#why can't this be small talk

[smute]

hardware store induced gender euphoria. the only place in the world where i actively welcome men speaking to me like i am one of the bros. had a 20 minute conversation with two bearded guys about silicone caulk. still a little lightheaded. 10/10

[inkskinned]

i got rickrolled today but it didn't work because i have adblocker installed, so youtube just told me i violated the terms of service. yesterday i was trying to edit a picture as a joke for my girlfriend, and google made me check a box to prove i'm human because i wasn't "searching normally".

it isn't just that capitalism is killing fun and whimsy, it is that any element of entertainment or joy is being fed upon by this mosquito body, one that will suck you dry at any vulnerability.

do you want to meet new friends in your city? download this app, visit our website, sign up for our email list. pay for this class on making a terrarium, on candlemaking, on cooking. it will be 90 dollars a session. you can go to group fitness, but only under our specific gym membership. solve the puzzle, sign up for our puzzle-of-the-month-club. what is a club if not just a paid opportunity - you are all paying for the same thing, which makes you a community.

but you're like me, i know it - you're careful, you try the library meetings and the stuff at the local school and all of that. the problem is that you kind of want really specific opportunities that used to exist. you are so grateful for libraries and the publicly-funded things: they are, however, an exception - and everything they have, they've fought tooth-and-nail to protect. you read a headline about how in many other states, libraries have virtually nothing left.

do you want to meet up with your friends afterwards? gift your friends the discord app. you can choose to go to a cafe (buy a coffee, at least), a bar (money, alcohol) or you can all stay in and catch a movie (streaming) or you can all stay in bed (rent. don't get me started) and scream (noise complaint. ticket at least).

you want to read a new book, but the book has to have 124 buzzwords from tiktok readers that are, like, weirdly horny. you can purchase this audiobook on audible! your podcast isn't on spotify, it's on its own server, pay for a different site. fuck, at least you're supporting artists you like. the art museum just raised their ticket price. once, they had a temporary exhibit that acknowledged that ~85% of their permanent art galleries were from cis white men, and that they had thousands of works by women (even famous women, like frida! georgia o'keefe!) just rotting in their basement. that exhibit lasted for 3 months and then they put everything away again.

walmart proudly supports this strip of land by the street! here are some flowers with wilting leaves. its employees have to pay out-of-pocket for their uniforms. my friend once got fined by the city because she organized a community pick-up of the riverfront, which was technically private property.

no, you cannot afford to take that dance class, neither can i. by the way - i'm a teacher. i'm absolutely not saying "educators shouldn't be paid fairly." i'm saying that when i taught classes, renting a studio went from 20 bucks an hour to 180 in the span of 6 months. no significant changes to the studio were made, except they now list the place as updated and friendly. the heat still doesn't work in the building. i have literally never seen the landlord who ignores my emails. recently they've been renting it out at night as an "unusual nightclub; a once-in-a-lifetime close-knit party." they spent some of those 180 dollars on LEDs and called it renovating. the high heels they invite in have been ruining the marley.

do you want to experience the old internet? do you want to play flash games or get back the temporary joy of club penguin? you can, you just need to pay for it. i have a weird, neurodivergent obsession with occasionally checking in to watch the downfall and NFT-ification of neopets. if i'm honest with you all - i never got into webkins, my family didn't have the money to buy me a pointless elephant. people forget that "being poor" can mean literally "if i buy you that toy, i can't afford rent."

you and i don't have time to make good food, and we don't have the budget for it. we are not gonna be able to host dinner parties, we're not made of money, kid. do you want some kind of 3rd space? a space that isn't home or work or school? you could try being online, but - what places actually exist for you? tiktok counts as social media because you see other people on it, not because they actually talk to you.

there was a local winter tradition of sledding down the hill at my school. kids would use pizza boxes and jackets and whatever worked, howling and laughing. back in september, they made a big announcement that this time, rules were changing, and everyone must pay 10 dollars to participate. when im not scared shitless, i kind of appreciate the environmental irony - it hasn't gone below 40. so much for snow & joyriding.

i saw a bulletin for a local dogwalking group and, nervous about making a good first impression, showed up early. the first guy there grimaced at me. "sorry," he said. "there's a 30-dollar buy-in fee." i thought he was joking. wait. for what? the group doesn't offer anything except friendship and people with whom to walk around the city.

he didn't know the answer. just shrugged at me. "you know," he said. "these days, everything costs money."

