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#if anyone has a source on that pls lmk
papayafiles · 3 months
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do you think lewis hamilton ever looks at lando norris and thinks wow a fellow artsy creative british dyslexic mclaren-born formula 1 racing driver with homoerotic teammate dynamics who gets called adorable babygirl by all his fans. he's just like me for real.
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genericpuff · 5 months
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Ahem. I know what other brushes LO uses ;)
(Forewarning: most of these brushes are from early LO and as such aren't used anymore. I will put an * next to the recent brushes Rachel uses.) Pastels, Gouache, and other textured brushes (used mainly for backgrounds):
Pastel Palooza (Kyle's Megapack)
Pastella (Kyle's Megapack)
Fat Fun 100 (Kyle's Megapack)
Fat Fun Spongy (Kyle's Megapack)
Hard Square Pastel (Kyle's Winter 2019 set) *
Pigmentia (Kyle's Fall 2021 set) *
Sheriff Coal (Kyle's Spring 2022 set) *
Watercolors (used for backgrounds like clouds and texture)
500 Giant (Kyle's Watercolors)
Medium Wash Texture (Kyle's Watercolors)
Soft Irregular Wash 150 (Kyle's Watercolors)
Soft Wash 120 (Kyle's Watercolors)
FX:
Kyle's Splatter Brushes - Splatter Bot C (Kyle's Splatter set)
Stars 1 and 2 (Kyle's Splatter set)
Pressure rake (Kyle's Rake set) (warning: while this brush can be imported into CSP, this brush only properly works in Photoshop and Procreate because of their specific brush engines that allow 360 brush tip rotation)
Wet Ink Dynamic (Kyle's Splatter set)
Wet Ink Random (Kyle's Splatter set)
Bird Mix (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Bird Mix Vintage (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Break Glass (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Crackup (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Downpour (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Gulls 1 and 2 (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Manga Line Varied (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Manga Lines Broken (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Any of the smoke brushes (Kyle's Concept brushes) (warning: like the pressure rake brush, they work properly in Photoshop or Procreate)
Get the concept brush set. I'm not joking.
The entirety of Kyle's Winter 2022 set (Rachel is using these for how winter looks in the mortal realm) *
Foliage:
Fall Color Save (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Color Mix (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Mix 2, 3, and 4 (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Mix Dry 1 and 2 (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Brancher Big, Medium, and Small (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Pro 1 - 8 (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Small Color (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Foliage Ground cover (Kyle's Concept brushes)
Maddy Bellwoar's Ghibli-inspired brush sets* (can be found on Gumroad for the cheapest price)
Hope that helps!
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listen here my dear sweet anon
first of all, there is no forewarning needed here that these are mostly from early LO, early LO is what I'm dying to recapture so you already struck gold and you can stop digging (or don't, because holy shit finding this in my inbox was like christmas for puff round 2)
second, i hope you're happy choosing this timeline where you're my new bestie because goddamn this is COMPREHENSIVE
and third (and most importantly) how in the flying FUCK did you know about some of these
like it's clear at this point rachel uses a lot of the kyle webster brushes, i kinda figured that out ages ago and it was just a matter of figuring out which ones she uses which you've done me the solid of putting together for me
but the ghibli background set?? the brushes that are exclusive to the newest episodes ??
either you've just become the champion of being the most hyperfixated on old LO orrrrr you know something we don't and there's a reason you're using the anon tag-
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brightokyolights · 2 months
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INSTAGRAM/META CENSORSHIP 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸
I saw *this post* showing you how to change your settings on Instagram so they dont limit political content. Steps bellow for how to do this yourself (mine was auto set to limit)
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Feel free to add captions, reblog, share, or any other additions to this post
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kingofyewnork · 1 year
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wait I keep seeing people say that kenny ortega confirmed that 92sies race is trans but is there a source?? I've tried looking it up but I'm not getting anything. would appreciate any help 🙏
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i’m not okay (i promise) music video // entertain - sleater-kinney lyrics // mcr @ wwwy2 // new years’ post by paramore // gerard @ mcr detroit // ray and frank (source unknown)
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malboraslihan · 6 months
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hi hi! noticed your amazing gifs of jessie mae alonzo just wanted to say that she doesn’t like to be used in rp
hi love! i did not know that at all. can you link me to where/when she said that?
