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greenlyren12 · 1 year

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Waytelem

Neteyam x Reader

word count: 1k

Summary: Tradition with Neteyam

A/N:

"Individuals create a songcord that is used as a tactile representation of their own personal or family. Na'vi create their own song cords and expand on them continuously, adding a new item to the cord for any significant life event that occurs."

"Traditionally, once a Na'vi male has passed the tests on the path to manhood and has been accepted into the clan as an adult, he is not only allowed to make his bow from the wood of the Hometree, but he is also expected to choose his woman."

Two blue feet glued to the wooden branch below you, focused on keeping balance, you strolled ahead under the shadow of greenery. Rays of sunshine pooled beneath you, serenity chirping around, causing your ears to flutter.

Stopping at almost every step, you lovingly caressed the manifestations of the Great Mother. From sensitive to the touch, peach colored mushrooms to hanging azure vines. Every breath you took was synchronized with the forest.

Happiness was simple.

As all things seemed in tune, a particularly annoying tail kept disturbing your peace. Finding the joy in tickling your nose and poking whichever eye it chose. Having enough of it, you swiftly seized it between your grasp and tugged on it.

“Neteyam, you säsrätx!”

The boy fastened his pace and collected his tail back with a toothy smile.

“Ikniyama is close, this should not even phase you.” The young na’vi snickered.

“That was your last breath, skxawng.” You evilly laughed and began to chase him, pinching the back of his legs whenever you could.

Both of you quickly climbed up the trunk of a particularly large tree. Ascending to a naturally formed platform, secluded from the eye. Neteyam was first to sit down, carefully putting his bow and arrows beside him.

You followed, going by his side, slapping his cheek with your tail. Proudly sitting down with your legs crossed, you expected a reaction - and none was received. Instead, he remained seated in front of you, a smug smile painting the lower half of his face. Not even looking at you, he busied himself with detaching his songcord from his waist cloths.

You mirrored his actions, getting yours out.

“You know, this is unacceptable behavior from the future Olo’уektan.” An emotionless statement from you, which purpose was to get under his skin.

Finally meeting your gaze, Neteyam laid his songcord on the ground.

“And this is the behavior expected from a child.” He said with a smile.

The boy did not mean for it to hurt, but it did. By the clan’s way he was an adult, having completed the rite of passage. And you - half a year younger and still a kid. Being born again, it scared you. The uncertainty never left your weary shoulders. But it was close, you could do it. Conclude it and become a functioning member of the clan.

Neteyam’s soft nature immediately noted your silence.

“You know I did not mean it.” The boy worryingly said while reaching out to caress your hand.

Meeting his copper eyes, you let your face fall down.

“I will wait for you.” He matter of factly reassured your downcast frame.

I will wait for you, he said, of its true meaning you pondered.

Would he wait for you?

Both of your lives were intertwined from small children, you had always known him. Seeing him grow from Neteyam the Mighty Fisherman to Neteyam the Fierce Warrior. The youthful adoration was now a clumsy teenage love, but none of you dared to say a word. Ever since you could remember you had always done everything together. it was natural, you just always lingered by his side and he by yours. it was funny actually, right now was one of those moments.

it was a tradition to weave your songcords together, if you had a closer look at them you would see they were almost identical.

His last words had your cheeks become a deep shade of purple now, ears back, you squeezed his hand.

“Do not speak of such things, Nete.” Your tone low from embarrassment.

His hand from yours went up to your nose to flick it so you could look him in the eye, missing your usual demeanor.

“Whatever you wish, yawne.” The young na’vi went back to fiddling with his songcord.

“Neteyam!”

You spent the next hour twining a fragment of an ikran’s tooth between the string. From when Neteyam claimed his own ikran and as it was your first time climbing the Hallelujah mountains.

With Neteyam’s help you crushed it to smaller bits, so it could be easily woven into the cord.

The time shared together was mostly spent in singing personal songs, only for your closest to hear. It served as an escape from the daily chores of life, hidden from parents and siblings.

“I think i’m done.” Neteyam broke the silence first.

You grabbed his hand and pulled for closer inspection, catching the boy by surprise. It was now your turn to make him nervous.

A shy expression and a tight line forming on his mouth, he intently looked and waited for an answer.

“It’s beautiful, Nete.” You flashed a toothy grin, fangs poking out.

“Thank you.” His expression made your stomach turn, this boy would be the death of you.

Neteyam retracted his palm and pulled out petals from a sun lily. His hand unsurely remained in front of him, scared to proceed. You curiously gazed at the boy, irises enlarging and tail nervously swatting.

“Come closer.” He sweetly commanded, closing the space between you.

For the first time ever, you silently obliged, standing on your four limbs, you waited. Something was different this time, the air was heavy, you dared not ruin it.

Neteyam carefully put the flower petals behind your ear, making your breath hitch. He pulled back, remaining a few inches from your face, noses almost touching. None of you moved, intently looking into the other’s eyes. You could see the light reflecting in his tawny orbs.

He was beautiful.

The young na’vi slowly closed the space between your lips. The sweetness of the first kiss, gentle and loving. Scared of everything, both of you barely moved. You delicately pulled back, meeting his eyes and diving back in with a smile. This time more confident, Neteyam cupped your cheek, keeping you in place, growing eager by the second. You have no idea how long you had stayed like this.

And then you felt it.

A tickling sensation on top of your heads, both of you pulled back, carefully looking up to inspect.

A woodsprite gently hovered above you.

He will wait for you.

Na'vi translation:

waytelem - songcord säsrätx - annoyance iknimaya - the rite of passage for young Na'vi skxawng - idiot olo’eyktan - clan leader yawne - beloved

#neteyam #neteyam te suli tsyeyk'itan #neteyam fanfiction #neteyam x you #neteyam sully #neteyam avatar #neteyam x reader #avatar imagines #avatar 2

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maidenvault · 14 days

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Okay so, Crosshair’s hand.

Has anyone pointed this out? When Crosshair kills Nolan, he doesn't use his shooting hand.

He uses his left. Just as he very significantly has to in the series finale.

I don't know if the writers knew as far back as "The Outpost" that Crosshair was going to lose the use of his shooting hand and by extension everything he believed made him strong, a "superior" clone, and safe from being discarded when he was kind of fascism-pilled. But it feels extra significant in retrospect that his first action taken against the Empire is not done with the hand associated with the terrible things he did as an Imperial sniper. And it's after he just got a difficult lesson about how his own personal strength and skills aren't enough to protect him - he was saved twice by Mayday, then possibly only survived through the night because he wouldn't leave him behind and could share his body heat. He may be using his left hand when he shoots Nolan because his other arm is tired from supporting Mayday all the way back, which only adds to the symbolic touch I love that Mayday is using his rifle as a crutch to help him walk as well (and of course, he's at close range so quite meaningfully Crosshair doesn't use the rifle to shoot here either). It all supports the idea of this as the first huge moment of transformation for Crosshair when he's finally turning his fire on the real enemy out of a desire to protect others, however futile and too late it is in this particular situation.

Going back and noticing this really reinforced for me that Crosshair's hand injury probably isn't just meant as a manifestation of his trauma related to Tantiss. It would make sense considering it's his shooting hand that it also has something to do with his inner conflict regarding his changed relationship with violence and killing.

The Batch were introduced as these stereotypically macho soldier characters, an impression that's softened a little as early as the pilot of TBB but still distinguishes them a little from other clones. In a kind of funny way you can look at the whole series as being about these guys who were only brought up to fight gradually discovering and finding peace with their more traditionally feminine sides - literally because of Omega, a female version of themselves who shows them the possibilities of being a family and living for others instead of for violence.

For Crosshair this journey is much more difficult and like a painful rebirth than it is for anyone else because being a soldier was so much of his identity. He's always been the one to most pointedly distinguish his squad from regs because of their "superior" traits that he thinks will make the Empire value them, and he clearly internalized the way the Kaminoans only care about clones as weapons to be used in war. And it all betrays how little value Crosshair actually believes he has deep down. It was easy to go into S3 being especially worried about his fate because he's believed so long that he's not good for anything but fighting and he's the character it was the hardest to imagine adjusting to a different life.

