to artists."

Bitch it's literally pulled me out of debt already. I literally erased my PayPal debt by utilizing AI, how the fuck is it taking jobs from artists? It like basically gave me super powers you dumbshits.

AI is not harmful to artists, AI helps artists.

Y'all are so hung up on hating it that you don't realize how much of a golden ticket it is to creating a new era of art.

Of COURSE it's shitty if you just type in a prompt and generate a full picture and say you made it, same goes for literally fucking anything.

Photographers literally just go outside and take a picture of a goddamn tree in nature and they make $300,000 selling that picture to a magazine. Drake is the biggest singer in the world and he uses samples for his background music and Autotune for his voice.

MODERN ARTISTS TAPE A BANANA TO A WALL AND MAKE 100,000,000 DOLLARS OFF OF IT, AND ARREST THE GUY WHO EATS THE BANANA BECAUSE HE DEFACED THEIR ART.

AND Y'ALL STILL HUNG UP ON AI WHILE IGNORING ALL THAT.