#excellent good times

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[novelconcepts]

The defintion of hell is knowing a show is incredibly well-received in its first season, but if people don’t become machines churning out tweets, content, and rewatching 24/7, there’s no likelihood it’ll get a chance to tell its whole story. This shit is madness. Shows in different genres shouldn’t have to pit-battle for dominance. First seasons are MEANT to be baselines establishing worlds and characters, not complete storylines. The idea that this golden age of television has turned into “get it done in one or get out” is revolting.

#the sandman #paper girls #some of the hot takes on Twitter are breaking me #‘why don’t we know the whole story? it’s bad writing if you don’t have a complete story in the first season’ girl WHAT since WHEN #how many excellent shows were weak as fuck in S1?? and here we’re getting shows with incredible first seasons fighting for their lives #like fuckin Christ dude the idea of long form storytelling is allowing your story time and space to spread out #otherwise we would only make movies #i am so sick of this edge of my seat fear that any new show I fall in love with will get axed because the higher powers don’t care about art #this has to be a bubble right? this has to pop at some point and go back to shows valued on what they are #and don’t even get me started on creators having to beg for good reviews to balance out review-bombing from shitheads #if every one star review is clearly bigoted from the comments? why is anyone taking them into account?? #why is there no way to manage this shit aside from creators being like ‘please help us”’

[evercelle]

( just follow the script. )

#in stars and time #isat spoilers #ever makes art #i binge played this game over the weekend. IT'S EXCELLENT!! #i really enjoyed all the attention to detail in the progression of game sprites and UI... and the art is so good... #if i had a nickel for every incredible indie rpg debuting in '23 with the word Stars in the title id have 2 nickels. which isnt a lot but-- #2023 has been a buck wild year for gaming. play isat

[jancysmixtape]

I don’t understand how anyone can say Wednesday didn’t like Tyler. She chose to go to the dance with him, she INITIATED their first kiss and SMILED at him. Then even after finding out he was the Hyde, she still said he was her type. It’s canon that she liked him. 😭

#wednesday x tyler #wednesday addams #wednesday #tyler galpin #weyler #wyler #it’s all CANON #it’s so rare for Wednesday to romantically like someone #she doesn’t like physical touch #but she kissed Tyler first #she only smiled a few times this season #but she smiled at Tyler after kissing him #then kissed him again #they’re going to be endgame #I can feel it #enemies to lovers excellence #forbidden romance #so many good tropes #ahhh i love them

[tangledinink]

so we saw one of swanatello's good days . . . how do the bad days go? :eyes: don't mind me i feed on angst~

Swanatello is Guardian of The Lake and is extremely territorial and protective. The brothers have to take turns and visit him one at a time-- if they approach as a group, Swanatello will quickly grow defensive and view them as a threat. They've learned by now that if he's not able to recognize them, the best thing to do is back off and try again tomorrow.

... Mostly learned, anyway.

(The next time Leo's able to visit properly, Donnie will worriedly ask him what happened to his wrist.)

#swanatello #donnie was already an excellent fighter #now hes been buffed with swan lake magical girl powers and he can kick their asses #and hes done it multiple times now #anyway tldr on a bad visit he'll drive them off #if they push back and try to convince him of their identities #he'll beat their ass #and chances are really good he'll just get confused and upset in the process #rottmnt #rottmnt au #donniesona #risesona #rottmnt donnie #rottmnt donatello #blood and injury #blood #asks #anon

[the-tired-commander]

But what if......our ocs.....held hands?

#im having an excellent time #have your ocs holds hands with your friends ocs #its good for you <3

[scatterbrainedbot]

Hello :D

You're so cool

Anyway have you thought that in your rat sons au Splinter might outlive the boys?

You're very cool :D love your stuff dude

(tw for some blood, light gore, implied overdose (kinda??))

hi copper!!! this is a fantastic question!

so obviously typical irl rats have far shorter lifespans than the average irl tortoise. according to google (yes, be awed by my spectacularly in-depth wealth of research) the average pet rat lives between 2-4 years ish, and the oldest on record lived to be about 7. meanwhile, an African spurred tortoise (Splinter's species) averages more around a 50ish year lifespan in captivity, tho is suspected to possibly exceed 75 or more in the wild.

Now, the mutation does give us a lot of wiggle room for playing with these numbers. For the rat sons boys, id say their natural lifespan probably clocks in at about 45-55 years old? definitely not old by human standards, but not young young either. (though, its also important to note that the boys were exposed to the mutagen just days after being born.)