But in retrospect, it was stupid to think they'd let him off that easy and of course the whole point is that it takes a lot to get him there. What exactly he went through on Tantiss beyond the electroshock torture we've seen is never delved into but personally, I think being a soldier is something that's poisoned for Crosshair after he becomes a victim of the Empire himself and subject to their attempts at reconditioning. He's not psychologically able to be that person anymore, but for a long time is still trying to largely rely on himself and his own strength. He tries to sacrifice himself for others because he's still holding onto that part of himself in a way.

But for once in Star Wars we've gotten a fully realized redemption arc showing that sometimes what's harder than giving your life in a redemptive way is to actually have to figure out how to live with the bad things you've done and be better. Some of the people Crosshair hurt were his family, and he has to learn he can only make things better by being there for them. He has to learn that he actually can survive and figure out a way forward from his life as a soldier if he lets himself rely on them, just like he only survived Barton IV with help from Mayday. As @moonstrider9904 explains so well in this post, that is what's so important about Crosshair losing the hand and making that final shot to save Omega with Hunter's support. Symbolically he's had that toxic part of himself actually cut off and it's the final, most painful part of his rebirth. But because of that he's forced to find that he can live on without it, that he's surrounded by people who love and believe in him anyway, and that having superhuman skills as a killer was never what gave him worth.

No, having his shooting hand cut off doesn't "fix" anything or mean that Crosshair is healed. He's probably only begun to recover from everything he's been through. But all we really need to see is that he's firmly found his place as part of a family instead of a squad, and he's not going to be alone as he deals with all of that.

#the bad batch #the bad batch meta #crosshair #tbb crosshair #commander mayday #star wars #meta #my meta

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man-down-in-hatchet-town · 6 months

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VHSCC OH MY GOD

(no spoilers)

Starkid nation, you aren't ready.

So let's start with the obvious. Look, I spent thirteen years growing up with Starkid. That initial Michigan gang are deeply special to me and I will always miss Dylan, Brian R., and Corey in any show they aren't in. And this one's no different. But just as Janaya came in and took over Belle from Britney so flawlessly, Curt, Brian, and AJ were all WONDERFUL in their new roles. The gentle-but-high-energy, truly decent, romantic himbo charm Curt brought to our Springsteen boy Jim (you all are going to LOVE Jim, I promise) perfectly offset the defiant, sneering anger of Young Scrooge in "That Scrooge." Brian's reactions (particularly to the "rather take my own life" line) were so funny and some of my favorite parts of the show. And AJ... this is now my favorite thing AJ has ever done. And that's saying something. The smaller casting shake-up moments (Joey as Fezziwig, other little line re-distributions) were so fun as well!

The new act 1 is PERFECTION. I was actually surprised by how absolutely hysterical it was? Like, I won't tell you what was up with that clip on Instagram of Brian, Lauren, and Joey doing a freak-out dance, but I can tell you that their whole Act 1 deal threatened to steal the show every. Single. Time. I already mentioned Curt as Jim, but you will also love Della, who is so funny and real and truly carries us through the start of the show (Janaya is a STAR and she Curt have brilliant chemistry). Ali did a terrific job of balancing the sadness and hope that are both at the center of the devastating little Match Girl. And Jamie's Grandma... well, honestly I have no idea how to talk about Jamie's song without giving stuff away.

But the real star of the show in Act 1, as he should be, was our man Clark. I can't emphasize enough how much he nailed the writing of this whole new act. I mentioned that the new stuff is hilarious, but it's also deeply heartfelt, and also sad exactly when it needs to be. Like, the transition after Jamie's song? I can't really talk about it yet, but what that moment does with emotion is unreal. And, as expected, every song is a banger! My one complaint about this show, and it IS a big one, is that there is no cast recording of the Act 1 songs. I want to listen to them all the time.

But the good news is, I CAN listen to Christmas Carol as much as I want! The classic that started it all is back, with so many people reprising the hell out of their truly iconic roles (God I love the VHS Cratchits), and better than ever. I traditionally hate change, and I love the version of VHSCC Live! we already have so much, but I think I somehow loved this version even more? The staging is alive and clever and there are some additions and changes, particularly in "Final Ghost"/"Christmas Day," that frankly blew my mind and somehow managed to elevate the material even further. I can't wait for the digital ticket to come out so that I can talk about them. To put it simply, James Tolbert mastered his Starkid directorial debut like you won't believe. I'm so proud of him and grateful for the larger role he's taken in Starkid since they moved base to LA.

Also, the Ghost of Christmas Past is extra unhinged this year? Jaime pulled out all of the impish stops and it was the BEST.

Basically, everyone more than delivered. I haven't talked about Meredith yet but she rocked it in the band and continued to validate the hell out of my opinion that "3 Spirits" is the dark horse best song in the show.

And a special shout-out to June Saito for continuing to be a costuming GENIUS. I always love her work and this production is no exception. I honestly wanted to give the return of the Bob Cratchit costume its own round of applause.

You know, the world is a mess and everything is pretty much terrible. It's been a hard year in an impossible decade. But every once in a while you come across some art that takes all of that, acknowledges the truth of it, and somehow pulls back the curtains to harness the joy and hope that's still there under the rubble. To me, Starkid in particular has always been about finding and holding onto the hope and the beauty and humanity that allows us to endure an existence that can so often feel bleak. And VHSCC is maybe the most perfect encapsulation of that idea.

So thank you Clark, James, Meredith, Brian, and everyone who worked so hard on this little bit of magic. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let's make a little light.

#apologies for any typos it is late and I've had a wild day #Also shout out to Meredith for the number of times she teared up while playing in the band #she is so real for that #starkid #team starkid #vhscc #vhs christmas carols #clark baxtresser #james tolbert #AJ Holmes #Meredith Stepien #Brian Holden #Janaya Mahealani Jones #Jamie Burns #Lauren Lopez #Ali Gordon #Curt Mega #Joey Richter #Jaime Lyn Beatty

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madara-fate · 1 month

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I don't want to be a asshole or anything, but I really struggle with the notion of a 'well-written female character' that people have been shoving down our throats in recent years. Nowadays, for a female character to be considered 'well-written,' she must either primarily fit the 'badass femme fatale' archetype - almost invulnerable with its derivatives - or be a 'masculine woman’.

Oddly enough, these are also the two most popular types of women in fiction right now (lol).

How is what we are doing today inherently different from before?

We have taken female characters out of the tropes that imprisoned them... to fundamentally lock them into other stereotypical tropes that we refuse to let them out of again. These types of characters are often praised as examples of quality female representation, but is that really the case?

I'm not saying they are bad, far from it. But that shouldn't be all there is, that's my complaint about it. And people should also stop passing this off as 'representation' when most of these characters are far too unrealistic to even come close. They are amazing, yes, they are icons to admire because they are truly impressive for the most part, but I challenge anyone to say they are relatable. And that's fine because they're not even supposed to be in the first place.

Fiction should have these types of women because it's fiction, but it should also make room for other types of female characters. The diversity of roles for women is terribly limited, and honestly, I can't really say it's entirely the media's fault.

Is it really too much to ask for diversified female characters?

I would also like to see more realistic women. There are some, yes, but not many, and strangely these types of characters tend to be labeled as poorly written and then completely rewritten by their fandom to fit their idealized version of what a 'good female character' should be.

The funny thing about this is that people don't even realize that with this kind of behavior, they are perpetuating stereotypes that ironically they are trying to break. Some realize it but prefer to absolve themselves by blaming the media/authors they accuse of poorly writing women, largely in order to justify the disgusting and relatively hypocritical behaviors they have towards certain female characters.

This is particularly evident in Sakura's case; the hatred people have for her is just pathological at this point, further exacerbated by mass effect. Many fans blame Kishimoto for « writing her poorly », which they believe is their main issue with her character. The fact is when you look at the situation as a whole, this excuse doesn't even hold up. The things she is condemned for cannot be solely attributed to her; some of the other most popular characters in this franchise exhibit the same characteristics and sometimes even worse than anything she has shown before, but for some reason, she is the only character in this series who is so vilified because of it. When it comes to others, most fans make excuses for them, except you can't judge a character for something they did while turning a blind eye or even worse, praise another for doing exactly the same thing; it's a blatant double standard and it's not objective at all.

Her character isn't perfect; she is horribly underused and since she occupies the position of tritagonist aka heroine, it stands out more than others who, although also sidelined, are only supporting characters. That's the main problem I've always had with Kishimoto's writing about her, but apart from that, I really can't find much bad to say about her character. Again, I'm not saying she's perfect; far from it, but that's what makes her interesting. Sakura's role was to bring a more human side to this series; that was her job. She was never supposed to be like her teammates; Sakura was meant to stay on a human scale because she was created for that.

