#zillion inspirations

[mias-playground]

@zillion_inspirations - Grandma's Style

[oozeandgoo-art]

friend of mine showed me these shirts ("no matter where i go, trouble always finds me" and "trouble", couples thing) and until i play it i am choosing to believe this is what Alan Wake's American Nightmare is like

[aethermimic]

🪞or 🕳 ! (from @tsunael)

Send 🪞 to see them as a villain (if they are a hero) or vice versa.

From the FFXIV Screenshot Meme ask post! An alternate universe, where Oyuun is a villain instead of a hero... hmm...

"I didn't flee to Eorzea, I went there because it had what I wanted -- the knowledge to become powerful."

"What secrets the thaumaturges refused to teach me, the Amalj'aa were happy to impart for a fee of crystals. Oh sure, I razed their camp later with the Scions, but that just means there was no one to tattle on my little enterprise."

"Why do it? Haha, it's rather simple -- because everyone in the Steppe deserves to burn, and I aim to be the match that will light the rotten tinder."

"Maybe they'll come to regret what they did to me when they have to bow to the witch that slew everyone they ever cared for. Ha! Haha!"

"Submit or become ash. Either way, I get what I want -- hahahahaha!"

[unproduciblesmackdown]

being alive at the time i gleaned some general elements abt encanto but never actually heard we don't talk about bruno beyond awareness it existed popping off & i think i heard like the title recited off key off rhythm but in a way that indicates speak singing nonetheless lol so upon experiencing it it's like oh but it's the Verses? while the last refrain goes harder but prior to that it's comparatively underwhelming to said verses which feels appropriate like verses / pieces of a larger picture & that a "we don't talk about him" as a disappointing Lid on infinitely richer more characterful & dynamic "but: talking about him" instances. like well personally it'd be like um seven foot frame....anyway besides being able to firsthand go like oh damn Real (the kind of thing you know exists if alive at the time) it's like alright hang on lol. one thing when a core theme is yeah like "is it a refuge if 'especial' vulnerability ultimately gets pushed out rather than made safer" subset like the parties whose even observation of truths (problems) & drawing attention to them is seen as Ruining Things, like if you're painted as Making futures that aren't simply what's desired or reassuring rather than a guidance via just observing & sharing the truth. but then it's like whaddaya mean living in fear of bruno stuttering and stumbling you could always hear him sort of muttering and mumbling lmao like now that's just Association between the Truth Perceiving & Telling behavior & behavior that's just apparently distinctive of the same person. & like Not Accidentally when [what if people were magic] specifics are obviously primarily abt a metaphorical meaning & like, indeed it was made clear like oh this situation isn't Just b/c [boo we hate your prophecies] & that [an Ability that isn't directed towards what anyone Wants / is "weird" even by these magic standards] isn't Coincidentally given to someone who just so happens to already be "weird" in other ways & be set up to have a different perspective & be pushed away due to having the supposed "extra" vulnerability of unmet needs / insufficient support, same as someone who doesn't "correctly" have any kind of magic ability....like yeah banger and also like Oh Yeah Kind Of Devastating re: that metaphorical resonance allowing for like [set the metaphor aside] now hang on with this about this disabled family member lol. misinterpretation to The Ruinerrr / The Problemmm / The Maliciousss etc (i.e. the scapegoatinggg) despite their efforts likely entirely to the contrary. then despite like, efforts aside, Just Existing, always kind of muttering & mumbling like & what of it. & then like oh sorry weird pets. weird [auspicious for adaptable tenacious thriving surviving; either way simply creatures, existing] pets.