[forgettable-au]

FORGETTABLE-AU (Page 61-64)

* I-I don't think we were talking about the same thing...

[BEGINNING] [PREVIOUS] [CONTINUE]

[mamawasatesttube]

thinking abt kon getting hurt/upset about something big and clark bundling him up in his cape... ouuhhhhh souperfam save me...

[alevens]

Zoro does care about Luffy and his newly acquired form, but in the way he's been caring since his captain started with his gears. he cares because he has to know the side effects and how they affect Luffy. Luffy is a God, but that isn't news for Zoro, not when he's been holy from the very start. if Zoro fought for Luffy, if he left light kisses on his cheeks and hugged him as tightly as possible whenever they have to separate and will bite him and let him wear his shirts to sleep, and if he prays by helping him whenever he wants to do something stupid, and if he prays when he lets Luffy drag him everywhere like he's a ragdoll, and if he prays every single time he wakes up next to him. if Zoro believes so strongly in him, it's because he's holy in the way he's human, in the way he's strong all the while he is able to bleed, how he's able to laugh and cry, the way he gets angry on behalf of his friends when you hurt them, a man who frees and helps and yet hates when they call him a hero, he's reckless and makes mistakes, he's greedy and possessive, and he learns, he gets better, he's not the same person he was two years ago and he won't the same as he is now two years into the future. Luffy is a God, Zoro cares about this fact, in the way he's been caring for a long time now because it's not new for him, in the way he will care while he makes sure his captain can get what he wants

[nightmarearian]

blood dripped from Poseidon's mouth, red.

red.

the day they overthrew Kronos, child-eater (stomach acid crawling around them, after maw of teeth grazing his small, child body), his golden ichor bled red.

god blood, degraded into a mortal's.

the day Typhon, father of monsters (as big as their father was, as big as the Titans with sharp claws and teeth) ripped out Zeus' tendons, his blood was red.

Poseidon, god of the tides, son of Kronos, looked up at the dark shape stood above him, his own golden trident in his hand, the teeth like prongs drenched in red.

Odysseus is a mortal. was a human.

sharp webbed ears spread out on the side of their head, scales grew around their neck and arms, shining like a coral reef, illuminated by their growing red eyes, that were shrunken to slits.

Odysseus' teeth glinted in the lightning, showing their unnaturally sharp point.

monster.

[frootbyethefoot]

hm. the fact that ford dreams about being famous and becoming this household name in the scientific community while also uh. not being very good at social interaction is soo fascinating to me. which further backs up my belief that it's not rlly about being famous, it's about the praise, it's about feeling like he's proven himself as "more than a freak" its about going "see! i am a productive member of society! i'm more than a freak and i'm more than my circumstances! i'm worth something!"

because let's be real here, i don't think ford "local recluse who was so isolated from the town he lived in that nobody noticed when his brother came in and took over his identity" pines would've even liked being famous very much! do you really think this guy would like being under a magnifying glass? i think he would just be really overwhelmed 24/7.

it makes me wonder how better world ford deals with it. he's still in contact with fiddleford in that dimension, does he leave a lot of the social stuff up to him? i mean, fiddleford managed to start a cult, so he could probably do it if he wanted too, but even then i don't think he'd be fully comfortable with it. is he a very private and isolated famous person? or does ford do it himself? how does he feel about it? i have a million questions about the better world dimension, it's so endlessly interesting to me. god what i would give to see what better world ford is up too.

[originalcontent]

I can't find art of my ship anywhere so I GUESS that means I have to make it myself, here are some doodles.