That's the beauty of her character.

Changing that is changing her very essence, what makes her who she is, and that's what this fandom does; they rewrite her by using the excuse of 'poor writing' as a kind of defensive flag and eliminate from her character everything that makes her, well... her.

Mabel, (a character from the show Gravity Falls) is another case of a rather strange fandom. She is literally 13 years old and yet her character at the time (and even today) has sparked such waves of hatred that those who hadn't watched the show could believe she's the she-Devil incarnate when she... just acts her age. She is, however, an adorable child. She is eccentric, good-hearted, quite prone to blunders, but that's also what makes her endearing. However, the way some talk about her is just... revolting.

To hear them, being a pre-adolescent in fiction and behaving as such is a crime. Like Sakura, she also suffers from a rewriting of her character - although it doesn't manifest in the same way - and from what I've noticed, sometimes it's not even done consciously.

Another thing I've noticed is that they are not the only type of characters to benefit from this treatment from fandoms. Even female characters meeting their 'writing standards' sometimes have these problems. Just look at Diana (Wonder Woman), and how some - many - of her fans have transformed her. She went from the epitome of feminism, meaning a woman treating everyone as equals regardless of their gender, believing in justice and doing her best to uphold it into a lame and arrogant fanon version of herself who hates men, thinks she's superior to them, believes girls are the best thing in the world and no man can surpass them - apparently their version of feminism.

People need to understand that just as we can't please everyone, not all characters can suit everyone's tastes, which is normal. They should focus more on what suits them and ignore what doesn't instead of trying to adapt characters that are not their cup of tea to their personal tastes.

Really.

This crap is why there are so many fanon versions of 'strong and feminist women,' not because their canon version is 'poorly written,' but because they are not written according to their tastes.

On the rare occasions when we actually have unusual characters, different from what we're used to seeing, the fandom takes it upon itself to ruin that by transforming them, thus ruining their characterization.

God only knows how much I have my own issues with the current film industry - and some authors in general - but I acknowledge that they at least make the effort to try in certain aspects, whereas fans don't even try. They tend to blame everyone but themselves because they refuse to accept that they are also part of the problem. So yes, the media is certainly crappy in some ways, but the fandom with their obsession with wanting to "fix" every work or character that doesn't suit them, makes it even crappier. They standardize everyone.

I it's all well and good to reblog/like posts criticizing fandom spaces and their treatment of fictional characters, but maybe it would be wise to actually apply what you claim to agree with, and not selectively.

This is a subject I didn't really intend to address on Tumblr, but I couldn't help myself after coming across one of your requests where you were talking about the writing of female characters in Naruto. As someone who is currently writing a thesis on media-fandom dynamics, this syndrome of 'good/bad writing' is one of the points I address, which prompted me to express my opinion.

Anyway, I hope I'm not bothering you with my overly long essay; I tend to talk way too much when a subject is close to my heart.

I'll be honest - When I first saw the length of your ask, I was just like "holy shit", and my first thought was to just read it and give a generic "yeah I agree" answer at the end. However, this was a very good read and I pretty much agreed with most, if not all of what you said. So it ultimately made me want to give my thoughts on a few specific things you mentioned which resonated with me.

Yep, I made a similar point during this post where I discussed a YouTube video about how Nobara (JJK) is apparently what Sakura (Naruto) was supposed to be, and I went into detail about how utterly flawed their reasoning was.

As much as I understand why people want women to have more diverse roles and not be reduced to the 'dumb blonde,' the 'damsel in distress,' or the 'walking love interest' as before, I also think that what we have today does just as much of a disservice to female representation as years ago. How is what we are doing today inherently different from before? We have taken female characters out of the tropes that imprisoned them... to fundamentally lock them into other stereotypical tropes that we refuse to let them out of again. These types of characters are often praised as examples of quality female representation, but is that really the case?

Yep, the feminist, boss babe archetype is dominating now. It's even seeped into the Marvel movies, which is a component of why they have tanked recently. It hasn't improved their character depth, and it often just seems as though the writers these days care more about racial diversity, LGBTQ representation, and their skewed idea of "female empowerment", rather than creating plots which are actually engaging and make sense.

I would like to see more weak women because it is not necessary to be traditionally strong to be valid. I want to see crazy people, psychopaths, eccentrics, but also sweet, shy, calm characters. I would like to see more women make mistakes without needing a tragic past to justify them. I would also like to see more realistic women. There are some, yes, but not many, and strangely these types of characters tend to be labeled as poorly written and then completely rewritten by their fandom to fit their idealized version of what a 'good female character' should be.

This part above resonated with me a lot.

The most uncomfortably accurate examples I have in mind are Mabel Pines and Sakura Haruno; just look at the hate these two receive to realize that a majority of the public can't handle female characters whose behavior is more human than extraordinary. The funny thing about this is that people don't even realize that with this kind of behavior, they are perpetuating stereotypes that ironically they are trying to break. Some realize it but prefer to absolve themselves by blaming the media/authors they accuse of poorly writing women, largely in order to justify the disgusting and relatively hypocritical behaviors they have towards certain female characters.

This is a very interesting point.

💯

It's as I always say - Sakura and or/SasuSaku are the exceptions to everything.

That is the reason why I even created this meme for myself, because I found myself saying this so often in response to Sakura being the only one getting hated on for things other characters have exhibited.

That reminds me of how often I see people describe themselves as Sakura fans, and then they proceed to criticise the fuck out of her (mainly due to her relationship with Sasuke and how it goes against all of their "boss babe" ideals of how apparently strong and independent women don't need no man!). And so I'm just like, how are you a Sakura fan then? If they had their way with Sakura's character, she would be unrecognisable to her canon self. They don't like Sakura, they like the idea of what they wanted her to be.

I don't watch Gravity Falls so I know nothing about the situation, but I can imagine what you're talking about.

Yep, that's essentially what recent feminism has devolved into, there's a lot of misandry involved in modern feminism, which is a shame because that doesn't align with its core principles.

The manner in which you articulated your opinions was very good, so I'm not surprised you're writing a thesis on this, I can tell how passionate you are about this topic. If you haven't done so already, you should consider starting your own blog or something similar as a hobby, I can tell you'd excel if the above is anything to go by 👍

#Sakura Haruno #Mabel Pines

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meruz · 4 months

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another ask post

i mean i also read it because a friend whos rly into queer SFF fiction circles recced it but she did kinda lead with "the writer used to write hs fanfic...tasmyn..taz...?" to which i replied

of COURSE I read the locked tomb because i heard taz had written a book. of course. ill consume most any media made by a beloved homestuck bnf. thats also why i played undertale. and read like..snotgirl. and idk... watched the new dub of neon genesis evangelion.

if u made homestuck fanwork 10 years ago and havent even made it since chances are I still remember and I love you for it.

sdlkfhsg its funny you sensed that because that drawing did in fact start kinda more........ well, I'd be lying if I said my hands never wrought a drawing toeing over the pg-13 line LOL...

NOT to say i have a secret stash of porn or anything. in general im more interested in the implication of sexuality or mature themes over any explicit depiction. like everything i draw is so softcore itd almost feel silly to make a nsfw acc for anything.

but im not rly jumping to post anything on main either bc i get the sense i have a lot of kids in my social media following. it varies from site to site and fandom to fandom but the themes in my work often circle around childhood, coming of age etc and in general i like stories about kids so the fandoms i draw for have a lot of kids in them. even stuff like IT (stephen king) which is about kids but isn't necessarily for kids.. there were a lot of kids in that fandom lol.

actually thats why ive been censoring swears in comics lately because the tmnt fandom comes across to me as a little young...IDK I've had MULTIPLE people ask me what "sodomize" means because of the joke in this post and I'm like... I Cannot be the one to explain this to you. you have to look it up on your own klfsdhsdg like i wouldn't be doing this if i were doing a comic for mgs or even homestuck wherein the characters textually swear constantly LOL but sometimes u gotta change tacks depending on the faces u see in the crowd yknow.

i HAVE been thinking abt drawing nsfw of sunspot/richard rider/kobak from x-men red just because that comic seemed to be really asking for it. who knows.. if the need rly arises maybe my separate account policy will change.

its rly more a matter of the fact that i havent read/watched much of any other iterations... im sure id like most lol. I like most things related to my interests regardless of quality. i rly like the marvel ultimate alliance games for instance. sometimes seeing my fave guy is enough he doesnt have to be well written LOL. i dont exactly have a wealth of free time tho thats the real impediment.

i did watch the 2007 movie on new years eve and found it quite charming overall. and i have read about 30-40 issues between the mirage and idw comics. still feels like im barely scratching the surface but i liked em. i rly want to read all the sophie campbell stuff bc i think her work is interesting. jason aaron will be a mixed bag i think lmao. i say as the worlds biggest Wolverine and the X-Men (2011) fan.

hmm this is kinda hard bc i feel like i naturally draw very loose and the hard part for me is tightening it up. maybe some suggestions tho...