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rynliadon · 6 months
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hate when i feel anxious because food & water would probably fix it and take me out of it but also i think i would be sick if anything touched my mouth :(
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tomorrowillbeyou · 1 year
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alright, i'm not sure how much of this is already commonly known but i have been investigating the source of these images:
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and this video:
youtube
a comment on this blog post suggests that they were taken in sydney:
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the upload date of the video also dates the events to before january 2008. we know that tucker rule and james dewees were there. the song they're singing is gloves by reggie and the full effect:
youtube
for these reasons, i THOUGHT that the photos and video were taken at the sydney entertainment center on november 30th 2011. reggie and the full effect opened for mcr that night and gloves was on their setlist:
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this is backed up by this youtube comment on the dancing queen video talking about fluxuation in sydney (i unfortunately can't find the video it mentions but the channel is here):
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tucker talks about playing for mcr in australia in 2007 in this podcast clip:
youtube
this was what i THOUGHT. and i was going to post this but i thought i should do a little more research just to see if i could find anything more. and i stumbled across this livejournal post:
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every single image on the post is broken. but i'm pretty confident that the pictures we all know and love were in there.
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^this one especially seems to line up. they were taken at a bar called the lobo plantation in sydney on november 29th 2011.
the captions of the other pictures make me SO mad that they were deleted. im so fucking curious. well thank you to deleted livejournal user theyoungpretend for (probably) being the one to post these historical images. if anyone knows of any way to access the rest pls lmk (tinypic went down and all the images hosted on there were deleted)
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also this picture seems to have been taken on the same night??
here are some more (questionably worded unfortunately. like some of these are really insane) posts which mention what happened:
x (i think this may be from one of the people in the picture above?), x, x, x (hidden in. ryan ross/matt cortez fic?), x, x, x, x, x, x (masterpost where almost all the links are broken). ive saved all of these on the wayback machine in case they ever get deleted.
this iconic ray moment was the day after btw:
youtube
if anyone has any more info or any pics PLEASE let me know!!!!!!
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userheng · 1 year
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𓆩♡𓆪 meeting dan heng.
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synopsis: meeting dan heng.
warnings: slight spoilers from dan heng's character story. bros bold, march playing wing woman no 1, the reader has hot men disease
a/n: writing after almost two years i've lost my groove rip n e ways hope u enjoy!! pls lmk ur thoughts! <3 rb if u enjoyed :)
DO NOT REPOST/TRANSLATE.
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As soon as you step foot in the Astral Express, your whole body lights up with excitement. 
You’re finally starting your journey to other planets and your joy couldn’t be contained. Your eyes take in your surroundings, a beautiful view of a bed of bright stars—you have to hold yourself back from almost reaching for them. 
“Hey!” 
A voice breaks you out of your reverie, you look for the source of the voice not finding anyone in front of you.
“Down here!” 
The voice speaks once more and you finally look down, coming in contact with the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen.
“Oh…hello?” You say with hesitation, taking note of the unfamiliar creature.
“I’m Pom-Pom, the conductor of Astral Express,” The unknown creature introduces themselves. “You can come to me whenever you need help! But don’t cause trouble!” Pom-Pom expresses with a fiery passion, and you don’t know whether to coo or actually be scared of the little thing.
“Well, alright, you’re the boss.” You simply nod, trying to hold back a laugh at the adorable entity. 
