We have hit Winter Sunday in the Chill Valicer Save! And with this update, we enter the period of time in this save that I like to call "Time To FINISH FILLING THOSE DAMN SHELVES PLEASE." AKA, the next few updates are all about trying to get their grocery store into an openable state! Hope you like farm chores and food processing! *big smile, thumbs up* And speaking of the former, let's get right to it --

-->We start in the wee, wee hours of the morning, as we usually do around here as Smiler doesn't need sleep and Victor and Alice's bed is so good, they have developed a bit of a wonky sleep schedule as a result. XD (Victor having chugged a Potion of Plentiful Needs at the end of last "episode" also didn't help!) Specifically, we start in the old crafting barn, where Victor, after using his powerful magical talents to Scruberoo a slightly dirty Smiler, returned to making candles for his "bee products" shelf at the store! As he'd leveled up in Fabrication skill, I decided that he could make a black-dyed molded candle to show off his new talents...a process that I quickly discovered really just consisted of a lot of the Sim just standing in front of the candle bench, waiting for the wax to cool in the mold. Which, okay, probably accurate, but not exactly the most exciting thing to watch, huh? I prefer dipped candles, at least then they're DOING something.

-->As for Smiler and Alice -- well, the gardening bots Elmer and Bugs needed another tune-up, so that kept Smiler busy for a good chunk of the morning. Alice, for her part, snoozed until her energy bar was full, then came downstairs to fix some broken wind turbines because the phase of the moon meant that she would get extra Handiness skill from it. :p She was feeling rather hungry after that, so I had her transform and go out for a hunt -- hey, nothing like fresh meat for a werewolf tummy! And it's always a good source of XP.

-->Once Victor was done with his candle, I decided to check what he needed to brew up a potion of Emotional Stability, as he was all set with the ingredients needed for Plentiful Needs and Nimble Mind. Turns out he needed some Obtainium if he wanted to brew up emotionally-calming drinks, so I quickly checked Alice's metal collection upstairs to see if she had any. To my delight, she did indeed have a sample! So Victor got sent up there to use his overpowered Copypasto spell on it a couple of times. XD Seriously, I would be SOO lost in this save without that spell now...

-->While Victor was doing that, Smiler finished up their bot repairs and decided it was the perfect time to make some drinks! And I decided "actually, yes, it IS the perfect time to make some drinks -- so you can give them to the damn specters floating around the greenhouse and the back yard, distracting everyone." So Smiler poured out a few glasses and went searching out specters to give them to. Happily, both the specter floating by the tree annoying Shadow and the specter bopping around in the greenhouse appreciated the gifts, and both rewarded Smiler with the same thing -- soul scraps! I put those in their inventory for later -- I don't think I've used one of these yet? Probably should at some point...but they do look VERY cool with that little flame glowing above the disc, don't they? There's a reason I have a few on display in the seance room. :)

-->Anyway -- with that sorted, Smiler set Elmer and Bugs on the greenhouse and started cleaning up all the spoiled plates of chicken saltimbocca left everywhere from the family reunion. Victor fed Toothy the cowplant (I do not blame him for looking so nervous -- cowplants are very ENTHUSIASTIC about being fed), then went to check on Shadow, who was angry about something or other -- possibly all those specters hanging around. Victor calmed Shadow down as Alice returned from her hunt and gobbled down her fresh meat...

"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

pondering on a meta diving into Gale's abstract brand of selflessness (willingness to go away to a corner of the world to die so that none of the faceless masses will be harmed by his mistake) vs his personal selfishness (willingness to stick by tav despite being repulsed by tiefling camp murder + general vocal approval or interest in accumulating more power) and Gale's status as someone who is good aligned but generally ineffectual at enforcing actual good (the way that wyll or karlach will actually leave the party) which is fascinating for a fairly good-aligned person. just love when the Good Guy is actually kind of fucking weird. edit: tumblr cut off my tags Okay. and how all of this ties back in an interesting way to his relationship and power imbalance with mystra. he was wronged, deeply, but he also desires still that ... status / closeness to divinity in some way, by her influence. Gale thinks that he would be a better god simply by virtue of his mortality but he cannot escape the appeal of holding himself apart from others and being more than, greater than, something closer to godliness and thus inherently removed from mortal values and standards of right and wrong, which the gods themselves don't adhere to in the same way.