1) hand excercises. i think its easy to forget this when many artists sit in front of the computer all day but drawing is a physical activity u do with ur actual...bodys...muscles lol. if u feel urself tightening up it might help to strech (any google search for "artist hand excercises" should yield good results) or do a page of loose practice strokes like..big circles. long lines. scribbles. that kinda thing. whatever feels good for ur hand. this is also just good to do as a general warm up before u sit down for any drawing sesh.

2) draw further away from the canvas. as a general rule...when ur painting traditionally you do the big strokes with your whole arm outstreched and a long handled brush. and when you do the details its smaller wrist movements and a shorter handled brush. so it might help to take a step back or push back from ur chair a little.. or hold ur tablet a little further away. and hold your pen further away from the nib.

3) change mediums / brush types. some brushes and mediums are more suited to loose sketching and some more inclined towards detail work. so changing ur tool could help. also! i personally have this problem where sometimes if im using a brush i feel really familiar with the pressure to make a "good" "finished" "perfect" drawing is greater... if i want to force myself to loosen up ill switch to a tool i dont use as often so it feels like the pressure is off. a lot of times for me this is switching from digital to traditional. but sometimes its switching from a small pen to a big marker. or a smooth pen to a textured one. or a nice brush to a shitty dried up marker.

but also every body is different so i dont think these tips will work for everyone. u should listen to what ur body and mind tell u and how drawing feels to you

bro just sign up and set it up i dont think theres much to it... i dont rly think too much abt my itch.io store because its digital goods so u just upload the file and let it do its thing. no distribution work needed on ur part. youll notice i barely even advertise my itch unless i have smth new on there lol.. its easy. but good luck!!!

idk if im the best person to ask this im more a comic fan than i am a comic professional... a comic hobbist.

well. scott mcclouds understanding comics and making comics are good books on the craft. i think i had to buy them for a class in art school once.

other than that idk just keep at it. comics are really laborious i think for a lot of people the hardest part is sitting down and doing it.

i think a lot of people have a very instinctive understanding of how to read comics and what they look like so whatever you think seems like good way to tell the story you have in mind, its probably right. if u get stuck, study comics that have done something similar. most people in comics are relatively self taught and actually it can be problematic bc you can tell when a lot of comic artists are all copying the same like 5 old white guys LMAO. but on the flip side if you make sure to reference and study broadly your comics will almost assuredly feel unique.

sorry im responding to this anyways. this is just a really nice ask. i like when people reference my older work bc i feel like sometimes theyre subtly implying it wasnt very good LMAOOO. but its true! at least compared to the work i make now ^^ and the fact that im still making art is whats keeping me from being embarassed abt how much of my old art just floats around online lmao im never ashamed to be growing and learning. isnt that a nice thought <3

#ask #too much art talk in this one

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sweetestpopcorn · 5 months

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How would you rank Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children in terms of greatness/potential? For me, Baelon was best out their children with Saera being second. I also think Viserra was a waisted potential. I think she could have done interesting stuff had she lived. Do you think perhaps maybe Baelon should’ve married her after Alyssa’s death? Obviously, no one could replace Alyssa in his heart.

Hi there :)

I have already kind of answered this regarding my thoughts about Saera and Viserra and none of it is good. I will just link them here and here . Legit they are just portrayed as mean girls with no real depth to them, though of the two, Saera is much, much worse. Viserra I can at least sympathise with since her parents seem to not give half a f_ck about her and did not even extend to her the same courtesy they did her siblings of having a say about her marriage (more here), but that's about it. I don't find anything else likeable about her she's just... empty.

I will go from least favourite to favourite.

Saera and Viserra go right to the bottom of my list. Followed very closely by Vaegon by obvious reasons. Like Vaegon, it literally costs you 0 golden dragons to not be so unlikable.

Then I would say Daenerys, she has a lot of sweet moments but dies young so I don't really know how she would have turned out. Besides, I know it's petty of me, but I don't like other characters having Dany's name. I do like Daenerys, Naerys's daughter but... yeah no more. You don't need more Daenerys, we have our Mother of Dragons. Yes, I know I am petty.

Then Gael because... poor baby 🥺 seriously what was George thinking writing a character who is Alysanne's comfort, with some degree of cognitive disability be r...... by some random singer, give birth, lose her baby, and kill herself?! Like enough's enough. It's literally just to add tragedy to her story and honestly Turtle man it's getting f:cking OLD. I swear this man gets his rocks off by adding tragedy and terrible abuse to female characters. This when he can bother to make them more than a walking womb.

Then I would say Aemon. Maybe he would be higher but at times I just feel he's too perfect if that's a thing. There’s just nothing wrong with him like 😂 he literally does nothing wrong.

Daella comes next because I find her funny. She's such a drama queen 24/7 making everyone around her want to protect her XD even Alyssa. I kind of got the vibes at times from her that she kind of knew what she was doing to get attention. Like the fact that she and Alyssa are Rhaenyra's grandmothers just makes so much sense no matter how you look at it. In a way Rhaenyra seems kind of a mixture of both? With tons of stubborn and style added. Another moment that really endeared me to Daella was her very tragic death, and how despite all her suffering she still wanted to be given Aemma and to feed her. Prime mom material right there -> like you can tell both from her and Alyssa that Rhaenyra got some top notch mom genes.

Then Alyssa of course, because she was THE queen. Literally she was just a better behaved version of her son and I'm here for it! I love how despite the fact that she was clearly a tomboy she still wanted to marry Baelon and give him an army of kids X'D because these two things are not mutually exclusive and liking or enjoying traditional boy things does not have to say anything about your sexuality or your desire to be a mother - just like being very feminine and liking traditionally feminine activities does not have to say anything about your sexuality or desire to parent. These are rules a society that does not understand nuance and in a sense is deeply sexist and stereotypical likes to put in place and that I find deeply harmful to people. But Alyssa is the BOMB, so funny, so bold, the way she embarrassed Vaegon who was a little sh:t *chef's kiss*

Then there's the best man ever -> Baelon Targaryen

Had his own cool nickname, The Spring Prince, funny, charming, sexy, single dad who never once forgot about his lady with the mismatched eyes, entered a tourney under the name of the Silver Fool... I don't feel like a need to say more, and in an era where all men were literally so problematic, Baelon was IT.

Baelon is what this fandom thinks Corlys is. Sorry not sorry.

And that's it :D

Also no, and more important that should Baelon remarry, the question is did he want to remarry? And the answer is no, and any Baelon fan would respect the Spring Prince and his undying love for his lady with the mismatched eyes <3

#saera targaryen #viserra targaryen #vaegon targaryen #daenerys targaryen #gael targaryen #aemon targaryen #daella targaryen #alyssa targaryen #baelon targaryen #fire and blood #valyrianscrolls #popcorn answers

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almost-a-class-act · 7 months

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Please share some givenson HCs I've been loving the Justified posting

It's like you knew I'm watching Justified and not studying! RIP.

Okay, bear in mind I'm on season 5 so I haven't seen it all, and I'm a bitch who thinks canon is a suggestion, so anything that doesn't make sense with canon? We get what we get and we don't get upset. Lmao.

Also, I have no idea if @cenyiere wants us to acknowledge that she was party to this but she was and so she must take responsibility for her crimes get credit. Anything particularly funny is all her.

Raylan is the one who drifts through life getting attached and not being particularly great at it but it's obviously something he wants, while Tim is not That Guy, traditionally. But now there's Raylan, unexpectedly, and Tim isn't sure what to do with it. Is he insecure about himself? No, rarely, but he's insecure about this nebulous thing they haven't named, that he's trying to fit into a life and routine that has been tightly regimented since the army.

