#these answers are so damn generic

[insanityisdivine]

16 Magazine presents: Rockline! Summer 1980

[ribbononline]

Hey! First of all, I love what you do! It's really beautiful, I just wanted to ask you what software you use to make your illustrations? And what software for pixel art? Thanks in advance for your answers. Keep up what you're doing, it's really too beautiful! <3

Heya, thank you so much for the kind words! Fairly simple answer here, I use the same software for both- I work in Clip Studio Paint. I DO have asesprite and I really want to learn how to use it, mainly for patterning/tiling in pixelart. But currently all I use is CSP. It's served me well!

Pixel art can be done in basically any program that has a pixel brush luckily. But ye this is my usual setup! The one upside of working in CSP is that I can do my regular non pixel art concept sketches right there on the other side of the canvas in cases where i feel i need to haha

[screambirdscreaming]

Menstrual cramps are a form of ischemic pain - caused by a lack of oxygen to tissues, a similar mechanism to the cramps you get in your legs or side if you exercise too hard without warming up.

Which has always baffled me - the uterus should have an excellent blood supply, right? Since it has to provide blood to the fetus during pregnancy. Why is it so prone to loosing oxygenation just by squeezing up?

Anyway I'm reading a gynecology textbook and I just hit this sentence:

"Haemostasis immediately after a birth is accomplished by arterial smooth muscle contraction and compression of vessels by the uterine muscle."

It's on purpose. The uterus has evolved to cut off its own blood supply when it contracts, because this is the mechanism that stops you from bleeding out during childbirth.

The human reproductive system is a goddamn nightmare.

[eggsistential-basket]

thinking about the person i could have been if i tried a little harder to find my own way

[autumnalfallingleaves]

It’s honestly very hard to choose any two because this fandom is beautifully creative and I’ve seen a ton of awesome AUs and OCs, but I’m quite fond of @formallyuninformed​​ ‘s Changeling Hilda AU (as I am inordinately fond of Changeling/Troll Hilda), and @blaithnne​​ ‘s Lauren is delightfully chaotic.

[tieflinglich]

i do think its fucked up to see actual arguments on here about how AI is good, actually, and if you think calling someone out for using AI and then blaming some sort of disability on it then you are an inherently horrible person. like yeah.

AI generated content is based on theft from tons of artists across the world due to scraping from the internet. it is bad. even ignoring any of the environmental effects, it is a horrible fucking thing to just rip apart the efforts of your peers in order to spare yourself a bit of time because you want to make a product but don't want to put in the effort. and trying to spin it as 'oh poor artist has a disability, they cannot create art, how dare you expect them to hurt themselves for your petty moral argument' ignores the tons of actually disabled artists who actively work with their bodies in order to create content that they are proud of.

it feels like instead of actually listening to anyone you're just willing to throw disabled artists under the bus because you want to make the most amount of money with the least amount of effort.

[spotsupstuff]

here's a neat vid, go watch it if you haven't yet

there's Some things that i don't completely agree with personally, like attributing the Third sin to Materialism rather than Connection (i'd argue that the Ancients had no big issue with being materialistic, considering their golden attires and such- and that going with Connection overall better addresses both the core of Materialism and relationships overall) and then attributing the word Dynasty specifically to asian cultures but that's more history/word definition beef more than anything djgklsjlcgjkd

oh how i'd love to have a debate with this guy about Ancients...

[savage-rhi]

@nemo-of-house-hamartia Hope this answers your questions 😂

[kohakhearts]

hey taylo my bestie hello please elaborate on the goh cubone jn subtle storytelling thingy

COMING TO THIS SUPER LATE SORRY MAN SCHOOL WAS KICKING MY ASS BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING. IM SO FUCKING GLAD YOU ASKED.

ok so jn015. our intro to goh's family unit, notably his parents. goh explains his dad is a systems engineer and his mom is a programmer. they work together and run their own company (and appear to be a two-man team, when we actually see them at work). right off the bat, ash is surprised that goh has to call to warn his parents he's coming home. goh essentially says he doesn't want to be a bother to them. he's very casual about the whole thing. it apparently doesn't bug him at all. in fact, he goes out of his way to get them and his grandmother gifts and generally seems to be looking forward to seeing them.