What are some ideas you have floating around that you don't have any plans on writing but like to entertain as a thought?

Many of them, in fact! Though they sort of vanish from my memory if I don't make a record of them, here's a few ones I jotted down when they came to mind.

For a domestic one: Bill thought he'd hate a lot of being married! Even though he loves Dipper, he thought he'd rebel against the chains of domesticity - and in some ways he still does - but one major benefit he's found is not having to be 'on' all the time.

No need to be perfectly performing all the time! No shoving around for social influence, no intimidation, or clever tricks. No commanding attention or taking up the room. Hell, there's surprisingly little upkeep! Bill can undo his tie and pick his nose and bitch about his day to someone who isn't bending over backwards to agree with him on everything. Someone who doesn't give him a weird look and sneer if he, god forbid, actually wants to sit down, read a book, drop the grin for an hour or two.

The concept in question is Bill's very first moment of great surprise. That when he isn't being the most charming, terrifying, and exciting guy in the universe, and just chilling out for like, five minutes, Dipper comes over and snuggles up to him on the couch, or wraps his arms around his shoulders and kisses the top of his head. And when Bill asks 'what was that for?', Dipper shrugs and goes 'eh, just felt like it'. It's both baffling and extremely compelling.

A short where Reincarnated Dip is Definitely Sure he's Not Gay!!! Especially not for this Hot Demon Man who is getting so close and touchy with him with his big smile and horrible wiles. Yep. Just keeping an eye on him to make sure he's not up to something Nefarious ™.

A discussion between Dipper and Bill where Dipper insists that Bill should understand this, or not do that, because, like. Y'know, Bill's a guy! There are guy things! Making Bill stare at Dipper like he's an idiot. He proceeds to informs Dipper how that's stupid for multiple reasons! First, that Bill's Not Human to begin with, his gender can't be put into a little box! And frankly, he never filled out the paperwork for his original one, come to think of it. Sure, he/him's fine, but c'mon, sapling, thinking of the whole shebang like a binary is dumb as hell. Now Dipper has to do some mental readjustment re: his own issues with masculinity/gender.

duuuuude oh my god i had to redesign this guy like THRICE because i couldnt get it RIGHT! heres EDEN. for you.

"Cuhut it out- you guys!" "Nu-uh, not until you're all perked up first! You don't want those gym challengers meetin' with an ol' mopey leader, do ya?" "Whitney's right, dear friend. No need to hide that beautiful smile of yours, alright?~"

What it takes to cheer up Johto's beloved ghost boy 👻💕

examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

Regarding the previous post, I think the way I approach trying to evaluate a piece of art is asking "Do I think the positive things I get out of it outweigh the parts of it that I don't like?" And when I call something a "guilty pleasure" song/show/book/piece of media/etc. it's really more in the sense of, "Given who I am as a person, the flaws I've found in this should be complete dealbreakers for me, but somehow they aren't, and it makes me feel like I'm having an identity crisis."

how come you do post much about gaza?

assuming you meant don't*? because this makes no sense otherwise? anyway

that you don't see my activism doesn't mean it isn't happening. tumblr is a terrible platform for activism, so I don't use it for that

that's a weird dog

Remember when I got into that string of fights a while back because people were exposing their lack of ethics with incredible takes like:

Uther’s persecution of magic was totally justified because magic is dangerous! It corrupts people!

Merlin had no reason to be afraid of Arthur, he was just being irrational! It’s not like thousands of lives were at stake here! He owed Arthur his private information about how Arthur has unwittingly traumatized him!

Simultaneously, there’s no way Arthur could have known that magic isn’t inherently evil because he’d ~never~ seen magic used for good (despite events going as far back as 1x04 or even 1x03)

Merlin withholding personal information from the people who were a constant threat to his life for being “born wrong” was morally repugnant! He should’ve exposed himself with the information his oppressors would kill him for, to give them a chance to change their minds! There’s totally no other way they could form different opinions!

Arthur deserved to know about Merlin’s magic, despite his condemnation of all things magic which threatened Merlin’s safety, because Arthur was kind or merciful in so many things except, noticeably, magic! Merlin should’ve trusted him!