So what I'm saying is, Raylan saying/doing soft romantic shit out of the blue to this man who has never, either expressly or by the way he presents himself, invited anyone to speak to him like that and accordingly doesn't know what the hell to do with it, is like a grenade in poor Tim's mental landscape but it's also how I figure they get beyond just being coworkers who fuck after a long day at the office.

2. Thinking about that time Tim was babysitting Raylan and stayed over at the motel, and Raylan woke up to just find Tim sitting there reading. Like this man had time to get up, shower, shave & brush his teeth, put that bucket of gel in his hair, get dressed, put his sleeping bag away, and settle in with his book, and apparently did it quietly enough that it didn't wake Raylan. This has implications for their morning routine when they live together.

Picture it: Raylan wakes up one morning at 6 to pee and Tim's side of the bed is not only empty, but not even warm anymore and it's been made (as well as a person can make one side of a bed when there's someone else in it). When Raylan's sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee later on while Tim does the exact same shit he does every morning whether Raylan is there or not because this man loves a routine (makes coffee, then eggs - sometimes enough for Raylan if he's not being a pain in the ass - then washes his dishes) Raylan is like, "I thought you said you get up at 6:30."

Tim is like, "No, I said I can't sleep past 6:30. If I want to run, shower, and drink my coffee like a civilized person before work, I set an alarm for 5." This is how Raylan finds out things about Tim, like that he runs and fucking hates being rushed through his coffee.

Related: Tim's mom sends him new high-end sheets every year for Christmas because I just want him to have nice things, okay? Raylan does not grasp this at all. "Always sheets?" "Yeah." "It's not really a surprise." "Why does it need to be a surprise?" "...I guess!"

In that vein, Raylan's always learning things about Tim deeply piecemeal, because Tim is not a closed book if you ask him a direct question but he's not like, volunteering personal information.

"I didn't know you had a mom." "Did you think I just sprang up out of the ground?" "No, I mean - you never talk about her." "...She thinks your hat is stupid."

(Raylan can't decide if he's offended by the remark or charmed to have been brought up in conversation.)

(It's both.)

3. Tim has an LOTR tattoo. (It's an Evenstar trampstamp.)

4. I know everyone is in love with Gold Star Gay Tim but I'm not mad at the idea of him being bi? His Very Extremely Hetero comments about Victoria's Secret models and Sigourney Weaver could well be a product of DADT-era Tim super accustomed to trying to fit in, but picture this: His ex-girlfriend rolls into town (the FBI agent he had an in with, maybe? Tim likes smart women but dumb men, it's his toxic trait) and shenanigans ensue. She walks right up to Raylan and eyes him up like, "...this one?" And Raylan suddenly gets the uncomfortable sense that he's being appraised by two versions of Tim. (Will I write this fic? Don't rule it out.)

5. Tim loves crackers. It came to me in a dream. He keeps a box in his desk and another one in the car for cracker-related emergencies. Raylan looks up during a serious moment when they're talking to a fugitive in the conference room just in time to see Tim quietly wedge an entire cracker into his mouth and then panic about how he's going to chew it quietly. Raylan's chasing down a fugitive and he's in a convenience store and on his way out, but he doubles back and grabs a particular box of crackers. Art is like, did I see you pause and waste 20 second grabbing crackers? Raylan's like, .........those ones are hard to find in Lexington.

6. I'm sure this particular smut has been written a million times but don't tell me Raylan isn't super into the idea of Tim wearing his hat while they smash.

7. It's the sad verse, everybody: Tim's dad pointed at gun at him a time or two when he was a kid and that's why he got a little attached to the idea of killing him with a gun.

8. Tim feels like his value is tied up in his job, which gets established early. When he's babysitting Raylan (in season 2 I think?) he says something like "will you give me some credit, I'm a professional", and when Raylan asks how he knows about Gary it's "because I'm good at my job?" And then of course: "I can't carry a tune etc but I don't miss." And when he's reluctant to help Raylan with the FBI thing it's because he doesn't want Raylan "going all Raylan" and burning his contact. I have feelings about this because flash forward if you will to established relationship Givenson, when Tim must know that a big part of the reason why Raylan and Winona didn't work out and he got a shot in the first place is because of the job they do. Something to stare at the wall about!

9. Two nights ago I watched that part in season 4 where Callie remarks on the fact that Tim held back with Bad Haircut Fuckface because "you had empathy for him" and Tim's like, when I take him down, his eyes will be clear. Thinking about the fact that he's probably lost a few friends to drugs, wasn't just avoiding the question when he told Bad Haircut Fuckface about joining the Marshals, understands that impulse to get fucked up and not think about it and the only thing that helps is having something to do that feels like it matters.

Also thinking about when he rolls up to help Raylan get into the veterans bar half in the bag and Raylan sounds vaguely incredulous when he asks, "are you drunk?" There's also the time when Art is talking to the guy who wants his job and says Tim "probably has ptsd, probably an alcoholic" and like, he's obviously just trying to scare this guy off but he clearly knows it's a possibility. Crucially, he doesn't know for sure.

All to say that I think maybe Tim walks a tricky line with alcoholism. When he drinks, he drinks HARD. He goes through times when it's too many nights a week. Never at cop bars or anywhere people might know him, sometimes alone. But since he doesn't drink at work and always gets up and does his morning routine and comes in seeming okay, no one notices.

10. Re: later on, established Givenson: Tim's emotionally aware enough to know that he could certainly look after someone else's kids - smash cut to the precious montage of him doing cute shit with Raylan's daughter - but he can't be someone's dad. He dragged himself out of a shitty childhood and made the best of a brutal military career where half his friends couldn't hack it in civilian life but there's no room in that carefully constructed stability, wherein he's carved out a productive adulthood and held his ground but he has to work at it, to figure out how to be a good parent and get up and do it every day. And I doubt he sees himself as the marrying type, either. I bet it's a long time before eventually Raylan is the one who suggests they move in together. There's an undercurrent of Tim like a caged tiger at first, having to share space he's unaccustomed to sharing and altering routines he's never altered. (I have the feeling Tim does a lot of work in the background, mentally, that people don't see. Raylan gets the hang of looking for it after a while.)

11. A happier one: Tim and Raylan can't remember which flannel is whose anymore. People are surprised to find out about them and then Rachel's like, are you kidding? Raylan's worn that green flannel four times in the last two weeks and it is NOT his. (Rachel Is The Best At Her Job Agenda 2k23. Tim just keeping tabs on Gary for??? What reason?? That's boyfriend behaviour. Raylan is just oblivious. You know Rachel knew!)

12. Tim I-Am-Not-Coming-Down-From-This-Car Gutterson is a cat guy. He's going to have a cat in any fic I write, sorry or you're welcome in advance. His cat's a hater, as well; Mittens and Raylan have a healthy wariness of each other.

13. There are these lyrics in the Fallout Boy song I put on my Givenson playlist (lol, you already know I'm wearing a full face of clown makeup, might as well tell you all the sorry details):

'Cause you're the last of a dying breed Write our names in the wet concrete I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me

HC: Tim has a therapist through the VA. Mentions it once (Art makes some comment about something and Tim's like, "my therapist did say I should work on that"). Raylan isn't sure if he's joking and asks about it later. "You have a therapist?" Tim looks up from step 4 of his unhingedly detailed morning routine like, "Can't you tell by how well-adjusted I am?" Raylan honestly still can't tell if he's joking.

14. Re: Tim and Winona: On Tim's part, once Givenson becomes a thing, there might be that surface level, like. That's the gorgeous woman who is always going to be in Raylan's life as his baby mama insecurity but it's not a real visceral jealousy. He almost feels a little sympathy because damn, it's clear that both parties got their hearts broken over that not working even though it was never going to. Could picture a conversation where Tim and Winona are trying to feel each other out when Raylan isn't in the room for whatever reason and neither of them are bullshitters so it's just like. "Are you worried you have something to worry about with me?" "Nope. If it were going to work, it would have." (I do think they'd be friends eventually because Winona is too much like Raylan for Tim not to come over fond, honestly. Lol.)