For Splinter, meanwhile, aging is slightly more complicated. He lived the vast majority of his life as a regular normal African spurred tortoise (well, non-mutated at least. there were perhaps some shenanigans of a more mystical variety going on before he was mutated, but thats a separate matter) He was about 70ish i think? when the boys were born and they were all exposed to the mutagen. so he is already distinctly an old man turtle papa. id guess he'd probably still have another eh lets say 25-30 years after his mutation. he could probably push it a little farther even with some mystic nonsense, but when push comes to shove id say his 'natural' post-mutation lifespan would put his death like a solid decade or two before his sons.

of course, the tricky part of the matter is that theres no way for Splinter to know any of this. theres no way for him to know how the mutation affected them all, or if it even affected them all in the same way. especially since the boys dont show many physical signs of mutation for the first few years, and just kinda look like normal rats, (albeit with a more human sort of intelligence) — what sort of health standard do you hold them to? what if they simply dont show external signs of sickness or old age anymore? how do you actually know if something is wrong?

for a while there Splinter is very worried that one of his babies will just essentially reach the end of their normal rat lifespan, fall and not get up again.

so mostly, he just tries to live in the moment, enjoying whatever time he does have with his little ones, taking each day as a gift <3

still,

that fear

never

really

goes

away.....

#cue the 2003 tmnt dramatic Shredder sound effect TM #my art #rat sons #tmnt au #ask reply #TOOK ME A FULL MONTH TO ANSWER AND IM STILL NOT SUPER PLEASED WITH THE RESULTS BUT #also apologies if shits incohierent im v sick rn #but thank you so much for the question copper!! #a parents grief and terror at the thought of outliving their children #always gets me #and boy howdy these rat babies do Not make that shit easy for ol Splinter #all of them have brushed too close to death too many times #tbh thats probably why he started teaching them ninjutsu etc #like yeah yeah discpline and routine and practice all excellent lessons #but also #yall squishy babies and ur father is Stressed please learn to fight good so its one less thing he has to worry about #sorry splints theyre hamatos now theyre destined for danger #cw blood #cw gore

[stoneshipmapper]

Did a collab with @omo321 where we colored each other's line art! This is my work on their Yuyuko. We each did redraws of sprites from the fighters!

#Touhou #Yuyuko Saigyouji #sM Art #Second time doing a Touhou collab with Omo of two powerful Touhou ladies #A rare and very good colored post here #Tested it really early with dramatic backlighting and really liked it #Pairs wonderfully well with Omo's EXCELLENT art work

[chipsncookies]

Two robot animes im currently watching haha 🚔 i think they should be friends 😊

#deckerd #yuuta tomonaga #pluto #naoki urasawa's pluto #gesicht #atom #brave police j decker #crossover #chips's work #artist who's never drawn robots draws a robot for the first time 💀 #im not into robots but i like these shows #pluto for the excellent murder mystery and robot politics #deckerd for the friendship and shenanigans + comfy 90s nostalgia #yeah they're very different lol but i like how they both emphasised the importance of heart in their line of work #also they're all good bois i love them all

[mimi-0007]

#black tumblr #black excellence #black community #black girl magic #esther rolle #actress #black actresses #good times #tv sitcom #tv characters #tv #tv shows #70s #70s tv

[lavenoon]

More "cat" shenanigans + meeting the family <3

@naffeclipse If stealing coat bad, why coat so comfortable?

self insert is not a girl (he/she)

#post let luce #dcamv #bloodstain fool #no stains on this guy the menace requires cuddles too often to leave time for shootouts /j #naffeclipse #my art #i still wanna draw more but i am too eepy and this is enough for today #long (good!) day so i drew self indulgence to decompress #for the record it is *not* just the height i like about this asshole (affectionate) #that would be a tragedy considering Naff's excellent character crafting #having thoughts. smacking brain. silly doodles. *silly* doodles. not that. no no. back to where u came from. #okay yes anyways. silly haha funny menace #enjoy <3 #menace4menace

[tavyliasin]

Villain-Fucker Angst Hours

Good timezone, darlings~ Are you ready to get all up in your feelings? No? Me neither, loves, but here we are regardless so the words are going to flow as they usually do... This is focused on Raphael from Baldur's Gate 3 and his fandom, but the latter section can easily apply to any villain fandom.