truly like As Is The Idea I'm Sure quickly becomes like hands behind back standing at the window Uh Oh Sisters musing on all the [disabled person] metaphorical & already literal elements there. blair witching it in contemplation like We've All Been There whether being so resented for the mere disruption of "existing in a group as the 'abnormal' odd one out" or like people talking shit abt anything associated w/you as soon as you've left the room, which is also made relevant like, this wasn't Only directed at this person when seemingly permanently gone, nor were they unaware / unaffected prior....pacing in the Musing parlor like things don't Have to be compared to billions but i only ever even see so many things & it's like billions sure is like "get scapegoated rword" & then said scapegoating is presented as only beneficial & we hate autists & even beyond that it's like, grabbing billions, Imagine If Things Meant To Be About Something Were About Something. quite a contrast when they are & furthermore like, deliberate thought & Care for [who gets scapegoated & why] & the truth of like, people getting pushed aside & out who have a key perspective & are primed / liable to come through for others similarly vulnerable & the supposedly Ruinous, Problems Generating disruptiveness is actually the strongest effort to make essential changes to a group. & come through with like, it'd be undermining thee point if it was "reassuring" us like oh haha people will be supportive b/c bruno will be more normal, so great that it Didn't like no, no Normality Reassurance(tm), presence of abnormalities(tm), Good, & everyone Can Deal b/c if you don't then it's pushing this person away, is exactly what happens, including even if they're still Around but are being mistreated b/c that is entirely part of that pushing away like anyone's victim blaming is ready to pounce at any time but if someone can't stand to stay / leaves b/c they can't see another option like that's not out of nowhere nor Regardless of what full support & flexibility they were getting lol. these Active Measures everyone loves so much, which are everywhere always & would include Staying & Trying To Make It Work & those efforts would be "disruptive" & resented & Bringing It On Oneself & etccc smh

that is to all say like. Woww when clearly basically the core thread was these beats of like, the crucial site of [thee scapegoated], & why that comes down on someone & how that plays out. endless ideas about how someone weird(tm) & disabled (&/or queer. but there's no Or here lol. & again like it's a Context like, to even be the one person without kids? likely not living up to "full" correct sexuality in that way alone; any oppression's logics of "inferiority" being logics of ableism, ready examples being that "inferior" race, gender, sexuality (& their experiences as people classed as inferior) all being pathologized as disordered) are seen & treated as someone Ruining Things & who cannot belong like whew. bracing. winding. which, i also recall like i was watching with headphones & during this one dialogue pause i was like "?? what's this Extra Sound i heard there" & had to go over it like twice before being hit upside the head like well it Was still the dialogue pause but it was also bruno Stuttering in a very quiet whisper for the duration of that pause before continuing like iiiiiiii x_x

[choochooboss]

"It's a game night on Pasio! Watch the UNOvan big shots take on each other in the card game number one!" Turn up the fancy factor with some delightful electro swing music~ Would you like to join them for a round or a dozen? Drew these both in August 2022, only finished rendering the 2nd piece today ahah! Relieved to finally get this WIP out of my system!! It's been sitting there since August 2022; it was difficult to juggle the composition, colors & a zillion effects again but I'm happy enough with the result now! Epic UNO videos for inspiration below the cut!

[utilitycaster]

Bells Hells Level Up: Level 14

FUCK IT WE'RE DOING IT LIVE (I forgot to prep this well in advance like a press release as I am wont to do). Gonna be short, sweet, and as always if there are any factual errors let me know! If I simply did not list every single possible feat, spell, or other choice, that is because I did not wish to spend my wild and precious life doing that.

Chetney: With a 13th level in Blood Hunter he gets Brand of Tethering, which is GREAT for making people (Ludinus) not be able to leave. He can also use Blood Maledict 3 times per rest now. Looking ahead: I'm assuming he's sticking with Blood Hunter (or Blood Nutter as the case may be); at L14 he gets advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened, and a new crimson rite. He has flame and frozen, and L14 unlocks necrotic, psychic, and thunder options. Their enemies are often immune to psychic but honestly he can just use fire so. Live your best life, Chet.

Laudna: I support waiting to see how the ritual goes! If she levels in Warlock she gets an ASI/Feat (War caster wouldn't hurt; bumping up INT or WIS wouldn't either though my vote, as always, is for INT), another known spell, and continues her quest as Cantrips Georg. If she levels in Sorcerer she also gets another cantrip, as well as another known spell, and I think she should get a 3rd metamagic option but she seems to already have three? Anyway my vote is for Careful Spell. I'll hold off on further speculation until said ritual has completed.