Uther and Arthur are the REAL victims of the people who they oppress, so they have no choice but to slaughter thousands, children included!

Those were certainly times.

I remember saying at one point that if I knew someone was homophobic, I simply wouldn’t come out to them as gay, because they haven’t earned my trust in that regard. Anything they’ve done for me, they did while believing me to be straight. They likely wouldn’t treat me the same if they knew. Likewise, if a gay person had abused them at one point, it still wouldn’t give them the right to stereotype all gay people as abusive, or to support anti-gay campaigns. Homophobia has no justification. It’s just bigotry.

I said this multiple times, but every response was: “Well that’s different! Magic is actually dangerous!”

Here is what I said (paraphrased):

“If the potential dangers of magic were really the problem—and not just Uther’s excuse to justify banning it—then Uther could always just ban certain spells instead of committing genocide. Same with Arthur, really. But these characters wrongly believe that magic is inherently corrupt, because that worldview is easier to swallow than the hard truth.

“Criminalizing magic is like blaming massacres on all tools when they’re only performed with particular weapons: should whisks be considered a danger because some people murder with military grade assault rifles? Clearly, banning whisks doesn’t solve the problem. Likewise, when a sorcerer gets executed for using magic in the kitchen, Uther has effectively equated this harmless act to malicious crimes like murder. Was there ever a problem with magic itself, or does Uther perhaps have ulterior motives for banning it?

“If murder is already illegal, then banning murder by means of magic is unnecessary—all forms of murder, magical or not, are illegal by default. Making magic illegal does not prevent crimes that are already illegal; it only criminalizes innocent magic use, which means that people are prosecuted and found guilty for anything from using magic for chores to simply being loosely associated with a magical person.

“Uther’s laws helped no one but himself, because they weren’t designed to serve any other purpose. Nothing was accomplished, except that dehumanizing crimes such as trafficking and murder became legal as long as the victim had magic.”

To this, I was told that I “wasn’t understanding.”

What wasn’t I understanding? That people genuinely believe the ban on magic was okay? That they don’t have the slightest inkling of how oppression works, or how their justifications for hypothetical scenarios show their gullibility to real world bigotry? Why even bother defending a fictional character’s fictional genocide?

The ban on magic is ultimately a metaphor for the persecution of a marginalized religion (it’s literally called “The Old Religion”). To support Uther’s (and Arthur’s) claims that magic is inherently dangerous—despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary—is worrying at the least, considering the real life ramifications of fiction.

If you’re forsaking your morals to defend the inexcusable actions of a fictional character or two, then you value your entertainment more than real human lives. Likewise, you shouldn’t excuse any form of bigotry just because you like the person who is perpetuating it. If you can’t even stand by your supposed morals when it comes to fictional characters, there is no chance you will stand by them with real people. Most Arthur stans like him because they believe in his capacity for change, but this acknowledges that he is wrong and needs to change. The less like Uther he is, the better! My Gwaine-stanning is also reliant on him changing his views and accepting responsibility for them. We don’t get to make excuses for their unfair biases!

Merlin and other magical peoples are the victims of their oppressors, not the other way around. It really is that simple, and it pains me to see the hoops people will jump through to dismiss this.

i dont get how daigo could be bitchy and moody while wearing a puffer like . my brother in christ do you even know how silly you look rn trying to be emo in a puffer

Not sure if you have been asked before but are you going to continue your webcomic or is it on indefinite hiatus?

At the moment indefinite hiatus for sure. I've kinda lost interest in drawing the comic since I was not fully happy with how I wrote the story (it was patched together very poorly and I should have spent more time ironing out some mistakes) and it also took up a LOT of my free time (of which I had plenty due to having really bad mental health and very little social life)

Currently I dont think I could upkeep a comic. I thought about it, but I don't want to atm.

I really love all my characters dearly though, for extinction, and I think what I have been drawing really has not done them justice in the least and it pains me a lot, so in the future god be willing I would love to actually just reboot the whole thing with a different, and hopefully far better story

Song of the Day: December 9

"Allies or Enemies" by the Crane Wives

v. i reiterate.... GETS! COVID!!!!!