he IS disappointed when they turn out not to be home when he gets there, but in true pokemon anime fashion, this is not dwelled on for long. he says it's fine, he doesn't want to make his parents worry, and also his parents are great and scorbunny's gonna love them. so instead of moping about it, he goes out and gets involved in his little park adventure, where he runs into a cubone being targeted by a bunch of mankey.

this is the only time in the main-line anime that cubone's dex entry is given. it is not the first time a cubone has shown up, though, which is...strange, but i'll roll with it. here's what the dex says (sourced from bulbapedia):

Cubone, the Lonely Pokémon. A Ground type. Cubone wears a skull as a helmet, concealing its face as it sheds tears for its long-lost mother. It cries loudly to express its loneliness. It also always carries a long, thick bone.

REALLY interesting choice for Pokemon Of The Day (literally bc it's also the who's that pokemon feature) for the episode where we're introduced to goh's parents.

it's also like...obviously not the only time where we see goh decide to help a pokemon, but i do think that his captures (especially early on in the series) that are framed in this way (i.e. they span over the course of an episode, wherein he befriends the mon before catching it. he doesn't have many catches like this in the series!!) seem to serve a purpose of like, really emphasizing certain traits he shares. before this, we had scorbunny - who is a bit of a loner, kind of the "odd one out," but is determined and stubborn and doesn't really want charity, either (but latches very quickly on to the first human who shows a genuine interest in it). now, we have cubone. the lonely pokemon.

i feel that the WAY he approaches cubone is...interesting? like he's sad for it. his facial expressions are very telling. and this is the first time we see him choosing to help a pokemon without ash around (something we know he never really would've done before meeting ash; and i've mentioned this before, but i do think a lot of his "well, you can't just help pokemon because you think they need it, they need to learn to be independent and help themselves" attitude stems from the fact that he was forced to be independent and help himself from a young age. so i think it's actually pretty profound that one of his first major overtures to a pokemon without ash pushing him is in a situation where he is acting more the parent to his parents than the other way around. he's literally on the way to delivering them dinner to work. and his gift for them is gloves, because it's cold). that tells me he is really affected by what he's seeing. he's empathetic to it (he also never tells it to stop crying or anything when they're looking for its bone, which honestly doesn't seem all that in-character for him at this point. just look at the way he talks to scorbunny a few episodes later when it's trying to learn ember, right?)

anyway, this being the only time it gets a dex entry is already like, kind of in your face enough imo. but then he also catches it. and at the end of the episode, when his parents are talking in the kitchen (and notably they are, again, separate from the other characters - more so onlookers than active participants in the family), his dad specifically says this

like i don't know how much more obvious than that they can get with saying they were trying to draw a parallel between goh and cubone. but lonely - anyone can feel lonely. that's just one aspect of the comparison. cubone is lonely because it misses its mother. because it's an orphan.

isn't it a little...ironic...that goh's parents would be the ones drawing the comparison in the end? but that's the point, i think. i mean, goh's not an orphan. but his parents chose to continue living a lifestyle that reinforced his loneliness and ensured a degree of separation between them. they share with each other their concerns for him, but never voice those to him. obviously there's love on both sides, but emotionally speaking - there's next to no connection there. goh idolizes and idealizes his parents, and goes out of his way to take care of them; in turn, his parents share in a secret concern for his wellbeing and compensate for their guilt at making him feel isolated by supplying him with whatever they can materially (mr six computer monitor set-up in his bedroom at age 7. what the fuck). so he's not literally an orphan...but emotionally? well. that's a whole other can of wurmples :pensive:

anyway, tl;dr he's not a real orphan. but i'll give him the honour because he does kinda have that orphan complex going for him <3

[rosicheeks]

Soft asks

What song makes you feel better?

Whats your favorite candle scent?

• I couldn’t decide so have a few songs 🥰

• I actually don’t have a *favorite* scent tbh I’m super indecisive and it really depends on the day………………. Ok ok ok I take that back now that I think about it I will ALWAYS buy a “fresh cut apples” or “apple orchard” or some shit like that if it’s available oh boy that’s the stuff 😍🥰 (but don’t you dare come to me with apple cinnamon shit cause I will give it back to you that shit nasty no offense 😬)

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Braius, FCG, and Sam

There's this interesting dynamic of how each different player essentially performs faith through their character. For example, the way Jester does faith is the way a long time fan has faith in their favorite popstar. The Traveller is great and she will spread the good word as far as she is able. And Caduceus seems to have a more meditative take on it. The Wild Mother isn't necessarily his hero but she is the forces of nature which must be respected and even wonder at.