Dorian: Two more spells! Magical secrets, ie, whatever the fuck he wants (true to my name my vote is spending at least one on Counterspell, but go nuts on the other) He also no longer has to burn his inspiration dice on flourishes, though he only gets a d6 rather than his full d10. Looking ahead: He gets 8th level spells of which Mind Blank might be wise given this campaign; he also gets a d12 inspiration die.

Braius is already level 14, thank you Braius.

Fearne: Ok I respect the ASI push but Transport via Plants would be real clutch sometime soon. With that said Dorian or Imogen could take Teleport or they can just hang out with Essek for a while longer. Anyway, as an Arcane Trickster she gets an ASI and another L1 spell; she's been keeping it utility-focused which is smart because her INT score is not high. The ASI move, in my opinion, is bump up INT and CON by one, but she could also benefit from War caster. Looking ahead: As said, take L11 Druid, get 6th level spells, profit.

Imogen: Revelation in Flesh is upon us; I assume it will be electricity themed rather than the traditional Aberrant Mind option which appears to be "cursed axolotl"-themed. This means she can use sorcery points to make herself fly OR swim/breathe water OR see invisible creatures OR squeeze out of tight situations. Looking ahead: 8th level spells next level! Incendiary Cloud seems to be on-brand but Power Word Stun OR Sunburst (miss you Ayden) are both pretty fantastic.

Orym: Fighters get a zillion ASIs, as always; Sentinel might be fun but he could also bump his CON to 16 (if he does this...I must admit I'm warming on the idea of Orym Paladin and wouldn't scoff at a CHA 13 bump either), achieve Chetney-like intellect with an INT bump, or take any number of feats. I am pretty boring with feats honestly so I'm excited to see what Liam picks but I have no good ideas. Looking ahead: At L15, he gets two more maneuvers, which I will definitely look up before they hit L15; he also gets a free superiority die if they roll initiative while he is fully tapped. Fighters: they are unstoppable.

Ashton: It's a path feature! I have no idea what the fuck will be up with that but I'm looking forward to finding out, which, coincidentally, will give us the full picture of Path of Fundamental Chaos! Looking ahead: They get persistent rage at L15, which will make them even harder to knock out, a thing that is already very difficult to do.

[euqinim0dart]

“Heaven is Ten Zillion Light Years away”

Illustration of a biblically accurate angel in the night sky over a green ocean.

Inspiration from the song of the same name by Stevie Wonder.

[onthewaytosomewhere]

thanks ever so much for the tags today @sophie1973 @caterpills & @tailsbeth-writes

so do ya ever wake up the morning after ya post a lil smutty thing read it (and after fixing a few silly mistakes that you somehow missed after looking at it a zillion times) think "damn, i don't write that bad of smut"

well that's where we're at today yesterday i was inspired by this art by papiercranes and well I MAY HAVE WROTE & POSTED SOME SMUT

so that's what today's sentences are going to be (and go figure i actually used periods in the bit i chose so it's actually 9 sentences lolz)

tags and smut under the cut - BUT IF UR SEEING THIS AND U WANNA DO THIS - THIS IS AN OPEN TAG 💚

Alex pauses a moment over Henry’s cock, taking a moment to appreciate the way his foreskin has slid down to the bottom of the head. He pulls it back the rest of the way and licks at the spot revealed on the underside. He sucks the head of Henry’s cock into his mouth and savors the salty taste of the pre-come lingering at the tip. He slowly glides his lips down and moans around the feel of Henry’s cock on his tongue. The “Alex’ that warbles out of Henry’s mouth between moans makes Alex swallow around his cock. This brings a litany of curses from Henry’s mouth, and Alex feels his own cock pulse in his sweats. He knows Henry’s close, and it won’t take much to make him come, and he’s not far behind. Henry’s hand, not holding the stick from the consumed Helados, finds its way to Henry's curls, making Alex moan. The way Henry throws his head back in ecstasy tells Alex he’s close, so he puts that lack of gag reflex to work and swallows around his cock as he takes him all the way to the root.

