hausruck house ~ moser und hager architekten | photos © gregor graf

Today I had a 2h "universal manner" training at my job. It was very informative and interesting, and even if I knew some things about disabilities and everything, I learned a lot. But what really spoke to me was this:

"Disability is not people, it's the environment." (Translated from the Japanese by yours truly)

You are not disabled because you're in a wheelchair, you're disabled because there aren't any elevators.

Transitional Exterior - Wood Mid-sized transitional beige two-story wood exterior home photo with a shingle roof

Seattle Walk Out Basement Inspiration for a mid-sized timeless walk-out carpeted and beige floor basement remodel with beige walls, a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace

i understand the struggle of "i can't draw how do i visualize this OC" and its like, okay, picrews and dollmakers have limited options (and are often limited by the artist's imagination). Heroforge perhaps not your style. You're broke as hell, so commissioning someone or finding someone who can do it on the cheap is hard. Certainly it's hard to find someone to just Do It For Free and that's a huge imposition. And learning to draw is [come back in ten to fifteen years lol]

What is also an option that I think has fallen out of fashion as programs have gotten more advanced but is still legitimate, though:

Kitbashing and editing sprites.

"but i can't draw" you don't need to. Get your hands on those game assets and edit them with your 1-px pencil or paintbuckets or whatever. Recolour them. Smash them together like dolls. You can do it in MS Paint or the program of your choice. If you want something more focused on pixel art (and still free) there's graphicsgale. Embrace the dots.

i've said this before but i think a huge part of the reason undertale's character writing works that doesn't get talked about enough is the fact that it doesn't fall into the trap of having FRIENDSHIP fix everything. i mean in a way it kind of does but like. the characters fix their own mistakes. they are the ones to decide they've done wrong and take action to fix it, not you. they just realize that through frisk. friendship gives them the new perspective necessary to change their ways, but it's only half the solution.

it's alphys who decides, on her own, to take the amalgamates home and admit her mistakes. it's undyne who, when it's her turn to attack you, outside her flaming house, decides there's no point in this path of mindless murder and destruction she's dug for herself, and breaks the cycle herself by dropping her weapon and deciding not to fight you anymore. it's asgore who, after you've done nothing but attack him, realizes what a coward he's been and decides to end the cycle of violence at the cost of his own life. it's mettaton who hears the voices of the hundreds who love him, and who he loves, and realizes that for now, it's more worth it for him to be content where he is. it's asriel who, despite the comfort of pretending chara's still with him, chooses to recognize frisk as who they really are, and face a harsh reality so he can save his family. sans sees your determination and perseverance in the face of hopelessness and decides that maybe there is something to fight for, all by simply watching you. hell, papyrus gives up his fight entirely on his own- all he needs is an opportunity to really think his plan to join the guard through, and a taste of what that guard actually stands for, and he decides it's not worth it without you saying a word. undertale presents you with all these flawed and complex characters and says, "here, look. they're just like you, and they chose to save themselves, despite everything in them telling them they were damned. will you do the same?"

teru!

[ritsu] [mob] [reigen]

I just recently started following you so i don't have the full lore of your murderous gay religiously traumatized doggos, BUT, from my understanding, they are Italian and i don't know what part of Italy they are from, yet i can't help headcanoning Vasco as Tuscan, while Machete is probably from some part of Veneto. And as an Italian who has heard Tuscans and Veneto dialet, well it's an hilarious mental image.

Vasco is indeed Tuscan, Florentine to be specific. He comes from a wealthy and influential noble family that has lived in Florence for centuries. He's proud of his roots, and it's usually easy for strangers to tell where he's from. He's a resonably successful politician and has worked as an ambassador and representative of Florence on numerous occasions.

Machete is originally Sicilian (ironically about as far from Veneto as possible), although he was taken to mainland at young age and has lived in several places since then, before ending up in Rome. The way I see it, he exhibits very little local color, his demeanor and (even though Italian hadn't become a standardized language yet) way of speaking are formal, neutral and scarcely give away any hints about his personal history, at least in the 16th century canon.

I think Legend has a gambling problem

Shadowheart, sweetie I know you are angry at me but have you ever considered how badass you look right now

singlets don't have One brain, they have a Unified brain. every mind is like every body: a collection of increasingly smaller pieces working (or not working) in tandem with each other for the goal(s) of the collective.

in this sense, plurality is arguably the "truer" form of consciousness (if we play in the space of true/false consciousnesses), because it reveals the fact that there is no Intelligence to a mind, no singular will and identity that defines it. To exist is to be multitudes, to posses and be possessed by infinities above and below, to be entangled in the web of all other existence inextricably.

There is no "I" in team. No man is an island, even unto himself.

a cell is equal to a human is equal to an ant is equal to a tree is equal to a planet is equal to a galaxy.

do you see it? do you see the connections between everything? inside and outside of your-"self"? the eternal dance of germs and hair and wind and economics and evolution and everything?

free will is an illusion. be kind to the world, because you should be kind to yourself.