15. Raylan's daughter headcanons? Here we go!

Eventually the kiddo asks Tim what she should call him and he's just like "...Tim?" Because what else would it be? She draws a picture at school and it's labeled "my mom" "my daddy" "my Tim". Baffled to discover other kids don't have a Tim. Tim's only comment when he sees the drawing is: "Look, Raylan, she got your giant head right." But he puts it on the fridge and it stays there through moves and whatever else.

He definitely teaches this kid how to shoot when she's older because he doesn't want her learning bad habits. He explains it to Raylan like, "I have one marketable skill and it has served me very well so I'm passing it on." Raylan's like, "you have two, but one you can't teach her."

16. To circle back to Tim not considering himself to be the marrying type:

They've been together for years when Raylan makes some throwaway comment related to like, work benefits or something similarly unromantic: "I'd ask you to marry me tomorrow if I thought you'd say yes."

Tim gets that zeroed-in look like he does whenever Raylan says something that actually for-real pulls his focus: "What makes you think I wouldn't say yes?"

"Would you?"

"I don't do jewelry or contracts that don't expire."

"It's almost like I know you."

#my case of Never Shut The Fuck Up-Itis is nigh terminal #anyway for anyone who read all that I'm sorry about your brainrot #givenson #justified #tim gutterson #raylan givens

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sailorblossoms · 2 years

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Learning that some people actually regard the Simon Snow books as bi erasure is kinda frustrating actually because having a character consider it, and then being like "y'know what, I don't think this label fits me, because in spite of me having had a gf, I did not experience sexual attraction towards her, and I don't think that's actually bisexuality" is not erasure, and also a CORRECT take cuz being bi is about who you experience attraction to, not just who you're with (so often ppl think you HAVE to be gay if you have a same sex partner or you HAVE to be straight if your partner is a girl and you're a boy etc; that's actually erasure)

It's also almost funny because if you missed how much the first book was about the characters being trapped in roles and expectations (like the traditional hero and damsel, both of which are traditionally straight) and if you also decide not to believe Simon in spite of how dry and mechanical his thoughts about his relationship with Agatha are, or if you somehow missed how in that scene where he discusses the possibility of being bi with Baz the dialogue it's basically "were you attracted enough to have sex? wasn't that good?" he immediately answers "i wasn't into it (that's what "just going through the motions" means ppl!!)" and then he goes "you know what, actually thinking about having sex with my ex gf makes me realize I wasn't actually attracted to her. In fact, thinking about sex with this very beautiful girl does nothing for me at all, which in turn does nothing to bring clarity on whether or not I'm into women in general, it might even make me lean on the negative because of how not into it i was about the whole thing. Actually, what I liked about her was that I did not like her, cuz that allowed me to not process shit and exist purely on vibes. This is a huge realization I'm having right now so let me return to a place of comfort, to somewhere that gives me warm fuzzy feelings: being a certified Baz-fucker"

If you decide to ignore all that, you have my girl Agatha explicitly going "ah yes, that time I was the bitch helping that dude feel heterosexual, remember that. I sure do" like… She was practically looking straight at the camera in the style of the office and saying "compulsory heterosexuality is a hell of a thing!!!" She's telling us herself that she doesn't believe the dude she was with for 3 years was ever into her. She equates it to Baz, known homosexual, who we know pretended to be interested, when she goes "I stood between them, but like a dead badger in the middle of the road they had to get around to to get to their destination or something. Fuckers didn't even have the decency to make it dramatically romantic" because she realizes neither of those bitches was ever into her. They were not being bisexual together, they were all caught in a comphet circle (remember that Baz contemplated marrying her too) that was broken when Agatha, bless her, finally had enough. (She doesn't even need to say she was never actually into them either, the "I don't wanna be here" vibes are off the charts)

#snowbaz #simon snow #baz pitch #agatha wellbelove #literally cant see shit i disagree with without going #heres a 5k post about why this is wrong #carry on #baz x simon #awtwb #baz grimm pitch #simon snow trilogy #wayward son

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ccacoo · 7 months

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Am I the only one who is really feeling "meh" about season 2?

I hope this doesn't come across as ungrateful and by no means do I want to take away from anyone's enjoyment of the show. But with everyone celebrating the hell out of s2 I just feel like I'm going insane and I would love to hear from some other people for whom it didn't really land?

I think overall it just feels messily written to me, like the writers didn't have enough time to really develop a clear vision. I'm going to list some points that really stuck out to me and I'd be interested to hear whether it was like that for anyone else. If you love season 2, simply move on, be happy, this post is for the reluctant haters.

no cohesive story arch: This was done very well in s1. s1 is about Stede and Ed, two very different people who each have what the other lacks and wants, teaching each other how to be that. I'd argue it's also about Ed and Izzy drifting apart and the conflict that arises from that, and the conflict (and humour!) that arises from Stede consistently being at odds with his environment (his prior life, the crew). Season 2 has no clear arch like this. It's all over the place.

squandering characters' potential: Izzy. I know people are going batshit for Izzy singing and exploring his queer side, and I don't *hate* it, but as everything else, it feels too rushed to me to be satisfying. This was the guy who roped Ed back into his Blackbeard persona, who said "I serve Blackbeard, not some nampy-pampy in a silk dressing gown pining for his boyfriend." We are shown nothing in between this and him crying in front of the crew because Ed is just too toxic. For me, this transformation would have needed at least 1 season of buildup and could have been intensely funny, especially if Stede and Izzy had to spent a serious amount of time working together. Contrast is what makes the fun. Who else is there? Buttons! Holy hell! The stories they could have spun from that character, the mystery, the suspense. And then they just turned him into a bird and he flew away??? And then there's Lucius, who's so incredibly pale compared to s1. I thought a PTSD Lucius was an interesting development, but his "recovery" was also way too rushed to feel satisfying. In s1 we had side characters get entire stories of their own, like Jim's whole revenge plot. We met Jim's Nana, we got a developing romance between Jim and Olu, we had Jim and Jackie dance around each other continuously. Give me that with other characters! Give us some background on Lucius' past as a pickpocket. Where did he learn to read and write? Is there someone from his past that he has a bone to pick with? Is there someone he would like to reunite or make amends with? I feel like this should have been his season as a side character, the way s1 was Jim's. Instead, background characters firmly stay in the background. The Swede gets parked (or narratively killed off) at Jackie's. Buttons flies off. Frenchie, Roach, Wee John remain sidelined and stagnant. Jim and Olu are incomprehensible to me. Are they still a couple? Are they not? Who can tell.

The humour: This is also what irks me. If contrast makes the fun, why make everything and everyone sort of the same now? Stede is now just as badass as everyone else, Izzy is now just as queer and wholesome as everyone else, everyone is throwing around weird mental health language, Roach's go-to relaxation isn't torture anymore but clay face masks. As a result, stuff just isn't as funny to me anymore.

The tone: Oh, the tone :( I don't get the tone. Instead of the light-hearted and heartfelt silliness of s1 we now have actual torture, sawed off bloody legs, a serial killer like from Hannibal, toxic lesbians who poison and stab each other, ... this is looking like it wants to become a pirate show that is traditionally a culture of abuse and my thought is: why? And also: What if it weren't like that?

No cohesive villain: In s1, the main villain's motive is established with the murder of Nigel Badminton and the tension is kept up throughout the show by having little clips detailing Chauncey's quest of revenge – season 2 fails to do this. There is no main villain, unless you count nose guy. His introduction in ep 1 is messy, rushed and sort of forced in there, opposite to the Badmintons, who are given ample time and are really being horrible to Stede (complete with back story and everything). They are interesting because they personify some of the reasons why Stede was unhappy in his previous life - people bullied him for his softness. This ties in nicely with Stede's arch of learning to stand up for himself, to accept his softness and turn it into his brand of "gentleman pirate". Compare this to the nose guy who is "like Stede" in the way of being upper class. Could be interesting, but this is all we know about him. Stede and him barely interact. Maybe they wanted to set him up as a fan turned hater like Mr. Incredible and Syndrome? In that case I would have needed Stede to really be shitty to nose guy, which he wasn't. Moreover, by the time nose guy pops up again, I'd already forgotten all about him. The tension was simply not developed.

Forgetting to set up plot points properly: Two things. Firstly, how often does it happen that something they want to bring up in the episode only gets introduced in that same episode? When Jim says Olu has been pining for Zheng for weeks I was like: Ok? This is the first time I've heard of this. Secondly, whenever they bring something up, the also resolve it in the very same episode. Guys! Why do you need to introduce this stupid torture pirate as this ridiculous uber villain if you're gonna kill him off in the same episode? If the whole point was just to get Stede famous, why not bring back Calico Jack, someone we all *already* hate, who doesn't need to physically torture anyone in order for us to feel satisfied when he gets his ass kicked?

