Lars of the Stars poster ^w^
commissions info
No title available
trying on a metaphor
ojovivo
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
KIROKAZE
Mike Driver
Sade Olutola

if i look back, i am lost

oozey mess

Discoholic šŖ©

Janaina Medeiros
Game of Thrones Daily
Monterey Bay Aquarium
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Peter Solarz

@theartofmadeline
YOU ARE THE REASON
Stranger Things
d e v o n
dirt enthusiast
seen from United States

seen from Uruguay

seen from Italy

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@blackcatfantasia
Lars of the Stars poster ^w^
commissions info
HAPPY NEW YEAR, BITCHES
This is how the golden age of piracy ended.
The first mermaid to get tattoos :)
āwe didnāt know any better,ā the crewman says, and swallows, presenting the chest to the captain. āwhat do we do now?ā
ākill it,ā the captain says, but the ice is melting in his eyes.
āwe canāt,ā the first mate says desperately, praying she wonāt have to fight her captain on this. āwe canāt. we - i wonāt. we wonāt.ā
āi know.ā
x
ādaddy,ā she says, floating in a tub of seawater in the hold, ādaddy, la-la, la-la-la.ā
her voice rings like bells. her accent is strange; her mouth isnāt made for human words. it mesmerises even the hardiest amongst them and she wasnāt even trying. the crew has taken to diving for shellfish near the shorelines for her; she loves them, splitting the shells apart with strength seen in no human toddler, slurping down the slimy molluscs inside and laughing, all plump brown cheeks and needle-sharp teeth. she sometimes splashes them for fun with her smooth, rubbery brown tail. even when they get soaked they laugh. they love her.
ādaddy,ā she calls again, and he can hear the worry in her voice. the storm rocking the ship is harsh and uncaring, and if they go down, she would be the only survivor.
ādonāt worry,ā he says, and goes over, sitting next to the tub. the first mate, leaning against the wall, pretends not to notice as he quietly begins to sing.
x
āfather,ā she says, one day, as she leans on the edge of the dock and the captain sits next to her, āwhy am I here?ā
āyour mother abandoned you,ā he says, as he always has. āwe found you adrift, and couldnāt bear to leave you there.ā
she picks at the salt-soaked boards, uncertain. her hair is pulled back in a fluffy black puff, the white linen holding it slipping almost over one of her dark eyes. one of her first tattoos, a many-limbed kraken, curls over her right shoulder and down her arm, delicate tendrils wrapped around her calloused fingertips. āalright,ā she says.
x
āwhy am I really here?ā she asks the first mate, watching the sun set over the water in streaks of liquid metal that pooled in the troughs of the waves and glittered on the seafoam.
āwe didnāt know any better,ā the first mate says, staring into the water. āwe didnāt know- we didnāt know anything. we didnāt understand why she fought so viciously to guard her treasure. we could not know she protected something a thousand times more precious than the purest gold.ā
she wants to be furious, but she canāt. she already knew the answer, from reading the guilt in her fatherās eyes and the empty space in her own history. and she canāt hate her family.
āitās alright,ā she says. āi do have a family, anyways. i donāt think i would have liked my other life near as much.ā
x
her kraken grows, spreading its tendrils over her torso and arms. she grows too, too large to come on board the ship without being hauled up in a boat from the water. she sings when the storms come and swims before the ship to guide it to safety. she fights off more than one beast of the seas, and gathers a set of scars across her back that she bears with pride. āi donāt mind,ā she says, when the captain fusses over her, ānow i match all of you.ā
the first time their ship is threatened, really threatened, is by another fleet. a friend turned enemy of the first mate. āwe shouldnāt fight him,ā she says, peering through the spyglass.
āwhy not?ā the mermaid asks.
āheāll win,ā the first mate says.
the mermaid tips her head sideways. Her eyes, dark as the deep waters, gleam in the noon light. āare you sure?ā she asks.
x
the enemy fleet surrenders after the flagship is sunk in the night, the anchor ripped off the ship and the planks torn off the hull. the surviving crew, wild-eyed and delirious, whimper and say a sea serpent came from the water and attacked them, say it was longer than the boat and crushed it in its coils. the first mate hears this and has to hide her laughter. the captain apologizes to his daughter for doubting her.
ādonāt worry,ā she says, with a bright laugh, āit was fun.ā
x
the second time, they are pushed by a storm into a royal fleet. they canāt possibly fight them, and they donāt have the time to escape.
ālet me up,ā the mermaid urges, surfacing starboard and shouting to the crew. ābring me up, quickly, quickly.ā
they lower the boat and she piles her sinous form into it, and uses her claws to help the crew pull her up. once on the deck she flops out of the boat and makes her way over to the bow. the crew tries to help but sheās so heavy they can barely lift parts of her.
she crawls up out in front of the rail and wraps her long webbed tail around the prow. the figurehead has served them well so far but they need more right now. she wraps herself around the figurehead and raises her body up into the wind takes a breath of the stinging salt air and sings.