(no pressure) TAG UR IT! (if ya haven't already) @adreamareads @anincompletelist @bitbybitwrites @blueeyedgrlwrites @dragonflylady77

@duchessdepolignaca03 @england-would-fall @firenati0n @firstsprinces @forever-fixating

@getmehighonmagic @henryspearl @heysweetheart-writes @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @inell

@inexplicablymine @itsmaybitheway @jmagnabo92 @kiwiana-writes @littlemisskittentoes

@lizzie-bennetdarcy @mikibwrites @msmarvelouswinchester @myheartalivewrites @nocoastposts

@piratefalls @priincebutt @softboynick @sparklepocalypse @stellarmeadow

@suseagull04 @taste-thewaste @thedramasummer @theprinceandagcd @thesleepyskipper

@thinkof-england @tinyarmedtrex @typicalopposite @everwitch-magiks @cricketnationrise

@cha-melodius @emmalostinwonderland @porcelainmortal @judasofsuburbia @captainjunglegym

@eusuntgratie @bigassbowlingballhead @doublecheekedkinard @stratocumulusperlucidus

[olderthannetfic]

Just saying this as a kinda affected person: As someone who can basically only write long fics, regardless of how short I actually wanna write, learn the difference between humble-bragging and people who actually "can't control it."

I haven't actively written in almost 2 years because every time I start something I get anxious about time management, planning, and plot. I want to write a short oneshot, and suddenly it feels incomplete and I want to write more plot and give it more structure, and then one of three things happen: 1 I get overwhelmed with my own brain and stop writing. 2 I lose interest because it was just a small burst of inspiration or 3 I completely ruin my original idea, and what I wanted to write gets completely drowned out. Then I stop because I feel bad.

I've tried writing some short oneshots, and just leaving them as is, and now those are stuck in eternal WIP Hell because even though I should see them as complete, it doesn't feel complete.

It's probably some stupid idea of perfectionism or needing to control everything. Controlling and perfecting the narrative and my mind and body just can't keep up with it.

--

Yuuuup. For every "Tee hee, I accidentally wrote this 50k completed fic that's super polished!" type, there are a zillion accidental longfics that bog down midway and never get finished.

[mias-playground]

@zillion_inspirations - Brooklyn Beauties

[killervelveteenrabbit]

In defense of Adria Lafayette

I suspect that between now and the second half of MGADD, Adria will catch serious hell for forbidding Lunella from continuing as Moon Girl. She'll be a "mean mom" from now on, the subject of a zillion "hot takes" and "salt fics" ignorant of all the love and support Adria has visibly provided her daughter in the past, helping her find her voice, her inspiration, and her true self. She won't even get any grace after the second half drops and she likely backtracks on that decision.

Let's cut this off at the pass, shall we? Adria has been through a lot, especially this past evening in-show. She's just learned that the reason Lunella's been avoiding her and the rest of the family is that she's secretly been Moon Girl all this time, routinely risking her safety in fights with criminals, supervillains, and the occasional interdimensional being. There's a T-Rex standing outside the apartment and a secret lab in the basement. Her mother-in-law has known or suspected Lunella is Moon Girl for months now, and she never brought that up--oh, by the way, she has massive secrets of her own that just fell out. Finally, one of the villains Lunella previously fought (in another dimension, no less) has returned for vengeance, nearly killing them all and trashing their apartment. Can you blame Adria for wanting Lunella to put her superhero career on ice?

Please remember that Adria's parental fiat is not motivated by an attempt to pull rank, nor is it intended as a statement of disapproval of who Lunella is and what she's been doing. As far as Adria can see, Lunella's life as Moon Girl is putting her and the rest of the family in danger, and that's a non-negotiable. It is a decision made out of love, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time… and even if it ultimately proves ill-advised.

[magnecalliope]

Mammon is a Caterpillar

and NOT just in the Wonderland merch. Though the merch casting him as the caterpillar is what made me finally make the connection! See, there's several aspects about Mammon's design that just do not match with the popular assumption that he's a spider.

For one thing...

he has too many limbs. After his transformation he has ten visible limbs. Plus the legs that he has in his normal form, that's a total of twelve limbs. And we have precedent for how Spindlehorse would handle a spider inspired character...

so it seems unlikely that this design principle was simply thrown out the window with Mammon.