Seriously imagine the fact that Left 4 Dead will live on longer than Apex Legends or Overwatch.

Really let it sink in that I don't mean that in terms of community, but in terms of being able to play the game 10 years from now.

I may have lost this painting when I quit my drawing programme, but I can offer a small writing snippet to accompany the WIP screenshot, so it's not all gone to waste:

“What are you painting?”

Tamara hadn’t heard Ockham come in, but the way the corners of her vision shift around her, harsh lines of light softening to a dreamy blur, she should’ve realised it much sooner.

“It’s the view from my bedroom balcony. In Varchas,” she says, choosing her words carefully in a tongue that still feels foreign and clunky.

Ockham squints, studying the painting with a furrowed brow, and the expression suddenly reminds her of her auntie. Tamara shakes her head, dismissing the illogical comparison. They clearly look nothing alike. They shouldn’t, at least.

Ockham’s hand traces along the line of a wall of mirrors, where it intersects with a planter containing long dead greenery, careful not to touch the still wet paint. She’s suddenly aware that the perspective on the planter is off, and makes a mental note to fix it as soon as she’s able.

“It is not a very nice view,” Ockham finally says.

Although it’s a somewhat rude thing to say, it’s not entirely wrong. There was nothing special or aesthetically pleasing about the view. She’d barely paid it any mind herself, in all of the years she’d lived and slept in that room. The part of her brain that had been slowly developing since she’d picked up this new hobby urged her to move some elements, give the piece stronger tones than the monotonous muddy yellow characteristic of Varchaasi evenings. But that would go against the aim of painting it in the first place.

“It is not a very nice view, no. But it’s the one I had, and if I don’t paint it how it was, I fear one day I won’t remember how it really looked like anymore.”

Ockham’s studying her now, and she wishes, not for the first time, that she had any insight into her flatmate and companion’s mind, whether it even worked the same way as a real person’s would. If Ockham would find her thought offensive.

“Ok.”

“Ok?” she repeats, confused.

“Ok,” Ockham nods, then moves away from the painting towards the door, “I go now to the market. Is there something not on the list that we need?”

She nods no, then catches herself and changes the motion.

“No, nothing.”

“Ok.”

Ockham is gone again. This time she hears the door click closed. With a sigh, she draws her brush across the canvas, determined to fix that planter before it cements itself as warped in her memories.

Hi, I'm genuinely curious why you have called Elsa "abusive sister"? What's your, as an Anna lover, main take on Elsa?

Context for my comment.

Realizing on a reread that you asked for an Elsa analysis and I kinda made it an Anna one. They're entwined, though -- it's hard to talk about one without the other, especially when the first question is why call Elsa abusive? The short answer is I was being very reductive in that post for the sake of brevity. The tag directly after is me saying in a quick, off-the-cuff way that Elsa's not wrong:

#see: Anna of Arendelle #suffering is good! #filial loyalty should trump logic! #dying for your abusive sister is good! #Elsa obviously has her own issues but from Anna’s pov?

Believe me when I say that I can go full Elsa apologist very easily. Send a second ask if you want to see that, actually, I do have a lot of Elsa Thoughts. The thing is, there's a ton of Elsa fans out there and Anna tends to get the short end of the stick, despite being - in my opinion - the better sister, and not for nothing, but I think Elsa would agree that Anna is a better sister.

The tragedy of Frozen is that Elsa isn't wrong to isolate herself and try to keep Anna safe, and Anna isn't wrong to sense her sister still wants to connect and try to make it happen. That's what makes it tragic. Anna's desperate attempt to reconnect at the party is what makes Elsa balk, and Elsa balking is what pushes Anna away into the arms of someone who isn't afraid to tell her she's wanted. (Of course, Hans isn't afraid because wanting her won't kill her the way Elsa is pretty sure wanting a sister will.) Anna coming back from a whirlwind of having fun - having a friend - for the first time in years and telling Elsa she wants to get married freaks Elsa out, because Elsa's about to lose her sister to some stranger! Elsa tries to get the situation under control the only way she knows, which is to get away from everyone and self-soothe, but Anna is fed up and presses the argument then and there, which sets Elsa off and reveals the depths of Elsa's problems.

But critically, Anna's not wrong, and she's not stupid.

A major theme of Anna's character is that nothing is explained to her, and she is mistreated as a result. We, the audience, understand why Elsa locks herself away. We, the audience, skip over literal years of isolation for Anna in a three-minute song. We, the audience, see Elsa's anxiety when alone or with her parents. Anna, on the other hand ... to pull from the musical, which I admittedly like more than the film:

ANNA: ... Truth is, I never knew why my parents ordered the gates shut, why the celebrations ended, or why Elsa stopped talking to me. All I ever knew was, I missed my sister. I spent years trying to figure out what I did. I begged to know, to understand, but all my parents would say is, it’s for the best.

