If you’re here for action-hero ahsoka 😭😭😭 watch this video! You will not regret!

i fuckin love these things

pyromaniacs – there’s one in every squad

requested by @soul-candle, based on his comic

Crowley and Aziraphale are queer-coded on purpose. That’s what their story is ABOUT.

In this essay, I will - no, seriously, bear with me here.

So Good Omens is about religion and faith, right? And the ways those things (and the stories we’re told ABOUT those things) impact our choices. So we get storylines about free will, church misogyny, use of power, loss of innocence. And along with their individual character arcs and conflicts, Crowley and Aziraphale are queer people’s relationship with the church.

Aziraphale’s human form is coded as a gay man. It is text that he lives in a traditionally gay district, he ‘reads’ as gay. Book!Aziraphale collects Oscar Wilde first editions. He doesn’t have a biological sex, fine. In his day to day life among human beings, though, that’s how we understand him.

Aziraphale is also very clearly pining for a relationship with another male-coded person. It’s a relationship he feels he can’t have because it’s sinful and bad. It doesn’t matter if that’s kissing or a picnic; it’s a relationship, it’s intimate and special, and it’s forbidden. 

Because he’s repressed, he’s built up little compromises over the years and compartmentalized these different facets of himself. And all of that leads to him locking down out of fear when he has to make a big decision and ask some hard questions. 

Crowley has been literally burned by religion. His Dad/Mom kicked him out of the house for being sinful and bad (aka questioning the rules), for hanging out with troublemakers. He sees the everyday hypocrisy and he’s angry; he hides it under an aesthetic of cool, but it clearly still hurts. He still wants answers to his questions. He’s also taken on the rejection as his own identity, even if he’s different from his peers. He isn’t a demon who is, deep down, as ‘nice’ as an angel. He’s “unforgivable.” 

And even though his relationship with Aziraphale is still a direct risk, he’s lonely, he cares for him, and he doesn’t have a lot to lose. So he’s reckless with his own safety, at times, which Aziraphale finds frightening. And when he thinks about being found out, and facing the consequences of that, he’d rather take extreme measures. (Crowley never denies that the holy water could be used for suicide. It’s also very telling that Aziraphale’s mind goes straight to that, instead of self-defense.)

Notice I didn’t say a thing about all the flirty things we like to gif and fic and gush about. Yeah, it absolutely helps that it’s framed as a love story, with epiphanies and breakups and rescues and ‘run away with me’. And all of those are taken from the love story toolkit for a reason, it’s not a coincidence. I don’t think we need to hear ‘I love you’ or get a kiss for a love story to be text (especially when all the publicity material has the people involved saying ‘this is a romance’ or ‘I am playing someone falling in love’).

But in the context of Good Omens, a comedy/satire about how people use and interpret religion? These are queer stories, except Heaven and Hell are the issue instead of orientation and gender. They’re the stories of how people who are different deal with a world that rejects them, tells them they’re not “normal” and they have to fit themselves to the mold or die. When Gabriel tells Adam “you can’t just refuse to be who you are,” I thought of the experience of trans and nb friends as well. Of course you can refuse if that’s never who you were to start with.

And metaphors can suck, I know, when they don’t actually represent the people involved. If Crowley and Aziraphale were a male-female pair, this would not work at all. But they’re played by two men, one of them very gay-coded, in a story told as a romance. So as far as I’m concerned, at least, it works very well. I’m 100% on board with Neil Gaiman’s take on “the show is the show, and anything else is your personal truth.” The more I think about it, though, this is what I’m seeing is there.

“Well, uh, hopefully [Zeb] will head to Lira San and start a family with Kallus.” 

- Steve Blum, during the SWR Panel at SWCO 2017

contrary to social media developers’ beliefs i have literally never once wanted to see posts in anything other than chronological order

preach

[x]

The Union of Paths

Title: The Union of Paths Rating: T Length: 6,216 Words Pairing: Rexsoka Summary: Ahsoka arrives on Umbara while the the Clones are fighting what they believe are disguised Umbarans.