What's particularly interesting to me is that caterpillars only have six "true" legs, like other insects. The rest of their legs are what are called prolegs, or a "small, fleshy, stub structure found on the ventral surface of the abdomen" (per wikipedia). These prolegs often look distinctly different from the caterpillars true legs, which is similar to how the eight legs in Mammon's full demonic form are unlike the rest of his limbs.

But if that's not enough evidence, consider:

He has too many eyes. The number of eyes a spider has can vary, but they never have more than eight. The number of eyes visible on Mammon depends on the shot, but the most he's ever depicted with, shown above, is ten. While it's more common for caterpillars to have twelve eyes, there are some species with ten! And once again, if we refer back to Angel Dust, we can see that he has eight.

While it could be argued that Mammon is intended to be a sort of "spidertaur" it would be, in my opinion, egregious to get the number of limbs AND the number of eyes wrong in his design.

So what's the deal with the webbing seen around the arena, specifically where Mammon sits during Fizz's performance? I have a theory about that!

1.) This element of his design is in reference to silk worms. Bombyx mori are a species of moth most known for being a primary producer of silk, a fiber used in textiles and well known for being luxurious and expensive. The silk worm's cocoon doesn't look very similar to a spider's web, of course, which brings me to my second point...

2.) Mammon is a performer who wants to associate himself with a predator known for luring its prey into a web over something most known for getting boiled to death for a byproduct of its pupation (yes, that's really how silk is obtained). It's his entire shtick, and I think he's performing at being a spider as much as he is at being a clown. Mimicry is a well known defense mechanism of caterpillars, after all. Lastly...

3.) Spiders are simply more marketable than caterpillars. After all, Spider-man has a long history in comic books and a zillion film reboots, but you've probably never even heard of a Caterpillar-man, have you? :P

There's a lot of caterpillars out there that I think Spindlehorse could have drawn inspiration for Mammon's design from. A quick google search for "green caterpillar" will return a diverse amount of results, but here's some of my favorites:

Eastern Black Swallowtail, Orange Emperor, Lace Emerald, Imperial Moth.

For fun I also looked into literary symbolism for caterpillars, to see if there was any precedent for an association with greed, and here's what I found:

The caterpillar appears in the Old Testament as a pest that devours crops; it is included with "pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust" ... and associated with the locust as one of the plagues of Egypt.

Shakespeare's Bolingbroke has it in for King Richard's friends, "Bushy, Bagot, and their complices, / The caterpillars of the commonwealth, / Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away" ... Jack Cade and his rebels are more radical: All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen, / They call false caterpillars and intend their death"

excerpts from "A Dictionary of Literary Symbols" by Michael Ferber.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. c:

[unproduciblesmackdown]

skinamarble hornets, i was like i hope my favorite skinamascene has been uplomarinked on youtube....reminds me of that season one marble hornets entry that's the First House Visit and how i saw it described somewhere as like "absolutely nothing happens, & it's terrifying" & it reminds me of the torment of watching as the series was released & Every Time something came out, no matter what happened in like setting, atmosphere, plot, scares, there'd be someone going "ugh another Nothing entry" over the most crucial &/or enjoyable shit so long as it didn't feature [& he's cookin hot dogs on the stove???] & didn't feature it like every other minute for good measure. as though a format that is predictable, like the promise of the same kind of scene in the same intervals of timing, would actually be scary or at all interesting. shoutout to these the entries, or even intervals of time within entries, where "absolutely nothing happens" and it's called suspense in knowing it Could, tension in an unsafe, uneasy, unsettling situation in the meantime, & then also potential followup recontextualization that only creates more tension for later similar material. ("absolutely nothing" happens (of course, actually, things happen, but) in the skinamarink scene save for the literal last few seconds when the "jumpscare" is a very brief change in audio & visuals which is neither actually that loud nor like showing anything scary(tm) (technically a la marble hornets i think people say you can like see an arm extend for a nanosecond but i never catch it if so lol) but rather hits at all because of 8 minutes of suspense & tension & Nothing Happening But It Could) (also bravely standing up like "it's fine that skinamarink has some jumpscares, including the obvious few even jumpier than this" like who cares if it's "easy" necessarily & also that Knowing such startlement can happen ramps up the tension even when it didn't, but it could've. like so)

[hannahhook7744]

Got any hc for Mr. Deley in your BDA descendants rewrite ?