Mixed messages: Is this a show about how traumatic experiences have consequences? As illustrated by Lucius or the fact that everyone uses mental health language now, and is getting triggered by Blackbeard? But then why does everyone go right back to partying after having been tortured? Why does Stede want to have sex after just having murdered a man? Does almost getting murdered or murdering have consequences or not?

Bonus – What I liked: Ed in the nether realm – this was done well, it was funny, it was heartfelt, it was profound. I felt like I was watching s1. Stede and Ed interactions – when they didn't just callback to scenes we've already seen in s1 (*cough* moonlight *cough*), the dynamic was entertaining, enjoyable and endearing.

Feel free to add stuff, that you thought sucked or that was done well!

I really hope they give the writers more time to write s3! Cause, at least for David, it's clear that he can be brilliant, or s1 wouldn't be as great as it is. But it is. I haven't entirely lost hope yet.

#ofmd #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd spoilers

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stupidrant · 3 months

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Thanks to the previous user for that information about Skjoldr and Aesir goddess which I, too, didn't know of. And you absolutely don't need to apologize for anything, quite the contrary, you're stimulating analysis and critical thinking about the potential scenarios rather than forcing people into their bubble and that's why we all love you <3 The writers were occasionally paralleling Atreus/Angrboda and Skjoldr/Thrud from the start. For example, when Thrud calls Skjoldr and other midgardian boys "weird" to which Atreus indirectly references Angrboda's "weird can be good". This way he not only highlights the profound impact Angrboda had on him (being able to quote one of the very first things she said to Atreus) but also lightly encourages Thrud to give Skjoldr a chance. As the other user pointed out, Atreus alluded to Skjoldr's feelings for Thrud in a conversation with Mimir where he also stated he has no romantic interest in Thrud but Skjoldr does. That not even delving into some problematic elements of Atreus&Thrud's dynamic which we discussed before (such as her physical aggression towards him).

On the contrary, Atreus/Angrboda had positive and healthy interactions from the beginning and scenes that were traditionally framed as budding romance: the flower Atreus gave her which Angrboda ultimately kept on her table, Atreus inviting her to leave Ironwood and go with him multiple times, the "heart shape" of their hands when they performed the soul ritual, the fireflies (a classic romantic build up scene akin to magic carpet in Aladdin, lanterns in Tangled and Kiss the Girl in TLM), Angrboda holding his hand at her home before they're stargazing, Atreus trusting her with his beloved pet Fenrir, Atreus gently taking her hands in his and them leaning towards each other (which even Kratos interpreted as romantic with his "didn't want to intrude"), the goodbye hug and Angrboda giving him her marble.

Post-game several conversations between Kratos, Mimir and Freya indicated they all knew it was specifically Angrboda that Atreus liked and it was alluded that Atreus said or hinted as such to Mimir. In that vein, Mimir told Angrboda about her making an impression "on Atreus's heart" and he and Kratos noted they wanted to know Angrboda's "intentions" regarding Atreus. But visiting her in Ironwood was enough for them to no longer question her (though I admit it DID look rather invasive when Mimir started interrogating her about Atreus, especially since Angrboda, unlike Atreus, had no support system and was even less experienced with social interaction). Kratos - who referred to Angrboda specifically as someone Atreus is falling in love with, wondering if he'd prepared him for that - expressed his approval of her twice ("I like you", "I trusted her with my life, I trust her with my son"). Those scenes were obviously there to emphasize that's the romantic arc Atreus is going to get.

thank youu 🥺i think you and everyone else is far better at the analyzing than me tho! and yea ive noticed the parallels myself hence why its funny that its even being questioned in the first place 😭 the worst has passed imho

#skjoldr #atreus #angrboda #thrud #god of war #god of war ragnarok #asks

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eorzeashan · 8 months

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Shae and Eight are a funny pair to me bc I absolutely think Shae stomped up to the Alliance and went give me all your best warriors and every head turned to Eight in the middle of eating a sandwich who then proceeds to make this face bc he was so close to having a long break from work

Also, since Echani are historically Mandalorian rivals, I feel as if the move to take on an Echani as an ally in the middle of a Mandalorian civil war looks very controversial as if Shae is willing to use help from anyone even if it's shameful because she's so desperate to win/have overwhelming strength on her side, even if it means selling out to old enemies. Shae however, is rather contemporary, so she doesn't care about how it looks traditionally--he's one of the most skilled of their ilk, incredibly effective against other Mandos, and from the Alliance and that's all that matters to her.

Eight on the other hand, does feel a bit out of place, but he gets to make his ancestors proud and slaughter a bunch of bucketheads, so he's more than willing to finally fight an enemy that wants to die like warriors. He's not doing it out of his own interest though--Lana definitely sent him to keep an eye on those "predators" and possibly assassinate either Mandalore if needed, but that's not a high priority on his list and he deferred to Shae mostly since she made it clear she just wanted a good hunting dog to accompany her. And that's what he does best: kill who he's asked to, and protect.

Even more dog motif! Funnily enough, Vizla is the name of a bloodhound breed. So they're both just barking at each other, wolfdog and bloodhound. This is why Eight hates talking though. Every time he speaks up, someone goes "I'm not listening".

As charged as it feels to have her as his temporary leader, they work well together, especially since Eight prefers a no-nonsense make-myself-clear person of authority to just use him without frills attached. The posturing and social game of the usual Sith back home was more than a headache, and her directness makes it easier for him to not have to make decisions where they're not asked for or needed. Unlike Lana, who makes so much effort to try to appeal to him that it annoys him that she'd pretend to be his friend instead of getting to the point. Which isn't her fault for wanting to be close to her right hand, but to him it feels very mixed-- that she can't decide whether to treat him like a person or a weapon.

On a tangential note, I really like the idea of Eight interacting with Mandos a bit more than I did my first run; I feel as if the shared history between them and his own people makes for mutual curiosity and his odd appearance really uh, shone in the midst of all the armor.

In other words, I think Shae's mando camp all started petting him en masse.

#eight: shrill scream as he gets surrounded by mandos all trying to fluff his hair #rass starts the chain. it's his fault #swtor #ooc #they ask him stupid questions like why do you barely wear armor. “well you see it's bc im a slut. next question” 'i knew it'#<- quote from that one mando who thought it was gross that echani barely wear any still remains in my mind

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centrally-unplanned · 2 years

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I discussed this briefly on Twitter a while back, but someone commented that they didn’t see why Lain & Evangelion were often seen as ‘connected’ in Western anime spaces.

The main reason is, of course, A: They are both 90′s mindfuck anime that got big in 2000′s America. This is a whole genre, I know I discussed it before, but Evangelion, SEL, FLCL, Ghost in the Shell, etc fit this zeitgeist of alt + early internet trippy psychological-psychedelia. This is the same time period stuff like “Watch the Wizard of Oz w/ Dark Side of the Moon Playing” got big, let alone the obvious Fight Club + Matrix candidates. Even though these shows aren’t super connected in Japan (though, asterisk on that) they became connected in the west in how they were imported as a group to fill a niche western media, particularly for younger audiences, wasn’t filling. Certainly how dumpster fires like Elfen Lied were able to ride their coattails.

But I don’t think this is all there is to it - Lain and Evangelion actually share a lot of thematic overlap. B: is obviously the narrative dilemma - should Shinji/Lain sacrifice their humanity to Instrumentality/The Internet and abandon their individual connections to Asuka/Alice in exchange for being permanently connected to all of humanity to resolve the dilemma of human identity and loneliness? Im not being cute here, “We are all connected” is a Lain tagline and its also the entire point of the Human Instrumentality Project, these are very similar core plot points. Its not a coincidence of course - Japan, always 10 years ahead, was moving fast into a modernity of urbanization, hyper-literacy, atomization/individualism, “Society of the Spectacle”, all that jazz. Evangelion & Lain are both grappling with what it means to be a member of that new social paradigm.