Authors Note: I’ve always wanted to write a short piece about Ahsoka on Umbara, but I just never got around to it. Looking at when this episode (Carnage of Krell) actually aired it blows my mind that it actually took so long for me to get to it. I hope you enjoy it though.

—

Ahsoka stepped off of the LAAT/i and stretched, looking back at the men with a nod before they headed away. She looked around the dark landscape, her brows furrowing at how quiet it was. Her sight fell upon the Umbarese structures, and for a moment she paused to really take them in. Her hands moved behind her back as she began to walk, wondering where all the soldiers were. Now and again she peered around the whole area, it looking and feeling far too empty.

Her com chirped at her, the sound nearly startling her.

“Padawan Tano?”

Keep reading

NaNoWriMo Prep: Pacemaker!

A few weeks back, I blogged about adjusting your daily word count goal in November, because it just isn’t reasonable to expect to write 1667 words a day every day that month. 

Your daily goal should fluctuate to represent your personal schedule and daily needs. Pacemaker is a word count calculator that will do all the pesky math so you create a November calendar with daily goals to do exactly that. 

You start by inputting the basic information: your total goal, your start date, and your end date. This alone would give you a daily goal of 1667, but this is just the start. 

Next, Pacemaker gives you options for strategies. You may want to work at a simple, steady pace, but you’re not limited to that. If you haven’t been writing for a long time and want to ease into it again, you can chose to let your daily goal grow as the month goes on. If you’re going to be busy at the end of the month, you can chose to do more work in the beginning of the month. It’s totally up to you and your schedule. 

Pacemaker also accounts for weekends, and you can chose to do more or less on them, depending on your availability. You can also input specific dates when you know you can do more/less work. If you’re busy on Mondays, have Pacemaker skip them. If you have a lot of free time on Thursdays, make those “push!” days. Finally, you can account for a few emergency days, those days when you expect to write, but find yourself unable to for some reason or other. 

Once you’ve accounted for your strategy and schedule, Pacemaker lets you see your month in the form of a calendar, chart, or graph. You can set up an account and track your writing on the website itself (in which case, Pacemaker will adjust your daily goals depending on how far behind or ahead you are), or simply print out or write down your daily goals. 

Pacemaker is a wonderful tool for writers–whether you’re participating in NaNo or drafting on your own schedule. Try it out here. 

Matcha Fox 02.

Star Wars Rebels Season 4 Trailer 2 (Official)

Looking for a random cause of death for a character? Click here.

Looking for a random city? Click here.

Looking for a random city that people have actually heard of? Click here.

Need a random surname for a character? Click here. (They also give prevalence by race, which is very helpful.)

Helpful writing tips for my friends.

smallirishpotato

OH SHIT.

A couple more resources I have open constantly:

Random motivations for your characters here!

Need some character quirks? Here and here! 

Having trouble with backstory? Here! (They have an option for fortunate and unfortunate backstories)

my first concert was aly + aj with the jonas brothers as the opening act in 2005 what was urs

Advice for girls: buy skinny jeans in the boy’s section

They’re more comfortable, still form fitting, and best of all: THE POCKETS. THEY HAVE ACTUAL POCKETS.

don’t believe me? look:

these are boys pants, and they look just as good on me as any other skinny jeans I own

See that phone? I’m going to put it in the pocket. Must be so small right??

Ah yes, girl pants length. Probably can’t fit any further than that-

what? what’s this?

Good god. Oh good lord in heaven. This is blasphemous.

Look at how much room is still there. There’s chaos in the streets. Babies are crying. Fashion designers are screaming out of fear of the unknown.

Buy your pants in the boys section, girls. Live in the beautiful world you deserve where you can fit shit in your pocket.

Curvy ladies: Men’s dress pants have more room in the butt. I don’t know why, I only know that all my dress pants for work are off the rack in the men’s department in Target. Literally nobody has noticed, except a couple of my younger coworkers who’ve asked me–you guessed it–”oh my god, where did you find pants with pockets?”

Tall ladies: men’s pants are easier to find in longer lengths than women’s pants are.

