seeing through a mirror dimly

burr, she/her, artist, i like cats and disheveled men

[burr-ell]

he doesn't miss him. please don't put it in the newspaper that he misses him

[your-turn-to-role]

another point to add to the discussion we've been having about tertia, whether or not she was okay with her own sacrifice, and therefore whether or not occtis would have been okay with it if his family had accepted him from the start and told him this was his way to serve the family

i was rewatching that conversation between thaisha and occtis near the end of episode 16, and the awful thing is, i don't think that's an if

because this is how that conversation ends

and there's no amount of sarcasm or anything on that last line, it's genuine. even occtis who has been estranged from his family, and who's had the ability to grow outside them at least partially, finds a lot of comfort in knowing that this wasn't an act of emotion, it's not just because they hated him, there was a purpose to it and he had a purpose within their plan

and no, he didn't want them to kill him even if they had a reason, he's gonna be dealing with the weight of that one for a while, and he's had the time and space to find a life outside of duty to the family, so it's no longer his main priority

but it's still much easier, to think of this as the use they could never find for you, than to try and come to terms with how a family you still on some level care for could just rob you of everything and not even feel bad about it

and if occtis hadn't had the life outside of his duty, hadn't made friends with people who don't think like his father does, i think he'd rationalise it exactly the same way

[utilitycaster]

ok I know a lot of people talk about the fandom "lurk more" advice as a matter of picking up on the etiquette, but actually? I know this might be a little controversial, but it is also of value to get a sense of the pre-existing drama and sore spots. This is true in real life institutions as well, but having at least a vague sense of the history and past discourse and disputes will serve you well even and, I would argue, especially if you want to avoid the drama. In an ideal world, sure, we'd all give people benefit of the doubt every time, and even trying to get a sense of the vibe or even being an active participant will not guarantee you know everything (especially when we talk about cross-platform discussions). But a lot of the worst drama I've seen has been people blithely treading on raw nerves out of ignorance, and when they received pushback, doubling down because "I didn't know, and it's unfair for you to have this inconvenient sore spot" instead of saying "sorry, I didn't realize and I didn't mean it in that way."

[utilitycaster]

this also would help with one of my personal major pet peeves, "I don't get why people don't like this thing." Like, if the issue is you haven't looked at their posts and arguments, lurking and reading those posts would fix this! The other option of course is that you're really stupid, and I think most people would not like to claim that quality.

[sebsketchs]

sticker design for pride this year! 💞🏳️‍⚧️

[aviantastic]

Tree Swallows by Linda H. Dulak - Audubon Photography Awards

[fluentisonus]

barn swallows depicted in the “spring fresco”, akrotiri, thera, greece. c. 16th century BC

[cryptidofthecove]

[demi-pixellated]

A Night on the Town

[demi-pixellated]

"You call that Riding, Pretty Boy?" 🏇🧡🏇💜

[roxyryokoart]

Leolorenz Hand kisses

[roxyryokoart]

Leolorenz Commission for @snowboundranger

[aurora-boring-alis]

🧡💜

[thejusticethatissocial]

flesh flesh flesh flesh flesh flesh flESH FLESH FLESH FLESHFLESHFLESH

[your-turn-to-role]

that's twice now brennan has given hal the ability to roll a d12 bardic inspiration (which bards don't get until level 15+), and i love the symbol here of hal for just this night, at the culmination of everything hal has ever worked for, gaining more than ten levels in a single moment

[freshcuntgrass]

A stage full of lots of low-level bards combines to make one single, enormous,, high-level bard. It's like that math problem with the 4800-player Beethoven blast

[aaawunder]

average person hates dedue for being alive while from duscur. felix however hates dedue because he thinks dedue is dimitri’s stupid brainwashed toadie. wow

[aaawunder]

the thing about dedue and felix is that felix somehow misses that dedue is not following dimitri out of any cultural loyalty, like everyone else he has beef with. because dedue is not from faerghus, and also hates faerghus. dedue is following dimitri purely because they have the same goals and it benefits dedue because gets political power from dimitri. (also they’re friends. they like each other)

dedue is the last person that felix should be criticising on the topic of blind obdience, and felix would probably get along with him if it wasn’t for felix’s giant hateboner for The Boar.