“The Passenger Cabins are that way so you can keep your bags there. And the archives are the first door but um…” Pom-Pom pauses for a second. “There’s a guy called Dan Heng that practically lives in the archives but you’re free to visit that area! I have no clue what he does all day in there.” Pom-Pom’s petit body seems to deflate in defeat which once more makes you want to let out an audible coo but you refrain. 
You recognize that name easily—Dan Heng. After all, he’s one of the people you’ll be accompanied on your first journey, the other one being March 7th. You’ve never met these people but you trust Himeko’s judgment, after all, she’s the one who paired you with them. The only piece of information she gave you about them is that “You’ll have fun,” which excites you but also worries you, but you push that away for now.
“Thank you, Pom-Pom, I’ll be mindful of that.” You smile before bidding Pom-Pom goodbye, they wave back telling you to follow the rules.
You make your way toward the cabins, locating yours fairly quickly. You settle in nicely. You feel a bit lethargic already but the enthusiasm of finally being on the Astral Express keeps you from getting a shut-eye. Rather, you decide to explore different parts of the Express. Freshening up quickly you venture out of your cabin, taking in the sites of the surroundings around you. The view of the vast shimmering galaxy almost bought you to tears. You’ve finally reached your goal. You’re a Trailblazer now. After working meticulously for years and honing your skills, you’ve achieved your aim and you couldn’t be happier. 
Walking around for a bit more, observing the decor around you, you head for the main compartment, and as soon as you descend down the stairs you’re greeted by a cheerful voice.
“Hello! You must be our new companion, I’m March 7th!” The girl with bright pink hair and blue tips introduces herself and her cheerful demeanor brings about a smile on your face. 
“Hello, March, it’s lovely to meet you.” You say, holding out your hand for her to shake and she does so with enthusiasm. 
“So you’re coming with us, huh? Are you ready for some fun?” She asks with a wide grin on her face, clasping her hands to the front, and it makes you feel at ease. 
“Born ready, I’ve been waiting for this.” You reply, patting your prized polearm, a proud smirk on your lips. March nods in response, and suddenly she takes out her camera. 
“I have some pictures—wait have you met Dan Heng yet?” She asks, pausing her original question. 
“Oh no, not yet, I think he’s in the archives, Pom-Pom told me,” You respond and March lets out a sigh. 
“He’s always coped in there. How about you go introduce yourself to him?” She suggests and you think it over for a moment…you don’t really know what this Dan Heng character is like so you feel slightly nervous, but ready to meet him nonetheless. 
“Sure, I’ll see you after then?” You say, smiling warmly at her, and she nods back with eagerness. 
“Come back soon! I’ve got awesome pictures to show you!” March shouts as you leave for the archives room, you wave back, giving her an affirmative nod. 
You knock on the door of the archives room, even though you don’t really need to but after Pom-Pom information about how he practically uses the place as his room you deemed it fit to knock before entering 
You enter, immediately met by Dan Heng’s figure standing towards the bookshelves, nose buried in documents. You clear your throat, hoping to get his attention, all you receive in turn isーwell nothing. He doesn’t turn around like you’d expect him to. 
“Hello, are you Dan Heng?” At the mention of his name, he turns around, and suddenly you’re met with one of the most attractive men you’ve laid eyes upon. His eyes look captivating, one of them lined with the colour red, and some of his hair fall over his forehead. 
“That’s me.” He curtly nods. “Do you need something from me?” 
You’re completely taken away by him. His cadence sounds so…enticing. His attire makes him look dashing, and of course, this Dan Heng is easy on the eyes—you can’t seem to pull away your gaze from him. 
You hear him clear his throat, your blatant staring as been caught red-handed. 
“Is there something you need?” He repeats, facing away from you, finding the carpet of the express far more interesting—Dan Heng hates how his cheeks are tinted slightly red. Your staring definitely did not go unnoticed.
Your skin warms up, embarrassment flooding your veins.