Okay so I decided in this au, that instead of him being the usual dirtbag I write him/perceive him as I would write him as a tired, grumpy teacher who is frustrated by the lack of proper safety equipment in the school labs.

As a man who has had to explain to FG and his several other non-human coworkers why exactly this and that safety equipment is needed when teenagers-with-still-developing-brains are the ones handling the chemicals they're experimenting with, and why they need to spend more money on things like that.

A man who has had to remind his coworkers several times 'no, human children aren't fire resistant' and 'no, chemicals spilling on a human child does not have the same outcome as if it spilt on a demi-god, fae child, etc.'

A man who is used to explaining everything about a zillion times to his coworkers, superiors, and angry parents who's kids get away with everything short of murder and students who couldn't care less about what he's teaching if they don't get to do an experiment that day.

That is to say, I want to write him as a man who is tired of everyone around him and endless grumpy because he does not get paid enough for any of this but who isn't completely prejudice. A man who can admit he had a wrong first impression and who can try and change for the better (read a fic once that inspired this inkling of my brain). A man who has had to hear countless jokes about his name, and just wants to get a student who is actually eager to learn instead of students who give him heart attacks because they don't listen to instructions and, as one certain demigod student in his first year of teaching did, drink the chemicals on a dare in the not even two minute span he had his back turned to write the instructions down.

Which leads into my Badun Detective Agency Descendants rewrite where instead of the core four, it's The Badun cousins, Hermie Bing, Eddie Balthazar, Yzla, Reza, and Hadie who come to Auradon first.

Mr. Deley's expectations are low.

Is it right? No but it's the truth.

He hasn't had high expectations for many of his students since his third year of teaching and he certainly doesn't have any for students coming from a place where barely any teachers were sent.

He expects hell to be raised by the children (because even the Auradon Kids are little hell raisers who cause chaos who have thankfully gotten by miraculously unscathed).

He expects the children to months, if not years behind or completely unaware of chemistry in the worst case scenario.

He expects them to be disruptive and disrespectful, and for them to talk nonstop and cause all kinds of chaos that he'll have to clean up and smooth over with their foster parents because the heroes usually get mad if even a little unkind word is said about their precious little darling even if little Billy dared little Bella and not so little Hercules to drink chemicals or if little Susie set a girl's hair on fire with a lighter she wasn't even supposed to have in the first place.

All of that is to say, he had little to no expectations.

But these kids?

These kids blew all of that out of the water.

Jace Badun is quiet but follows instructions and answers questions when callee on, usually getting the answers correct or close to correct.

Hadie is eager to learn.

Harry Badun can keep up nearly seamlessly despite saying it isn't his best class.

Yzla and Reza are star pupils, always willing to learn something new and answer questions without even being called on, and they are always willing to tutor their peers if asked.

The only one of them he really has any issues with is Eddie Balthazar, because the kid is always falling asleep in class but that's not anything new and his foster parents say they're handling it, and that they're sorry they didn't inform him ahead of time about the issue.

They're honestly well-behaved more than the other students he has to deal with and make him rethink everything he had thought before hand (like Evie hopefully did after d1 though judging by the books about Aurdaon Prep like the New Vks Guide, probably not).

I thought it'd be a nice change of space and well, I do like trying to make characters more complex.

[ladysarai]

@inception30daychallenge day 1: my favorite thing about the movie

I think my FAVORITE thing about Inception is how MUCH there is to it, as a movie. You can watch it a zillion times and get something new from it every time, and you can read one person's take and be impressed and amazed because you didn't even think of that take!

