i just kinda wanna be ooey gooey about free! for a second.... i always get so sad when ppl who didnt stick with it still harp on it as just being fanservice and “the gay swimming anime” bc like. sure, it is both of those things, but also. you literally cannot deny that the story is something so deeply human and personal and loving.

like, it’s about doing what you love, but making sure it’s good for you, and that it’s what you really want to do. it’s about finding purpose in your life and in the things you enjoy, and the connections you make with other people. and how those connections will forever shape you, for better or for worse, and if you want it to be for the better, you have to put your own foot forward and take it into your own hands.

and it’s about how nothing that you love ever comes to an end. those bonds, those memories, will last forever, and they will always be there to help you.

it was so popular in 2013 when it first aired bc it was “the gay fanservice anime” of the year, but man, the story as a whole... like the actual story is so lovely. and i think it’s such a shame that the general view of it is so closed-minded because the general public didn’t stick with it past season 1. allow the love and whimsy of unshakeable friendship into your heart!!!

Astarion's two moods 🤭

I'm being very normal about this officially licensed Trigun anime t-shirt using the incorrect name/title

thinking many thoughts abt mizu and mama,,,

THERE IS AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION THAT MUST BE DRAWN BETWEEN THE WORDS DISSECTION AND VIVISECTION, A DISTINCTION THAT WOULD APPEAR TO BE LOST ON YOU.

I just got ubereats and I felt so bad about making my delivery person drive in the current storm that I tipped $14 on a $16 order 😭 even the driver was like wtf??!?

How I've Been Feeling About Aryan's Grover:

Loodvigg’s Day at Disneyland: prologue

The Starhenge rose up in the sky, mechanical island built by the Colossals, gigantic creatures as old as the Monster World. On this very island, monsters lived, older than the Monster World and the Colossals. And probably time itself, too… who knows? They were called Celestials, the first beings to ever exist, and considered Gods by every monster living on the islands below.  Hence their name, the Celestials came from the sky… or more exactly, space. The Primordial Cosmic Hush was a time where absolutely nothing existed - just silence. A cosmic void. Then there was the Big Bang, sending sounds into the void, creating elements and twelve beings afterwards. The monster gods came to life, each having a constellation and an element assigned to them. But this was a long time ago, decades now separating the creation of the Celestials from the present.

One of them approached the circle that the monsters had formed and sat down with them. Her name was Galvana, she represented the element of Electricity. She turned her head to her right, where a metallic organ was resting. Her name was Vhamp, she represented the Mech element. Next to Vhamp sat a blue creature named Plixie, the Plasma elementalist.  "Hey Scaratar!" he beckoned a brown bug-looking monster, the Poison element.  "How is your hair shining like that? It’s lovely!" "Thank you! I put some hair shine spray over it," she responded. The Plant elementalist Blasoom, a green bird-shaped monster, approached Scaratar to take a closer look at her hair. "Alright," Galvana started. "As you know, we all gather here every first day of a new month. We are in February, which means Furnoss’ constellation is now shining above us!"  Galvana turned to what seemed to be an oven with a dragon-like head and limbs. He looked at her, nodding. Up in the sky, Furnoss’ constellation was shining brightly, replacing the constellation of Hornacle, the Water element. This one playfully gave a nudge to the Fire elementalist, who returned it back. "Before we start, is everyone here?" Galvana asked.  She looked at her friends, counting them mentally. Furnoss, Hornacle, Scaratar, Blasoom, Plixie and Vhamp were here, followed by Torrt, Glaishur, Attmoz and Syncopite, the Earth, Cold, Air and Crystal elementalists, respectively. And… "WHO THE FUCK TOOK MY HAIR SHINE SPRAY?!" a voice shouted from afar. …Loodvigg.

The Shadow elementalist, an elegant spidery monster with a bold hairstyle, approached the circle formed by the eleven Celestials reunited. An angry expression distorted their skull-like face. "Oopsies." Scaratar whispered. Attmoz sighed and rolled his eye. "Here we go again", he mumbled. "So?!" Loodvigg asked again, their eyes jumping from monster to monster. "Yeah… About that." Scaratar answered - Loodvigg’s angered look went straight to her. "It was me. I’m sorry, I probably should’ve asked you first."  "UGH!" Loodvigg elegantly pushed their hair back with an offended rictus, then bended over Scaratar.  "Damn right you should have. I’m turning your hair into my new personal bathroom carpet next time." Scaratar, surprised by the aggressiveness in Loodvigg’s tone, stepped back, seemingly upset and a little flabbergasted. Galvana quickly intervened, noticing the green bug monster’s discomfort. "Loodvigg, that’s enough. No need to overreact." "But I ain’t! This insect knows I’m not letting ANYONE borrowing MY stuff-"  "ENOUGH!" Loodvigg sighed with annoyance. "Also, you’re late for our monthly meeting again. For the third time in a row. Why didn’t you come sooner?!" Galvana continued. "I forgot!" "We’ve been doing the new month and constellation celebration for decades! Literally! How in all the stars did you forget?!!" Loodvigg skittered from the electric monster to sit on the other side of the circle, between Furnoss and Hornacle. "Listen, I was busy doing much more entertaining activities than something we’ve been doing repeatedly for all these years. Can we start now? I want to get this stupid celebration over as soon as possible."