“Oh yes—I’m, Y/N, I’ll be accompanying you,” You answer. “I thought I’d introduce myself.” Dan Heng seems satisfied with your response, nodding in silence. 
“You should take a look at the data bank to familiarize yourself with the upcoming surroundings, so you know how to protect yourself…although I will be there as well to protect you,” He pauses for a second, before clearing his throat, a faint blush once more spotting his cheeks. “I’ll leave you alone for a while.” Dan Heng states, and leave the archives before you can get a word one. His behaviour startles you a bit, but you don’t pay much mind, you already pegged him as more of an introvert from the descriptions of March 7th and Pom-Pom. You seat yourself comfortably, pulling up the archives to research just as Dan Heng advised.
As soon as Dan Heng leaves the room, he takes a deep breath to calm himself. 
He knew you. 
Dan Heng remembers you from his days in the IPC. You didn’t seem to recognize him and he’s thankful for that. He’s changed a lot, so he didn’t expect it either it. But he remembers you quite clearly. He saw you working diligently from the sides, always getting along with people and helping people whenever you can—him also being one of those people. You showed him kindness and he’d always appreciated it. But meeting you again was never on his agenda. He walks to the main hall of the express, seating himself on one of the couches for the jump that will commence soon, it was uncommon for him to be in the main compartment during jumps but today he had a change of heart.
Soon enough, Pom-Pom made the announcement for the jump, which bought you out of the archives room as per the conductor’s orders. 
“Y/N, over here!” March’s cheery voice calls you over, and she quickly grips your hand dragging you over to where Dan Heng was seated and she pulls you down to sit with her.
“Are you ready for your first jump, Y/N?” March inquires, “It feels weird the first time around but it’s pretty fun!” 
“I’m a little nervous honestly,” You answer honestly, lips curving into a timid smile. You’ve been preparing yourself yet, of course, fearful thoughts reside. It’s your first trailblazing expedition after all. 
“You’ll be okay, as long as you hold onto something since it’s your first time, I assure you. How about you hold Dan Heng’s hand? I’m sure he’ll help out a fellow partner right?” March suggests, a broad wicked grin on her face. You can’t tell if it’s you she’s messing with you or Dan Heng—you audibly hear him heave a sigh. You shake your head at March, her smile matching that of a Cheshire cat, while you feel the heat rise to your cheeks.
“Oh no, that won’t be necessary I’ll be fine—” 
“You can hold onto my hand if you feel comfortable. I do not mind.” 
Dan Heng’s answer leaves you both flabbergasted. March’s mouth falls open but she recovers quickly, her lips stretching into a teasing smile once more. 
“Well, then I’ll leave you alone!” March leaves without explanation and you’re about to call for her to ask where she’s going but Dan Heng answers for you.
“She does this every time. Trying to stand throughout the jump, trying not to fall.” 
You simply nod, not knowing how to respond, you’re embarrassed to say anything simply put. March’s suggestion and Dan Heng’s agreement put you in the spot.
“Would you like to hold onto my hand? If you feel comfortable, of course.” Dan Heng shocks you once more by holding out his hand for you. 
His cheeks have a rosy tint, the dark eyes not meeting yours.
Well…he is cute, isn’t he? Nothing wrong with holding a cute guy’s hand, right?
Boldness overcomes you, and you slip your hand into Dan Heng’s. He’s startled, his blush darkening, the tops of his ear matching his crimson cheeks, he didn’t actually expect you to do it, even though he offered. 
“Thanks, Dan Heng, I feel protected already.” You express, tone flirtatious, a lingering smirk on the corners of your lips. Dan Heng nods, tearing his gaze away from your face—definitely to hide his flustered self. His hands are rough, but they’ve also got a certain softness to them. Despite being calloused, his hand looks delicate. It feels good. Your hand intertwined with his feels lovely. Dan Heng’s thoughts aren’t far from yours—he’s never felt such things before, holding your hand…it wasn’t what he expected. He feels at ease as your hand rests in his. 