the storm carries her voice on its front to the royal navy. they are enchanted, so stunned by her song that they drop the rigging ropes and let the tillers drift. the pirates sail through the center of the fleet, trailing the storm behind them, and by the time the fleet has managed to regain its senses they are buried in wind and rain and the pirates are gone.
x
she declines guns. instead she carries a harpoon and its launcher, and uses them to board enemy ships, hauling her massive form out of the water to coil on the deck and dispatch enemies with ruthless efficiency. her family is feared across all the sea.
x
āyou know we are dying,ā the captain says, looking down at her.
she floats next to the ship, so massive she could hold it in her arms. her eyes are wise.
āi know,ā she says, āi can feel it coming.ā
the first mate stands next to the captain. she never had a lover or a child, and neither did he, but to the mermaid they are her parents. she will always love her daughter. the tattoos are graven in dark swirls across the mermaidās deep brown skin and the flesh of her tail, even spiraling onto the spiked webbing on her spine and face. her hair is still tied back, this time with a sail that could not be patched one last time.
āwe love you,ā the first mate says simply, looking down. her own tightly coiled black hair falls in to her face; she shakes the locs out of the way and smiles through her tears. the captain pretends he isnt crying either.
āi love you too,ā the mermaid says, and reached up to pull the ship down just a bit, just to hold them one last time.
āguard the ship,ā the captain says. āyou always have but you know theyāre lost without you.ā
āwithout you,ā the mermaid corrects, with a shrug that makes waves. āwhat will we do?ā
āi donāt know,ā the captain says. ābut youāll help them, wonāt you?ā
āof course i will,ā she scoffs, rolling her eyes. āi will always protect my family.ā
x
the captain and the first mate are gone. the ship has a new captain, young and fearless - of the things she can afford to disregard. she fears and loves the ocean, as all captains do. she does not fear the royal fleet. and she does not fear the mermaid.
āyou know, i heard stories about you when i was a little girl,ā she says, trailing her fingers in the water next to the dock.
the mermaid stares at her with one eye the size of a dinner table. āis that so?ā she hums, smirking with teeth sharper than the swords of the entire navy.
āthey said you could sink an entire fleet and that you had skin tougher than dragon scales,ā the new captain says, grinning right back at the monster who could eat her without a momentās hesitation. āi always thought they were telling tall tales.ā
āand now?ā
āthey were right,ā the new captain says. āhow did they ever befriend you?ā
the mermaid smiles, fully this time, her dark eyes gleaming under the white linen sail. āthey didnāt know any better.ā
I don't know if you're still taking requests, but how about the first time they said "I love you" to each other?
You and I were talking about this earlier actually (for the benefit of the folks at home)! I think the first time Kravitz said it to Taako was in Story and Song, and maybe it kinda took both of them by surprise a little when he did.
But from that point I think Kravitz was always pretty forthcoming with verbal affection and reassurance. I mean in the very short airtime he had from that point onwards, he didnāt really hedge about it.
But this ask got me to wondering about what would be the situation that would finally push Taako over the edge to say it. I donāt necessarily picture him like, always wanting to or trying to as heās sometimes portrayed, I just think itās a direction he doesnāt want to go, at least out loud. Sincerityās never been his schtick. I mean we never even heard him say it to Lup iirc? But like Lup knows, or Magnus or Merle or Angus knows, Kravitz knows Taako loves him for a long time before he ever admits it out loud, lol. I like to think that when he does tell Kravitz, he ends up getting kinda nervous and ready to get his hackles up if Kravitz tries to get sappy about it, but it ends up not even really being a thing.
Taste closed
Inspector, if you canāt find the murderer I suggest wrapping this up (yea)
boss fight
Played Bully. Want more Bully.
Find someone who supports you like this cat supports his ownerās music
via @sarperduman
The cat is sooo soothed by his music its so freaking cute!!! And damn is this man talented
šš
so it turns out one reason why kissanimeās been sucking ass lately in terms of load times is cause rapidvideo literally uses your browser to mine cryptocurrency???
And thatās just like, one of the hundreds/thousands of other sketchy things the site has going on in the background by just sitting on any of its web pages without an adblocker/scriptblocker
Yo, if you wanna use KissAnime, you gotta be able to protect yourself & your computer from its shadiness. This post is discouraging, but sadly, there arenāt any lessĀ shady alternatives (aside from the legal streaming sites, of course) Anyway, if you wanna use any streaming site, you should download these Chrome extensions:
- uBlock Origin
And then youāre gonna wanna add this list to your uBlock filtersā¦it blocks a lot of the nasty popups.Ā
- Kiss Essentials
Removes ads and adds functionality. Can never be too safe, right?
- Pop Up BlockerĀ
This extension is a lifesaver, seriously. Personally, Iāve never seen it used on Kiss, but it works a lot on other streaming sites. With uBlock, Essentials, and Pop Up Blocker, itās very rare that I see ads.Ā