Although irritated, Galvana kept her thoughts for herself and continued speaking, almost as if nothing happened.

Even if the atmosphere remained tense between the monsters, the ending of the celebration went rather well, Loodvigg's presence not being as terrible as in the beginning. The Celestials all stared at the sky, Furnoss’ constellation still shining brightly. It was only after the meeting that Attmoz spoke to his cousin, Scaratar. Loodvigg was back to the old Observatory, a tall stone construction housing a gigantic telescope, and each Celestial’s designated room. "Hey. You alright?" Attmoz said, visible concern painted on the cyclop’s face. "Yeah! Yeah, I am," she responded. "They just scared me for a second," Scaratar whispered, motioning her head to the Observatory. "Sometimes I even wonder if any thought of basic kindness and empathy still circulate through that brain of theirs", Attmoz chuckled a bit. "I wonder what kept Loodvigg so "busy" to be that late to the monthly celebration… Bet they were trying a new haircut again." "That still doesn’t give them the right to change my hair into a bathroom carpet…" she pointed out, grumpy. "Nope, definitely not!" "They probably wouldn't have done that anyway, but I'm keeping an eye on them," Galvana said, now approaching the two monsters. "We never know with Loodvigg... their behavior is getting stranger with the passing days-" "And meaner," Scaratar added. "Like, way meaner. And for no reason at all, either." "I remember how kind they used to be," Attmoz said, yawning. "But that was such a long time ago... Still wondering what made them the way they are now. Not like we aren't used to their catastrophic behavior anyway... but it's still very annoying," the pink cyclop sighed. "And even worse when unjustitied... Which is... well! Most of the time." "Mmmhm." Galvana nodded, lost in thought. Attmoz yawned again, briefly swinging his head. "Ugh. Sleepy…" "Already?!" surprisingly asked the electric elementalist. "Is it that late?" "Oh, no, no," Scaratar reassured her. "That's just what Mozmoz gets when he stays awake late at night trying to find out if putting paint in water could make his clouds turn purple." "Shut up..." Attmoz grumbled, nudging at his cousin. "At least it worked."

The three said their goodnights, Galvana promising once again to keep an eye on Loodvigg. But for now, a good night rest was welcome for everyone.

A Theme For A Molting Russian Gentleman

Sneak Peek of LYKMC Chapter 14

Auguste didn’t emerge from his room again until Friday evening. Laurent was curled up on an armchair in the library with a book in hand when Auguste clamored down the stairs in his boots. He always made so much noise. Laurent had grown used to a quiet house in his absence. It was still jarring every time Auguste crashed through the house like he wasn’t afraid to be heard.

Laurent caught a glimpse of him through the open doorway as he dashed through the foyer—just a tall blur of denim and worn black leather, and a flash of tousled golden hair. He might have been wearing the same clothes as yesterday, but it was hard to tell. Ever since he’d found it in the attic Auguste wore that motorcycle jacket like a second skin.

He heard the front door burst open—

“Auguste.”

—and close again.

“Uncle,” Auguste said, sounding chastised. “I was just heading out.”

“Where are you going?” Uncle’s tone was smooth and light, but slippery like ice. Laurent sensed the danger in it, even if Auguste did not.

“Just out with Jord,” Auguste answered as Laurent crept up out of his chair and peered around the doorframe.

Auguste’s back was to him, one hand still gripping the handle of the front door. Leaning against the back of the couch in the living room with his ankles crossed was Uncle, regarding Auguste over the rim of a glass of wine he was swirling beneath his nose. He looked comfortable, like he’d been lounging there a while, staring out the entryway to the foyer just waiting to catch Auguste on his way out.

“Jord? Now, there’s a name I haven’t heard in a while.” Uncle didn’t seem to see Laurent across the hall. His eyes were on Auguste. “Is everything all right between the two of you?”

“Yeah,” Auguste said brightly, “everything’s fine.”

“Will you be home for dinner? I’ve invited Torveld.”

Auguste hesitated. “I don’t think so, sorry.”

“That’s a shame.”

“Give him my best, though.”

“I will. I know how fond he is of you boys.” Uncle raised his wine glass to his lips. As it caught the light from the window and flashed a red wink, his eyes flicked to Laurent.

Laurent ducked back behind the wall, heart exploding in his chest. Auguste and Uncle were still talking in the foyer, but he could no longer make out their words over the drum of his own heartbeat.

By the time his pulse had slowed enough for his heartbeat to retreat from his ears, he heard the front door close. The following silence that crept in like the tide told him that Auguste was gone.

“Laurent.” Uncle’s voice was calm; he did not shout his name, but Laurent flinched as though he had.

He emerged from the library, reluctant to part from the wall which shielded him, but too afraid to ignore his uncle. There was nothing to be gained from stoking his anger; better to face the punishment he was about to receive for eavesdropping than to add disrespect and disobedience to his list of sins.