Only a few moments later Pom-Pom’s voice blares through as they announce the jump, as they count down. You see March steel herself, chanting some sort of mantra that sounds something along the lines of, “I won’t fall over,” on repeat. 
“Don’t be nervous, you’ll be alright,” Dan Heng’s voice suddenly rings in your ears, he’s closer to you than before, his husky yet gentle voice whispering in your ear. 
“Thank you.” You express your gratitude in the form of a smile. Dan Heng returns it with a tender smile of his own. 
Pom-Pom’s countdown finishes and you’re about to be sucked into the vortex, grip tight on Heng’s hand.
“You’ll be alright, just hold on to me.” 
That’s the last thing you hear before the jump, before the start of your new journey and endless memories. With your newfound companions and the one that’ll occupy your mind for a long time—Dan Heng.
Yeah, you’ll be alright. 
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felassan · 15 days
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this post is under a cut in case anyone would consider it to be DA:D spoilers. (the things it mentions are not new information and it's minor stuff only)
a few weeks ago it was noticed that on this website, a new VA was listed as the voice of several named characters in DA:D - 'Olen', 'Marek’, 'Lord Borgiani’ and 'Templar Captain'. [source] like I said in the tags on that post, I'd guess that these are more minor-type of characters, like sidequest chars or quest-givers, -type of deal. (so this is overanalyzing for sure ik, its just a bit of fun). I was thinking about this again today, wondering what type of characters (e.g. what race, where are they from etc) they are, and also got to looking up the names online. disclaimer: I was just poking around on Google here, if anything here is incorrect or you're familiar with the names/words and know better, pls lmk! ^^
none of the names return any results on the DA Wiki.
Lord Borgiani - Borgiani seems to be a surname that originates in Italy. the nations and groups in Thedas have multiple inspirations/influences from irl (not just the one) ofc. one of these for Antiva is said to be Italy. Borgiani sounds like it could be an Antivan name, so I'm wondering if Lord Borgiani is Antivan. "Lord" implies they are a dude. their Lord status could imply that they're human nobility. Lord/Lady is a noble title in Antiva (not only there though, ofc). thinking of characters like Lord Otranto from Josie's romance and Lord Enzo of Rialto. putting "borgiani" into Google translate, it detects Corsican as the language and advises "bourgeois" in English, which, you could easily make a link from there to a character who has some form of status.
Marek - a "West Slavic (Czech, Polish and Slovak) masculine given name", like "Mark" in English. it's also a surname. allegedly the name means "warlike" or is ultimately derived from Mars, the Roman god of war via, e.g., "Marcus" (name sites are quite unreliable though in terms of the info on them sometimes). Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slavic & so on names in DA World crop up quite a bit as the names of dwarven characters, so I wonder if Marek is a dwarf?
Olen - a given name and a surname. it's also a place in Belgium and Russia, and Olen was a legendary early poet from Lycia. this page gives Olen as being a name related to the name Ole, "a Danish and Norwegian masculine given name, derived from the Old Norse name Óláfr, meaning "ancestor's descendant". this page gives it as the "masculine form of Olena, a name ultimately derived from Ole." hmm, maybe someone Fereldan, Avvar, dwarven or from the Anderfels?
Templar Captain - as a character without a specified given name, surely they are a minor-minor/background character like e.g., "Templar Guard" from Lake Calenhad Docks (DA:O). self-explanatory. likely human.
[context, two]
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levmada · 3 months
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Thank you for responding!
I just remembered another question, you may have broached this topic as well, but I've seen a couple posts floating around that suggest Levi is (on some levels) illiterate.
Personally I don't think current canon Levi is illiterate, but what about Levi in the Underground? There's manga evidence (I believe) that he was at least somewhat exposed to reading (I think I saw a photo of him with Isabel and Furlan with a bookshelf in the background..??).