Self-Analysis of Devil-Fuckery, Or Why Do I Adore Raphael When He Is Very Obviously Evil: A Short Essay by TavyliaSin (Who Still Cannot Name Anything With Less Than A Full Paragraph) ((NSFW)) (((Game Spoilers)))

The following may discuss heavier topics, but without specifics, so whilst it should be safe for most to read without triggering any difficult memories please be aware of Raphael's entire vibes, the content and context of his story, and I'd also like to mention that this isn't a "woe be us for we are terrible people" piece, it's actually more about:

"There is an inherent kindness and warmth to much of the Raphael fandom, and I think there could be some common threads behind that, pulling us all in closer in a comforting blanket that we wrap around each other to keep out the cold of the world."

So, what in the nine hells am I on about? Well. Raphael-fandom is a wild and wonderful place to be. The rest is in sections, so feel free to skip through to what you feel is relevant to your interests. I am so prone to waffle I should open a restaurant~

Who Are Fans Of Raphael? What Do They Want?

We are feral, unhinged, all sheets to the wind "I want that devil man, carnally, and there is no force in all the planes that could stop me". There's the vanilla to the extreme and every level in between, tops, bottoms, versatiles, Doms, subs, and switches - there are a whole lot of people who would love to get their hands on either (or both) of Raphael's forms, for a simple smooch or something far more spicy~ [edited in] To add on to this, not all of us even desire him in a sexual way, for many it is romantic, soft, or even just the rather pleasant thought of spending an evening with drinks by the hellfire because he would be fascinating company. Aces, Aros, and AroAces may all find themselves well within the devilish corners of fandom too~ which is a whole other essay~ [end edit] So, I see you. I'm one of you. Extremely loud and utterly hingeless in my fan appreciation for Raphael. He's one of my favourites to write about, I seek art of him, and the same goes for his mirrored other half, Haarlep, who I arguably love more despite there being far less content of them in the game.

And the Fandom? The Vibe?

From my experience in the Raphael Fandom areas, we have a very deep and abiding understanding of consent, respect, and treating each other with an absolute and uncompromising kindness. We've had talks about keeping each other safe in fandom, exchanged details of people we have encountered who need to be avoided, even shared details between moderators of different fandom servers to pre-ban people proven to be creeps and/or art thieves. We've also discussed consent, including the issues with it in the game, and how areas of the story can only really be considered dubious at best and could easily be triggering for people. And these discussions have been open, honest, fair, and with the acknowledgement that most of us love these scenes anyway. So there's a sense of care that runs through everything, behind the horny-posting and fan content, behind the endless thirsting after our favourite fictional characters. We have a depth of kindness that warms my sinners soul every time I see it.

What Does This Have To Do With Self-Reflection, Raphael, or Villainy In General?

Well let's look at Raphael. He's a villain, obviously. He's manipulative, devious, and inherently evil by his very nature. He keeps Hope chained in his basement, constantly subjected to endless torture. There's also mention of how Gortash was sold into his service at a young age, clearly not an enjoyable experience given the other details and how things turn out (particularly as Raphael would need Gortash's own plans to fail entirely in order for him to succeed in his own and get that crown). And as fans, we accept that. We don't sit making excuses, or trying to say "well actually Gortash is a little shit and Hope probably deserve it", and we don't shy away from or conveniently ignore those darker sides of him with malicious intent to enable more evil to flourish. What I noticed, when I allowed the thoughts to continue, is that there is a theme here.

If Evil Can Be Loved Then So Can I

That's the core. Of course, darlings, I am not claiming to be a heinous monster. I certainly do not have a laundry list of crimes that would make the devil himself say "Uh, that's a bit much." But I sure as fuck treat myself like I do sometimes. You see, I think a lot of us have that tendency, to judge ourselves far more harshly than anyone else. Our patience, understanding, and forgiveness for others runs deeper than the Mariana Trench, but when it comes to our own flaws? One minor mistake and we think ourselves to be the worst beings ever to disgrace the earth. Thus, the villainy we see reflects how we are treating ourselves. So by loving and accepting all of those things that should be terrible, hated, we are actually learning that no matter how poorly we think of ourselves that we can be worthy of that same love and acceptance. We are extending the affection we are unable to show ourselves to someone we see the worst parts of ourselves amplified within. And that's why villains attract the people with the most kindness. The most forgiveness. Because it takes someone with a truly huge amount of empathy to find love for the embodiment of evil.