Trans ladies: Wanna get on this gravy train, but afraid people will misgender you for wearing clothes off the men’s racks? Step one: tell me who these people are and I will punch them in the face. Step two: if it doesn’t make you dysphoric, please don’t feel obligated to wear pants off the women’s racks if pants off the men’s racks are more comfy/useful to you. I’m a cis woman who’s been wearing pants from the boys’ section and, later, the men’s section, ever since I hit puberty and in thirteen years maybe, maybe half a dozen people have noticed. And it’s always women asking the oh-my-god-pockets question. You’re all good. <3

Fat ladies: you will pay the same for a pair of 42x32 jeans as for a pair of 34x32 jeans, instead of having to pay some kind of Fat Penance Tax by way of being in the “plus size” section. Also, did I mention more room in the butt?

Ladies concerned about modesty: For obvious reasons, there is more crotch space in men’s pants. Embrace it and enjoy a life free from cameltoe worries and spontaneous labia-wedgies when you squat down.

All ladies: I swear to god the waists in women’s pants these days are made specifically to fit exactly nobody so that no matter what you do, your underwear will show. Men’s pants do not do this. The waists sit where they’re supposed to and will actually lay flat against the small of your back instead of flopping open to show your unmentionables to the world. If you want hiphugger jeans, buy one leg-length too small and one waist-size too large and let them hang, and they still won’t accidentally show your undies. Men’s pants will last longer. They cost less, in a lot of cases. Embrace the men’s jeans. Buy the men’s jeans. Stop buying shitty flimsy women’s jeans that wear out in six months.

AND FINALLY: to determine your size in men’s pants, take a tape measure around your waist at its smallest point. This is your waist size and will be the first number in a pair of men’s pants. Next, take the tape measure from about an inch below your no-no squares parts, and run it to your ankle. (You may need a friend or parent to help with this.) This is your inseam length, and will be the second number on a pair of men’s pants. Men’s and boys’ pants are tailored the same way, so if you have trouble finding your waist size in men’s, hop over to the boys’ section. Feel no shame. If they’d give us decent fucking pants we wouldn’t have to steal theirs, right?

Listen you guys, I am SO MAD ABOUT THIS. I’ve seen this first post before, and recently my mom said, “Hey, did you see that post on Tumblr about shopping for jeans in the men’s department?”

And I said yeah, I’d seen it, I’ve been through the Trying To Fit Clothes On My Stupid Body wars, and this post really only applied to skinny jeans because they’re so stretchy. It couldn’t possibly work for regular jeans! I have TRIED SO MANY TIMES. I’ve always shopped in the men’s department because women’s clothes are like 90% bullshit and 10% fake pockets.

But I hadn’t seen the second addition, which gave me more hope, and I decided to just try on a few pairs when I was at Old Navy the other day. They have some “classic” jeans with no give to them at all, which is what I was trying on years ago that convinced me it just wasn’t possible. (Jeans in my price range didn’t really come with any form of stretch back then, as I recall. Textile technology is bad-ass.) But these days they mostly have “flex” jeans that have some give to them. (Women’s jeans are usually labeled “stretch” but apparently men’s have to be “flex” like they need stretchy garments so their HUGE MUSCLES don’t just TEAR THEIR CLOTHES!)

This was totally an impulse decision so I couldn’t measure myself, but I grabbed a few sizes based on what I vaguely thought my measurements probably were and decided it couldn’t possibly be worse than the endless cycle of regret, dissatisfaction, and recrimination that is trying on women’s clothing.

The first pair I tried on fit like a DREAM. I’ve been gaining weight lately which is a whole separate nightmare (mainly centered around “but I don’t WANT to buy new bras, this is bullshit!”) and the reason I need to buy new jeans because nothing freaking fits me, and I was sure these wouldn’t either, but DAMN. They’re the best pair of jeans I own. Twice as thick, pockets twice as big, legs nice and loose (they don’t even sell women’s jeans with a cut remotely similar to this), and contrary to my super dumb opinion from before this experience, they’ve got my plenty of room for all my womanly curvey bits. AND because they’re actually a relaxed fit instead of trying to cling to every inch of me, they don’t show my weight nearly as much as my women’s jeans do, they’re easier to move in, they’re not constantly inching down my hips with every move I make, and overall they just make me feel GOOD about how I look which is a strange new sensation I could definitely get used to.