The way Braius and FCG handle faith is a lot more to the point. It's a boss-servant relationship. Braius and FCG are almost always seeking guidance from their god - seeking certainty - seeking evidence. When stuck, they cannot move forward without concrete directions from their gods. In short, because they don't leave room for doubt, they struggle to have faith.

Which, unfortunately, places them as the least equipped in this crisis of faith, especially given that the gods are in question. The way FCG, and to an extent Braius, tries to advocate for their god is more or less "I do what I'm told". Honestly, I think Matt could've engineered a way to really challenge Sam in this role by not spoiling his characters too much. (I think in some ways this applies to all of Bells Hells but that's a different post)

Like in Dimension 20, in The Seven, their cleric never heard a word from her god until the Very End. I feel like Matt should've deprived FCG of Changebringer guidance - ESPECIALLY because she's the Changebringer. There's nothing more transformative or changing than having this little robit come into their faith on their own, yanno like a person and not a program awaiting command.

Unfortunately, the way Matt played this, FCG was given directives and direct messages. It all comes to the point wherein FCG finally makes a decision - his decision, wherein he truly understands the meaning of Change. And it's when the Changebringer muted herself .

Now with Braius, we're back to square one. Sam is once again asking Asmodeus for guidance at this critical juncture in time. And again, this is not the best example of how gods are not... tyrannical. If the god-follower dynamic is more of "you give orders and I follow", in the campaign wherein the gods are basically on trial for tyranny, then yeah!! Not great!!! If the god-follower dynamic was more, "I will give you some signposts but ultimately (perhaps even if its at the cost of myself), you go where you will." Then we have more room for nuance and complexity when the gods are equally having faith in you.

But that's it, isn't it? At the core of this campaign, that's the deal with the gods. Even before Ruidusborn and Ludinus lost faith in the gods, the gods lost faith in their followers. When Predathos was on the scene, they couldn't trust a simple follower to take care of Aeor, they had to go in and do the work themselves. They had to be certain that this job would be seen through. And if they had to be certain, then there's no room for doubt, and in doing so, no room for faith.

Braius is mirroring this circumstance by moving forward by the direction of Asmodeus instead of dwelling on that doubt, and coming to his conclusions absent of any evidence/correspendonce with his god. That's what faith is, in the end - when you believe despite not having any true way to prove or explain. Braius must be certain, and so he cannot have faith. Likewise, the gods are threatening "to handle shit themselves" and break the Divine Gate to do so.

It's such a strange backdrop to the how Bells Hells as a whole cannot come to a unanimous decision. They're so plagued with doubts and yearn to have certainty that they bend over backwards trying to find the Right, True, Absolute Answer. But there's no such thing. They must have faith!!

And no one - not the gods, not Ludinus, not Bells Hells have any.

[doolallymagpie]

another BattleTech vs The Expanse poll (and this time the other one isn't even over! go vote here if you haven't), this time:

[sysig]

But would you tho (Patreon)

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Hello!

I stumbled upon your blog when searching for anything about Hiron Ennes’ book Leech and ur blog is so nice! I love Leech so so much and am hoping to find folks to talk about it with because I’ve been obsessed with it since I read it over year ago. I hope this isn’t too weird of an ask but it’s just such an excellent book!

hello and welcome, and thanks for your kind words!! it's delightful to find another LEECH enthusiast in the wild--what a deeply fucked up weird little book that has my whole heart!

i was actually shuffling books around last weekend to make space for what i'll read this year (i'm in a temporary living situation, so most of my library is in storage), and i decided to leave LEECH unboxed so i can reread it this fall. i'm obsessed with the POV and the voice and i'm VERY looking forward to a tear-it-apart reread now that i know some of what is going on. what a neat book!!

[sergle]

aye sorry not to make it more complicated but wooden frames have always worked for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ metal frames are awful and bad though. they make the mattress too cold and also make the bed feel like an old-timey hospital where you're dying of tuberculosis

SCREAMS no yeah I'm trying to avoid metal frames if at all possible... I had a metal framed bed when I was a teenager and I wouldn't give it a high rating