Anna blames herself for the fact Elsa locked herself away, and Elsa does not, as far as we see in the story, disabuse Anna of that notion. Sure, you can argue it happens offscreen somewhere after the show, and I'd agree that the arc of Frozen means the girls are going to sit down and realize their parents kinda sucked and gave them both trauma, but that happens after. (Frozen 2 doesn't exist in my head. I don't hold with anything that doesn't admit their parents fucked up big time. The best you can say is they tried to help their daughter, and that is tragic too, that nobody was able to help them do it.)

From Elsa's point of view, she ran away and Anna followed - against Elsa's advice and orders. Elsa felt confident enough to let her sister in and talk about things -- and Elsa couldn't handle it. She shot Anna in the heart as a result, putting them exactly back where they were when they were kids and Elsa was the biggest danger to her sister. Elsa was right to be afraid of intimacy, she was right to protect Anna from herself. The biggest danger to Anna was always Elsa.

This verges into Hans apologism, but we're focused on the girls so stick with me: Elsa literally kills Anna in the story. Hans is a big asshole about this little, "If only there was someone out there who loved you," speech, but he didn't kill Anna. Elsa did. If Elsa hadn't shot Anna in the heart, Anna would not be dying now. If Hans was going to kill Anna, that would've been the place -- and instead he leaves her to die of the wound her sister gave her.

So how does Anna feel in that moment? Narratively, we focus on the fact Hans has been the biggest dick lately, so she's heartbroken by that, but I'd posit she's been let down by the two people she thought might want her: Elsa and Hans. At this point Anna was probably thinking she could get cured and maybe that she and Hans would fix this together.

Instead, her unending faith in her sister should have brought her to this conclusion: Elsa killed her, Hans refused to save her, and they've both abandoned her for dead. In the film, Elsa - by proxy - throws Anna off a cliff right after shooting her in the heart. She could not be more clear about locking Anna out. Hans locked her in, but all to the same effect: Elsa's curse is going to kill her.

Does it really matter why Elsa cursed her?

When I say Elsa is an abusive sister, I mean that from Anna's point of view, Elsa lashes out and hurts Anna because of her own pain. We, the audience, have the benefit of knowing why - but we, the audience, also aren't feeling our fingers freeze solid as our jaw locks up with ice, so maybe we're not getting the full effect there.

Frozen's magic system is simple: magic and emotion are the same thing. (Frozen 2 do not interact.) Elsa's powers are driven by emotion, and they can be driven to great heights or great lows. The tragedy is that she doesn't learn to channel positive emotions, so she only knows fear and anxiety, which spiral out of control as those emotions always do. That fear isn't irrational - she's afraid for her sister, she's afraid for her country, she's afraid to let people down - but it is damaging and uncontrollable.

It literally kills her sister.

Anna dies, not because she threw herself under the sword and got diced, but because she turns to ice. She dies because of Elsa's curse, which ironically saves her from being killed in a bloody way. In that moment, Elsa sees her worst fears come true: she killed her sister. In the musical, she sings:

Anna? Anna - no! This is what I feared, this is why I shut you out so long ago. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry ... Look at what I've done to you.

As she realizes this, the magic begins to undo itself, not because Elsa realized the depth of her fuck up but because Anna committed an act of true love. Anna is brought back to life miraculously by her own self-sacrifice because it was pure and selfless. Which is why my final tags were:

#the narrative posits that [Anna's] suffering was good #actually. #and wanting things for herself was Bad actually

Wanting Hans, the seeming first person to value her, was wrong. Throwing herself under the sword for the sister who ignored her until she murdered her was good. In a meta sense, Anna wanting something for herself was wrong, and being blindly loyal was good. She is literally rewarded by being brought back from the dead to be a continuing loyal companion to the woman who shot her in the heart.

At the end of the day, the fact Elsa feels terrible about this both makes no difference and makes all the difference in the world. Elsa has been awful to Anna, and her being able to recognize that is what makes their relationship so compelling. The fact Elsa is also abused is important; she was locked away from society just as much! While Anna was so neglected by their parents that she spoke to paintings, Elsa was being told to just get better, keep it inside and don't freak out. Like many abused people, when Elsa grows up, she doesn't know how to form a healthy relationship at first. Her first fumbling steps end in disaster, and as musical Elsa begs:

This is all so brand new Let me first learn to crawl Before I try to walk

On one hand, that doesn't matter, because Elsa did abuse Anna for a period of time, via neglect and outright harm, up to and including murder. On the other hand, it matters more than anything, because Elsa chooses love, chooses to reconnect, finds true regret and wants to be better. Anna forgives her, because she loves her.

It's what makes the bones of this story so tragic and compelling. The love is real and the hurt is real. The difference is that both sisters choose to move past it, and I can see there being a good ending where they repair their sisterly relationship.

But for the duration of the story, and the near-decade before? Anna was abused by everyone in her family, and Elsa has to take responsibility for that before they can begin to heal.

looking down on sunfall

Many folks in my life have told me that I’m good with kids, ever since I was a kid, to which I usually respond with “it’s mostly because I treat them like People” and I have found that their immediate response to that is very informative.