It’s like a miracle. I want to cry both out of joy and because of all the shitty jeans now filling my closet when I could have been buying comfortable, relaxed, pocket-having men’s jeans all these years. Many blessings to the posters above, may your crops grow and your cows give milk and your jeans hold all the gadgets you desire.

Also: men’s pants have constant sizes that are based off of actual measurements instead of the women’s whatever-the-company-wants-to-make-the-size sizes. They’re far more reliable and your size will translate to other brands.

@get-dunkd-on help me remember this for our next Goodwill run lmao

I HAVE to try some men’s jeans. Sick of these super skinny show everything always having to be hitched up no pocket crap jeans!

Honestly signal boost. Because imagine this actually starts some kind of ludicrous pants revolution that ends up causing women’s pants fashion company’s sales to tank, absolutely forcing them to realize men’s pants have always had the right idea and start doing that instead of this bullshit. Like just imagine. And don’t just signal boost this. Tell every woman you know. Tell every trans friend and every curvy friend out there. You see a lady down the street, stop her and tell her you’ve discovered a new gospel and it’s purchasing men’s pants. With the way women spread information when we’re excited, the mentioned scenario could actually be hella achievable

PRAISE THE UNIVERSE I FOUND THIS POST AGAIN

Guys. Gals. Non binary pals. As a trans ftm person who just recently started shopping in the men’s department and has gigantic hips full of dysphoria let me tell you a thing.

Athletic cut jeans have more room in the butt. I repeat. Athletic cut jeans have more room in the butt. You don’t need to go to the dress pants to fit your lovely curvy self in there. Go to the regular section or big and tall if you’re a bit taller and/or wider, and there’ll be a little section of athletic style jeans. They’ve still got the giant blessed pockets and the room in the crotch and if you’re really curvy with a large bone structure like I am you can get yourself some quality pants.

This has been an addition by your local nb trans dude. Thank you for your time.

Reblog to save a fucking life

also: not all brands fit the same, much like with women’s pants. I know this because I’m still in the process of figuring out which sizes in what brands will fit me.

Urban Pipeline is the only one I know 100% will fit me no matter what. About 12$ for 1 pair, but i jist found shirts at goodwill for 5$, but was the 50% color tag, so it came to around 3$. I almost cried and my sister did not understand. (I’m between sizes on most days, so extra Pain there) DON’T BE DISCOURAGED if a size doesnt fit you. some brands just don’t fit right, like with women’s pants. I strongly encourage you to try the urban pipeline brand.

signed, your friendly nb trans man who hates clothes shopping with a passion.

Your Character’s Personality

Personality is the most important thing about your character.

So, whenever I see character sheets, most people just put a little paragraph for that section. If you’re struggling and don’t know what your character should say or do, what decisions they should make, I guarantee you that this is the problem.

You know your character’s name, age, race, sexuality, height, weight, eye color, hair color, their parents’ and siblings’ names. But these are not the things that truly matter about them.

Traits: 

Beliefs:

Values:

Motives:

Recurring Feelings:

Self Image:

Behavior:

Demeanor:

Posture:

Speech Pattern:

Hobbies:

Quirks:

Likes:

Dislikes:

History:

On Mental and Physical Disabilities or Illnesses

Generally everything about your character should connect, but hey, even twins that grew up in the same exact household have different personalities; they value different things, have different beliefs. Maybe one of them watched a movie that had a huge impact on them.

Not everything needs to be explained. Someone can be picky or fussy ever since they were little for no reason at all. Someone can be a negative person even if they grew up in a happy home.

I believe this is a thought out layout for making well-rounded OCs, antagonists and protagonists, whether they’re being created for a roleplay or for a book. This layout is also helpful for studying Canon Characters if you’re looking to accurately roleplay as them or write them in fanfiction or whatever.

I’m really excited to post this, so hopefully I didn’t miss anything important…

If you have any questions, feel free to send a message.

- Chick