But what REALLY makes me sit up and pay attention to a piece of media is Characters, and Relationships. I love how MUCH the cast did with so very little... I want to know EVERYTHING about Arthur's relationships with Mal and Dom, (okay, ESPECIALLY Mal) just because of the way he calls Mal "lovely" and because of the way he PUTS UP with Dom and follows him around and has obviously been loyal through So Much Shit and then the way he SMILES in the end. Cobb himself is a hot mess, and given only the context of the movie, you have to wonder why anyone would put up with the things he puts Arthur through, so there has to be a history there, right?? And OF COURSE I'm here for Arthur and Eames and their shared history, whatever that may be (they're married okay). The fact that in the paper script, Arthur and Eames could have been played so differently by two other actors is... It's a little awe inspiring, and just makes you really appreciate what actors can bring to their roles.

I love that every single time I watch it, there is something new to notice, some new nuance to pick up on, a new piece of canon that can be used to spin out headcanon or fic from. And I absolutely ADORE that so much is open-ended and there's no real WRONG interpretation; I think that's what's given the fandom such lasting power over the years. We're give so little actual canon that very little fanon is actually contradicted. It's kind of beautiful that way.

On a personal note... When I say that I'm new to the Inception fandom, I mean BRAND NEW... like as of April of this year new. Which is not to say I didn't see the movie when it came out in 2010, because I did! I watched it more than once! But here's the thing... You ever have those experiences where OTHER PEOPLE ruin a thing for you before you give it a chance yourself?

That's what happened with me and Inception. I thought "hey, fun movie" and left it at that. Largely because my younger brother was in this weird "I'm a Movie Connoisseur/Expert and My Opinion is the One That Counts" stage and as someone with self-proclaimed "man crush" on Leo, he was All About Cobb, who is easily my LEAST favorite character. He was also All About arguing for the "it's all a dream" theory over the ending, which I think beautifully demonstrates the main difference between us: I am an optimist and prefer happy endings. So he would Not Shut Up about this movie and how GROUNDBREAKING it was and how the pessimistic viewing of the ending was the Only True Way to watch the movie. (May I say how much I fucking love that this has generally been disproved in the last 14 years? Because I have serious Schadenfreude over that.)

(I was also RPing in a panfandom LJ game at the time with people who were obsessed with playing characters played by Certain Actors and our game wound up with an Arthur and an Ariadne and I think they shipped them but it was full of ~drama~ and I wanted nothing to do with it so I kept my Barbies on my corner of the game and avoided theirs.)

ANYWAY, this is a very convoluted and long-winded way to get to my point. Which is that I largely forgot about Inception for the last 13 years-ish. Then I was rereading some old fanfics in March and because I liked an author, I went to see what other fandoms they'd written for. And somehow I fell into Inception and discovered Arthur/Eames, and HOW THE FUCK DID I MISS THAT????? After a few weeks of reading fic, I decided to watch the movie again and, well. Then I was watching it every other day for several weeks.

Moderation? What's that?

So another favorite thing about this movie is that I got back into fandom for the first time in... god. Almost ten years???? Because of it. Which is a little miraculous by itself.

[jbbartram-illu]

Do you have a favourite artist right now or a particular source of inspiration? :)

Oohh this is always a hard one to answer, but I love to think about it!

I'm currently falling down a Lascaux/European cave art rabbit hole as I plan more mugs, as I love the freedom of the brush strokes used to create the beautiful beasts and the way it speaks to something deep in my brain (& seems to resonate with other people as well!).

I also find myself constantly inspired by Marc Chagall, not in a way where I try to replicate anything about his art, but more trying to capture the mood of the figures his work, especially all the silly, joyful animals, and also the way his art often has a lightness about it (both visually and in spirit).

And in terms of my fellow pottery folk, I feel like I've made a ton of lovely, inspiring friends across various social medias - from here, @sleepnoises & @moldspace are doing such gorgeous work, and I also love @claypigeonpottery's gorgeous sgraffito work.

Elsewhere, there's Clay Baby, Britt Wilson, Goblin Hands, Ceramibee, Chickadee Ceramics (who also fires my work & is a great kiln tech alongside her pottery work) and I'm sure I'm missing some pals! And of course there are a zillion other artists (contemporary & non) who bring my brain joy & probably influence my work, but I'll stop here :)