I can't imagine Kenny advocating for reading when learning survival tactics would be more important by his standards. I think the ability to read is something else that connects Levi to his mother (I haven't see much of anything that would suggest she was a reader), or it was simply a roundabout way of learning another survival skill? ("Knowledge is power"? I.e. having more power over his fate/current situation).
Some of these posts go on to assume the illiteracy spills over into how he writes reports (and that supposedly Hange has to either help him or redo them entirely)
I was curious about how you believe Levi would've approached literacy in his early years.
ugh i’ve gone back and forth on this a couple times😩😩in most of my fics, levi is illiterate when he reaches the surface.
at least, as captain, we know there’s NO WAY he’s illiterate in the present. (and besides, he's seen reading the newspaper in s3 at the end of the uprising. and the labels/books in the basement later).
for a canon reference, it’s said in a smartpass that levi diligently practices his handwriting so that no one knows he’s from the underground. that he has “newspaper level” handwriting. he gets defensive towards Petra when she compliments it😭
you’re absolutely right about the backgrounds. here’s some examples:
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clearly farlan knew what he was doing at least😭😭both in the anime and manga, it’s eluded to that farlan is like the ‘co-leader’ that takes care of the money and logistics side of things.
it’s not clear whether levi touches any of that. he IS good (at least competent?) at math though, again like farlan; he did a bit of complex addition in a few seconds.
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(sorry i’m just taking the opportunity to post acwnr panels atp…)
math is definitely more important than reading and writing in the underground right? i think the bare minimum reading ability would’ve rubbed off on levi.
KENNY however most definitely didn’t concern levi with that. i mean…😭
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i’ve never heard or seen anything connecting kuchel to reading?? pls lmk where you heard that if you don’t mind!! i’m curious.
anyway, it’s canon that levi “learned many things” from erwin around this time of which i must imagine had to do with desk work, knowing levi’s life up to then.
(the account associated with that info has, frustratingly, been deleted since i posted it. i’ll go looking if anyone wants the source)
i’ve never heard the tidbit about hange helping levi with his reports either.
i severely doubt it's real. there’s so many “”””facts”””” out there in the aot fandom, recently i made a long post debunking many and after days of research it’s RLY begun to grind my gears. why can’t this fandom be normal😭that ‘fact’ also sounds like it has shipping reasons behind it, like many others…
anyway, all that said, i do think he was on some level illiterate before reaching the surface.
it’s a mystery for now… but i don’t think kuchel knew how to read. kenny didn’t teach him because it paled in comparison in importance compared to fighting, his image, and so on. if levi could recognize letters grouped together, for instance the names of bars, that was enough.
he picked up on basic math along the way, until farlan came along and it became very important to understand numbers - especially as far as income goes. if not for the sake of the, uh, business levi/farlan were running, in the anime, they were saving up money to go live on the surface with.
((((personal hc but)))) despite his talents, shadis never so much as promoted levi to squad leader during his time as commander. he was too stubborn and stuck in his ways, unable to get past the fact that levi was a thug, and yet had more skill than even their strongest soldier (mike).
when erwin was promoted from captain to commander, he gave levi his position immediately. (which honestly pissed levi off, since he didn’t like the idea of having the lives of a personal squad on his hands…. besides the reading and writing issue.)
erwin would go on to teach levi how to read and write, which levi would go on to master on his own. levi, it seems to me, is the type of person who masters everything he tries, and so with practice and determination, he learns quickly….
you can definitely say he overcompensates because he hates for people to know he’s from the underground. not because of the insults personally, but because it would hurt the SC’s image if captain levi was found out to be a thug before, yk?
that’s my take :)
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Here’s a list of resources for Afghanistan and if anyone has any more pls lmk so I can add them
List of other resources
youtube
There are also sources to donate in the comments and description of this video
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genericpuff · 2 years
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read pt 1 here
idk what to call this series yet, it's basically just LO but "what could have/should have happened"
if anyone has any suggestions pls lmk!!