- Minerblocker
As the name suggests, it blocks crypto miners. I canāt vouch for its reliabilityĀ yet, as it hasnāt blocked anything for me atm.
I also use a tampermonkey script to block theĀ āAre You Human?ā thing. Pretty sure itās on the Kissanime redditĀ (also, if you use Kiss a lot, browse that sub even more!! Itās really useful to know what the hell is going on the site before you risk your computer). Make sure to download Malwarebytes, too!Ā
reblogging this again because this is a much better version than just sayingĀ ādont use kissanimeā
All illegal streaming services do stuff like this, so instead of going somewhere else, learn how to protect yourself from malicious advertisements.
FREELANCERS: RETIREMENT SAVINGS 101
Hey, how often do you think about being an old person? As someone with a deep, persistent fear of dying alone and penniless, I think about this a lot. I can solve the āaloneā part with a lot of cats, but the āpennilessā part is a little trickier. I canāt count on the fact that Iāll be able to work forever, and as a freelancer I donāt have a pension or an employerās 401k plan to sustain me. Iām CERTAINLY not counting on Social Security to bail me out, and neither should you.
This is where Individual Retirement Savings (IRAs) come in! I havenāt seen much advice about this geared towards artists, so I thought Iād write a post about it. You can start saving at any age for your future comfort and happiness, and thereās no blood sacrifice or mystic knowledge required! What is required is a basic understanding of how IRAs work, and the willingness to sign up for one and start saving. If you are earning money, donāt have a retirement savings account, and can spare a chunk of cash each year, start now!
So, the basics:
There are few different kinds of IRA, but for simplicityās sake Iām mostly focusing on Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs. Each IRA has the same goal, to allow you to save money for retirement, and to let your money to grow tax-free in the time in-between. You can set one up for yourself so long as you (or your spouse) have earned income.
What makes IRAs different from a regular savings account? IRAs can generate a lot more earnings over time because you donāt pay taxes every year!
IRAs are typically composed of investments (in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.) so your gains will fluctuate year to year depending on the financial landscape and the kind of investments madeābut you can expect to earn around 7% over the long-run, which is way better than the average savings account interest rate of 0.06%. Thatās not to say that a savings account is bad. If you have a savings account, THATāS GREAT. If you have extra savings and youāre willing to wait 30 or so years to take it out, open an IRA to take advantage of the higher growth potential!
You can open an IRA through most large financial institutionsābanks, mutual fund companies, and brokerage firms, any of which can offer a variety of investment options. The fees and fee structure for each institution can vary however, so itās good to compare. (You can start by searching on google for āwhere to open a Roth IRAā or āwhere to open a Traditional IRAā)
TRADITIONAL & ROTH IRA, COMPARE & CONTRAST
Who can contribute to an IRA?
In a Traditional IRA, anyone with earned income of any amount can contribute, but you must be younger than 70 ½. In a Roth IRA, you can be any age, but you must have a modified adjusted gross income of less than $131,000 if youāre single, or a modified adjusted gross income of less than $193,000 if youāre married filing jointly.
How much can you contribute per year?
In both plans, you can contribute up to $5,500 each year, or up to $6,500 if youāre age 50 or older. You donāt have to contribute the max amount, and you donāt have to contribute every year. The max amount is increased every so often so itās a good idea to check into the current maximum contributions allowed (just google āmaximum IRA contributionā)
Whatās the deal with taxes??
The big difference between Traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs is when your money gets taxed. With a Traditional IRA, when you CONTRIBUTE money you donāt have to pay taxes on it, but when you WITHDRAW money you have to pay income tax on it at that time.
In a Roth IRA itās the oppositeāwhen you CONTRIBUTE your money you pay taxes on it, and when you WITHDRAW the money it is entirely tax-free.
Simplistically, this means that if you are currently in a high tax bracket and think you will be in a lower tax bracket by the time you retire, a Traditional IRA may save you more money. If you are in a low tax bracket right now and anticipate that by the time you retire your income taxes will be higher, the Roth IRA will be a better fit. You can also have retirement savings in both kinds of accounts (though your total contribution per year still maxes out at $5,500/$6,500), and/or roll over one kind of account into another down the line.
One big tax caveat: If you or your spouse have the ability to contribute to an employer sponsored retirement plan (i.e. 401k) you can still contribute to a Traditional IRA, but depending on your income level you may not get the tax deduction. This is referred to as a ānon-deductible IRA contributionā, and it affects āpre-taxā IRA accounts, like Traditional IRAs. Employer sponsored retirement plans have no effect on your contributions to a Roth IRA account though!!