Or, IDK, maybe villains are just hot and we're too far down to care.

But wait, before you go!

THERE'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT.

All of this is about FICTION. We should never be accepting of the kinds of evil we see in the game irl. We do not owe anyone kindness if they do not show it to us.

What is hot in fiction is not always OK IRL.

Look after yourselves out there, remember that consent is key in all things, and please do try to learn to love yourselves, darlings, you are worthy of it and you should judge yourself by the same standard you judge others. If you are in doubt, if you are worried, if you feel afraid - reach out, talk to someone. There are many who will listen.

Treat yourself as you would treat a friend. You deserve that much.

Oh, and all Raphael fans who understand kindness are welcome around me, any hour of the day, I adore our little fandom circles and would gladly collect all of us together. I'm following a lot of you as soon as I find you, like hunting shiny pokemon~

See you in Avernus, my darling Little Mice, may we all find joy in the Cambion's Embrace~

#baldurs gate 3 #raphael #bg3 raphael #villain fucker #personal reflection #analysis of the inner mind by a complete amateur #listen the thoughts get loud then I write them down darlings it happens all the time #love yourself please #you are worth more than you give yourself credit for #and keep loving those villains! it's good for you! #be kind to yourself #and be kind in the community #did this even make sense? well it's there now so tough #DMS are open for fellow fans with excellent taste~

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

cantaloupe dragon part two, electric boogaloo! w/ lowkey worldbuilding woven in

#did this on stream #THE ENTIRE SEVEN HOUR STREAM. WAS JUST ME STRUGGLING THROUGH THIS SINGLE DRAGON #we had a great time tho <3 #probably wouldnt have completed it without such excellent company! #twas a good time... as Usual! #not-fish <3 #dragon #dragons #scribble garnish #dragon fashion is. Very hard to design #im trying tho! im trying.... #ALSO I HOPE I NEVER HAVE TO DRAW BRAIDS AGAIN. MY GOD #as people can attest. I Was Going Through It with em

[a-mongooose]

Listen I just think they’re neat that’s it that’s the caption

#welcome home #welcome home arg #welcome home sally #welcome home julie #sally starlet #julie joyful #clown shaped coffin #wow i love puppets #puppets are so cool #Im not usually a big fan of ARGs but this one is so ????? idek but it is absolutely grand #clown did an excellent job and i hope theyre doing alright with everything going on #they deserve a break #if you haven't checked out Welcome Home yet PLEASE do #i promise it's worth your time #just pls remember to be respectful guys <3 #i hope you have a good day :) #-Your friends at the Maverick Motel

[therealjosephcranor]

Tbh I think people are clipping the wrong part of the Ivantill kiss like - okay yes the big sweeping kiss is BEAUTIFUL. But have you all seen. the last kiss. the tiny, sweet kiss Ivan gives Till just before he starts to choke him. When they make eye contact and you can see the determination and love in Ivan's eyes, and for the first time, Till finally sees him back.

#alien stage #also Till's hella uncomfortable in that initial shot haha #it's still an excellent kiss don't get me wrong! BUT THAT LAST KISS. that's the one that haunts me #alien stage round 6 #ivantill #do you know how downbad the doomed yaoi has to be to make ME. the most aroace person I know. go this feral #I'm losing it! #I was running on 0 hours of sleep when i wrote this so tag edit — when i said that big kiss was beautiful i meant visually #I do think in reality it kind of sucks for both of them! #I don't think either want it to be like That and Till clearly hasn't even had time to process that this is even happening At All so #but i think that's why that quick lil kiss is so good #it's Ivan saying I love you. and I'm sorry

[unopenablebox]

starting the last row of this shawl before the bind off. i'm having such a great time with this thing that i'm probably going to start another shawl immediately, but i am also very excited to be done because i've had it on the needles since 2020

#it is a picot bind-off and i will admit to being moderately intimidated at the prospect #but only because i haven’t watched anyone do it yet #three good youtube videos will render me unshakably confident #it's great to knit a shawl. excellent times. recommended #lace is fun and beads are mega fun #box opener #knitting #oh fuck i'll need blocking pads. damn. quick poll is puzzle-piece gym flooring from the hardware store the cheapest option here. probably #i assume i can't just stick a towel over some cardboard.