[spotaus]

Hi guys, this is usually what a doodle page ends up looking like <3 (oh, and @ancha-aus thought you might like this! Not writing but certainly fuel to my fire lol-)

This one is New Age filled!!! (Close-ups abd Lore beneath the cut!)

1) Night and Cross!

Night is actually very clingy once he's a teen. He doesn't usually realize it, but around the castle he'll snake to be closer to his Knights so long as there's no one he needs to keep his composure infront of is nearby. Cross is the one who's not used to physical touch (when it's not Ink ofc) so Night in his personal bubble makes his heart melt but also scares tf out of him <3

2) Error and Night's Meeting!

Error was carrying his whole life on his back and trying not to get arrested for unintentional property damage at this point, so when he saw the chance to get back at his brother and prove he was strong enough? Yeah, he got that on chance instantly. And was VERY smug when Nightmare chose him. (Also, Error is wearing gloves, so less Haphephobia)

3) Dream and Blue designs!

I think these are good tentative designs! Dream probably has a more regal fit, but he likes to play up that rugged exile look- He's inspired by Archers, while Blue takes on that classic Knightly-vibe. Their equipment is mostly stolen from Night's troops or brought with them from Blue's home kingdom.

Also, Dream is approx Killer's height at this point, shorter than Cross and *much* shorter than Apple!Nightmare. (Hc that Skeletons tend to be tinier in stature thanks to weird monster beauty standards. Horror and Geno's fam are outliers.)

4) Horror and Dust designs!

Horror is naturally a very *large* monster. He's very malnourished when Nightmare meets him, but by the time he's a Knight Nightmare has made sure that's no longer the case. He actually loves comfy, simple clothes, but to play up the whole 'strong mysterious' bit he wears a more barbaric Knight's garb. He doesn't mind acting scary, it's more fun that way :]. Dust is very very small, and envies horror sometimes for his size, but his tiny stature let's him control his body and move a lot quicker. He's very much based on a rogue, and usually covers the lower part of his face w/ a black cloth, and the upper part w/ his hood or mask. Dust only removes both to bathe, eat, or relax in a safe location. (Ignore that I can't draw the stupid gaster blaster lmao-)

These last two were space-fillers, but Cross and his Borzoi (Windmill, otherwise known as Milly (Killer named her-)) and really bad first wips of Ccino! I think Ccino was a chubby, happy toddler, but lost a lot of 'weight' (bone mass? Magic?) due to stress and pressure and bad eating habits. So it isn't until a while after the Coronation that he starts to relax abd feel safe enough to eat normal meals (Nightmare used to guilt him into eating snacks together, but as his boss (and younger brother) he can encourage it more often). By the time Killer shows he's still not quite healthy, but he's better. As more weight is lifted off his shoulders, the better he is. (That 'beauty' most people saw was a more stereotypical slimness, but Killer never stopped seeing Ccino as beautiful-) I think he never looked traditionally underweight, so no one noticed, and it was only much later that Night processed it. (And maybe it's why Dream hardly recognized him later on-)

[sysig]

Go play pretend on your own (Patreon)

[shirleyjacksonism]

"student life" this "student life" that. girl I haven't been to a club in a year. haven't spoken to another student for longer than 10 minutes since the beginning of uni. haven't made plans with ABSOLUTELY ANYONE. everyone seems to get on well with each other and hang out together and everything and I have only spoken to 3 of my classmates in total. I'm living in my childhood home with my mom. thank you but I think I'll skip this "student life"

[thosewildcharms]

I'm still in a delirious state of mind about Rick and Michonne, that we got 6 eps just about them... cant really believe that of all the shows the walking dead provided us with the best ship ever! But i will never forgive twd that we never saw Michonne talk to Rick about Andre, ESPECIALLY after Carl died. All this years later and im still bitter about it, sorry for ranting in your inbox, love reading your thoughts on Richonne 😘

oh, thank you so much anon! and please feel free to vent and rant in my inbox anytime!