Thereās a 10% penalty if you withdraw money from your IRA account at the wrong time. So WHEN can you withdraw your money without penalty?
In a Traditional IRA, you can start withdrawing your money at the age of 59 ½, and MUST start taking minimum withdrawals at age 70 ½. (I donāt know why the half-numbers are important, but themās the facts!)
In a Roth IRA, there are no mandatory withdrawals, and you can start withdrawing your money at the age of 59 ½ ā if your withdrawal is at least 5 years after your first contribution was made. (So, if you start contributing to a Roth IRA at age 56, you wouldnāt be able to withdraw your earnings without a penalty before the age of 61. This isnāt an issue if you start earlier!)
Roth IRA BONUS: Roths allow you to withdraw your previous contributions at ANY TIME without penalty, provided you donāt take out the interest your contributions earned. (So if you contribute $10,000 over time and your Roth IRA earns an additional $8,000 in interest for a total of $18,000 in your account, you can still withdraw that original $10,000 at any time, no matter when or what age you are)
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU??
It means that young freelancers are in an ideal situation to start contributing to a Roth IRA account. If you are just starting working, itās likely that you are in a lower tax bracket right now than you will be later, so Roth IRAs can be very beneficial. The longer you have your money in a retirement savings account, the more time it has to growā$5,500 a year may sound like a lot to contribute at first, but you donāt have to contribute the full amount and you donāt have to contribute every year. If you can only contribute $1,000 a year, contributing ANYTHING is better than nothing, as long as you start sooner rather than later. Also, because Roth accounts let you withdraw your original contributions at any time, if you find you need to use some of that money for an unexpected expense you can always take it out without penalty.
ONE !!!IMPORTANT!!! CONSIDERATION:
There is MONETARY RISK involved in contributing to any IRA. Since all IRAs are investments and investments can fluctuate, there may be some years where your account experiences losses instead of gains. Sometimes there may be less money in the account than what you contributed. This is to be expected, and the longer you are able to let your account grow the greater your overall gain will be, despite any fluctuations along the road. This is another reason why starting as soon as possible is best.
Other situations to consider: If you already have a 401k account from an employer, you can also open your own IRA in addition. If your employer matches your 401k contributions, do that firstāthatās free money! If you max out your employer contributions and want to contribute more, you can put the rest in your own IRA (but it may be considered a ānon-deductible/after-tax contributionā. See āOne big tax caveatā above)
If you are self-employed (or a small business owner) and you would like to contribute more than $5,500 each year to an IRA, consider the SEP IRA. The SEP IRA functions very similarly to a Traditional IRA, but you can make higher yearly contributionsāup to $53,000 per year! There are other rules that govern this, though.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
Artists, if your cost of living can support it, start a retirement savings account now if you donāt have one already. Itās the best thing you can do for your future-self.
Full disclosure: Iām an artist, not a āwealth management professionalā and if you have any questions about retirement savings accounts you should talk to qualified persons. Iām just scratching the surface hereāI speak only from my own experience & simplified understanding. Iām happy to have a Roth IRA account with Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney and have been contributing since college, my uncle works there and is my financial adviser. I wrote this because I have seen very little income-allocation advice geared towards artists, and I feel fortunate to have benefited from my parentsā and uncleās experience. Contributing a little bit to your future security is easier than you may think.
Team Unsolved.
āWeāve been waiting for you, Steven.ā
[Demyx voice] DANCE CARMEN, DANCE
What she says: I'm fine
What she means: Why did Sky High teachers do nothing to stop children from becoming villains? There is no way they could have missed how sadistically some of the kids acted but they did nothing about it, even allowing physical bullying of dangerously powered kids against kids with basically no powers as well as sexual harrassment. They clearly saw in the simulator that two of the boys liked being villains, they blatantly said that they liked being villains to the teachers and nothing was done. Is it because the kids don't get a choice in having any other career beyond being a superhero? Are they letting them be villains so they can match their supply of heroes with a demand for them? They create villains jut so they can have a reason to become famous and fight them. It is a corrupt super hero society and no one is willing to stop it
inktober day 12 prompt was adult ryuji but idk how to draw older people⦠but like. they are Married in the future soo heres some domestic flufff
Imagine (Ė ā Ė) āæ
cmon man, no slowin down, early morning runninās good for ya! or so i heard anyway!!