This is the clear reading, but I think there is a third connection that is probably underappreciated today, namely C: the subculture assault. Shinji rejects Instrumentality, for a lot of reasons but one of them is that he is an expy for otaku as a culture and way of life, and Instrumentality stands for the illusions of connection otaku culture grants you. You think being an otaku makes you part of something greater? It doesn’t, that is all abstract, you are a flesh-and-blood individual with connections to individual people, you can’t choose otaku-dom over the real world. Reject Modernity, Embrace Traditionalism, Have Sex, the whole shebang. Everyone knows this about Evangelion now, its the obvious reading.

Lain however is doing the same exact thing, just with hacker culture over otaku culture. Its not positing in a vacuum the idea of “uplifting to the internet”, its responding to a whole subculture of writers & people who are already, in a way, living that dream/nightmare. You know, things like the “Cyberia” concept as spelled out in the titular 1994 book byDouglas Rushkoff - oh hey look thats the name of the nightclub in Lain, funny that! The 90′s into the 2000′s had a whole cultural movement around this, and Lain is rejecting it in the same exact way Evangelion is rejecting otakudom (which, to be clear, are both partial rejections, I’m simplifying).

The issue with recognizing that now is that otaku culture flourished, while hacker culture vanished. We don’t call it otakudom, of course, but fan culture, the extended fandom universe, going deep into media products, having one’s culture and reference points all come from a niche-but-shared media ecology, that’s everyone now! Okay fine not actually everyone, but its enough to no longer be a subculture. People don’t really talk as much about ‘otaku’ culture in Japan anymore because they are too widespread, and no longer seem uniquely Japanese, it can’t be one movement. Otaku won, so Evangelion’s Otaku critique remains valid, so valid they did a whole dumb remake to make the point even more explicit.

Meanwhile ‘hackers’ are dead. Like people, hack, sure, but its not a lifestyle anymore, because we all do live on the internet now and its nothing like that 90′s vision. Otakudom went everywhere and changed people, meanwhile the internet went everywhere and people changed it. “On the internet we all are connected” that is a fucking curse please Do Not Connect To Me if I have to listen to one more tweet about the impact of *Chapo Trap House* on *political discourse norms* I am going to bomb the Senate. Lain’s vision was pulverized and decapitated by reality, now existing as a nostalgic dream for a vanished utopia by hanger-ons time forgot still visiting IRC chat rooms or, well, Tumblr.

The idea that someone could watch Lain in 1998 and feel *personally attacked* is hard now for us to grasp, the way that End of Evangelion can just be a gutpunch to fans. But in 1998 the gutpunch was at least somewhat intended, and I can’t think of a peer show that shares that goal with Evangelion more than Lain, even if the target was different.

(Note: the ‘hacker’ culture imo did die but you can also say it evolved and moved on, into AI Singularity Rats, into *siiiiigh* crytpo, and other modes. I think the gap is too large for Lain to resonate in that way though)

#evangelion #serial experiments lain #anime discourse #mini-essay

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jacksoldsideblog · 5 months

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hey little water boy I feel like you would have something wonderful to say about The Great Salt Lake of Utah

I don't know a whole lot about the Great Salt Lake, but I do find it compelling! The following is things that stood out to me learning about it just now:

It's endorheic, meaning it is the point to which all water in the watershed goes. The watershed is a closed system; instead of flowing into another one or into the ocean a la most watersheds, it is like a bowl. A sink. Water has no choice but to go to the Great Salt Lake, where it will slowly percolate down into the local groundwater system or evaporate.

And that's why it's salty. Pretty much all endorheic lakes are. Those solutes, all the salts normally present in minute concentrations in freshwater, cannot go up into the atmosphere alongside water vapor after it evaporates. It's left behind. Even when going down into the water table, they get left behind a bit. So; it's salty, it's getting saltier, infinitely. Due to the shape of the basin, water will probably always flow there, but eventually the salt and sediment will build up enough that it won't be the lowest point and then maybe we will have the Great Salt Lake To The Left.

Ecologically it's interesting. Since it's cut off from the ocean, intrusion of traditionally saline species is unlikely, to say the least. But it has tons of wetlands, which support tons of migratory birds. There's some fish where freshwater contributes most directly, but the number is few and range is restricted enough that brine shrimp flourish.

There is a manmade causeway separating the lake into north and south sections with differing elevations, resulting in stratification and different algal regimes. The south is cyanobacteria dominant and even has stromalites! That's so cool! Stromalites were common in the world's original oceans. In the north, there's the common pink orange water dyeing friend Dunaliella, who is Rich In Beta Carotene. What's really neat/funny to me about this is this is basically the same set up that flamingos flourish in, since most are somewhat like extremophiles and are designed for living in endorheic lakes dominated by brine shrimp and Dunaliella. But they're natively elsewhere. But basically, you could totally have invasive flamingos in Utah if someone fucked up just a bit. Though, the brine shrimp are only transient in the north side of the lake; the north side also contributes to an underlying brine layer, so really it sounds like most life is probably on the south end.

Oh, also, due to the anoxic layer especially in the north end, there's high concentrations of methylmercury in pretty much all inhabitants of the lake. This is because like all places, atmospheric deposition of inorganic mercury occurs, but the wetland and anoxic layers of the lake allow bacteria which convert it to the much more poisonous organic form to proliferate. Thus, don't eat fish or birds from the Great Salt Lake.

Oh and it looks like they did finally realize the causeway restricting flow was Not Good, and popped a hole in it to put a bridge over, so increased flow will probably render the north side more habitable, which is nice. Seriously, that sort of thing is very beneficial for restoring the natural ecosystem, so go Utah on that aspect I guess

#asks

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deadlittledogs · 7 months

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I just keep thinking I should do something drastic to my hair, maybe go back to being a dyke? Being a dyke is a lot easier, super low maintenance. Instead of worrying about being sexy or appealing all I have to worry about is if my fat-guy shirts have a funny enough slogan on them. That’s fun, but God it’s also so fucking depressing. I told my mom the other day that if I end up romantically involved with a woman I’d just go ahead and cut all my hair off… but if I end up with a man I’d probably just keep it long. She quirked her eyebrow and for once, in her pathetic moid-catering life, was wise enough to open up her maw and say “That’s sort of messed up.”

I know it is, knew it the minute it initially popped into my head, but even just vocalizing it wasn’t enough to shame me out of whatever compulsion originally created the thought. I feel like if I was with a girl I’d could probably just sigh, kick back in my jeans, and do whatever the fuck I wanted. Short hair, baggy pants, fat-guy shirt with something stupid on it, I doubt she’d care all that much. Fuck she might even like it. So much stress would be gone…….. DUDES ARENT LIKE THAT THOUGH…………..DUDES SCARE ME AND…. RIGHT NOW I WANT TO BE AS AVAILABLE AS POSSIBLE, TO EVERYONE….. and I do like being traditionally feminine sometimes, I wear it when it suits me, and I don’t want to take it away completely. I’m just terrified of how I’m perceived when I’m not doing it…terrified of how I’m perceived when I am doing it.

I feel scared at how I’m never happy with myself and I’m always wishing it was different, no matter what side of the coin I’m on. I’m scared that I’ll live in this perpetual state of dissatisfaction and restlessness and indecision until I’m rotting on my deathbed thinking “Should I get a tongue piercing? Do you think I’d look good as a strawberry blonde?”

God, I just miss being topless in the desert. That was a great day. All that mattered was the frozen clay and sage brush and the eagles flying high under a hot, winter sun. No one around for miles to worry about looking at me. Just my boobs out in the wild, playing with sticks and collecting feathers and getting all soppy eyed when I thought real hard about how awesome Mother Nature was and how being out there just felt so inexplicably right. Even when I started getting paranoid that maybe someone, someone I couldn’t see was far away in the hills with a pair of binoculars and laughing that I was fat and gay and greasy, it was so easy to get distracted by frost speckled wild flowers and the sound the mud and snow made when it crunched underneath my boots. Little blips where I could just be. Then I had to put my shirt back on and trudge my way back to the cabin to deal with the rotten whore throwing a tantrum on the couch who proceeded to treat me so bizarrely I spent the next five days second guessing every single thing I did. But ain’t that life?

I’m just so exhausted having ugly people problems…. or I wish that my life was filled up with enough good things that the insignificant things didn’t feel so big anymore. I’m just too inside my own head, I’ve always been told that, by everyone…. BUT I FUCKING LIVE IN THERE, WHERE ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO GO???? someone just play toys with me in the desert jesus christ 😭

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