[doodleofbugness]

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

villain going to the goon shelter to pick out a new henchman

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

this energetic and diabolical boy was rescued from a goon hoarding situation… he loves pulling levers, gloating, and turning cranks with great abandon. prefers to be the only goon. needs an active lair with plenty of enrichment.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

now this fella comes with some baggage. his previous villain was going to have put down when he refused to perform unsedated human vivisection as a form of torture. one of our agents intercepted the execution and brought him to the goon shelter. would thrive in an environment of G or PG-rated villainry.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

on the other hand, if you’re looking for something a little more… advanced… then this fine lady over here would make a great challenge for an experienced villain able to set firm boundaries. she will NOT be released to first-time villains; proof of prior henchpeople must be demonstrated before adoption approval. high prey drive. under no circumstances should she be left alone with children or small animals. must sign waiver releasing the goon shelter from responsibility if her behavior is deemed excessively depraved.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

These two are pair-bonded and may only be adopted together. Up for anything, they are fiercely loyal to their employer provided their needs are met and they are permitted to hold hands. They look alarmingly similar to one another but it is undeterminable whether they are close blood relatives or lovers who choose to dress and style themselves in identical ways. Habit of finishing each other’s sentences with rhyming couplets; we have not attempted to train this out of them. Will answer to whatever names or titles you give them so long as they are complimentary and/or rhyme.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

Will you help this goon find his forevil lair? He’s been returned to the goon shelter six times now but we refuse to give up on him. A vile little rat of a man, he’d be the perfect accomplice to someone willing to overlook his unfortunate heterosexuality. If gay-coding is not your style and you don’t expect it from a henchman, please consider giving this little guy a good home in your dastardly schemes.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

This guy is not your typical goon. He was rescued from a high-kill shelter after being deemed unfit for henching. His deep baritone voice, his darkly handsome good looks, and his flair for the dramatic have made prospective employers pass over him time and time again, making him the longest resident of the goon shelter. But don’t judge a book by its cover—while his appearance and demeanor suggest “villain”, his real passion is taking orders and faithfully serving a master. If you’re secure in your villainry and not prone to jealousy, he may just be what it takes to turn your base into a lair.

[musicalhell]

Now this big fella, we've named him Tony the Greek, he was rescued from an illegal goon mill for Runyonland Thugs. This is a very popular breed due to their classically intimidating looks and charming speech patterns, but they are very high-maintenance. The Runyonland Thug was originally bred for debt collection and deterring private investigators, so they need a bustling urban environment to run around in--if you keep him cooped up in your ominous castle or island volcano lair, he'll get restless and start roughing up your other minions. Proper grooming is essential; make sure his suits are nice and pressed and he has a long coat and a hat for when he's going out on errands for you. And they love toys--mostly Tommy guns and brass knuckles, but Tony, you can see, loves his blackjack. Sadly selective breeding has resulted in a tendency towards health problems--alcohol abuse, excessive gambling, getting shot in a police raid--but with care this loyal henchman will bring you joy and your enemies pain for years to come.

[shorthaltsjester]

listen i’ve been dealing with life stuff for the past like year which has greatly impeded my ability to write as much or any meta stuff about c4 which is devastating because my investment in c4 is so much higher than it was in c3 but instead of the huge ass meta i want to write about how much i’m just gonna gesture emphatically and with great vervet at how much i’ve been obsessed with kattigan especially given that the aforementioned life stuff is not disconnected from my own indigeneity and the family legacies whose encounters with western society left us uh. burdened to put it politely. kattigan vale is the character of all time. like this stoic alcoholic who has this severity that he pairs with a like. careful playfulness about it that’s both like. self aware and also looking away like MAN that scene back when he looked into the blade of the knife and saw the face of a haggard drunken man that when robbie asked if he recognized (i assume, thinking it was kattigan’s alcoholic father) brennan hit him with “it’s you.” what a scene. what a scene. didn’t make me sob like a baby. what a scene.

and now fucking. listen. i’m a huge fan of brennan’s dming always. robbie is an incredible fucking role player. the shit they’re doing with the like. unreliability of kattigan’s self perception and memory. concocted in a lab to make me rattle the bars on my bad times cage. i’ve seen a couple people talk about the parallels with mmiwg especially given robbie’s own indigeneity as they should and as i find so compelling but in addition to that like. the memory/fogginess shit robbie and brennan are playing with are also hitting me hard in that same vein of like. obviously large scale cultural memory is a huge thing that has been scattered by the fists of colonialism but also on the smaller like. family to family level like. the amount of family members i have who couldn’t tell you with any certainty thr details of why or how they ended up as the (oft addiction addled) version of themself they swore not to be. like. man that fucking knife blade scene will never leave me i fear like. the times i’ve had that moment staring at myself? the times i’ve watched my father and aunts and uncles have those moments of looking at themselves and seeing the person who they thought being raised by had taught them better than to become only to realize that the reality of their lives have denied them the simplicity of escaping a cycle that is perpetually kept from their hands. listen. this is a burger of a post but robbie daymond . the character you’ve created and the story you’re telling. head in hands

[robstaryeah]

Love stories in tight places by Gabriel Picolo

[vintricles]

free my girl she did all that and that’s what makes her such a compellingly complex character. that’s her essence