When Laurent lifted his gaze and mustered the courage to look his uncle in the eye, he did not see the anger he’d expected there. Instead, his uncle’s eyes were bright with mischief. He tapped Laurent under the chin with his knuckle and offered him a conspiratorial smile. “Your brother always looks so guilty when he lies.”

Laurent blinked back his confusion, like trying to adjust his eyes to a sudden change in the light. “You just let him lie to your face,” he said slowly. “Why?”

“My dear,” Uncle said with a twinkle in his eye, “if I revealed every time I knew he was lying to me, I would only be helping him learn to hide his lies.”

Something shifted uneasily in Laurent’s stomach. Does he know when I’m lying too? Uncle had risen to his feet as he was speaking and was now standing very close to Laurent, his head bent to his level. The thick, sour scent of red wine on his breath was suffocating. Laurent angled his face away, searching for clean air, but Uncle’s wine glass appeared under his nose.

“Have some wine, Laurent. You look pale.”

Laurent took the offered glass and slowly raised it to his lips, trying not to inhale through his nose. He usually liked wine; especially the fancy reds Uncle would let him try when they were alone. He didn’t know why this particular glass was so repulsive to him. He took a small sip, careful not to grimace as it went down.

Uncle did not take the glass back when Laurent tried to hand it to him. He stared at Laurent with a mild expression, quirked an eyebrow ever so slightly, and waited. Laurent looked down into the burgundy depths of the glass in his hand. Before he had a chance to lose his resolve, he tipped the contents into his mouth, draining the glass. He had to fight against his gag reflex to swallow it.

Satisfied, Uncle took the empty glass from his hand, set it down on a side table and smiled at him. A warm flush was creeping up Laurent’s neck and onto his cheeks.

Then the amusement drained from Uncle’s eyes, and he expelled a deep sigh. “I worry about your brother. He’s not well. You saw how he was last night. I just wish I knew who he’s really seeing when he goes out. I hope he’s not putting himself in danger.”

Laurent chewed his lip, momentarily forgetting how much Uncle hated that habit. “There must be something we can do to help him.”

“Torveld is attracted to you.”

The words hit Laurent like a slap, blindsiding him. It was not even a statement he could deny. His uncle had seen them together at his birthday party. He looked down at his hands, where he began picking at a tender hangnail.

Uncle said, “He will try to come on to you this evening at dinner.”

“I won’t do anything to encourage him,” Laurent scrambled to say, “I promise. I’ll tell him I don’t see him that way.”

Uncle clicked his tongue. “That would be rather awkward. I’ve given Torveld my blessing.”

“I … don’t understand.”

Was the room spinning just a little? Laurent wasn’t usually this much of a lightweight. Maybe it was because he’d skipped breakfast again. He tried to take a step backwards and stumbled. Uncle placed his hands on Laurent’s shoulders to steady him.

“All you need to do is play along,” Uncle said. “That is, if you’re sincere about wanting to help your brother.”

i’m like if a girl was a middle aged divorced dad who was a teenage girl in her twenties but also had bpd

Dynamite exhibiting whore behaviour

camazotz calling himself the “spider-slaying bat” is so funny bc his track record with spiders is:

- one ruined his life so severely he gave himself amnesia on purpose

- the other met him once and promptly developed the most obnoxious crush on him

like clearly this isn’t your strong suit king pick a different title

feel like i need a corkboard and red string to make sense of the narzissenkreuz stuff

if you want to say why. you can. but im kind of just curious

All this (absolutely wonderful, thank you for the food) talk about the archangels has me curious as to what you think happened to god? I know Gabriel said that god is dead, but I like to think he meant that in the idealised version that heaven previously upholded were dead.

man i wish i had a good answer/one i could decide on!! i really can't say at all what direction canon will take, but i do agree that god isn't necessarily dead - all that matters imo is that he is absent because i think the game has a lot to say about the presence of god and theodicy as the issue christianity as an institution cannot address. earth has always been full of rampant suffering and god doesn't come, there is no just-world, and i think canon takes that to its extreme end. god isn't on earth, but he also is no longer in heaven and he has never been in hell. so now the world he made is left to deal with his negligence. it's a big reason that i hope he never actually appears, and is relegated only to the testaments (in a similar way that he's relegated to the bible).

for the sake of my au, god is actually dead but not exactly gone - his guilt and anger grew to the point that his internal existence, that of trinity, became disconnected and in disagreement with one another. the father tried to keep his iron grip, but the son finally condemned his constant need to abandon his own creation and the holy ghost, as his will, eventually determined god itself as the root cause of their woe. essentially, he had a catastrophic failure of his own components and his will tried to consume his entity. how he exists now is unknown, but god's corpse can be found far out in the now ruined and uninhabitable places of the ninth sphere though not always in the same place (i imagine this break up shook all of heaven terribly, in a way that mirrors the harrowing of hell - many angels perished in the disaster and much of heaven was destroyed so that now the cities are significantly smaller) additionally, strange reports of bizarre angel-like creatures have come in from the outskirts of the still civilized areas, but no one has ever gotten close enough to examine them.