for anyone curious, the brush I use is the only one I could find from the collection Rachel uses (it's called Kyle's Builder Brush and it's on Gumroad for free/pay what you want), unfortunately the rest of the brush collection is paywalled behind Adobe Creative Cloud (if anyone knows where I can find it though that would be super appreciated, the only lead I have is someone on reddit who sourced it ages ago through DM's but then decided to catch the moral cooties so I'm waiting to hear back from a sort-of-still-active user who got the brushes from them back then, it's a whole ass process) , and the font is from the Jason Brubaker set which is on Gumroad for $26
anyways enjoy this pt 2 to the last post, I'm gonna try and post these chronologically but sometimes I just wanna draw what I wanna draw so that means stuff might end up being out of order sometimes. If it is, I'll provide proper context and relevant inspiration so y'all don't have to worry about getting lost <3
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rinezhaist · 8 months
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blue themed cgs from some of my favourite visual novels! (source in alt text) i will do different colours for different weeks:)
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if anyone has any recommendations pls lmk!
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straw-beret · 8 months
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what's up with the pacman machine in the link click opening?
well friends, I'm about to cobble together some information that is so irrelevant to the main plot!!
(also: i came up with this theory prior to episode 11 coming out, but when it did, it only really solidified it for me).
more under the cut :) and spoilers for the most recent episode of link click (episode 11 season 2)
if you know me from my most recent link click post, you'll know i am unnaturally obsessed with the claw machines of the season 2 opening.
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But wait, what's that third machine in the middle? The yellow-ish one that's sort of dimly lit?
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it's a fucking pacman arcade machine.
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a pacman arcade machine that doesn't appear in the show itself.
being me, i had to go on the most unnecessary deep dive into what the hell the relevancy of this pacman machine could be. it's jammed between two of the claw machines in the intro but mysteriously absent in the episode itself. and while i don't have an explanation for THAT (if anyone has an idea, pls lmk!!), i do have some info on the game.
when you start up a game of pacman, this is the general visual you're going to get:
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In my opinion, the most important thing to note is the colours of the ghosts. Notice we've got three in that box: blue, pink, and orange. And outside we have red. Do these colours happen to remind you of anything— or rather, anyone?
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that's right. the link clickers are the ghosts in Pacman.
All jokes aside, I do think there's at least a bit of merit in this observation. Because red— i.e. qiao ling, is isolated from the power users.
(pink could be either of the Li twins, for convenience's sake i'm just going to assume it's Tianxi for one bit of speculation i'll explain later).
Why isolate one of the three original mains from the other two, and instead have a new character take her place?
Because, as I speculated before in my claw machine theory, qiao ling is not safe!!! in both the claw machines and Pacman, the symbol/motif associated with Qiao Ling has been positioned on the outside of the box.
Now, a character being in the box doesn't guarantee safety, you'll know this especially if you've seen the most recent ep (s2e11) and the trailer for ep12. However, it does provide something of a line of defence— i.e. the box is sort of a symbol for the fact that CXS, LG and LTX are power users.
Qiao Ling was the very first person to get possessed by red eyes, she is the most 'vulnerable' of the OG 3 in that sense. aside from her martial arts realness, she can't defend herself on a supernatural level. she no way of teleporting out of a fight like CXS or seeing into the future to predict her opponent's moves like LG could.
qiao ling, as a normie, is isolated from the power users and thus more at risk to being harmed by the enemy. For the ghosts, it's Pacman, and for the link clickers, it's this motherfucker:
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crustlord of the century Qian Jin.
I think pacman is supposed to symbolise him on account of 1. the yellow eyes and 2. the fact that he's out to get basically every single one of the ghosts:
QL
CXS
LG
LTX
Hence why this theory works a lot better with LTX as the pink ghost instead of LTC— Tianxi betrayed QJ, and the one thing he hates most is betrayal.