you know despite being bonked over the head repeatedly by the promotional materials and danai/scott/andy themselves being like THIS IS AN EPIC LOVE STORY! ABOUT RICK AND MICHONNE! A LOVE STORY ABOUT HOW RICK AND MICHONNE LOVE EACH OTHER IN A WAY THAT IS EPIC! 6 EPISODES ABOUT RICK AND MICHONNE BEING IN LOVE, EPICALLY! i'm still reeling over how well we were fed. apologies to future!me but nothing is ever going to top this. and from the zombie show no less! can you believe!

and i'm with you about andre. sure, she did *technically* mention him (or rather, the experience of losing him) after carl's death in this scene and while i'm confident that she and rick talked about andre off screen as well i still would have loved to see it. there is a tragic lack of scenes in general where michonne is comforted and taken care of emotionally (let alone physically) and/or gets to talk about her past at all, let alone about the entire child she lost i think she is owed that. hell, I think an andre mention would have fit in perfectly somewhere in towl, where michonne's POV was much more present and the grimes family as a whole was such a focal point. the way they brought carl back into the narrative in such an integral way was beautiful and i love that they honored his memory the way they did. i think it would have been a nice parallel if andre had been brought back up as well. because there is not a single doubt in my mind (and probably not in michonne's mind either for that matter) that if andre were still alive rick would have loved him like he was his own. so it would have been really sweet, for example, if he had been paid tribute to in some way as part of their family even if rick (and we as the viewer) never got a chance to know him.

[nellasbookplanet]

OKAY Laudna book opinions:

Overall I really enjoyed it! It's really atmospheric and has this almost fairy tale vibe to the prose which I think suits Laudna's story really well (also Robbie does an excellent job narrating the audiobook with a similarly whimsical tone). It reads less like an adventure and more like a character study of Laudna discovering who and what she is, the psychological impact of existing in the world but outside community. I also think it does an excellent job of portraying the push and pull that is her relationship with Delilah, showing that Laudna always distrusted her and would sometimes even push her away, but also how easy it was to cling to this one loyal companion when everyone else either left or made Laudna leave. The sense of loneliness throughout was palpable.

The one thing I felt was a poor choice was an overall theme of "young woman in a world that treats women who don't fit in poorly". This is usually an interesting and prescient theme, but in a story set specifically in Exandria, which doesn't align with our gender roles and doesn't have our same misogyny, it felt like an awkward fit, and also not needed. Laudna as a character was already ostracised due to her undead nature; I would rather the story have leaned harder into that.

[twobellsilence]

hm. Thinking very hard about whether or not I should reconnect with my absent half brother.

[suitmana]

father hans you are the best worst old man to me (yes more than old jochen). i love how the game tries to give him some depth without shying away from his actions

heavy discussion of the apostasy route ahead

so, yeah, he's very zealous in his religious beliefs.

but despite (or maybe because of) his strong convictions, he cares a lot for kieferberg, even if only out of moral obligation:

i mean, he has the decency to feel a little guilty about the supernatural terrors he puts the town through:

that very religious zeal, unfortunately, also makes him willing to have any of kieferberg's residents burnt at the stake for the sake of the town's "salvation". ironic, then, that in the same letter that he condemns walpurga's followers he starts with this:

his well-meaning, yet extremist religiosity is also apparent in his relationship with elise. even with the clear animosity on both sides, he was genuinely concerned for elise's soul after learning about how holle had her in the first place:

...as that concern later turns into condemnation:

yet he doesn't even word it as something he looks forward to either. just something unfortunate that needs to be done.

the way he tries to keep the peace throughout the game and is actually one of the more vocally skeptical among the townsfolk (even if part of that is to diffuse suspicion towards his own experiments) is also interesting considering how his religious beliefs enable him to do genuinely terrible things. like he believes that his god has no problems with him burning people alive but also he wants to be absolutely sure that there's an actual witch to burn in the first place. he is simultaneously the personification of everything wrong with kieferberg and one of the few (aside from gustav, leb, and freya) who are barely keeping the village together

[ai-higurashi]

Y'all are sleeping on the fact that Beakley and Duckworth were forced to live under the same roof for several years (my guess is about seven) with each other as the main company.