I feel as though the AI patterns of the Pacman ghosts sort of align with this too:
"Each of the four ghosts has their own unique artificial intelligence (A.I.), or "personality": Blinky (Red) gives direct chase to Pac-Man; Pinky (pink) and Inky (blue) try to position themselves in front of Pac-Man, usually by cornering him; and Clyde (orange) will switch between chasing Pac-Man and fleeing from him"
"Each ghost's name gives a hint to its strategy for tracking down Pac-Man: Blinky always chases Pac-Man, Pinky tries to get ahead of him, Inky uses a more complicated strategy to zero in on him, and Clyde alternates between chasing him and running away."
^^ those two quotes are from the Pacman wikipedia page, a robust source indeed. in the first quote I put the colours of the ghosts in bold and by their proper names for reference.
If we assume Pacman is QJ and Red ghost is QL, and we remember how she bitch slapped QJ in episode 3 season 2:
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I'd say that at the very least the AI behaviour + QL's actions are somewhat correlated. And i'd say that the AI behaviour of the other ghosts lines up with their respective characters, LG being strategic and CXS being a bit more chaotic in his approach. As for Xixi, well, we kind of haven't seen enough of her to say.
but "via," i hear you say, "Li Tianxi got fucking murk'd in episode 11, AND she's the one with red eyes! why isn't she the red ghost, and not qiao ling?"
I see you and I hear you. Both QL and LTX have associations with both red and pink, and in fact upon first coming up with this theory i thought LTX was the red ghost as well. But considering the placement of the Pacman machine (between the claw machines+around the rabbits, see my previous post for details on the stuffed rabbits and their relevancy) as well as official art and in-show costuming, I figured that it made more narrative sense (and theory sense) for QL to be the red ghost. Plus she's just more heavily associated with red than either of the Li twins, who are costumed in more light pastels
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for reference, I put TC both in and out of drag above^^ and in his xixi cosplay, he wears almost entirely pink.
back to the theory. Qiao Ling's ghost is on the outside; and the stuffed rabbits that I'm almost positive symbolise her are piled on the outside of the claw machines. Surely this isn't a coincidence, right?
this all comes back to my theory that Qiao Ling, as the outsider of the group, the only one without powers, and the last to be informed of all the supernatural happenings, is going to meet a certain fate either by the end of s2 or around the start of s3. And I think the show has tried to set it up from the start.
Although Qiao Ling didn't become incredibly plot significant until I'd say about halfway through S1, we saw a few glimpses of her that were framed to highlight her vulnerability. Off the top of my head, I can definitely think of the horror-movie esque way s1e3 opened, where a strange man, later revealed to be Chen Xiao, approaches her from behind after appearing in a dark alley. Plus there is of course, her possession by LTC in s1e11. So from the get-go, she is framed as the odd one out of the main 3, and the most at risk.
then we get to the intro of s2, with the stuffed rabbits and the pacman machine, and it starts to come together, as stupid as that may sound. the writers are foreshadowing that something is gonna happen to Qiao Ling, and given the way everything connects, I'm of the opinion it could be death, or possibly grave injury.
that's all i've really got to say! curious as to what others might think of this, because it's all founded on the colours of a fckin Pacman game lol.
_
having seen the e12 trailer for s2 and qiao ling looking like she was gaining a power, I wonder how the finale is going to play out and if it will fit with the visuals and symbolism in the intro. oh well, we'll see!
also good LORD these posts take a long time to make!! let me know what you think, and also if you've got any clue as to why the Pacman machine appears in the intro but not the episode. Maybe IP reasons, although i don't see why they'd end up including it at all in the intro if copyright or IP was a concern. anyways, that's all!
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luminusobscurum · 4 months
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people are saying one of the main cast is going to die and i dont know if theres any truth to it or if its just rumors for fandom angst farming so if anyone has a source pls lmk 🙏
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